April 14th, 1912 - 11:50 pm

Katherine watched Ned close the door behind him as she remained on the deck. She studied the railing as if it would relay the memories of their first meeting. She felt the absence of him down below, but could also feel the evidence of having him there.

She felt tears slip from her eyes, but they seemed to freeze in their tracks on her cheeks. The air seemed even colder tonight. She didn't know how long she stayed on the deck, trying to contain the deep grief she was feeling.

How would she ever move on from Ned? Where before she had been excited to dock in the new world and start her new life, but now only felt gloom. The idea of a future without Ned was enough to wrench a few sobs from her throat.

Why did everyone she loved have to get ripped away from her?

Time slipped by as she gazed out at the dark waters. She wasn't even registering what she was seeing, lost as she was in her sad thoughts until the monotony of the ocean waters sudden changed. Vaguely interested, Katherine squinted, focusing on what seemed to be a large shape in the distance. As it drew nearer and nearer, she began to hear shouting from somewhere on the boat. The shouting seemed to be above her– possibly the people in the crow's nest.

The shouts seemed urgent and without even knowing why she began to feel panic swell in her chest. What was that ahead of us? The cold air seemed to be even colder and she began shivering, slowly backing away from the railing as the shape loomed ahead. She was beginning to realize with dread that the ship was going to hit it. With that realization, she had become rooted to where she stood.

Katherine's instincts were telling her to flee, but she had some sick sense of curiosity that needed to be satisfied. The ship was getting closer and closer when suddenly it seemed to turn, putting the shape slightly to the starboard side. Finally, it was close enough that I could see what it was,

An iceberg.

Her eyes widened at its size. But it seemed her panic had been for naught as the iceberg was well on the starboard side now. She breathed a sigh of relief, thinking they had narrowly missed the danger when suddenly there was a slight shudder that rumbled through the ship.

She stood rooted to the deck, holding her breath as if waiting for the ship to crumble. After several moments of nothing happening, she breathed again. Everything must be alright.

She began to shake, a combination cold and the relief she felt and decided she should probably go back inside. She made my way down to steerage until she was back in her room.

James and Melinda were both gone, she assumed dancing. Katherine curled up on his bed and burrowed under the blankets, feel grief overcome her once again. She cried herself to sleep.

It must have only been a few minutes since she had fallen asleep when she was reawakened by a crew worker barging into the room and flicking on the lights. She registered him saying something about a life jacket but wasn't awake enough to catch all of it.

As Katherine became more aware of the reality around her instead of the reality of her nightmares, James and Melinda came into the room.

"Hey!" James cheered at her. He had had enough to drink. "I haven't seen you in a while. You know, that boy of yours was looking for you earlier."

Katherine broke into tears then and Melinda rushed to her side, noting the grief etched in the lines of her face. "Katie? What's wrong?"

"What's wrong with her?" James stumbled.

"Sit down and clear your head," Melinda said to him. "Katherine, are you alright?" She asked in a tone so kind and contradictory to James' drunk one that it was almost laughable. Katherine looked up at her sister, feeling the evidence of dried tears on her cheeks. She reluctantly told James and Melinda what happened with Ned. They both listened silently and intently until she had finished and Melinda remarked, "What a bitch!" in regards to Ned's mother.

She could tell Melinda was trying to think of something encouraging to say about Ned when they all heard crew workers ordering people to put on their life jackets. They all narrowed our eyes and shared confused looks.

"Why do we have to put on our life vests?" Katherine asked them quietly.

James had sobered quickly then, drinking water from the sink as he pulled the lifevests from a shelf above the beds. "Maybe, it's a drill," he suggested.

She shrugged but then her eyes widened as she thought about the iceberg and the shudder of the ship after.

Could the ship have hit the iceberg?

She shivered from the thought, but then dismissed the idea. The Titanic was unsinkable, there was nothing to worry about. Nonetheless, all three of them donned their life jackets, helping each other, and each grabbed a few precious items just in case. They went out into the hall where other steerage passengers were gathering. They made our way through the swelling crowd of people until they found Daniel, Annie, and Henry.

"There you are!" Daniel hollered when he saw Katherine, giving her a quick hug as best he could with both of them wearing their life jackets.

