Table of Contents [Report This]
Disclaimer: Hi. Jarod, Miss Parker, Sydney… blah, blah, blah, [everything] to do with the Pretender is NBC’s, not mine.
Author's Note: You will notice some parts are a lot like a movie we are familiar with. Hmmm... oops. You will know which movie once you read this.
Their World Upside Down
by AngelWings
Miss Parker slid her sunglasses down her nose and away from her sharp, blue eyes. She slowly looked around her surroundings and huffed in disgust. Oh god, she hated vacation, not to mention California! First thing she was going to do is get an answer from her father of why he sent her here for her two weeks rest. No, wait, that will be the second thing. First she will hurt him severely, [then] ask him.
She decided she shouldn’t stand around at the airport looking lost, so she quickly received her bags and took off for the exit.
As soon as she stepped outside, the heat hit her like a kick in the gut. It was surprisingly hot for late at night. That just made her want to turn around, get another ticket away from here, return to the Centre, walk straight to her father’s office and strangle him with her own two hands. But instead she waved for a taxi.
As the noisy, rusty, bad excuse for a vehicle pulled up to the curb, it made Miss Parker’s revenge more brutal. She just hoped the driver knew English.
She watched with stoney eyes as the driver got out and put her bags in the trunk. He gave her a small grin of yellow teeth, but she ignored it and got in without a word. He quickly returned to his seat behind the wheel.
“Where will it be miss?” he asked, with a small accent lingering in his voice. Miss Parker’s eyes snapped up to the rear view mirror, where she saw his small eyes watching and waiting for her to respond.
“Sunset Inn,” she snapped. He responded with a smile and put the taxi in gear.
“Ah, the hotel by the beach. That is a very nice place. You on vacation?” he began, trying to make conversation.
“Am I paying you to bore me? If I am, don’t expect much,” she sneered at him. His smile and desperation to make a new friend vanished just as quickly as the road zipped under his tires. He swallowed hard and drove the rest of the way in silence.
When they got there, the taxi driver quickly got out and received her bags, dumped them on the pavement in front of the hotel and got back in before Miss Parker could even get out and grind her cigarette under her toe. She threw him a tip and quickly gathered her things and got inside, before her make-up would melt right off her face.
“Parker,” she snapped at the clerk. The clerk gave her a weak smile and ran her poor manicured fingernail down a list of names. Miss Parker tapped her fingers impatiently, as the blonde moved her bright red lips as she read the names.
“Ah, here we are. Miss Parker,” she read, pointing to the name. She handed her a key and gave her one final smile. “Have a good time,” she said. Miss Parker nodded a quick nod and quickly took off for the elevator. At least the hotel halls were decent enough. It was good fashioned, with a flowered vase here and a blue rug there. Let’s just hope the rooms relate.
Miss Parker let out a small sigh of relief when her room was cold with air conditioning and had the same fashion as the halls. She set her bags in the closet and collapsed on the bed. [Ah, yes, this is what I call a vacation] she thought as she lay there and let the cold air dry her sweat. After a long moment she sat up and walked to the curtained sliding glass doors that led to the balcony.
She pulled the curtains open and gasped softly at the view. It was gorgeous! There was a perfect sunset setting in the water, filled with purple, blue, yellow and orange. She slid open the doors and stepped outside. It got a little cooler, but not much, but for the first time she didn’t care. She leaned on the railing and watched as the sun slowly began to disappear into the blue waves.
She sighed and looked around the shoreline. There was no one in sight, except for a guy sitting on a blanket, cross-legged. He had his shirt off and Miss Parker noticed the handsome shoulder blades that stuck out as he leaned back and rested his weight on his strong arms, watching the sunset in fascination. She couldn’t see his face, but knew he was handsome. He had dark hair and a perfect jaw line. She ran her eyes down his backbone, to the waist of his pants. He had the perfect body. If only she could see his face.
As if someone read her mind, a little girl ran out to the guy, calling his name. Miss Parker pushed off from the rail and stood up straight. Did she hear correctly? She leaned forward to hear.
“Jarod! Jarod! Mommy wants you to join us for dinner at the restaurant tonight. She said she wants to thank you for saving Tommy’s life again. Please come, please come!” the little girl pleaded, before Jarod could even turn around.
“Well… alright,” Jarod agreed with a smile. The little girl bent down and wrapped her arms around his neck.
“Thank you!” she said happily.
“Small world after all,” Miss Parker whispered to herself, as she watched the scene. She smiled cat-like before taking off for the elevator.
“I’m going to wash up. Dinner is in an hour!” she claimed, as she took off for the hotel again.
“I’ll be there!” he called after her. He shook his head as he smiled and returned his attention to the sunset again. It was only a couple minutes from disappearing completely. He sighed in fascination. He loved the beach: so peaceful, so pure.
Miss Parker silently trotted up behind him, the sand making it easy to be quiet. She was able to get a foot behind him before he even heard her.
“Didn’t know you were a [water] rat,” she sneered, causing him to leap to his feet and spin around in surprise. He stared at her in shock, as she stared back with her icy glare.
“What are [you] doing here?” he finally asked.
“Funny, I was going to ask you the same thing,” she shot back. He stared at her again.
“Well, I have a dinner to go to,” he said, bending over and picking up the blanket and his shirt.
“Ah-ah, not so fast. You aren’t going anywhere without me!”
“You are welcome to come,” he offered. She lifted one eyebrow in disgust.
“Excuse me?” she asked.
“But, there probably isn’t enough seats to have your sweeper team come,” he said, ignoring her question.
“First, why would I go to dinner with [you]? And second, I’m here alone. I’m on vacation.”
He let out a grunt of laughter. “You, vacation? Impossible!”
It was her turn to cross her arms. “Possible. Look, we can take this conversation in the hotel, where I can handcuff you to a doorknob or something.”
“Sorry. As good as that might sound... I have plans. Are you coming or not?” he said, walking past her.
“I’m not…” she paused, considering it for a moment. Maybe she should. That will probably be the only way she can keep an eye on him. “Fine, I’ll go. But right after, you’re mine!” she shot out, not thinking of what she said.
He turned around and smiled a boyish smile.
“Ah… I mean, you are the Centre’s,” she quickly corrected.
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That night, Miss Parker wore her new navy blue dress, with the slit going down her right leg. She almost smiled as she watched the hotel guests stare at her as she passed them, on her way down the hall. She and Jarod decided to meet with each other in the elevator.
As she got closer and closer to the elevator, thoughts seemed to bounce through her head. Why is she doing this? She is meeting [Jarod] for dinner. Would if he stands her up? She began to think of all the ways she could make him pay if he stands her up, as she waited for the elevator doors to ding open.
When they did, she tried everything in her power not to let her jaw drop to the floor. He was gorgeous! He wore a black tux with a blue tie; almost the same shade as her dress and his hair was softly styled.
She kept eye contact as she entered, noticing how his gorgeous baby browns sparkled in the light.
“You look beautiful,” he said in a deep tone.
“Not bad yourself,” she said quietly. She tried everything she could not to let the weakness show through her voice.
As the elevator doors slid closed and began to go down, she slowly turned her head towards him a little, so she could keep her eye on him. She looked at every detail about him: his shoes, his watch, his tie, his pants, his coat.
Finally the doors dinged open, and they both quietly walked to the exit. As they got outside, he led her to his mustang.
“You may take your own car, if you don’t want to ride with me,” he said, almost in a pouting manner. She looked up at him and into his dark eyes.
“Gentlemen always open doors for women,” she said, gesturing towards the red door. He gave her a smile that sent sparkles to his eyes and gladly opened the door for her, as she stepped inside. He slammed the door shut and trotted over to the driver’s side and hopped in as well. He was about to put the key in when she spoke up again, “And besides… I didn’t bring my car.” He paused at that, glanced at her and then put the key in and turned it on.
They rode in silence, Miss Parker looking out the window and Jarod tapping his finger on the wheel quietly as the soft whisper of music sang from the radio. Miss Parker had to admit the city was beautiful at night. She didn’t know why, but she felt so safe and happy. She quickly glanced at Jarod, who kept his eyes on the road, and almost smiled. That is where her safe and happiness is coming from, it is him. Having him with her, being so close to her, for him nowhere to run. She let out a soft sigh, getting his attention. He glanced at her.
“Something wrong?” he asked with concern. She quietly shook her head. “Are you sure? I can turn off the radio,” he said, reaching for the knobs on the dash. She quickly pushed his hand down.
“You worry too much,” she snapped. He quickly brought his hand back to the stirring wheel and shrugged his shoulders.
“Well, always want to make you happy,” he said without a thought. She looked at him. “Um… well since you, ah, always like it to be prefect and everything,” he quickly corrected. His uneasiness was cute on him, she thought.
“Of course, “ she said with a smile, returning to the window again.
When they arrived to dinner, Jarod was greeted with four hugs and a handshake from the family.
“I’m so glad you could make it Jarod,” the mother, Mrs. Hoard, said with a smile. Her husband nodded thankfully in agreement.
“Me too,” Jarod said, giving Miss Parker a brief glance. “Um, excuse me. This is my… this is Miss Parker.”
“Oh, how nice to meet you,” Mr. and Mrs. Hoard said, holding out their hands. Miss Parker forced a smile and shook both hands. “Glad you could make it as well.”
All of them finally took their seats. Miss Parker took a seat by Jarod, as the two little girls, one she saw earlier and the other a little older, were fighting over who will get the other seat next to Jarod.
“Sarah, Nicole! Knock it off!” their father demanded in a low voice.
Finally, the oldest, Nicole took the seat across from Jarod, as the youngest gladly took the seat next to him. The little boy, probably Tommy, sat next to the oldest, as the parents took the last remaining seats.
“We can’t thank you enough, Jarod,” Mrs. Hoard began as she clasped her hands in front of her and laid them on the table. Jarod replied with a smile. “How can we ever repay you?”
“Don’t. This is enough,” he said with a smile.
Miss Parker glanced at Nicole, who was staring at Jarod, with her elbow on the table, with her chin resting on the back of her hand and her eyes half in a daze. Miss Parker had a hard time keeping the smile from her lips.
After a quick glance at the menus, the waitress finally came, a smile on her face and pad of paper in her hand. Everyone made their orders and she quickly left, only to return with their food.
As they began to eat, Miss Parker saw Sarah, the youngest daughter lean forward to see around Jarod at Miss Parker. She then tugged at Jarod’s jacket.
“Is that lady your girlfriend?” she whispered, but Miss Parker heard it. She saw the smile appear on Jarod’s lips and then he shook his head no. Miss Parker could not deny the sligth disappointment she felt.
Dinner went by rather quickly and the night grew late. Mr. and Mrs. Hoard said they better get the kids home and to bed before they fall asleep in their chairs. As they were leaving, Sarah walked with Jarod outside.
“You gonna visit?” she asked, tugging on his jacket, almost bending her neck in half to look up at him. Jarod smiled and bent down on his haunches.
“Of course,” he said with a smile. Sarah smiled and wrapped her arms around his neck for a quick embrace. Jarod wrapped his long arms around her tiny waist and lifted her toes from the ground. He effortlessly through her in the air, as she giggled. “Well kiddo, we got to go,” he said with a huff, setting her down on the ground. She nodded a sad nod and gave him a finale kiss on the cheek and took off for their minivan. Nicole waved in a shy manner before getting into the van after her sister.
