Unsinkable

A Nightmare

There were sounds, but they didn't make sense. There were words falling from mouths, and the flutter of light as people bustled about, but none of it seemed to exist; not really. Because this all had to be a dream, every last bit of it.

Jacin had once heard that people couldn't remember the start of their dreams, always winding up somewhere in the middle. But that had to be wrong. Because he had fallen asleep out on the deck of the ship, laying on that bench. And in his dream Winter Hayle had come to him. That was where the dream started. But now, after all the bliss of this marvelous work of the mind, things were starting to fall apart. This dream had become a nightmare— but Jacin wasn't waking up.

Somehow, he himself was talking, saying words that meant something to the ears they met, but nothing to his own brain. The world had slowed down and sped up, out of control, screaming four words on repeat: the ship is sinking.

"...life jackets on the deck of the ship," Rikan said, wrapping his own coat around Jacin's shoulders. Not a moment later, he was out the door, walking away from the group of them before Jacin could even protest the kindness.

"I don't know where my mother's off to," Cinder said, worrying at her lip. "I'm sure she's heard the news, but I'd much rather know where she is. I don't want to lose her."

Kai gave her a half-hearted smile, taking her hand in his own. "Don't fret, love," Kai said. He brushed the hair out of her face and tucked it behind her ear. "We'll find her before anything happens. I bet you my father will stumble upon her as he's looking for life jackets."

He then turned to Winter, still leaned against the doorframe, though perhaps more from shock than fatigue now. "Have you checked for Levana, or, um," Kai glanced at Winter and Jacin's intertwined fingers, his cheeks tinting pink. "Perhaps, Aimery."

"No," Winter hissed, giving Kai a most irate glare.

"Alright then," Kai said, wincing. "I just wanted to make sure. The ship is sinking, after all."

Jacin wanted to say "so what," but withheld it. There was no need for him to express his opinion on Aimery at the moment— they had more pressing matters to worry about.

A coat was wrapped around Winter's shoulders, and in another instant, the four of them were rushing to the ship's main deck without another word whispered between them.

There were so many people; of course Jacin knew that there were thousands upon the Titanic, but he'd never really realized it until that moment, as hundreds poured out onto the main deck. They were yelling and crying and whispering in small groups. There were children and old people and normal adults. But above all, no matter the age or identification of a person, there was fear. It swirled about like a poisonous fog, infecting all who gathered round.

Kai led them through the masses, though Jacin wasn't entirely sure where he was going. Jacin held up the rear of the group, holding onto Winter's hand, who in turn held onto Cinder who held onto Kai. They were like a snake, weaving through the throngs of people—in search of their own. And though he was a creature who preferred solitude and independence, he was glad for the leadership of another and the companionship of these almost-strangers as the world came to a stumbling crash.

On the outside, he was stony as ever. His face would never betray him. But inside he was a blaze of panic. The ship was sinking; they could all die in a matter of hours, his frozen body laying still against the floor of the Atlantic. He had never liked the cold, and the idea of that being his end sent a spike of fear into his heart.

"Father," Kai called out, pulling the whole group toward Rikan. He stood beside Channary Blackburn, patting her back and clearly uncomfortable as she sobbed into a handkerchief.