Unsinkable

Alone in the Night

If Jacin had thought the screaming of before had been wretched, the cries of the night were now filled with the hellish sobs of the damned. There were people upon the ground as if they had forgotten the troubles of the night. There were others who were calling out to those lost to them. And then there were the ones who were running. It was with them and Jacin and Winter took their stride.

The ship was tilting— not in a particularly fast manner, at least not yet, but the experience was still rather frightening. They were going down, and there was nothing that anyone could do to stop it. Jacin had hoped to get Winter onto a lifeboat, but between their confrontation with Aimery and Kai's death, time had bled dry. Their only hope now was... well, Jacin didn't know.

A flash of red hair caught Jacin's eye, and in the next moment Scarlet Benoit grabbed onto Winter, somehow stealing her away from Jacin. He felt his very bones cry out as he hand slipped from his own.

"Have you seen Ze'ev?" Scarlet screamed at Winter, shaking her by the shoulders. "Have you seen my Ze'ev? Wolf? Do you know where he is?"

"I'm sorry, I–"

"We got separated. I haven't seen him since the ship hit the ice. I don't know where he is. I don't know where he is. Do you know where he is?" Scarlet brought her face up close to Winter's. "Oh God, I don't know where he is. Please, please tell me where he is."

"I haven't seen him," Winter whispered.

Scarlet released Winter and collapsed upon the ship deck, head in her hands as she sobbed. It was horrible to watch someone in such a manner, broken and lost. But as much as Jacin wanted to help, his first priority was Winter— and if leaving this girl behind meant saving Winter, he wouldn't hesitate.

"Winter," Jacin said, his voice barely heard above the screams of the lost and dying. There was a violin still playing some sad melody off in the distance, though it was all alone in the night, making for the single sound of creation in a night of destruction. It called to his soul in the way that all artists are beckoned toward beauty, making him long to feel the vibrations of it in his bones. "Winter, we have to get out of here."

"But Scarlet–"

"There's nothing we can do for her."

Jacin hated himself. He hated that he had abandoned Rikan, one of the few people who had shown him any sort of kindness upon the ship. He absolutely despised that Kai had died for him, because Jacin knew that Aimery's gun had been trained on him and not the other boy. It tore at his very soul to remember the two Prince men and how he couldn't save them. He ached to know that this girl, too, would be doomed. But he would do whatever it took to ensure Winter's safety.

Never before had he imagined himself a man of cruelty. Of course he had never been one so inclined as to give kindness out easily, but he'd always been a man of honor— one who would help when it was needed. But this night alone had proven one thing: there were unspeakable things that Jacin Clay was capable of, beginning with his destruction Aimery Park and ending with the abandonment of Scarlet Benoit.

Winter wrapped her arms around the girl, looking at Jacin defiantly as she did so. She whispered something past the mass of red hair that only seemed to make Scarlet cry harder.

"No," Scarlet sobbed. "No. Leave me here. Leave me here. Let me to the sea— allow it to swallow me up and carry me home. Leave me. Leave me."

Gingerly, Winter placed a kiss on the girl's forehead in much the same way she had with Rikan Prince, then rose to her feet, taking Jacin's hand.

They ran, and it was as if they were traveling back in time, retracing their footsteps as they raced toward the stern of the ship. It was the place where Jacin had slept under the stars— the place where Jacin and Winter had first met just days before. The bench upon which Jacin had lain mere hours ago caught in his vision as the pair rushed against the bodies to make it to the ship's railing.