“Thank you,” the little boy, Tommy, whispered shyly before taking off after his siblings.
Jarod waved as the van was put into gear and began its way out of the parking lot.
“Some family,” Miss Parker said behind him. He slowly turned around.
“Yeah, the family I never had,” he said softly.
“Oh, you are breaking my heart,” she sneered. He looked to the ground and she caught the hard swallow in his Adams Apple. She almost felt sorry for him, [almost]. “Well we better get back to the hotel before it gets too late to call the Centre.”
“It’s never too late to call the Centre,” he replied. “Besides, who said I was going back to the hotel with you? I have other plans.”
“Don’t even…”
“What are you going to do about it?”
“So help me god, I will knock you over the head with my shoe and [carry] you back to the hotel!”
“Well, if you are going to do that, ask someone to take a picture. I would like to see it.”
“Smart ass!”
“Bitch!”
She leaned back a little. “Excuse me?”
“You heard me!” he yelled with a smile.
That was the first time she had heard Jarod call her a name like that. But it wasn’t that he was trying to be mean, it was sort of in a playful manner. He grinned boyishly at her as she turned speechless.
“How dare you!” she hissed through her teeth. He shook his head knowingly before glancing to his watch and letting out a sigh.
“Well, it has all been… really nice, but I have a boat to catch.”
“A boat?”
He nodded, as she put her hands on her hips and put her weight on one leg.
“You on a boat? What boat on what ocean, going where… without me?”
He shook his head as he smiled. “You are too funny,” he said, a trace of sarcasm.
“Ha. Ha. Ha. Ha,” she said slowly, sarcasm dripping from her tone. “Now water rat, come back to the hotel and we will discuss it later, okay?”
He shook his. “Sorry, not tonight,” and with that he took off towards his car.
“Jarod! Get your butt back here!” she shouted after him, before breaking into a run herself. “Jarod, I’m going to kill you!”
As soon as he was there, he yanked open the car door and sat inside with a thud, almost bumping his head on the roof, and roughly jammed the key in and turned it until the engine roared.
“Jarod, you better not leave me here or I’ll kill you!” Miss Parker shouted, only a few inches from pulling the handle on the passenger door. Right when her fingernails touched the metal of the handle, Jarod kicked the accelerator to the floor and took off out of the parking lot before Miss Parker could even get her first cuss word out.
“Damn you son-of-a-bitch!” she shouted after the speeding red mustang leaving her in its dust. [Mental note: ALWAYS bring a gun].
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“Thank you,” Jarod said to the ticket master, before taking off towards the walkway to get on the huge luxury liner, the Mauritania.
The air was fresh, the sound of seagulls in the air, the wind was light. Jarod thought it was the perfect day. He had decided to take this cruise for only one reason, just to get away. See, on an ocean liner in the middle of the ocean no one can get you. He smiled at that thought. A whole week of not worrying or checking if the coast was clear, because now it was going to be clear every minute of every day of the week.
As he stepped on the ship, he almost gasped out load. It was beautiful. The halls on the ship were dark oaks, and had old fashion designs on the ceiling and the dinner area had fresh china and table clothes of white lace. The smooth railing on the beautiful staircase in the dining area that leads to higher decks were dark oaks also that shined from varnish. In a matter of fact, everything shined like it was brand new. Which it probably was, since Mauritania has had only two journeys across the Atlantic.
Jarod walked slowly up the stairs, admiring every detail of the ship. What a week this is going to be!
Finally he came to his room. He stuck the key in the slot and turned it, pushing the door open he looked around in awe. The room was beautiful. Everything was old fashion, with a fireplace here and a painting there. The only thing that looked modern, was the TV and the radio in the far corner.
He smiled as he sat down on his huge bed. [Wow] he thought, [I am going to enjoy this week].
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Later that night, Jarod roamed around the ship, checking out everything and everyone about it. He had already made a couple friends as well.
Now he was on top deck, enjoying the chilling night air brushing on his face and enjoying the light of the moon and stars in the sky. The wind gently blew at his hair and his long drench coat, feeling the freedom he barely had. God he loved to be free.
He walked over to the side railing and looked over the side and watched the waves splash up onto the huge ship as it crashed through the water effortlessly. He let out a long and happy sigh and leaned down to rest his chin on his crossed arms that rested on the cold metal railing.
She watched him lean on the railing and fascinate the water below. She found herself sighing happily as well. She couldn’t help her self. Jarod had a good idea about getting on a boat. Just the wind and the sound of the waves crashing into the ship’s sides were enough to make [anyone] feel happy and free.
He slowly let his eyelids close while listening to the soft sound of the waves below him whooshing against the boat. A smile yanked at the sides of his mouth at the feel of the chill in the air whisking through his hair almost put him to sleep. He could have gone to sleep right there if someone hadn’t said anything to him from behind. He quickly stood up and turned around to see Miss Parker standing before him. His eyes widened at her figure.
She can’t be there! She just can’t! No! This was his week! It was his week of freedom!
“What the hell are you doing here?” he shouted at her angrily. She was surprised at his explosion and stepped back a step.
“What do you mean? I would think you would be used to it,” she sneered. Jarod spun around and leaned forward, putting his weight on the railing again. “Something troubling you, rat boy?” she asked, crossing her arms across her chest. Jarod concentrated on the waves, trying to block out her voice. This is not what he wanted, not at all!
“Oh god do I hate this!” he shouted, spinning around again. “Always on my heels! I hate this so much!” Miss Parker narrowed her eyes.
“I hate [you] more!” she shouted back, almost in a childish manner. Jarod let out an angry and frustrated grunt, as he pushed past her. “And where are you going?”
“It’s a damn boat, Miss Parker. I’m not going anywhere!” he shouted over his shoulder.
As he walked along the railing on the far side she whispered to herself, “Wow, didn’t see that one coming.” Usually, Jarod would make a smart remark as they came face to face again. But now he just [blew up] in her face.
She trotted up to him again. “Well, aren’t you going to tell me what is wrong?”
He spun around to face her again. “What is wrong? What is wrong? What do you mean, ‘what is wrong’. I know you aren’t a genius, but you aren’t stupid! You are what’s wrong!”
“Well, excuse me! It’s my [job] to be on your heels! If you got a problem with it then you… you can… um,” she couldn’t think of anything to say, so she just crossed her arms and looked to the ground as if she was pouting. Jarod rolled his eyes, spun around and started walking alone the rail again. She caught up with him, staying right on his heels. He suddenly stopped and leaned on the rail and stood there for a while, waiting for the other one to say something.
“Well, I’m on vacation, so… let’s call it a truce,” he finally said. He looked at her, as she stared back. “Truce?”
She then crossed her arms and just stared in consideration. “Truce as in what?”
“As in completely staying away from each other! Truce or no?” he asked, reaching out his hand. She glanced down at it and then back into his eyes and finally took his hand as he gentle shook it.
She suddenly tightened her grip and pulled him to her, so their breaths were both on each other’s lips. “And after the ship docks, you are mine,” and with that she spun on her heel and left him there, still with his hand out stretched, watching as her figure disappeared down the stairs.
Jarod shook his head and spun around to walk to the front of the ship. He slowly leaned over and watched as the bow of the ship sliced through the blue waves with effortless ease. Again, he closed his eyes and let the sound of the waves fill his ears.
“Are you okay?” he heard a female voice ask. He stood up and spun around in surprise.
“Excuse me?” he asked the blonde politely. She was beautiful. Long blonde hair that went past her shoulders, a blue unbuttoned shirt, with a white v-neck under it, that blew in the wind, and faded blue jeans.
She smiled shyly. “I ah, saw how that woman treated you. I was wondering if you were alright,” she said, putting her hands behind her back. Jarod smiled.
“I’m fine. Thank you,” he said with a nod. She nodded back in response.
“I’m Mallory, Mallory Green,” she introduced, reaching her hand out for his.
“Jarod… Smith,” Jarod said, taking her hand.
She could have held his hand forever. God he was gorgeous. The tall, dark and handsome was always her type. She smiled at that thought. When her and her friend spotted him coming aboard earlier that day, both of them could have died. Perfect, stuck on a boat with a handsome guy for a week! Now she had him right where she wanted him. Her friend is going to be so jealous!
“Would you like to accompany me to the dinner party tonight, Mr. Smith?” she asked, waving her hand behind her.
“Please call me Jarod. Sure, I’d love to get to know you more,” he said with a smile.
“Great!” she said a little too excited. She swallowed hard. “Great,” she said more calmly. “See you tonight.” She slowly spun around and walked to the stairs that lead to the lower decks.
Jarod let out a long sigh and spun around again to watch the waves gently white cap in the distance. Looks like a storm is coming.
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That night, dinner was a little too elegant and good mannered for Jarod, but he hung in there. Everywhere he looked there was an overly jeweled nose in the air with a pinky sticking out from their wineglass.
Mallory and Jarod sat across from each other at a table on the far end of the room.
“Goodness, this place is nice,” Mallory said, looking around. Jarod nodded in agreement.
“I feel out of place,” Jarod admitted.
“Me too,” Mallory said. Just then, the waiter showed and received their orders.
“Will that be it?” the waiter asked, tucking the menus under his arm.
“Um, and some wine please,” Mallory said, glancing at Jarod who lifted both his eyebrows. Waiter nodded and disappeared.
“Wine, eh?” Jarod said with a smile, leaning forward a little. Mallory nodded.
“Of course. You can’t be in a fancy place like this without wine, now can you?”
“I guess not,” Jarod replied, leaning back in his chair and glancing around one more time. Every once in a while, he would spot a woman staring at him, and not knowing why, it made him uncomfortable. Jarod returned his attention to the woman across the table from him. “Did I tell you that you look really nice tonight?”
Mallory felt the blush that crept up from her collar. “Thank you. You are handsome [and] sweet!” They sat there for a while before Mallory spoke again, “To get more personal, where you from?”
“Um, here and there,” Jarod asked, fiddling with his napkin.
“Ah, a traveler, no?” she asked, leaning her chin on her left palm.
“You can say that. And what about you, where you from?”
“Florida,” she replied.
“I’ve been there. Nice place. Been to Disney World?”
Mallory let out a soft giggle. “Love it!”
“Me too,” Jarod responded with a smile that made his eyes sparkle.
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Miss Parker watched from outside the glass doors that lead to the dinning area at Jarod and some bimbo. They seemed to be having a good time since both were laughing and smiling constantly. She couldn’t help feeling a little jealous, but she would never admit it. She let out a long and tired sigh and retreated back to her room.
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Jarod slowly walked down the hall to his room. Dinner was the best he had in a while and enjoyed the company too. That Mallory was something, but nothing he would jump over board for.
He stopped by his door and was about to put the key in when…
“I’m surprised you didn’t bring her back to your room!” Miss Parker sneered from behind him, stepping out an elevator. He looked over his shoulder.
“Well, well Miss Parker, taking notes on what I do?” Jarod asked, spinning around all the way.
“Of course,” she said with an evil smile. She pulled out a pen, looked at his door and wrote on her hand while reading out loud, “Room A13.” She snapped the pen’s top back on with her thumb and dropped it in her pocket.
“Well, I’d love to chat with you, but I’m beat, so if you don’t mind,” he said turning to his door again and putting the key in the slot.
“You tired? The one who never sleeps, never gets tired,” she stated, crossing her arms. She watched as he turned the key and pushed the door open.
