Author's Note: Hope you like! Sorry for the delay.
Chapter 59: Cornered
The boys had conveniently avoided talking about what they would plan on doing if they were still on the ship when it hit the iceberg. Conveniently and rather foolishly, Mike thought as the night fell upon them the next day. It was now April 14th and the ship was due to hit the iceberg in 3-4 hours. No one had seen or heard from the Devil and had no idea what he was up to. Mike had to admit he was growing more and more worried, even though Piper had tried to tell them they should be able to escape in time.
"I think we should talk about this," Peter said suddenly as they all sat around the room nervously. He was the first one to break the silence, but they were all thinking the same thing.
"It's obvious, isn't it?" Mike said still staring out the small round porthole that acted as a window. The ocean looked deceptively calm below. "We should probably just stay here."
"Stay here?" Davy echoed. "We'll sink!"
"Davy, the spell isn't going to let us die," Micky said. "It may make us live the events leading up to it, but we aren't gonna go down."
"You don't know that," Davy protested.
"Davy, I know you're scared," Piper said. "We all are, but that's the way magic works. It won't kill us unless the spell was intended to. And this curse wasn't intended to kill the Devil, but punish him. So it won't kill us."
"Why should we stay here, though?" Davy asked. "Why shouldn't we try to get on the lifeboats and get out of here? Just to make sure."
"Because we can't," Peter said heavily. "There aren't enough lifeboats as it is. We can't take up someone else's spot. Besides, they fill them with women and children first."
"But the boats weren't filled," Davy said.
"Doesn't matter," Mike said finally pulling himself away from the window to sit down at the foot of the bed Micky was sitting on. Micky and Piper sat next to each other on one bunk while Davy and Peter sat on the one across the way. "We'd still be taking someone else's spot. Someone who is meant to survive."
"So we just go down with the ship?" Davy asked.
"That's not going to happen, Davy," Piper said sounding slightly annoyed. "At the worst, we will leave as the ship's sinking, but this curse isn't going to let us die."
"What about the Devil?" Micky asked. "I doubt he's gonna see things the same way…"
"Probably not," Mike agreed. "We can't let him get on a boat either."
"So we do have to find him," Peter said. "Just to make sure he doesn't kill someone else who's supposed to live."
"Looks like we'll have to scour the ship again," Mike sighed at the thought of the daunting task.
"Then lets get started," Micky said pushing himself up from the bed. They decided to stick together this time, listening to snippets of conversations amongst the passengers still up and about. There weren't many people up, but there were little groups of families still up and about. Mike led them along several of the decks looking around.
"Can we rest?" Davy asked after a couple hours. Mike didn't really want to rest; they had a little over an hour left, but he had to admit he was tired.
"Sure," Mike said taking a seat at a nearby table on the deck looking over the water. It was almost as if he could see the iceberg looming off in the distance, but knew it was his imagination. They were still a ways away from it and he knew if it could have been seen from this distance, they would have been able to avoid it. There were only a few families left, including a mother and her small child. The child had been playing with a small red ball on the deck and the mother was trying to get the child to go to bed.
"Its after ten!" the mother called out to her son. "Let's go! It's past your bedtime!"
"Mommy, I want to play more!" the child answered defiantly. In the moment of distraction, the ball rolled away from the little boy and towards the boys. Peter got up and picked the ball up before crouching down and handing it to the little boy.
"Here you go," Peter smiled. "Be a little more careful, ok?"
"Thanks, Mister!" the little boy said excitedly. "You look an awful lot like my daddy."
"Do I?" Peter laughed.
"I'm so sorry, Sir," the mother said running over. "He's not supposed to talk to strangers. His father tried to teach him that before he died. It just never stuck."
"That's ok," Peter said. "His father died?"
"A few years ago," the woman answered. "Let's go, Eddie."
"Thanks for giving me back my ball, Mister," Eddie, the little boy said.
"Don't mention it," Peter said. "But you should listen to your mom and not talk to strangers from here on out, ok?"
"Ok," Eddie said.
"Oh, and when you get back to your room, do me a favor and make sure you know where your life jackets are, ok?" Peter asked. Mike and Micky jumped up from the table to stop Peter from saying any more. It was bad enough he'd said that much.