"Hello Daniel," she replied simply.

Daniel's eyes narrowed. "I need to talk to you," he whispered so that only she could hear him. "Alone."

She nodded, not meeting his eyes, knowing exactly what he wanted to talk about. She glanced up at the people around her as space seemed to become smaller and smaller. She noticed Henry hovering close to Annie protectively. She felt a pang of jealousy at them being able to be together, at the sight of her pregnant stomach.

"What's going on?" James asked looking at Henry and Daniel.

"I don't know," Daniel shrugged. "Let's go to the top deck and see if we can find out."

They all silently agreed and followed Daniel through the maze of bodies until they were out of the stifling smell of sweat and body odor and into the fresh night air. Even though the fresh air was a relief, it was unbelievably cold.

They all began shivering immediately and huddled close together to stay warm. Katherine latched onto her sister, she wasn't letting her out of her sight. Crew workers were rushing around them chaotically as she noticed that people of the upper class were strolling along the deck in their own life jackets.

She secretly hoped she would see Ned, but had no such luck. Suddenly she felt Daniel tugging on her arm, pulling her slightly away from the rest of their group. Melinda had a worried look, but let her go anyway, turning to look up at her husband.

Katherine looked up at Daniel, waiting for him to ask the question. He sighed deeply and then finally spoke in a hushed voice. "So is it true?" Daniel paused, closing his eyes. "About Claire and Ned?"

She slowly nodded her head. "Did she talk to you?"

Daniel nodded, not meeting his eyes. "Yes. But one minute she's telling me that she doesn't want to marry Ned and it's being forced upon her by their mother's, and then the next min telling me she lied…that she does want to marry him." Daniel stopped, rubbing his hands over his face.

She knew he was trying to hide the hurt that was surely reflecting in his eyes. She realized that Ned's mother must have done something to manipulate Claire as well – to make her say that to Daniel. She was good at reading people and she knew Claire hadn't been lying when they had talked before.

He was silent for a long time before he finally said, "How do you think they convinced her to stay away from me?"

She shook her head. "I don't know. But if you knew Ned's mother, it wouldn't be too hard to believe that she can control people with a snap of her fingers." Daniel nodded, resigned. "I'm sorry," she whispered.

He looked up at her, putting both hands on her shoulders and stared straight into his eyes. "This is not your fault," he began. "This is Ned's mother. And we'll find a way to make it work. For both of us."

"How?" She asked when she was suddenly interrupted by a loud whooshing sound and saw an orange flame shooting up into the sky. "What is that?" She asked absentmindedly.

Daniel gazed at the flame until it began to sink back down toward the ocean waters. "It's a distress rocket," he said as if in disbelief.

Just then, Katherine heard several crew workers shouting to be heard over a group of upper-class passengers. "Women and children only!" they were shouting, motioning toward the lifeboats.

She watched, trying to fit the pieces together, as she saw women and children step into a lifeboat. She remembered the lifeboat situation she'd talked about with Ned. There weren't enough boats. She watched as the crew filled it about halfway before they began to lower it in a chaotic fashion.

She looked at Daniel to see if he understood what was happening. "Katherine," he said, turning to her with a look of realization, disbelief. "This ship is going to sink."

When Ned went back to his suite after his last rendezvous with Katherine, the crew workers Mr. Smith had paid off earlier were already back, waiting outside the door to the suite. His mother wasn't back yet, though.

He assumed she was still out with some of the other upper-class women, gossiping and wedding planning. Ned chose to push away the thoughts of his mother wedding planning. As he plopped down on his bed, his let thoughts of making love to Katherine here filled his mind. The way she felt against him as he first laid against her.

The way she drew in labored breaths as he pleasured her, how her dark hair looked like melted chocolate splayed out beneath her head, the look on her face when she reached her release. He would never forget how warm she felt as he moved inside of her.

Even though the darkness of his future loomed on the edges of his thoughts, he chose to dwell on these thoughts of Katherine. And eventually, he was able to fall asleep.

He was awoken sometime later by a loud knocking on the suite door. Still, in the clothes he had worn for supper, he didn't bother putting on a robe. He dragged himself out of bed and his bedroom at the same time as his mother exited hers. She must have come back while he was asleep.