“Good night Miss P.,” he said with a smile, pushing the door closed. Miss Parker stuck her hand in the way of the door and pushed it open.
“Ah-ah, not so fast,” she said, stepping inside his room. She looked around and nodded. “Nice place.” Jarod plopped down on his bed.
“Yeah well, they all look the same,” he said, lying down on his back, with his legs still hanging off the end of the bed.
“Anyway, there is a dinner party tomorrow night. You are coming with me,” she ordered. He snapped his head up and looked at her over his chest.
“Huh?” he asked, dumbfounded.
“You heard me,” she said, putting one hand on her hip and all her weight on her right leg.
“Oh please,” he said with a laugh.
“And what could be so funny about it?”
“[You] are asking [me] to do to dinner tomorrow night. Is that possible?”
“Possible,” she hissed through her teeth. He sat up and cocked his head to the side and lifted both eyebrows.
“And… why?”
She stared at him for a long moment. “Because… because I can um, keep an eye on you, of course!”
“Why?”
“What do you mean?” she asked, feeling a little more uncomfortable.
“Why keep an eye on me? I’m not going anywhere. I can’t go anywhere!”
“You are Jarod. Of course you can go somewhere. You [always] have your ways of getting away from me!”
“Well not this time.”
She shook her head in disagreement. “Well, I’ll see you tomorrow!” and with that she quickly opened the door and left with a slam. Jarod shook his head before getting ready for bed.
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Knock, knock, knock. He slowly opened his tired eyes and waited for them to focus. Knock, knock. He closed his eyes tightly again and then opened them. He hadn’t dreamed the knocking.
“Jarod, are you in there?” he heard a muffled voice come from the other side of his door. He slowly sat up as he groaned and then patted over to the door in bare feet, white T-shirt and boxers. He looked through the peek hole and saw Miss Parker standing there. He leaned back from the door and let out a sigh.
“Three in the morning and already you are on my case?” he asked, yanking open the door. She looked at him up and down and couldn’t hold in the smile.
“Well excuse me,” she said, pushing her way into his room. “At least I knocked.”
“Oh, of course. We will give you credit for that,” he said in sarcasm. She spun around and looked at him with her hands on her hips. She couldn’t help but let her eyes trail down him again. He looked good in blue [silk] boxers. She let out a giggle. “What?” he asked, looking down at himself as well.
“Nothing,” she said, shaking her head and covering her smile with her hand.
Changing the subject, Jarod asked, “So what brings you here so [early] in the morning?”
“Captain’s orders. There is a huge storm coming this way and they want all passengers prepared.”
“Wait, wait, you came here in the morning at three o’clock to tell me of bad weather? Why would you do that? Are you worried about me?” he asked, stepping closer. She lifted both eyebrows in surprise.
“Yeah right,” she said, sarcasm dripping from her tone. She pushed him farther away. “You wish.”
“Actually, no I don’t,” he said with a smile. She gave him an evil eye. “Then why?”
“Um… the captain told everyone to spread the word around. I didn’t know very many people, so I came to you. Is that so hard to understand?”
“Yeah,” he said, smiling a huge smile that made his eyes glitter.
“Well guess it’s your problem then. Anyway, get dressed, we are going to breakfast,” she ordered, snapping her fingers.
“We?” Jarod asked, crossing his arms. “And now?”
“Yes ‘we’, and now! C’mon, get dressed.”
He just stood there and stared at her like she was talking in a foreign language.
“Get dressed,” she demanded, walking past him and looking in his closet. She brought out his suitcase and plopped it on the bed. “Now!” she said, pointing to the suitcase. Jarod shook his head.
“Do you enjoy your power over people?” Jarod asked, walking over to the bed.
“Oh yes, especially over men,” she said with a smile. He gave her a brief glance of shock before opening his suitcase and grabbing a black T-shirt and a pair of khaki bootleg jeans. He quickly retreated to the bathroom, where he would get some privacy. She let out a sigh and sat down on the bed and waited for his return.
When he came out a few minutes later, she sat up straighter to look at him better. He looked good in baggy jeans, held up with a brown belt. She found herself staring at him as he looked in the closet for his black leather coat.
He finally looked at her and saw her eyes on him. He wiped his hair back with his hand nervously. “What?” he asked. She blinked a couple times and leaned back a little after realizing she had been staring.
“Huh?” she asked.
“You were staring at me,” he said, throwing his coat on the bed and picking up the suitcase and placing it in the closet.
“C’mon, let’s get going,” she said, changing the subject. He nodded and received his coat from the bed, and followed her out the door.
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“What will it be today, folks?” the waitress said politely, holding a pad of paper in front of her, waiting to jot down their orders.
“Just give me the eggs and bacon,” Miss Parker snapped, tossing her the menu.
“I’ll have the same,” Jarod said politely, handing her the menu, rather than throwing it. The waitress smiled at Jarod before turning and walking back to the kitchen. Miss Parker shook her head.
“Do have like a spell that attracts the hearts of women everywhere you go?” Miss Parker suddenly blurted out.
“What?” Jarod asked, looking up from the newspaper he was reading.
“Oh come one, don’t tell me you don’t notice all those females smiling and drooling at the sight of you,” she said, leaning forward on the table.
“Why? Do you ‘drool’ at the sight of me?” he asked with a boyish smile, leaning forward a little as well. She leaned back.
“No!” she said, a little too fast and sharp. Apparently he didn’t believe it when he responded with a laugh. “I don’t!”
“Of course not,” he said, leaning back again and returning his gaze to the paper. Miss Parker rubbed her neck nervously. “Do you notice them?” he suddenly asked, not even looking up from the paper.
“What?” she asked. He folded the paper and put his arms on the table.
“Do [you] notice the [men] staring at you?” he asked.
“They don’t.”
“Yeah they do,” he assured her, and gestured towards the door. There, standing there was a blonde man, staring at her from under a pair of eyeglasses that rested on his nose.
“Well at least you get the attractive ones,” she said with a smile, turning back to Jarod. Jarod smiled and shook his head. He looked at the blonde again, who now saw Jarod watching him. Jarod waved in a childish manner, causing the man to run right out of the door quickly. Miss Parker began to laugh, followed by Jarod. “Should I thank you?” she asked while still laughing.
“You’re welcome,” he said with laughter in his voice.
“Here you go,” the waitress said, coming up from behind them. She set down the two plates. “Need anything else, just give a holler,” and with that she left them two to enjoy their meals.
They both ate in silence, glancing up at each other once in a while. When they were finally finished they quickly paid the bill and took off.
As they walked down the hall of the great ship, Miss Parker began to get second thoughts of what she was doing. She couldn’t be in love with Jarod. It wasn’t possible to love him. He was supposed to be her enemy!
“Now what?” Jarod asked, as they walked down the hall.
“I don’t know about you, but I’m going on top deck,” Miss Parker snapped. Jarod looked at her oddly.
“Why the sudden attitude?” he asked with a frown.
“What attitude?” she asked innocently, giving him one last evil eye and taking off for the elevator. Jarod followed her. “And what do you think you are doing?”
“Going on top deck with you,” he said. She stared at him for a long moment before turning and entering the elevator. “Look I don’t know what I missed, but I hope it scrambles under a table and out of our sight fast, because I’m not liking it one bit!” he said angrily to her, as the elevator doors slid closed and began to move up.
“What are you talking about?” she asked wickedly.
“You know perfectly what I’m talking about,” he snapped back.
The elevator doors opened with a ding and Miss Parker quickly exited. “Jarod, just leave me alone.”
“What? Leave [you] alone?” Jarod asked, following her up the stairs and onto deck. “What has gotten into you?”
“Look, this is wrong for us to be… together and to have smiles on our faces,” she said looking down to the ground, not wanting to bear with his eyes.
“What?” he asked. He stared at her for a long moment, and then leaned back a little when it dunned on him. “You just don’t want to admit it, do you?”
“Admit what?” she asked, looking up at him now.
“Admit that you… that we could be happy together. That you are in love with me!”
“What? You have got to be kidding!” she said, spinning around and beginning to walk away from him.
“You do, don’t you?” he said, trotting behind her in order to keep up with her pace. She suddenly stopped and spun around, almost having Jarod bump right into her.
“How on earth would I ever be in love with you? You are the most… childish, immature, egoistic man I have ever met, let alone being a lab rat, and not a clue of who you are and where you came from! As far as I’m concern, you were scraped on the bottom of the Centre’s shoe and there is where you were left to be stumped on and walked on every second of every minute of every day of your damn life! And there is where you belong and should have stayed! You are a child Jarod! God damned child who is lost and no where to go! Well don’t drag your teddy bear to me!” After she had blurted it all out, she wanted to bring it all back to her lips, after seeing the pain in his eyes. It felt like a thousand knifes slicing their way through her cold heart.
He quickly looked to the ground, unable to look into her eyes anymore. Her words bounced painfully through his head and soul, causing more pain than a pick-up truck running him over again and again. He wanted to leap over the railing right now and let the icy water kill him; well at least it would be warmer than her words.
He slowly looked up at her again, as she stared at him, not wickedly, almost concern in her eyes, but it just couldn’t be. He stepped back a little and turned around on his heel, and jolted down the stairs before she could stab him one more time with her words.
She swallowed hard as she watched him disappear down the stairs. She had gone too far, too far indeed. Hell she could park a van in his wound that she had caused. Where did that angry arise from? She has been hiding her feelings for so long, she would hurt someone she cared about to keep it that way. No, she couldn’t care for him, well not as a lover anyway, maybe as an old friend.
She let out a long and desperate sigh before turning for the bow. She stopped dead in her tracks as she noticed for the first time how dark the sky was and how the waves white capped in the distance. Now she could feel the boat rock back in forth, not hard enough to cause her to be unbalanced, but it was enough to make anyone nauseous.
She saw a crew member trot passed her. She quickly grabbed him by the arm.
“What’s the hurry sailor?” she asked. He looked at her quickly and glanced out at the waves.
“Storm’s coming miss. We are getting prepared. You must return to the lower decks. It’s not safe up here,” and with that he got free from her grip and retreated to the stairs.
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“Attention ladies and gentlemen! Thank you for cooperating with us. For your own safety, there is a dangerous storm approaching, so we would like you all to be prepared for the worst,” the captain announced to the huge crowd gathered in the dining area, and it was only half the people.
Miss Parker slid into the crowded room, only inches of room left for her, and turned her attention on the captain’s words.
“I would like you all to put on your life jackets on for safety purposes.” As the captain showed the crowd how to tighten the straps, Miss Parker glanced across the room to spot Jarod standing there, all his attention on the captain.
“You are kidding,” Miss Parker heard someone whisper behind her. She looked over her shoulder to see the same blonde bimbo Jarod had dinner with the other night and another woman, that had black hair, standing by the door, watching Jarod. “You had dinner with [him]?” the one ask.
“Yep,” the bimbo replied. “He was the sweetest thing too.”
“Oh god, I hate you,” the other said, crossing her arms across her chest. Miss Parker turned to face the two and gave them the wickedest smile.
“Jarod is mine, so back off!” she hissed at them. Both women exchanged glances and stepped back a little.
Finally gathering her courage, Mallory said, “You don’t deserve him!” And with that both women spun around and left the crowded room before Miss Parker could get another word out.
Miss Parker stood there, Mallory’s words echoed through her head. ‘You don’t deserve him!’ Of course she doesn’t. She never did and never will. That thought made her heart grow even heavier.
