The Passengers (Book #2)

𝔑𝔬 𝔐𝔞𝔱𝔱𝔢𝔯 𝔚𝔥𝔞𝔱 ℌ𝔞𝔭𝔭𝔢𝔫𝔰, 𝔑𝔬 𝔐𝔞𝔱𝔱𝔢𝔯 ℌ𝔬𝔴 𝔖𝔠𝔞𝔯𝔶 𝔈𝔳𝔢𝔯𝔶𝔱𝔥𝔦𝔫𝔤 ℑ𝔰

Sophie yanks me through a door and down a hall. We take so many twists and turns that I'm not clear where we are. Although, I'm pretty sure we're a couple of decks down. I suck in air. She pushes through another door into a small staircase.

I pull her to a stop. "We need—"

"I remember Dennis Lennon." Her eyes are fierce and her breath is heavy.

"When did you remember him? When exactly?"

"While ya were talkin' in the lounge. It came slowly. Yer words felt right. I began ta agree with 'em. And then suddenly I saw Dennis in me mind. I remembered. I'm dead, miss." She glances nervously at the door. "And I remembered the Salvatores. I remember the young'un puttin' a spell on me and Dennis. And how we both flickered and disappears."

Sophie remembered, the ship is sinking, and yet, we're all still trapped here? How is the spell still holding? Oh no!

"I might have made a mistake." I press the heel of my hand into my forehead. Damon said that if I didn't stop talking about the sinking, I would go headfirst into the ocean. What if he meant this, that I wouldn't break the spell at all, just disrupt it enough to sink the ship and everyone on it? "We need to go to steerage, Sophie. We need help."

Her eyes widen. "The ship is goin' down. Steerage will only trap us. We'll wind up underwater in that metal cage again."

"Do you remember that little girl Zoe? She's managed to blink off this ship a few times recently. She's the only one I know of who has. Well, the only one who would help us, anyway."

Sophie hesitates for a second, fear in her eyes. She looks at the door. "Mollie will which cabin is hers. We need ta hurry." And we're moving again. Fast.

My whole body strains forward, charged with adrenaline. Sophie winds us in and out of hallways and tiny passageways. We keep our heads down and our mouths shut. Crewmen are everywhere we go, handing out life jackets and knocking on doors. With each turn I scan every face, expecting to find one of the Salvatores.

Sophie lifts a hatch, and we climb down a ladder into the ship's belly, emerging into a part of the steerage I've never seen.

It's too quiet. The halls are practically empty.

"They're still sleepin'." Sophie's voice rings. "No one woke 'em!" She picks up her dress and runs down the hall.

There are no hordes of stewards handing out life vests here. These people weren't given a chance in life, and they're not being given a chance in death.

Sophie pounds on Mollie's door, and I pound with her.

The door opens, and a squinting Mollie stands on the other side. "What's all yer drummin' about? I was dreamin' of . . ." Her eyes focus on us and she frowns. "Sweet Jaysus. Ya two look like ya seen the devil."

"The ship's flounderin'," Sophie says.

Mollie takes a step backward, like we physically hit her. "How long?"

Sophie exhales. "Soon."

"Mollie, I need Zoe," I say. "Do you know where her cabin is?"

"Aye. Down that way. Take yer first left, 'bout three doors farther on yer right."

And just like that, the girls in Mollie's cabin are all moving at once. 

I turn to Sophie. "Don't wait for me."

"But—"

"Get as many people as you can above deck!" I say as I run into the hallway. Groggy confused passengers are starting to wander out of their rooms.

"The ship is going down!" I yell as I pass the waking people. I'm met with surprised eyes.

One, two, three doors. I pound. No answer. I pound more.

A sleepy middle-aged man with a mustache and neatly parted hair opens the door and blinks at me.

Zoe's father? "Is Zoe here?"

He frowns. "Yes, miss. But it is the middle of the night."

"You need to get your family up and dressed. We struck an iceberg."

"Papa?" I hear from inside.

I walk past him. Zoe slips out of the bed she shares with her sister. Her hair is disheveled braids over her shoulders, and she rubs her eyes,

I steady my voice. "Zoe, how did you get to me in that other place? You said when you took a nap, right? Through your dream?"

She nods.

Zoe's mother sits up. "Miss, we already checked, and the man at the gate said the noise was nothing. That there was no need to be concerned."

"He did say just that," Zoe's father confirms.

"He was wrong," I say. "I'm telling you. You need to get your family dressed and above deck. The Titanic is going down." I would never forgive myself if I not only sank this ship a second time, but sank it with Zoe locked in steerage underwater for who knows how long.

I kneel down so that I'm at eye level with Zoe. "How did you get to that other place, the one where you visited me, Zoe?"

She frowns. "I do not know. It just happened."

"Do you think you could do it again? If you thought about that place, could you go there?"

Zoe shakes her head. "I don't know."

"Zoe, please . . ."

"They would have told us if there was a possibility of floundering," Zoe's father says to me.

"They didn't. And there aren't enough lifeboats." My tone is forceful. "If you stay down here, you'll be flooded.

Zoe's mother stands up and looks at her children. "Coats. Now!" They jump into motion at her words.

I hear Sophie's voice from the hallway, screaming for the passengers at the gate to break it down.

I grab Zoe's shoulders. "Listen, Zoe. This is important. Do you remember the guy you saw in my bedroom the last time you visited?" 

She nods.

"His name is Joohyuk. No matter what happens, no matter how scary everything is, Joohyuk can help. The second you can figure out to go to that other place. I need you to go to him. And I need you to tell him that the Collector is Damon Wilder. He'll understand."

Zoe's mother slips a coat onto her.

Sophie appears in the doorway with wild eyes. "He's here. The oldest Salvatore. I caught sight a him through the gate. He told the guard to unlock it. He's comin' through."

"Go, Sophie! Take the ladder. Get to the boat deck. I'll be right behind you."

"Sooji—"

"Go!"  And she does.

"Did you hear me, Zoe?" My voice is fast.

"The Collector is . . ."

"Damon Wilder," I say.

"Damon Wilder," she repeats.

"Don't forget. Please, Zoe, please don't forget."

I run out of the room. At the end of the hallway is Stefan I. And he's not alone. The drowned man is with him. They look right at me, and I sprint toward the ladder.