"Ok!" Eddie said and finally skipped away with his mom.
"Peter," Mike said. "You shouldn't have said that. You don't know what that boy's fate is supposed to be."
"How's it gonna hurt to save one life?" Peter asked. "One family that already lost someone?"
"That's just it, Peter," Piper said. "We don't know what was supposed to happen to that family. What if that woman is supposed to lose her son? What if the loss of her son drives her to do something really important?"
"We don't know what is supposed to happen, Peter," Micky said. "And we can't change anything. No matter how devastating it is. No matter how sad. We can't change anything."
"I don't think Peter changed anything," Davy said. "I'm pretty sure they both survive."
"How do you know that?" Micky asked.
"I think I know her," Davy said. "Or knew her. When I was a kid. I mostly just saw pictures of her."
"Who is she?" Mike asked.
"I think she's my grandfather's sister," Davy answered. "I don't remember her cause she died when I was little, but she had a son named Eddie and a husband who died when he was young. Some freak accident on the job. Got crushed or something."
"Did she ever mention being on the Titanic?" Micky asked.
"Yeah, but I had forgotten all about it till now," Davy said. "But I don't really remember her at all. Like I said, she died when I was a kid. I only recognize her from pictures. They were all in black and white, so I can't be sure it's her, but everything else fits. And it really does look an awful lot like her. If it is, they both survive. I remember grandpa telling me that she and Eddie went to America and the ship sank. They both almost died, but Eddie grabbed their life jackets which kept them afloat until the rescue boats came and pulled them out of the water. They were separated for nearly 3 months. Neither knowing if the other survived until the authorities were finally able to reunite them."
"That's so sad," Peter said.
"I can't believe I forgot about it," Davy muttered. "I remembered the story, but forgot it was this ship."
"So that's your great aunt?" Mike asked.
"Wait a minute," Micky asked. "You said Eddie grabbed their life jackets...I wonder if Peter hadn't said anything to him, if he still would have done that. They'd have drowned without the jackets."
"I think grandpa said something about there being a man that Eddie claimed was the ghost of his father that told him to get life jackets," Davy said after a minute.
"The boy did say you looked like his dad," Mike said.
"I never saw a picture of Eddie's dad," Davy said.
"So does this mean we can't change history?" Micky asked. "That we're already supposed to be doing these things? Cause we've already done it?"
"I really don't know," Piper said. "Better not to risk anything though."
"Well, then why can't we get on a boat?" Davy asked.
"Because we would still be taking someone else's spot, Davy," Peter said desolately. "We'd still be letting someone else die. And I know you can't really do that."
"Why can't we warn the captain?" Davy protested further, silently agreeing he couldn't take someone else's spot no matter how scared he was.
"They got warnings, Davy," Micky said. "The captain got lots of warnings. He ignored them cause he didn't think they were that legitimate or something. The communications officers were too overwhelmed with warnings and messages between passengers."
"We stick to the plan, Davy," Mike said firmly. "Lets get back to looking for the Devil." Davy looked like he wanted to argue again, but didn't. Mike knew he was just scared and didn't want to die. Mike knew they were all terrified, but he knew he could trust Piper. After everything they'd been through and the number of times she'd successfully saved them. He had to trust her. If he didn't, they'd all be dead by now.
About half an hour later, Mike finally caught a glimpse of the Devil. Mike grabbed Micky and tugged on his sleeve to alert him before taking off down the hallway he'd seen the Devil walk down. He heard Micky, Peter, Davy and Piper all running down the hall behind him and they finally turned a corner to a dead end.
"He must have gone through those doors," Micky pointed as the rest of them had already reached that conclusion and burst through them. They had finally managed to corner him in a large dining area for first class passengers overlooking the ocean.
"Give it up, Zero," Davy sneered. "You aren't getting away from us again."
"Give what up?" the Devil asked. "I was just going for a walk and you started chasing me."
"You're a dirty little liar," Davy answered. "We know you're up to something."
"Like what?" the Devil asked. "There's nothing I can really do here, is there? I just have to wait this little trip out until our next little ride."