Just then, Miss Parker noticed that everyone began to exit the room. She soon followed the crowd out of the glass doors. When she got into the hallway, she leaned against the wall to let everyone by. When she saw Jarod coming, she grabbed his arm and pulled him to the side as well.
“What do you want?” he asked sadly. Miss Parker opened her mouth to say something, but hesitated. Jarod just stood there and waited, but soon became impatient and was about to leave, when she tightened her grip on his arm, causing him to stop again.
“You are right. We should just stay away from each other the whole week. But when the ship docks…” Miss Parker didn’t even have to finish her sentence for him to understand. He nodded sadly in agreement and began his way down the hall to the elevator. Miss Parker shook her head in disgust. Why did she always have to be such a bitch to him?
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It was now in the late afternoon. Fifty percent of the people on board are now seasick form the constant rocking back and forth. The waves were growing bigger and bigger by the minutes and the captain and his crew became worried about the liner and the passenger’s safety.
“Captain, the waves are now ten feet high and still growing,” a crewmember announced to the breaded captain who stared out the front window of the Captain’s Quarters at the huge ominous waves that crashed into the sides of the ship. The captain shook his head in disgust and then finally turned to the crewman.
“Have no one on top deck,” he ordered softly.
“Yes sir,” the crewman said with a nod and then quickly left.
Suddenly, another of the captain’s men barged into the quarters on the verge of panic and shouted to him, “Captain, an underwater earthquake! A tidal wave of 70 feet is approaching!”
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Miss Parker sat on her bed and tried to block out the feeling of nausea that came over her. Oh god, she didn’t want to be sick. She glanced at her room’s desk and noticed the papers and pens sliding back and forth, and, once in a while, a pen would fall to the floor. She lay back on her back, trying to steady her stomach more, but was having no luck at all at doing so.
Suddenly, the sound of lamps and tables crashing to the floor caused her to sit up. She watched in horror as furniture around her crashed to the floor from the rough swaying. She barely could even sit up from the back and forth movement.
“What the hell is going on?” she asked herself out loud. She wobbly went to her door and swung it open, to see panicked passengers roaming the halls, some having life jackets, others none. She then spotted Jarod down the hall, trying to get some answers out of a crewman, but seemed to have no luck when the man kept shaking his head. Miss Parker used the wall to steady her self as she wobbled down the hall, making her way towards him.
“Jarod!” she shouted over the screams and panicked voices of the hall. He looked up from the man, as Miss Parker came up to him. “What is going on?” she asked, as the crewman ran down the hall and struggled up the stairs.
“He wouldn’t tell me. All he said was that the storm was bad and we should all go to our rooms,” Jarod said over the noise. He glanced at her and then turned for the elevator.
“Where are you going?” Miss Parker asked, grabbing his arm.
“To my room,” he replied over his shoulder.
Miss Parker looked around at all the panicked faces and then turned to him again. “C-can I come?” she asked with a hint of fear in her tone. Jarod stared at her for a moment, and then nodded. She gave him a weak smile and followed him to the elevator.
As they stepped inside, Jarod pushed the button for his floor. Both leaned back on the wall in order not to fall from the roughly swaying. As the elevator began to move up, the lights blinked off and on suddenly.
“What is going on?” Miss Parker asked nervously, clutching the side rail of the elevator.
“It’s the storm,” Jarod explained. “You scared?”
“Me? No, of course not,” she said. Jarod caught the sarcasm in her voice right away. He inched closer to her.
“It’s going to be fine,” he whispered to her. She glanced up at him and stared into his brown eyes.
“Will it?” she asked, not exactly a question to be answered.
Suddenly, the whole elevator slammed on its right side, causing both Miss Parker and Jarod to hit the wall. Then it crashed to the left, and then to the right again.
“Jarod!” Miss Parker screamed.
“Hold on!” she heard him scream.
The elevator was filled with both their screams and the echoes of outside screams as well. They were tossed throughout the elevator, crashing into the walls and railings.
Then the ship slammed on its right again, and they heard the scream of metal being twisted and then beginning to tilt and turn over wards. Miss Parker and Jarod laid there on the wall and began to slide to the ceiling. Lights still blinking, Jarod felt the slice of one of the light bulb’s glass crunching under his palm, as he tried to soften his fall to the ceiling.
There on the ceiling, Miss Parker and Jarod felt the slam of the boat, and a shrieking and crunching noise. Miss Parker felt a huge piercing through her arm and she let out a scream of pain.
Everything was a blur of red and white. Hitting hard against walls and slicing through glass and wood.
They heard the shrieking noise again, now sounding as if it was right above them. Suddenly, the elevator shot downwards, causing Miss Parker and Jarod to loose their stomachs. They both felt their bodies lift from the ceiling a little as they fell, faster and faster until the elevator had no where else to go and came to an sharp and painful stop, causing both a vision of blackness.
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Miss Parker opened her eyes slowly and painfully. Her eyes didn’t focus right away, so she could only see a blur of blinking, as the lights turned off and on and a few sparks flew. She still felt the ship rocking back and forth from the waves outside, as her vision cleared. She inhaled sharply with fear at the sight of shattered glass and blood covering the walls and ceiling. Ceiling? She looked down and noticed that it was the ceiling. She slowly lifted her eyes to the top of the elevator as she saw the carpet and noted that the ship was upside down, or just the elevator was. What had happened?
She tried to lift her self off the glass and blinking lights, but pain sprang through her body making her fall back to the floor with a yelp. As she lay there, she breathed heavily and raggedly, trying to think of what had happened. Did she want to remember? Just then, she tilted her head down to see someone lying there on his side facing her, eyes closed and blood streaming down his face and jaw line. Blood seemed to soak his clothes. Jarod? Then it dawned on her. She knew what had happened and began to dread the worst.
She slowly outstretched her leg and gently nudged him in the shoulder with her toe. He didn’t move. She nudged his limp body again… same response. [Oh my god, don’t let him be dead, please don’t let him be dead!]
“Jarod? Jarod, wake up,” she whispered hoarsely, as she nudged him again and again. “Jarod, c’mon, wake up!”
Now she had to get up. She slowly and painfully lifted her body from the glass and began to scoot her way towards him backwards. She noted the extreme pain she had in her arm, but didn’t even bother looking at it.
When he was in reach, she quickly checked for a pulse; there was one. She let out a sigh of relief and then checked for breathing. She let out another sigh as she felt him take small and rugged breaths of air.
“Jarod, wake up. Wake up Jarod,” she said gently, shaking him. She heard a moan escape his lips. “C’mon, wake up.” As his long eyelashes began to flutter open, Miss Parker smiled in relief. “Thank god. You okay?”
Jarod stared at her, confusion in his brown eyes, and then blinked a couple times. He drew his eyes away from her and began to look around, trying to remember where he was. She noticed his confusion.
“We are in the ship’s elevator. We had an accident,” she explained, talking a little louder than usual, making sure he could understand and hear her correctly. He slowly drew his bloody hand to his ear.
“Be quiet!” he snapped. She leaned back in surprise. “No, I… my head is spinning. You are talking too loud,” he quickly explained hoarsely, before the unspoken argument began. She noticed the blood on his hand and grabbed it. He let out a hiss through his teeth in pain.
“Sorry,” she apologized and then began to examine his bloody palm and noticed a piece of glass sticking up from it. She gritted her teeth together and hissed in disgust, and slowly rotated his hand back and forth. “Jarod, I’m going to pull that piece of glass from your palm, okay?”
“What piece of glass?” he asked, pushing his forehead to hers, trying to see his own hand. He gasped softly as he saw the glass sticking up. “I-I can’t even feel it,” he said, just a hint of panic in his voice. Miss Parker took that as her cue and used the tips on her fingers to pinch the end of the glass. She gave him a quick glance of warning before she… “Shit!” Jarod shouted in pain. Miss Parker leaned back a little, grasping the bloody glass piece between her thumb and index finger. She stared at it in shock.
“That wasn’t so hard,” she said, to herself more than to Jarod. Jarod held his hand with the other; gritting his teeth and muttering swear words under his breath, waiting for the pain to subside. “C’mon, we have to get out of here,” she finally said. He glanced up at her, for the first time getting a real good look at her.
“You are hurt too,” he said, getting up from his side painfully. Man, did his muscles ache!
“Hmm?” she asked, looking down at herself. She saw the huge slice going down her arm, cutting her sleeve in two, blood streaming slowly down her elbow.
“Here,” Jarod offered, as he scooted closer to her. He slowly slid off his leather jacket, noticing his bloody arms, and ripped out a long piece of fabric from the thin cloth that layered the inside. He then reached for her arm and wrapped it around gently, and carefully tying it in the front.
Miss Parker was amazed by his gentleness, but she told herself it was probably from the experience of being a doctor.
“There, that should stop the bleeding,” he said, looking up from his handy work and into her blue eyes. They seemed to stare at each other for a long moment, getting lost into each other’s eyes, when Jarod broke the silence. “You are right. We should get out of here.”
“Yes,” Miss Parker agreed. Jarod slowly stood up on wobbly knees, and used the wall to guide him self to the doors… the upside down doors. He leaned against them and looked down to the bottom.
“Looks like we now have a step-up,” he said humorously, gesturing towards the bottom of the doors, where once the overhead was on the ceiling, now was on the floor. He then began to pull and push on the doors with all his might. Miss Parker slowly got to her legs, noticing the ship wasn’t rocking as much and wobbled over to his side, coming to his aid.
Together they pulled and pushed, finally forcing the doors to come apart and open.
As soon as the doors opened, they both wanted them closed again, as water rushed over the overhead and onto their feet. Jarod quickly grabbed his ripped coat from the elevator floor before the water hit it.
“Damn is that ever cold!” Miss Parker shrieked, backing up from the doors. Jarod grabbed her arm and pulled her to him. He then wrapped his coat around her shoulders, as she looked up at him in confusion.
“What about you? I have long sleeves, shouldn’t you take it?” she asked.
“C’mon,” Jarod encouraged, ignoring her question and beginning to wade through the shin deep water.
The Atlantic water felt like thousands of needles pricking at their skin, numbing its way through their flesh all the way to the bone. Miss Parker having the warm coat and Jarod only having a black muscle shirt on, his teeth began to chatter from the freezing air that lifted from the blue water, plus the numbness his toes began to feel.
Jarod leading the way, they waded down the hall, trying to avoid tripping over a light or doorframe. They noticed the carpet on the ceiling and the doors being upside down.
“My god, the [whole] ship is upside down!” Miss Parker said, bringing the thought more to attention. She saw the back of Jarod’s head bop up and down as he agreed. She grabbed his arm for support as they walked farther down the wet hall and found his arm to be numbing cold. She stopped, forcing him to stop as well. He looked at her in confusion as his jaw chattered. “Jarod you’re freezing and you are loosing a lot of blood!”
“I’m fine. The faster we get up on higher decks the better,” he said, excusing the subject to quickly for her concern.
As they started down the hallway again, Jarod looked ahead and stopped dead in his tracks. Miss Parker made a quick glance at his face in curiosity then turned her attention to where his was.
There down the hall was a lifeless floating body of a woman. Her back stuck out from the water and bobbed quietly down the hall.
Jarod found himself holding his breath, and when he allowed himself to breathe again, his breaths were short and fast. He tugged his arm under Miss Parker’s grip to get her moving again, and they stepped around the body cautiously.