His mother was wrapping a robe around herself and was clearly not pleased about awoken at this hour. She marched over to the door and flung it open where a crew worker was standing. "What is the meaning of this?" His mother demanded.

"Pardon me, ma'am, but you must put on your life jacket and go to the top deck," the crew worker said, seeming unoffended by his mother's temper.

He wished he could do the same.

"Why?" His mother replied sharply.

"Captain's orders, ma'am. And I suggest you dress warmly." Then the crew member walked away to begin knocking on the door to the next suite.

His mother turned around to face him and huffed. "This is ridiculous. Why would they perform drills in the middle of the night? I'll have to speak to Edward about this..."

He shrugged as the memory of Katherine's concern over the number of lifeboats briefly crossed his mind. But he pushed the thought away. Surely, this was only a drill. Right?

"Well, I am at least going to dress properly before we go up there," his mother said as she headed back to her bedroom to change.

After a few minutes, his mother was dressed and both of them had donned their life jackets. He went to collect a few things just in case, enough money to keep him going in case they were to leave the ship. He led his mother through the maze of hallways, noting the other confused passengers wearing their jackets. When they had finally reached the top deck, many other passengers had made their way there as well.

He looked around at the people, noting their faces. Some, mostly those of the first class, seemed unconcerned as they strolled about the deck. He noticed there were very few lower class passengers. As his thoughts went to Katherine his heart began to pound.

Would she be up here?

He searched the few faces but didn't see her. If this was a drill, shouldn't the lower-class passengers be here as well? His thoughts went to the lifeboats again. There wasn't enough for everyone…did that mean the lower-class passengers would be left behind if the ship was sinking?

He felt panic swell in his chest. He prayed to God that this was just a drill. This ship was unsinkable, right? Suddenly, he saw Captain Smith himself approaching him, noticing he wasn't wearing a life jacket.

His mother was too caught up in complaining about the situation with some other upper-class women to protest to his talking with him. "Mr. Smith, captain, what's going on?" He asked urgently.

The Captain grabbed his arm and pulled him aside. Lowering his voice he said, "The ship struck an iceberg. It's going to sink." The Captain said it so matter-of-factly that it took Ned a moment to register the horror of what he said.

He blinked several times, gaping. "What? But this ship is unsinkable – " He began to uselessly protest but the man cut him off.

"It's not unsinkable, boy. Only a fool would believe that. It's sinking now." The man scoffed. "Where's Katherine?"

"I-I don't know. We went our separate ways after we met up earlier. I wasn't planning on seeing her again…" He shook his head.

"You need to find her and Claire, get them on a boat before there isn't any left," The captain said sternly, piercing him with his gaze and gripping his arm so tightly it hurt.

He didn't know what to think about this. "But what about my mother –"

"Do you really think the crew workers are concerned about arresting people now?" The captain interrupted harshly.

He swallowed and shook his head as he hardened my resolve. He had to find Katherine. Just then a crew worker began shouting for women and children only to board a lifeboat. Clearly oblivious to the direness of the situation, his mother and her group of pampered hens hesitated, seemingly disgusted by the notion of getting on a lifeboat. "Get on the lifeboat, Mother," he urged her, pulling away from Mr. Smith.

His mother looked at me, confused. "I don't understand why they are going through all of this trouble just for a drill."

"It's not a drill," he practically growled. "The ship is going to sink."

His mother stared at him, her eyes wide with fear. The women around them must have heard him because they all began to talk in high-pitched frantic voices. The crew workers began ushering them into the lifeboat as he looked on. His mother looked back at him as she stepped onto the lifeboat. "You'll get on a lifeboat too, won't you?" She asked.

It was the first time in his entire life that his mother had sounded genuinely concerned about him. He actually felt a pang of regret, staring into her wide glassy eyes, realizing this may be the last time he ever saw her.

"I'll try my best, Mother." He nodded. He did his best to give her a reassuring smile and waved at her as the lifeboat was lowered out of sight. When he could no longer see her, the urgency of the situation came crashing back down on him.

He had to find Katherine.