"Wait it out?" Mike asked. "You really expect us to believe that? After everything you've put us through? After everything you've done to try and make us suffer? You're going to sit back and do nothing?"
"I don't have to do anything," the Devil laughed. "You will seal your own fates. See, it's almost time for this beauty to go down. In just under half an hour, the clock is going to start ticking. People will go running. Try to save themselves. But you...you won't, will you? You will do everything you can to keep things the way they're supposed to be. You wouldn't dare jump in a boat to save yourselves if it meant allowing another to die. You'll cling to the hope that you'll be gone before the ship goes under."
"We will," Piper said.
"Who are you trying to convince, sweetheart?" the Devil laughed. "It'll be a shame to see such a beautiful young girl such as yourself die." Mike felt Micky tense up next to him and Mike stepped in front of Micky to keep him from doing anything rash.
"Let me guess," Mike started, "you're not gonna do that, are you? You're gonna get on the first boat you're able to, aren't you?"
"You'd really let someone else die?" Peter asked. "You don't have to do that. Piper said the curse won't kill any of us."
"Not deliberately," the Devil answered. "And I don't really care who lives and who dies. As long as I survive. For all I know, one of you could be crushed by falling debris because you're stupid enough to stay on a sinking ship. If any of you die, I'll be stuck here. Honestly, I can't say as I would mind it so much. I can eventually track myself down and get my powers back. But I have to be alive to do that."
"If we stick together, we can make sure we all stay alive," Peter tried.
"Peter, you can't reason with him," Micky said.
"I don't want you to stay alive," the Devil laughed. "Don't you see that? I would relish in your deaths!"
"I thought you wanted to turn Micky evil," Davy said.
"That would be a bonus, yes," the Devil answered. "But I'll take what I can get and since I don't have my magic, I'll have to settle for seeing you all die. I saw it once...and I loved seeing Micky in agony over it. My only regret is that I won't truly be able to see you as you drown and freeze."
"You really think we're going to just let you get away with this?" Mike asked. "That we're just going to let you get on that boat?"
"I'd like to see you try and stop me," the Devil laughed. "Go ahead and try. I'd be more than happy to just kill you now. You've seen three of your friends die, Micky. How would you like to see your little girlfriend go?" Before Mike could stop him, Micky growled in anger and launched himself across the room towards the Devil who reacted quickly and threw a chair at Micky. Just before the chair collided with Micky, however, it was magically sent off course and clattered to the ground thanks presumably to Piper.
"Micky, stop," Mike said grabbing Micky and pulling him back before Micky got hurt. Piper flicked her wrists again and the Devil froze in place: running toward the door.
"Coward," Davy muttered walking over to him. "Running instead of fighting."
"Davy, not now," Peter said rushing over to help Mike try and get Micky under control. He hadn't seemed to realize that he'd nearly seriously gotten hurt and still wanted to fight.
"Micky, cool it, man," Mike pled. "You're gonna get yourself hurt!"
"I don't care," Micky said. "We can't let him get away with this."
"We aren't going to," Mike said. "We're gonna deal with him. He's not getting on that boat."
"I can't let him kill you," Micky muttered quietly. Mike took a deep breath knowing why Micky was suddenly so upset. The Devil had done this on purpose. He'd antagonized Micky and pushed his buttons to get him to snap. He knew Micky was still upset about what he'd seen in the basement and knew he was still scared about each of them dying.
"Micky, that's not going to happen," Peter said walking over pulling Micky into an embrace.
"We aren't going to freeze or drown," Mike said. "You have to trust that. You trust Piper, right?"
"Of course I do," Micky said. "I just don't trust him."
"None of us do, Micky," Davy said. "But we have to trust each other to keep each other safe."
"We'll tie him up if we have to," Mike said. "We aren't going to let him get onto that boat and we aren't going to let him hurt any of us." Micky finally calmed down and nodded. Just as they walked over to the Devil to tie him up, the boat rumbled and rocked. The ship had hit the iceberg. The Devil un froze and while the boys tried to keep stable, he took off running again.
"Damn!" Mike exclaimed as he regained his balance. They now had to hurry to find him. The damage had been done and they would have a much harder time trying to find him amidst all the chaos that would soon erupt all over the ship.