Their pace quickened as they spotted two more lifeless bodies floating in their watery graves. Jarod felt Miss Parker’s grip tighten, almost cutting the circulation from his arm, if he had any left from the numbing cold.
“My god,” Miss Parker whispered, as they passed the fourth body.
“The impact must have killed them,” Jarod explained, trying to make matters a little better, not that the situation of floating bodies around your ankles can get any better!
As they reached the end of the hallway, they stopped. Over head were the stairs and before them was a big slant downwards that was, used to be above, parallel from the stairs that lead to the higher, in this case lower, decks.
“Shouldn’t we be going up?” Miss Parker asked, looking up to Jarod’s shivering face. He then looked around frantically for the other pair of stairs.
“Do you remember where the stairs that lead ‘down’ were before we tipped over?” Jarod asked, his voice quivering from his chattering jaw. Miss Parker shook her head slowly, half disappointed in her self. “This way,” Jarod said suddenly, turning down a corridor to their right, with Miss Parker still hanging onto his arm.
They rushed down the hallway, passing a young woman’s body along the way, and noticed that the water reached their hips now.
“Um… Jarod,” Miss Parker began.
“I know,” Jarod quickly agreed.
As the water began to reach their rib cages, they began to gasp from the sudden coldness they felt.
“This is freezing!” Miss Parker shouted.
“Shh,” Jarod hushed her, trying to listen to something.
“Help, help! Someone please help me!” they heard a little girl shout. Jarod pointed down to his right.
“It’s coming from that way,” Jarod said, taking off in that direction.
“Wait, it’s deep down there!” Miss Parker shouted after him, but he just ignored her. “Jarod! Jarod don’t go down there!”
“Someone needs help!” he shouted over his shoulder, which now the water reached up to his chest. “Stay there if you want!”
He let out a loud gasp as the water reached his neck and he began to swim. His teeth were chattering like there was no tomorrow now. His whole body felt numb from the freezing water and he couldn’t feel his toes anymore.
“Help! Please someone!” the little voice was clouded with tears. Jarod noticed her voice was louder now, so she must be close.
Now Jarod couldn’t even touch the floor without the water going over his head. He was afraid that he wouldn’t be able to reach her in time before the whole hall got flooded.
Finally he reached the room. There she was, lying onto an upside down dresser with tears staining her little cheeks.
“It’s o-okay,” Jarod converted with shattering teeth. “I a-am g-going to get you out of h-here.” The little girl, around the age of seven or eight, responded with a nod.
Jarod reached a floating mattress and climbed upon it to catch his breath. It didn’t float very well after he was on it, but it did provide a little rest. He scooted off it and swam to the little girl. She was shivering violently, but not as bad as Jarod was, since he was in the water.
“Okay, I’m g-going to have t-to ask you t-to get off t-that and swim with m-me. Can you s-swim?” he asked, grabbing a hold of one of the handles on a drawer to hold himself up.
“Yes… but not very good. I am in the middle of taking swimming lessons with my mommy,” she said, her voice quivering from her chattering jaw. Jarod nodded and smiled a weak smile.
“That will be g-good enough. I am warning you, it is c-cold,” he said, as she lowered her legs over the side of the dresser. As soon as her shoed foot hit the water, she pulled it back up.
“It’s [really] cold!” she shrieked, climbing up on the dresser again.
“I know, but you are g-going to have get in it. P-Please, we don’t h-have much time b-before the whole hall f-floods!” She nodded softly and then began to climb down the dresser again, and landed in the water with a splash.
Quickly, Jarod grabbed her by the forearm and helped her keep herself a float. She gasped in shock from the freezing water and began to doggy paddy towards the exit of the room.
Just the sight of wildly thrashing arms was enough proof to Jarod that she wasn’t an expert at the floating and swimming talent, so he swam close behind her.
As they reached outside into the hall, they began to swim towards the awaiting Miss Parker.
At the sight of the little girl and Jarod swimming close behind with water up to their chins made Miss Parker take off down the hall until the water reached to her armpits. As soon as the little girl came in reach, Miss Parker pulled her up by her waist as far from the water as she could. Then she began to wade back to the shallow part of the hall, with Jarod close behind.
When the water was shallow enough, Miss Parker set the little girl on her feet and placed the leather coat on her tiny shoulders.
“C’mon, we b-better get out of h-here,” Jarod said, glancing down the hallway to the rapidly flooding halls. Miss Parker glanced at him worriedly as he violently shook from the freezing cold and he looked a little pale as well.
Jarod wrapped the little girl into his arms and began carrying her down the hall, with Miss Parker following, and went in search for another staircase.
“Jarod!” Miss Parker shouted, pointing down to the right of a four-way turn. “There is a staircase!”
Jarod nodded softly with chattering teeth and began wading down that way with the little girl tightly in his strong arms. When they made it there, Jarod set the girl into the cold water, hearing her gasp of surprise from its icy numbness.
“Look, y-you are g-going to have to do this on y-your own, o-okay?” Jarod stuttered out with a chattering jaw. The little girl nodded slowly. “Okay. You are g-going to have to climb t-the ramp. I can go first, if you l-like and then I can pull you up half way.” The little girl nodded again.
Jarod smiled at her and glanced up at Miss Parker, who was staring at him. He stood up straight and stared her as he shivered, as if waiting for her to say something. After a few seconds of silence, he turned and began to climb up the ramp. The water reached half way up the ramp, therefore making it impossible to climb without lying in water while doing so.
He gasped out loud as he lied down and began to inch his way up. The numbness in his hands and other parts of his body made it difficult to climb. It felt like a million small needles prickling into his flesh and he hissed in pain. He finally reached the top and climbed onto the ‘ceiling’ of the next hall. It was much warmer on dryer ‘land’.
He quickly glanced down the hall to see a woman lying against the wall in tears. She only glanced up for a second to look at him and then quickly looked to the ground again.
Jarod shook his head in disgust and then reached down to grab the little arm that reached up for him. He effortlessly pulled her up to dryness. As Jarod waited for Miss Parker to begin her climb, the little girl climbed to her feet and saw the woman down the hall.
“Mommy!” the little girl screamed in excitement, talking off down the hall in a full run. Jarod looked over his shoulder to see the woman leap to her feet and swing out her arms with a warm smile on her lips.
“Oh my dear! You are alive! Oh thank god! Oh thank god!” she screamed with tears of joy in her eyes and hugged her child.
Jarod smiled and looked down to see Miss Parker almost to where he can reach her. She lifted her hand up and he grabbed it, and gentle pulled her up. He wrapped one arm around her waist when she came into reach and pulled her the rest of the way to shore.
They stared at each other for a moment and then finally realized both hadn’t let go of each other. They quickly let go of their embrace and nervously climbed to their feet.
“Where’d she go?” Miss Parker asked, looking around the hall.
“I guess she had found her mom and they ran off together,” Jarod said, glancing down the hall to where they disappeared. Miss Parker nodded. “C’mon, we don’t have much time,” Jarod said, taking off down the hall, as Miss Parker followed.
“We need to find a way to higher decks,” shouted from behind him.
“There are no higher decks, Miss P. We are upside down,” Jarod said, then paused and slowed his pace. He looked at her in realization as he stopped in shock.
“What? What is it?”
“The bottom of the boat is our only way out. There are no holes in the bottom, so rescuers will have to cut a hole. But by the time we call help, they get here and cut a large enough hole…”
“We’ll be sunk.”
Jarod nodded his head slowly. Miss Parker looked down the hall nervously.
“Well? What do we do then?” she asked, crossing her arms.
“I don’t know,” Jarod said sadly, looking down to the floor.
“What do you mean, ‘I don’t know’? You are supposed to know! You are the genius!”
“I’m telling you I don’t know!” he shouts at her. She lets out a sigh of frustration and swings her arms in the air.
“Damn it Jarod! Then what in God’s name do we freaking do!”
“First, calm down Miss Parker and second… I don’t know,” he muttered.
“Damn it!” she screamed, spinning around. He suddenly grabs her by her shoulders and spins her around to face him.
“Look, will you control your anger!” he shouted at her. She glared at him.
“Bite me!” she snapped back.
“Just for once, knock that ass hole of a wall down and help me out a bit!”
“What the are you talking about, you mother f…”
“Miss Parker!” he snaps, cutting her off from her last sentence. “Please!”
She shot him a look that could have cut a man in two. They seem to stare at each other for a moment, before she rips away from his grip that he had on her shoulders. She steps back a few steps, still keeping eye contact and just stares.
Suddenly, to Jarod’s surprise, she wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him towards her. She captures his lips and gives him a rough and painful kiss, pulling away quickly.
“Is that good enough for you, you bastard!” she shouts at his stunned expression, and then slapping him hard across his face. His head snaps to the right and he keeps it there, staring off into the distance in shock. She can see the blood trickle from the small cut that is now on his bottom lip.
Still keeping his head turned to the right, he slowly closed his eyes and licked at the blood, hissing softly from the sharp pain that followed. He slowly brought his eyes back to her face, as she glared at him.
“You always think you know me! Know how I work, how I feel! But you don’t you ass hole! You don’t! You never did! So just stop your smart ass act and leave me the hell alone!” she screamed at him, spinning around and taking off down the hall. He ran after her.
“Miss Parker!” he shouted after her, but she kept running. “Miss Parker please!”
She turned down a hallway to her right and broke into full speed.
“Miss Parker!” Jarod shouted, turning the corner after her. The numbness in his feet slowed him down drastically and he hopelessly watched her out run him and disappear from his sight. He soon slowed down to a trot and then to a walk.
The hallway seemed to be spinning before him and he didn’t know what was with him. He couldn’t stand straight and soon fell to his knees. His whole body seemed to be drawn downwards, like dead weight, and he drooped to the floor. He let out a moan as he blacked out.
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Miss Parker slowed down when she realized that he wasn’t following her anymore. As she walked alone, she felt something tugging at her to turn back. Something’s wrong… She glanced back again and didn’t see him.
“No!” she told herself. “I am not going to crawl back to him!” She crossed her arms across her chest. Damn long sleeve shirt wasn’t helping at all from the coldness. It was a bit warmer up here where it is dry, but not a lot. She was still freezing her ass off.
Not able to take it anymore, she spun around suddenly, and before she was about to take off down the opposite direction, she looked down to her feet. About a centimeter of water was filling around her shoes.
“Oh shit!” she cursed, breaking into a run towards where she had left Jarod. “Jarod! Jarod where are…” She stopped dead in her tracks. There he was, lying there in the water, with his own blood floating about him.
“Oh my god, Jarod!” she shrieked, running to his side and getting down on her knees. She rolled him onto his back and noticed the death like paleness to his face. ‘Blood loss’ she thought. She felt for a pulse. “Oh my god!” she screamed and then pulling her hand away quickly. She leaped to her feet. “Someone! Someone please help me! Please!”
After a few seconds had gone by, she collapsed to her knees again and tilted his head back to clear his airway. She quickly checked for a pulse again before starting CPR.
It seemed like over five minutes of working on him and there was no improvement. “Oh, c’mon Jarod! C’mon!” she said, as she pumped with her hands onto his chest.
Suddenly, he let out a cough, turning on his side and wrinkling his forehead in pain.
“Oh, thank god!” she said as touched his face. He opened his eyes slightly to look at her. She smiled warmly down at him. “Hi there,” she said with a smile.
