Waves lapped at the hull of the cruise liner as it made its way sedately across the ocean. On the main deck, leaning against the rail, she stood; breathing in the fresh sea air with her hair blowing gently in the wind. Long, curly and brown it flowed down the back of a flowery sun-dress which outlined a very shapely feminine figure.
"Good evening ma'am, may I get you anything?" Jason, part of the cruise staff, approached behind her, admiring his view. He quickly looked up as she turned around, and smiled politely. He himself was nothing special, but since he had started this job a few years back his ordinary frame had grown more toned from the lifting and running around below decks.
"A glass of wine would be lovely, thank you" She replied courteously. Jason inclined his head, before turning back to the kitchens. He always liked talking to her. Of course his job had him making polite small talk with all the guests and getting to know them slightly, but he couldn't help noticing his tendency to spend much more time around her than with some of the other guests. Her name was Rachel; she was out on the ship with her aging mother and father, a present from them to her.
She had this gracefulness about her, and a warm and pleasant personality which he found intoxicating. Also she so happened to be the most beautiful girl he'd ever laid eyes on. Jason briefly entertained the idea of asking her to dinner next shore-leave, but he dismissed this as fanciful thinking; neither would he be allowed to anyway by his boss nor would she likely want to spend time with a mere cruise ship attendant. As day turned to night the passengers made their way slowly back to their rooms, their cares and worries left far behind in the land they had sailed from.
Jason was below decks when he felt it. Or rather, didn't feel it. The boat had stopped moving. Not just in the direction they were headed but it had also stopped bobbing up and down on the waves. He climbed curiously up the metal stairway to the deck and, passing a colleague, he enquired,
"do you know what's going on?" Upon seeing his curiosity and concern mirrored in the man's face he continued up the stairs. It was dark, the waves like black ink stained the side of the ship.
How is that possible? Have we hit a reef?
Many passengers had not noticed anything was the matter, but a few had come up and now leaned over the railing, looking below, puzzled.
A great crash shook through the ship. A couple of those unwary tourists who were leaning over the rails were sent overboard. Shouts and screams sounded from those on deck, calling for aid. Another shudder, and the liner started listing to the port side. Jason frantically scanned the sea beneath, looking for telltale signs of rock or even ice, but he could see nothing, only blackness. The screeching sound of metal tearing resonated through the floor as something smacked into the starboard side of the ship, piercing straight through the hull and ripping into the holds and engine rooms. The call to abandon ship came shortly after over loudspeakers all over the vessel.
People ran, screaming, to the emergency points while Jason and the other staff tried to calm them, telling them everything would be OK. He could see it in the eyes of the other sailors; nobody knew what was happening, or how much danger they were potentially all in. The first of the three larger lifeboats had been filled, it was being lowered off the port-side as the ship leaned precariously in that direction. The ship suddenly lurched, causing an immediate wail of panic from those on the life boat. Movement, in the corner of his eye, out at sea on the starboard side caused Jason to turn from fussing with frightened passengers. He strained his eyes and squinted hard against the dark horizon. What is that? He could barely make out a black tendril, making it's way slowly out of the sea, arcing into the sky and towards them. It was hard to make out its exact shape - at one point he even thought it was just a cloud or his imagination. Then with alarming speed the tip dove, like a hellbent kamikaze plane, and speared straight through the middle of the main deck, top down. Jason felt his heart jump into his mouth as it gaped open, in a voiceless scream. From the aft of the ship, where he stood, he felt the tremor as the ship recoiled from the impact.
"Hurry! Run to the lifeboats! Run for your lives!"
There was no more ordered evacuation, there was just chaos. Jason tried to get a better look at the black tentacle, which had wrapped over the side of the ship and impaled itself through the centre, but streams of people kept bumping into him all of them fleeing as far away from it as possible.
What is it?
"Sir! Please sir, oh my god please!" Jason turned quickly. Rachel's parents stood next to the second main lifeboat, next to a pack of scared tourists pushing each other and trying to jam on board.
"Sorry ma'am and sir but you need to leave, immediately, it's not safe" He tried to placate them with, seeing the distress written openly upon their faces. Tears streamed from their eyes as they shook their heads, shouting above the din,
"It's Rachel! She's not here! I think she might be stuck in her room!" He looked back at them blankly for a moment. The amount of damage caused to the ship already could easily have trapped some people in their rooms with broken debris and water flooding in. Out of the side of his eye he saw the lifeboat. He wanted nothing more than to jump aboard, shove his head between his knees with his eyes shut and wait it out, relinquish all responsibility and just pray for safety. Gritting his teeth he clenched his fists, tore his gaze from the lifeboat, and sprinted towards the passengers' rooms.