Ned raced through the halls of the Titanic, searching every face of a girl who remotely looked like the woman he loved. He hadn't found her. He didn't know where to start looking. As he came running down the Grand Staircase, he looked at the gathered asses of first-class passengers.

He turned to see the clock. It was just after midnight. That was when he spotted Claire and her mother, talking amongst their friends and other families.

Ned rushed down the stairs and met Claire, pulling her off to the side with him. "Have you heard?" He asked.

"Heard of what?" She asked, trying to remain calm as she looked around them. She was wearing a life-vest. Had she no clue the ship was going to sink?

He cleared his throat and spoke lower now. "The boat is going to sink," he whispered.

Her eyes went wide with fear and she looked around at the people who had no clue what was going to happen. "What are we going to do?" She asked.

"I'm going to find Katherine," he informed her. "I suggest you find Daniel before it's too late. Find a lifeboat as soon as you can."

She nodded slowly, smiling at him. "Thank you for telling me."

That was the last time Ned ever saw Claire.

He began to frantically search the upper deck, just in case, there was a chance she could be up here. He called for her, looking at every single face, but the deck continued to swell with people as more and more passengers were beginning to realize what was happening.

The Titanic wasn't unsinkable after all.

People were pushing and shoving, children were crying, crew workers were trying unsuccessfully to organize the chaos and get passengers into lifeboats. The horror of it all threatened to swallow him whole, but his determination to find Katherine kept him focused.

After he was sure that he had searched the entire top deck. What if they had contained her in steerage with the other lower-class passengers?

The dread that she was trapped in steerage began to settle in.

"Where would she be?" He asked Captain Smith, catching him amongst the crowd again.

"I heard they're trying to contain the lower-class passengers to make sure all the upper-class passengers get on lifeboats first," the man replied gravely.

He shook his head at the injustice of it all as he quickly made his way below deck and toward steerage. When he finally reached the staircases that led to steerage, he stopped dead in his tracks.

There were gates locked in place at the top of the stairwells. The passengers trapped on the other side were screaming obscenities at the crew workers that held the keys before them. He stood in front of the gates, asking if anyone had seen Katherine and yelling her name. No one had seen her – no one really seemed to care – and when he didn't hear her calling back to him, he spun around, feeling the panic taking over.

What was he going to do? He felt his body begin to tremble with the fear that he wouldn't find her.

Maybe she came looking for him. As he made his way to his suite, he felt as if he was walking uphill. The ship must be tilting. When he looked up the hall and back behind his position, he noticed the ship was leaning. He swallowed as the reality of the situation began to settle in further

The Titanic was really sinking. As if to remove any remaining doubts he had, the lights flickered. When he began to get closer to his room, he noticed the door was open.

Had his mother left it open before?

He entered the room and nearly ran straight into Katherine, James, and Melinda.

"Ned!" Katherine cried, throwing her arms around him and hugging him so tightly he could barely breathe.

"Katherine," he breathed out in relief, wrapping an arm around her waist and moving the other hand up to her head to hold her to him.

He could feel her trembling as they held each other, and he pulled back to look at her. Her brown eyes were filled with fear and tears. "You scared me to death!" she said in a shaky voice before kissing him with trembling lips. He kissed her back. "I was so afraid I wouldn't find you. What are you doing here?"

"Daniel went looking for Claire, and I wanted to find you. We split up and my sister and James came along. We've been searching everywhere for you," she replied.

"I have been looking everywhere for you! I couldn't bear to leave you on this sinking ship," he said hopelessly, looking to her sister, who was holding James' hand tightly behind Katherine, and back at Claire who was beside them. "We need to get on a lifeboat. They're taking women and children."

Melinda noticeably clung to James and Katherine to him. "What about you and James?" Ned and James looked at each other knowingly. He could see in his eyes what he was coming to realize himself– they probably weren't getting off of this ship. But they exchanged looks of determination to get both Melinda and Katherine off of this damn ship.

"We'll figure it out," James replied and Ned nodded in agreement.

The lights suddenly flickered again and the ship groaned loudly.

"Let's get going," Ned motioned for them all to follow him.