He quickly sat up out of the cold water, well with the help of her, and stared at her. “W-what… what h-happened?” he asked, shivering again.
“You passed out. From all the blood you lost and the coldness no doubt,” she said, brushing his hair back from his face. He stared at her in confusion.
“Did I miss something?” he asked suddenly. She cocked her head to the side.
“Pardon?”
“Why are you ‘suddenly’ being so nice to me? I thought you wanted me to go to hell and leave you alone.”
She looked away from him briefly.
“Would it help none if I said I was wrong and I am sorry?”
Jarod let out a sigh. “Well, I don’t know. You were pretty mean. In other words you were just a plain…”
Before he could finish his sentence, she wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him to her. He flinched as she brought her lips to his, but this time she was gentle and the kiss was passionate. He finally gave in and banished the tension from his body as he let her explore his mouth.
After a long and passionate kiss, they ended it and stare at each other in a daze.
“Wow,” they both said at the same time.
“You are a good kisser, Jarod, I’m proud.”
“So are you…” he said softly.
Just then, they both realized the water around them seemed to be getting deeper by the second. They quickly leaped to their feet; Jarod almost tumbling over from dizziness and they both took off down the hall. They had to get higher, and they had to get higher now!
When they reached the end of the hall, the water was at their ankles. They quickly sped up, Miss Parker holding onto Jarod’s arm so he wouldn’t faint again, and turned to their left down another corridor.
The ground below them, or ceiling, was becoming slippery, causing them to skid a little as they tried to take the corners fast.
Suddenly, they heard a snap of a door… They both exchanged glances and then turned around, looking down the hall.
There, three feet of water came splashing their way, causing doors to crack and pop from his power and pressure. They both spun around and took off as fast as they were allowed, but the water was faster and swept both of them away.
On the end of the hall, Miss Parker and Jarod were slammed into the wall with a bang. The both let out grunts of pain and tried to catch their breath after it was knocked out of them.
The boat suddenly took a drastic dive to their right, and Miss Parker and Jarod slid downwards, their backs hitting lights on the ceiling as they slid faster and faster, as the ceiling became steeper and steeper. The hall was filled with their screams, screams they didn’t even know they had let out.
They slammed into the wall at the end and was helplessly washed away by the water. Jarod could hear Miss Parker’s screams becoming softer and softer as she was getting farther and farther away. He tried to look ahead, but every time he did, he would get water in his eyes.
Blindly, he reached downwards and grabbed a hold of a light and hung on. The water was getting deeper and it soon swooshed over his head, caring doors and chairs over him. He had to let go and when he did, he took in a huge gulp of air before the water consumed him again.
He took a chance and opened his eyes to see doors and belongings floating everywhere, and then he looked to where he was heading and saw a wall coming up. Thinking fast, he quickly stuck his feet out in front of him and let his legs take the impact. As he hit, a sharp pain zapped up his body and he let out a yelp.
Just then, he felt something hit him hard into his upper back, causing his whole body to go numb with pain. His vision became blurry and then blackness consumed his eyes and vision.
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“Ma’am?” she heard someone say from afar. “Hey? Hey lady, wake up! Are you okay?” She slowly opened her eyes to see a woman, around her age, standing over her. She had blonde, wet, hair and blue eyes. She was rather pretty behind all the scrapes and bruises that she had. “Are you okay?” her words echoed through Miss Parker’s head, but she couldn’t make them out. “Are… you… okay?” she said slower. Miss Parker nodded painfully. “Good. C’mon, I’ll help you up.”
As Miss Parker sat up, she noticed she was wrapped in a blanket and she was rather dry and warm. She looked around to see three more people, a teenage boy and girl and a little girl, around the age of probably nine.
“W-what?” Miss Parker asked, confused at her surroundings.
“We found you in the water as we were on our way to dryer floors and so we carried you with us once we found out you had a pulse. We got blankets and other stuff we needed from the abandoned rooms.”
“Thank you,” Miss Parker muttered. The woman nodded.
“Oh, where are my manners. My name is Andrea, and that is Chad and Mere and there…” She pointed to the little girl. “Is Jessica.”
“Hello. You can call me Miss Parker,” Miss Parker said. Then it hit her. “Jarod!”
“Jarod?” Andrea asked. “Who is…”
“Did you see him? Oh please say you saw him!”
“Miss Parker calm down.”
“Did you see him?”
“No. I don’t know what you are talking about.”
“He has dark hair and brown eyes and… oh god! We have to go back and get him.”
“No way! We can not go back down there. All the halls are flooded by now,” Chad said, getting up from the floor and walking over to Miss Parker and Andrea. “Who ever he was, he is dead by now.”
“No! No he is not!” Miss Parker shouted at him, climbing to her feet and glaring at him. The sixteen-year-old glared back at her. “Jarod is alive and I am going back to get him!”
“It is suicide!” Chad shouted at her as she turned for the doors. She ignored him.
“Miss Parker please. If you go down there you will be killed as well,” Andrea pleaded. Miss Parker stopped in her tracks and turned to face them.
“I am going down there, with or without your help,” Miss Parker said.
Andrea stared at her, then shook her head. “This is crazy,” she muttered, walking towards Miss Parker and following her out into the hall. Chad and Mere exchanged looks and took off after them.
“Wait for me!” Jessica called.
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Warmth… warmth… warm? Jarod became aware of the warmth he felt and the wet cloth wiping at his forehead. He could feel his toes again and never thought it would feel this good to be back in circulation. He slowly opened his eyes and saw a blurry figure in front of him, wiping at the scars and bruises on his face with a wet cloth.
“Finally. I was beginning to worry,” he heard her say. Her? He tried to focus, but his eyes seemed not to work. He felt panic arouse him, and he tried to sit up. “Don’t try to get up. You were smack around pretty badly.”
“Where am I?” he asked hoarsely.
“You are with me of course.”
“Who are you?”
“My name is Stacy. Don’t worry, you are in good hands.” She smiled. “And who are you cutie?”
“Jarod.”
“Hi Jarod. That is a cute name.”
“I-I can’t see,” he said suddenly.
“Nothing?”
“Only a blur.”
“Your vision should come back in time. Must be from all that water in your eyes. I found you half dead in waist deep water. I dragged you to safety and got us a couple of blankets. You were soaking wet, so I ah, took your clothes off.”
Jarod opened his eyes wider at that and surprisingly, could see her now. He shifted a little, and indeed, for the first time, knew he was naked.
“Was it [just] because I was wet?” he asked.
She couldn’t hold back the guilty smile and looked away to try to hide it more, but having no luck. “Look, I’ll do some roaming in some of the suitcases I found and will find us dryer clothes.”
“Us? You are naked to?”
“Well yeah. I was wet too.”
“Did I miss something?”
“I’m not that kind of a girl, so don’t worry. I would have awaken you first.”
Jarod smiled, almost in a shy manner and closed his eyes. “Damn,” he muttered.
“What? What is it?” she asked.
“I have a head ache that you wouldn’t believe.”
“Probably got hit pretty hard, huh?”
“Yeah.”
“Well, I will go find us clothes. We have to get moving before this floor floods too.”
“Floods? Miss Parker!” he shouted in realization, springing upwards.
“Who? What?” she asked.
“Did you see anyone else after you found me?”
“Um, no not really. Not alive anyway.”
“Oh god. Did you see anyone with dark hair and blue eyes? She is thin and lengthy…”
“No, not that I remember.”
Jarod closed his eyes briefly. [Oh no].
“Is she your wife?”
“No… a friend.”
“I’m sorry. I’m going to find us clothes now. I will be right back, I promise.” And with that she left his side. He let out a sigh.
[Oh god, where are you Miss P.? ]
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Miss Parker looked down the slope and indeed saw water that was almost filling the whole hall.
“See? We can’t go down there. We should be heading up, not down!” Chad told Miss Parker, but she just shot him a look.
“We are going to die anyway! The boat is going to sink with all its passengers and there is nothing we can do! I want die knowing what has happened to Jarod,” Miss Parker barked back.
“We are going to survive this one way or another!” Andrea shot back. She paused. “Who is this Jarod anyway? Is he your husband, brother?”
“No… friend,” Miss Parker said softly, glancing down the upside down stairs again to see the glimmer waters below.
“Yeah, a dead friend!” Chad said, turning the opposite direction and taking a few steps down the hall form them.
“He is not dead!” Miss Parker shot at him.
“Where are you going?” Andrea asked him. Chad turned around, glaring at Miss Parker.
“We wanted to know what has happened to your friend, well I’ll tell you,” Chad began, ignoring Andrea’s question. “I saw him, he is dead. Freaking dead! He was floating around like a fishing bobber!”
“No!” Miss Parker shouted at him. “You didn’t see him!”
“I did!” he shouted back, stepping towards her again.
“Chad?” Andrea began.
“I saw him before we found you. I checked his pulse and everything. He was stone cold. No life left in him at all!” Chad shouted.
“Chad!” Andrea shouted.
“You said you didn’t see him!” Miss Parker said, trying to hold back the tears of fear and sorrow.
“Yeah, well, I lied! I was just trying to keep your damn hopes up!” he said bitterly, then turning down the hall again. “C’mon let’s get out of here, before this hall flooded as well.”
“What was he wearing?” Miss Parker asked, as the other three started to follow him. Chad turned around to face her again, a confused question on his face.
“What?”
“What was he wearing, what did he look like?” Miss Parker asked again, pulling the blanket tighter around her.
“He ah… he was wearing…”
“Yes?” Miss Parker snapped. She waited.
“A um, a blue shirt and blue jeans.”
“You bastard!” Miss Parker snapped, turning for the water again. Chad grabbed her by the arm.
“You can’t go down there!” he screamed at the struggling woman under his grasp.
“He is down there! I have to find him!” Miss Parker screamed back, trying to rip his grip from her arm. “You asshole, let me go damn it!”
“No! I can’t allow you to go down there!”
“Let go of me!” she shouted, and with that she ripped his hand from her arm and fell backwards with a scream.
“Miss Parker!” Andrea shouted.
SPLASH! All four looked over the edge and down the slope to see the bubbling water below.
“What have you done, Chad?” Mere asked, looking back at him. He shook his head.
“She was good as dead,” he muttered. Andrea suddenly spun around and whipped her hand across his face… hard! He let out a yelp of pain.
“You son-of-a-bitch!” Andrea screamed. “First you tell her, her friend is dead and then you push her in there and say… ‘She was as good as dead?’” Andrea screamed at him.
“I didn’t push her! She fell!”
“Right!” Andrea said in sarcasm.
“Miss Parker!” Jessica screamed. “Look!” she said, pointing downwards.
There she was, soaking wet. She gave them one glance and then started to wade, chin deep, out of their sight.
“No Parker! Come back!” Mere called to her, but there was no answer.
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“Here we are. All warm and cozy clothes for the picking. This looks like your size,” Stacy said, handing Jarod a white v-necked T-shirt, a pair of wide leg, dark faded, blue jeans and underwear.
“Thank you,” Jarod said, studying the clothes. He glanced at her and noticed her eyes on him. “Um… could you, ah, turn around for a few?”
“Like I haven’t seen you before.”
“Yeah, but I am aware of it now.”
“Oh, I see,” she said, giving him a wink.
“No, not that… it’s just…”
“I know, I understand.” She gladly turned around. Jarod quickly got up from the floor and let the blanket drop. The cold air hit him like a ton of bricks and it made him gasp out loud. He quickly clothed himself before his body parts would go numb and won’t be able to work anymore.