I can never just take the easy option can I?
As he shoved open the door and stepped through he gasped aloud. His foot had landed in ice-cold water. Taking a deep breath and pushing aside the paralyzing wave of fear which had suddenly seized his heart he dove, swimming with broad powerful strokes down into the corridor. Wistfully he remembered the previous week, turning up at her room following a request from Rachel for some new towels. Jason had stood awkwardly in the open doorway, arms outstretched with the fresh bundle as she stood partially concealed behind the door, wearing only a top, which revealed the glowing colour of her lightly tanned sleek and long legs, up to the thighs. She had taken the towels, winked at him, then closed the door. The memory had remained burned into his retinas for the remainder of that day and all of the next.
Jason angled up, swimming across the ship but skyward, as the liner listed. He could see her room now. A large riveted metal beam had collapsed from the ceiling, or been torn through the hallway he did not know, and lay betwixt the door and the opposite wall, one end stuck on each, barring it from opening. The tiniest of bubbles escaped his mouth as he started to feel the strain of holding his breath. He could hear her banging and screaming through the door, and felt a small surge of confidence. The water level was rapidly rising but for now the hallway with her room was not submerged. Jason surfaced, spluttering a little for air, then wasted no time in clambering up.
"Rachel can you hear me? Are you alright?" He shouted into the door.
"Yes! Yes I'm fine! The door is stuck I can't get out!" She replied, panic edging into her voice.
"I'm going to try and open it; stand away from the door, and get ready to hold your breath!"
Jason turned back to the beam, and, placing both hands on it, he tried to shove it to the side, so that it would fall unstuck to the ground. It held fast. Strain showed on his face as he leaned into it, grunting slightly with effort. He felt the water reach his feet as the level rose. It slithered silently up his leg, whose muscles were taut with his exertion. As it reached his waist he yelled out, and the bar budged slightly, the sound of metal scraping across metal perforating through the echoes of distant screams and cries. He kept pushing, as the water reached his chest the bar edged more and more. The water crept over his mouth nose and sealed his precious airway shut. With a final effort the bar gave way completely, and the door fell open. He took Rachel's hand and pulled her out of her room. Together they dove into the water and he lead her out. Arms aching, chest already heaving with effort, barely containing that life sustaining oxygen, he swam, checking every now and then to make sure Rachel was behind him. Emergency lights had activated some time ago and bathed them in an eerie green glow from the walls. Jason could feel his vision clouding, red spots arising at the corners of his vision. Finally they rounded the corner, up the stairwell, and onto the deck.
Gasping for breath they cheered and hugged out of pure relief, allowing themselves that brief moment of victory and adrenaline induced euphoria in amongst the panic and chaos which was splayed out on deck.
"Where are my parents? Are they safe?" Rachel was quick to ask after they pulled apart.
"They're on the second lifeboat, it will have been lowered into the water by now; we'll need to head to the last one. They're fine," Jason reassured. The third lifeboat was being filled, most of the passengers had already boarded it; only a handful were still queuing up. For a moment, Rachel slumped her shoulders and relaxed as they headed over, and started to feel safe again. Just then water erupted beneath the lifeboat, a cascade rising in a ring as another huge tentacle rocketed from the deep, tearing through the smaller boat and everybody in it, then slammed onto the deck, this time horizontally across it. Wood splintered beneath it as the already wounded deck gave in, metal snapping from it's weight.
"Rachel! Take my hand!" As the ship split slowly in two, Jason grabbed onto the railing with his right hand, the left clutching onto a struggling Rachel, who was scrabbling at the deck as it tilted inwardly. Next to them, strapped to the side of a wall, was a dinghy designed for a small group of people to sit in. Jason hoisted himself up onto the rail, and reached down to help up Rachel. Climbing over he unhooked it from the wall, and it fell to the deck, sliding down to the sea.
"You ready? We have to go, now!" Rachel nodded, face tight with exertion.
This is a stupid, stupid idea.
Jason smiled inwardly, winked at Rachel, then jumped.