Katherine grabbed his hand and he led the way. The hallways were completely empty as they made their way back to the top deck. But the chaos they faced when they finally did reach the top deck was overwhelming. People were so tightly on the deck that it was difficult to move, and the cries and screams of panic were deafening.

Yet, somewhere in the distance, he could hear music playing. Smooth, clear and lively. Such a contrast to the horror that was upon us. The ship was now noticeably leaning toward the bow as the lower levels filled with the icy cold seawater.

Panic threatened to overtake him again when he saw the passengers claw way to the lifeboats. How would he get Katherine and her sister on one? They made their way to the side of the ship and looked over the railing toward the direction from where the lifeboats were being launched.

He could see a few lifeboats already in the water, and James must have seen them too because he said, "There's not enough lifeboats for all of the passengers on board and they're not even filling them up all the way."

Ned realized he was right. He remember that they had guessed that each lifeboat could hold about sixty people and most of them weren't even half full. Katherine and Melinda were huddled together behind James and Ned as they quietly discussed their plan of action.

"We have to get them on a lifeboat now," Ned urged.

"How? There are so many people. And most of the crew workers won't even let lower-class passengers on." James sounded so hopeless.

"I'll go with you. Come on," Ned replied, pushing his way through the crowd.

When they reached an empty lifeboat, Ned approached the crew worker in charge of it and whispered something to him. He pulled out roughly one hundred dollars and slipped it into the man's hand. When he both looked back James, Katherine, and Melinda, the worker nodded and motioned for the all of them to step on board.

James reluctantly shook his head and looked back at the door that lead to the steerage. "They are trapped down there, all of those good people," he whispered. "I have to help them get out. They deserve a chance."

"James," Melinda whispered, shaking her head. "You're coming with us."

"I'll find another boat, okay?" He reassured her, holding her face. Melinda hugged James and kissed him deeply. He reluctantly pulled away and backed Melinda toward the lifeboat. "I'll see you soon, okay?"

Ned tried not to flinch at the lie and he slowly sat down in the boat. James knew he was sealing his fate by not getting on this lifeboat.

Ned helped Katherine in after him holding her hand tightly in his. Melinda moved into the boat reluctantly after and held onto James' hand for another moment before she let it go. James then approached Katherine and hugged her from the deck of the ship. Ned heard him mumble something quietly to her and she nodded in response, but he couldn't quite catch what he said.

James nodded to Ned then, shaking his hand. He trusted him to take care of Katherine, and maybe even Melinda.

Then Katherine turned to him. Her brown eyes were so full of fear that it broke her heart. The Titanic was supposed to be something wonderful for her, an amazing memory, a ray of hope in the darkness of her losses. But now it was another tragedy in her life. A very dire tragedy. She laid her head on his shoulder. She was only happy to have Ned with her, even if he had had to pay their way on.

As the crew member let more women and children on, James took another moment to embraced his wife tightly and gave her a deep, desperate kiss, holding her face in his hands and feeling her tears wet his cheeks. "Keep this, just in case." He slipped his wedding band off into her hand.

"I don't want to leave you," Melinda whispered to him, shaking her head as she took the ring from him.

"You aren't leaving me. I'll see you again soon," James whispered back, leaning his forehead against hers and closing his eyes so that they didn't betray his inner turmoil.

When he finally pulled away and stepped away from the lifeboat she said, "You better find a lifeboat, James or I'll kill you myself."

He smiled despite the situation and tried to nod reassuringly. "I promise," James whispered and turned to run back toward the steerage.

Melinda watched until she couldn't anymore, looking to her sister. "I can't let him go," she whispered to her.

Katherine shook her head. "No," she whispered. "You're not going after him."

"I love you, my little sister," Melinda cupped her cheek and hugged her tightly then. "You have Ned now… please… I can't think of a life without him. Lease... do you understand that?"

Katherine slowly nodded and hugged her again. She knew that better than anyone now as she looked back at Ned. "You better be okay, or I'll kill you myself." She mimicked her sister's earlier words, earning a laugh from Melinda as she jumped from the boat and disappeared in the same direction James had.

She stared at the empty part in the crowd where her sister had left, as the rest of the boat was filled with both classes. Until it was lowering down to the dark water below, and that was when Katherine knew she would probably never see her sister or James again.