“Okay, done,” he announced, quickly reaching down and grabbing his blanket, wrapping himself tightly with it.
“Okay my turn,” she said, dropping the blanket before even warning Jarod. He winced and quickly turned around. “Oh, sorry. I am not modest.”
“I can see that,” Jarod said with out facing her. He could hear her giggle and then rustle around as she clothed herself.
“Okay. Me done,” she said childishly. Jarod turned around to see her wearing the same white T-shirt and black wide leg jeans. “Lucky for us, the couple is our size.”
Jarod nodded. “Yeah, lucky us.” She smiled at him.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“Jarod!” Miss Parker shouted the hundredth time. “Oh Jarod please!” The water was up to her chin and she could feel her body slowly freezing. “Jarod!” she screamed. Her last once of hope was draining fast and she felt like going under with out holding her breath, but then…
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“Did you hear that?” Jarod asked, sitting up.
“Yeah someone was calling your name,” Stacy announced.
“Oh my god,” he said softly, leaping to his feet and taking off for the door, letting the blanket drop carelessly behind him.
Jarod trotted down the hall way in search of the stairs. After turning another corner and seeing no stairs he muttered, “Damn!”
“Jarod?” Stacy asked, coming up behind him, but he brushed passed her in a hurry.
“Damn it! Stacy where are the damn stairs?”
“This way.”
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“Jarod!” Miss Parker shouted one last time weakly. Her body felt like it wasn’t there anymore, and she slowly let herself sink downwards. “I love you Jarod…” she muttered ever so softly, letting the water flood over her head.
“Miss Parker!” Jarod shouted, leaping into the water after seeing her go under. He swam as fast as he could and then dove downwards.
Under water, he searched frantically, and finally seeing her, he grabbed her arm and pulled her to the surface. Wasting no time, with her in one arm, he made his way towards the stairs again. Stacy was waiting for him.
She helped him pull her up and then helped him climb to safety as well.
Without a word to Stacy, Jarod began rescue breathing on her. After a few minutes, Miss Parker let out a mouth full of water and then let out a gasp. Jarod, shaking violently again from cold and fear, quickly swooped her up into his arms and carried her to the room.
He gently sat her down on the floor and wrapped his blanket around her tightly. He then received another blanket and covered her up with that as well. Stacy came up behind him.
“Is she okay?” Stacy asked, bending down beside him.
“She’ll be o-okay, once I get h-her circulation b-back,” he said with a chattering jaw, grabbing Miss Parker’s hand. “Can y-you get her c-clothes?”
Stacy nodded. “I’ll get you more too, now that you are soaking and shivering again.”
Stacy got up and left the room and heading towards the room she had received clothes from earlier.
Miss Parker slowly opened her eyes and saw someone standing over. She forced her self to focus and then she saw him. “Jarod?” she whispered. He snapped his attention back to her and smiled weakly with a chattering jaw. “Am I dreaming?”
“No, you are not,” he said softly.
“You are freezing,” she whispered weakly, lifting her hand up to his face.
“I am fine,” he said quietly.
“No, you are not. You are shivering like there is no tomorrow.”
“Miss Parker, I’ll be fine. Right now you need the help…”
“Jarod, I am warm. Look at you…” she paused. Warm? She glanced down at herself.
“It’s a blanket Miss Parker,” he said with a laugh, after seeing the confusion in her eyes. She looked up at him and smiled. Suddenly, he felt so warm. Her smile, that smile. It was like the sun and fire for his freezing soul. Not in a long time has he seen that smile. He returned the smile.
“Here we are,” Stacy said, entering the room. Miss Parker looked at her in surprise.
“Who are you?” Miss Parker whispered.
“She is the one who saved my life Miss Parker. Her name is Stacy.”
Miss Parker stared at her. “Hello Stacy. Saved you, eh?” she asked, turning back to him again. He nodded. She glanced back at her again. “Thank you.”
Stacy smiled and then nodded once. “Oh, ah, here are your clothes,” Stacy said, handing them each a pair of blue jeans and white T-shirts. “Obviously this couple wasn’t hot on color.”
“Guess not,” Jarod said, glancing back at Miss Parker. “You need help, or is your circulation back?”
“Help for what?” Miss Parker asked, dumbfounded.
“Getting dressed. You can’t keep those wet clothes on,” he said.
“I guess I can do it,” Miss Parker said softly. Jarod glanced up at Stacy.
“Oh, right,” Stacy said, realizing she been staring and leaving the room.
Jarod smiled at Miss Parker. “I’ll be in the next room if you need me, okay?”
“Jarod,” Miss Parker said. He returned his gaze onto her again. “Don’t leave me. Stay here.”
Jarod stared at her for a long moment and then gave her a nod and a smile. “Okay, Miss Parker.”
She smiled back. “Help me up?” she asked, reaching her hand out for him as he stood up. He grabbed it and effortlessly pulled her to her feet. As soon as she was level with him, she gave him a kiss on the lips. “I was so scared that I had lost you for sure. Don’t ever leave me again, you hear me?”
Jarod smiled weakly and then nodded, kissing her this time. They let the moment stretch before pulling away. Miss Parker made the move first, letting the blanket fall to the ground and placing her hands onto Jarod’s wet hips. She then, grabbing the shirt by the waist, pulled it over his head in one motion. Running her fingers down his chest, she could feel his flesh was cold as ice. She put her hot lips onto his collarbone and gave him a light kiss, and then pushing herself against him, her wet shirt against his bare chest.
Jarod felt a shiver run down his entire body when her lips touched him and then the cool wetness of her shirt press up against his chest.
They stood like that for a moment, letting their body heat warm each other, before she moved onto his jeans.
She slowly unzipped them, heading for the button next. She glanced up at Jarod and kept eye contact as she pushed the jeans down his slim hips, letting the piece of clothe fall to the floor. As he closed his eyes briefly, she kissed his eyelids gently. He slowly stepped out of the jeans at his ankles and tried his best to control his breathing as she headed for his underwear. She smiled as she heard him gasp at the coldness of her fingertips as she slid them between the elastic and his skin.
Savoring the moment, she slid her hands downwards, pulling the underwear with them. As the article of clothing dropped, she ran her hands, fingers out spread, up his cold thighs. Still keeping eye contact, she smiled at him as he took a deep breath.
“You are so cute when you are scared,” she whispered, her warm breath onto his lips.
He smiled warmly and whispered back, “I’m not scared.”
She smiled and then tilted her head towards his neck. She began to cover him with light kisses, moving from his neck to his shoulders, then moving down his muscular arm.
“Miss Parker,” he whispered.
“Hmm?” she asked, her voice vibrating on his skin.
“It is cold. We shouldn’t do this now, especially when [someone else] is in the other room.”
She smiled, and he could feel her lips curl onto his skin. “When you are right, you right,” she said, meeting his face again. She kissed him lightly on the lips. “But [if] we survive this. You are mine.”
He smiled. “Of course.”
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“Alright, how do I look?” Miss Parker asked, modeling off her clothes.
“Good,” Jarod said with a smile, looking her up and down. Her hair was wet, make-up washed away, a plain white T-shirt, blue jeans and Jarod tells her she looks good. Whatta guy.
“You guys ready?” Stacy asked, crossing her arms across her chest and looking at the two. They both nod. “Alright then. Let’s move before this floor floods as well.”
They walked out into the hall and turned towards the direction of the stairs and indeed saw water ahead.
“Are you sure this is the way to the stairs?” Jarod asked Stacy. She nodded, still staring off towards the water. Jarod glanced at Miss Parker before beginning to make his way down the hall.
The water wasn’t deep at all, only making a tiny noise of a splash as they walked through it. As soon as Jarod spotted the stairs, he broke into a trot, as they other two followed. When they reached the stairs, he quickly turned to the two women.
“Alright, who goes first?” Jarod asked.
“I don’t think it is a question to take time to answer. The water is rising! And it is rising fast!” Stacy observed. Jarod nodded in agreement.
Stacy exchanged looks with Miss Parker, and then stepped forward. “I’ll go,” Stacy said, beginning her way up the ramp. Jarod watched after her and then turned to Miss Parker.
“Okay, you’re up,” he announced. Miss Parker stared at him for a moment before heading for the ramp.
When they were all on the next floor, they took off down the hall. As they ran, Jarod asked Stacy, “You know where other stairs are?”
She glanced at him and shook her head. “No, I don’t. But how hard is it to find stairs? Right?”
“Very hard,” Miss Parker answered. “I speak from experience, and this ship is so big, it is very difficult to find stairs leading to the level you want. And when the ship turned over, all the freaking signs were knocked off the walls.”
“Hey! Listen!” Jarod said, slowing down.
“What? What is it?” Miss Parker asked.
“You hear that rumbling?” Jarod asked. They fell silent.
“Oh no,” Stacy whispered. “It’s another after shock!”
At that, the whole ship screamed as it tilted to its side. They could hear wood beams and doors cracking and snapping from its dangerous weight and power, as they slammed into the wall. Soon, they could hear the rush of water heading their way.
“C’mon!” Jarod screamed over the hissing of metal and cracking of wood. They began to run down the hall, full speed, desperately trying to beat the water before it reached their floor.
They turned the corner and took off. The boat was rocking back and forth now, making it very difficult for them to run in a straight line, or even staying on their feet without the support of wall to guide them. All three finally made it to the end of the hall and looked down both halls.
“Where do we go?” Stacy shouted in panic. Jarod shook his head in disappointment.
“I-I don’t know. We will have to guess!” Jarod shouted at her. She then looked down both halls and briefly closed her eyes. The rush of water growing louder helped her with her decision and she pointed to her left.
They took off, but when the turned the following corner and seeing a dead end they slowed to a trot.
“Oh god!” Miss Parker shouted. “What now?”
“We have to go back,” Jarod shouted, but as he turned, all three screamed in fright as they saw the water making its way towards them. It at least had to be about five feet deep, and causing the doors to snap inwards from its power. It had no merci and it was heading towards them!
“C’mon!” Jarod screamed, grabbing Miss Parker’s arm and heading towards one of the rooms. Surprisingly it popped open and all three headed inside. Jarod closed the door and stood back. “Don’t get in the door’s way because the water will punch it…”
Before he could finish, the door was effortlessly snapped in two, flying into the room and crashing into the opposite wall. Miss Parker, Jarod and Stacy ran to the corner of the room, as far as they could get from the water as it poured inside. The icy water hit them like a ton of bricks. Its coldness and power made them all scream in fear.
They could hear crashing of glass and wood, as objects were worthlessly broke and thrown around. But the loudest sound that filled their ears was the rushing and splashing of the water, as it consumed everything, including them, in its path.
There was nothing they could do. The water was so powerful they couldn’t fight it. They just had to let the water throw them around. Let the water take over… and just pray they might survive.
[It will all be over. It will all be over soon] Miss Parker thought, as she felt the water rush over her head and take her last breath of air. She desperately tried to swim to the surface, yearning for that breath of life. Her thirty lungs screamed for air.
Miss Parker could hear her own gasp, as her lungs took in the air. Never in her life had something felt so good. She noticed the water almost flooded the whole room and they wouldn’t have enough time to get out and to swim higher. She looked around, hoping to spot someone…
“Jarod!” she screamed, a cough followed. “Jarod!” she screamed again.
She then heard coughing behind her and spun around. There he was, coming up to the surface and gasping for air.
“Oh thank god!” Miss Parker said happily, swimming towards him.
“Are you okay?” he asked, swimming towards her.
“Yes,” she answered. “Where is Stacy?”
Jarod gave her a look of confusion and then looked around. His eyes soon came to rest on her gaze. “I don’t know,” he said sadly. And then his eyes came to rest upon an object over her shoulder. She watched him as he stared off.
“Jarod?” Miss Parker asked in concern. She spun around to see… Stacy floating lifelessly across the room. “Oh god!” Miss Parker screamed, swinging her arms out in front of her, causing a splash of water, and desperately trying to get away from the body.
“C’mon,” Jarod began, taking a nervous swallow as he stared at the body. “We have to get out of here.”
Miss Parker said nothing, only nodded as she stared at Stacy’s opened eyes as they stared out, her body floating lifelessly through the swaying icy water.
They swam out into the hallway. They were unable to touch the ground without the water going over their heads, so they had to swim, therefore causing the to go very slowly.
Miss Parker knew they weren’t going to make it before the whole floor flooded, but she kept quiet. She was almost certain Jarod was thinking the same.
The water was rising and now and then Miss Parker and Jarod could feel their heads hit the top of the hallway. The water reached to their chins and they just now reached to the three-way turn.
This time they went straight, swimming as fast as they could down the hall. Time was running out, and they had to make it to the stairs.
Now, they had to bend their necks in order not to get a mouth full of water. The hall soon was going to be completely full, and they were only half way down the hall.
“J-Jarod,” Miss Parker stuttered out.
“I k-know Miss Parker. We are almost t-there.”
The water numbed at their skin, feeling like a bed of needles was pressed against their bodies.
Soon enough, they finally reached the end of the hall. They had to literally kiss the ceiling in order to breathe.
“Alright, M-Miss Parker, go. I am right b-behind you.”
Miss Parker swam passed him, and swam up the ramp half way, and had to crawl the rest of the way. As she reached the next floor, she was relieved to feel a little heat. She looked down the ramp and waited for Jarod to make his appearance.
At that, Jarod appeared, swimming his way up the ramp and then climbing to her side. Like her, he was shivering violently again.
“So much f-for keeping dry, huh?” he said with a weak smile.
Miss Parker nodded as she smiled back, hugging her arms to try to keep herself warm.
“Alright, n-now we have to find more stairs, b-before this floor snaps like the l-last one.”
They began their way down the hall, walking quickly, when suddenly they heard someone yelling. They exchanged looks as they realized it was on this floor and that the yelling wasn’t cries for help… but…
“Forever young! Forever… young! Young… Young forever!” Miss Parker and Jarod heard the voice slurp. The man was obviously drunk and… singing?
They took off down the hall towards the voice.
“Hello?” Jarod yelled out.
The singing paused for a second… then started up again. “Forever young!”
“Hello?” Jarod shouted again. This time, Jarod’s voice was ignored and the singing continued. They turned the corner and saw a man walking wobbly kneed towards them, a whiskey bottle in one hand. Both stared at him in confusion.
“What… what do you want?” he slurped.
“You are drunk,” Jarod stated simply.
“Brilliant… analysis!” he said, having a hard time pronouncing his words. “We are all gonna drowned right? Why not drown in a bottle of fresh cool… Whiskey!” he shouted, lifting the bottle to Jarod’s face. “Do… you want a sip son?”
Jarod pushed it away with disgust. “No. We need to get off this floor. Come with us. There is still a chance of survival.”
The man shook his head, almost tumbling over at that. “No… no survival. No nothin’! All gone! Buh-bye!”
“Listen to me! You must come with us! We can’t leave you down here!” Jarod shouted, pointing to the ground.
“Don’t talk to me like that, son! I am a … cop!” he said, flinging his free hand in the air, and then let out a girlish giggle.
“Then you should know better than anyone that you are too drunk! Come with us!” Miss Parker shouted this time.
The man lifted his index finger and pointed at her. “I know you! You are that cat lady on the movie… Bat Man!” he said with a huge stupid smile.
Miss Parker rolled her eyes. “Look, you are coming with us if you like it or not. I will drag your sorry ass myself if I have to you drunk bastard!”
He snapped his eyes at her and then spun around and entered a room. Miss Parker and Jarod followed him. They watched him as he pulled out another bottle of whiskey.
Before the man could open it, Jarod snatched it out of his grasp.
“Hey you little…”
“Listen to me! Get out of here while you still can! There is still a goddamned chance! Take it!” Jarod shouted at him.
Suddenly, the man reached in his inside pocket and pulled out a pair of cuffs. He snapped one on Jarod’s wrist and then pulled him roughly to a pipe and snapped the other on to the bar before Jarod could realize what he was doing. Jarod yanked at the cuffs.
“What the hell do you think you are doing?” Jarod shouted at him. He smiled back.
“See… who is leaving… now!” the man shouted, walking towards the door.
Miss Parker suddenly swung her arm out and hit him hard onto the chest, knocking the man down. “Look you old bastard, you have no shit of an idea of who you are dealing with! Cough up this damn keys and you can live a few extra minutes to gulp down more of that poison!”
“I lost them…” he slurped out with the goofiest smile.
“What?”
“I… lost… them,” he said slowly.
Miss Parker then kicked him hard into the side and he let out a grunt of pain. “YOU BASTARD!” she screamed.
Jarod blinked a couple times in amazement.
The man leaped to his feet and took off down the hall without another word. Miss Parker let out a huge huff of frustration and turned to Jarod. He had a weak smile on his face.
“Go,” he simply said.
Miss Parker cocked her head to the side in confusion. “What?” she whispered.
“Go. Find the stairs, climb to higher floors, get out of here.”
“No! Not without you!”
“This will only slow you down. There is no way you are going to get these cuffs off before the hall floods. Look.”
Miss Parker turned towards the door and saw water sneaking into the room. It wasn’t deep, not deep at all, maybe only a centimeter deep, but it was there and it was solid proof that the water was coming and that it was in charge. She turned to him again.
“Jarod?”
“Go!” he shouted, clinging the cuffs onto the metal pipe. “Leave Miss Parker!”
She shook her head. “No!” and with that, she began her search.
“Miss Parker…!”
“No Jarod! I am not leaving without you! You die…” she paused to take a breath. “I die.”
Jarod shook his head, “No, Parker. Go.”
“No Jarod!” she shouted, searching in one of the drawers in a dresser that was in the room. She pulled out a paperclip. “Here! We will pick the lock!”
“There is no time to do that! I’m telling you to get out of here while you still can!”
“And I’m telling [you] to shut-up! I am not doing this alone! Now are you going to help me or not?” she asked, walking over to him, while she straightened the paperclip with her hands. She stuck one of the ends into the cuff’s slot.
“Miss Parker… please,” he whispered softly, leaning the side of his face on the cold bar, watching her twist and wiggle the paperclip in the slot. She glanced up at him briefly and then continued her work on the cuffs.
Suddenly, a big gush of water came into the room, reaching up to their shins. Miss Parker and Jarod let out a gasp of surprise. Miss Parker’s determination strengthened at that moment, and she began to jiggle it faster.
“Miss Parker leave me!” Jarod screamed, feeling the water’s freezing numbness at his legs again.
Suddenly, she snapped her face up to his and whipped her hand across his face. He let out a gasp, more in surprise than pain and stared at her for an explanation. She shook her head in disgust and then leaned forward and kissed him, hard and rough.
As she pulled away, she whispered harshly, “I am not leaving you, you got that? Never!” And with that, she began her work on the cuffs.
They both knew the water was rising by the second. Now to their thighs, they both didn’t want to admit it. Jarod too scared to say something, and Miss Parker too ashamed to say something. They both stared down at the cuffs as they were pricked and pocked.
“Damn it! Why won’t they open!” Miss Parker screamed in frustration.
“Oh no,” Jarod whispered softly. Miss Parker looked up at him.
“What?” she asked.
“You hear that?”
“Hear what?”
“Listen…”
Miss Parker paused, and listened. She had no idea what she was suppose to be listening to, but soon knew. She heard the creek and crack of beams as they were snapped in two, and the rushing of water coming down the hall.
“Oh no,” she repeated, spinning back to Jarod and beginning her work on the cuffs again.
“No Miss Parker. You have to get away. Go!”
“Jarod! Shut-up!”
Jarod opened his mouth to protest, but as he did, water came pouring into the room. He watched as Miss Parker was swept off her feet and slammed into the near by wall. Jarod was also knocked down, but having the bar there, he was just swept under water and roughly pulled at.
As Miss Parker gained her feet back, she quickly got back to the cuffs again. The water was rushing in so hard, that it knocked the paper clip from Miss Parker’s hands.
“Shit!” she screamed, looking the general direction to where the paperclip had fallen. She suddenly dove downwards, in search for it.
Under water, she searched frantically. When she spotted it, she grabbed at it and returned to the surface. There she met Jarod, jaw chattering, with the water now to their chins. Miss Parker had plenty of room above, but as for Jarod, the bar held him down, so he had to twist his neck backwards to breath.
“M-Miss Parker…” he began, talking in his throat.
“Quiet,” she snapped.
And with that, she dove under water and jabbed the paperclip in the slot and roughly twisted.
Now the water was over Jarod’s head. He desperately tried to hold his breath as long as he could, but felt his consciousness slipping. Miss Parker returned to the surface after a couple seconds of failure of opening the cuffs and saw that Jarod’s head was under water. Not knowing how long he was under, she gasped for air and dove downwards, pressing her lips onto his and blowing her air into his mouth. She could see his eyes were pleading for her, not for air, but for her to leave. She shook her head in protest and made her way back to the surface.
She then dove down again and jammed the paperclip into the cuff’s slut. As if by magic, the handcuff popped open.
She returned to the surface, as Jarod frantically returned to it as well, struggling to catch his breath.
Freed now, they both quickly made their way out of the room and swimming as fast as the rushing water wood allow, they took off down the hall.
Not knowing where to go, they took corners by last minute decisions and prayed they were going the right way.
“Oh thank god!” Miss Parker screamed, seeing stairs up ahead. Jarod smiled and increased his speed with a renewal of strength.
“Hurry!” Jarod shouted from behind her. As they reached them, they quickly began their slide upwards.
When they reached the next floor, Jarod looked around. “Hey! Hey!” Jarod said, spinning around.
“Hey what?” Miss Parker asked.
“This is the last floor, meaning the next one is the storage area that is…”
“The very bottom of the boat… meaning…?”
“Meaning, if we get down there, we can figure out how to knock a hole in the top and get out of here.”
“Yeah but earlier you said cutting a hole and then getting help is a long time, in which no time we have.”
“I said that just to get the excitement up for our readers,” he said, smirking a little. Miss Parker cocked her head to the side in confusion.
He stared at her for a second and then sighed. “Oh have faith,” he said. “C’mon,” he said finally, grabbing her arm and pulling her down the hall.
“But…” she began.
“There has to be another way,” he said simply, pulling her around a corner and quickly turning the opposite way seeing it was a dead end.
“Doesn’t this damn boat believe in signs?” she asked as she allowed Jarod to pull her down the hall.
“There!” Jarod shouted, pointing towards a door that led to the stairs. He picked up his pace, forcing Miss Parker to break into a trot. They reached the door and Jarod reached down to grab a good grasp on the cold metal handle that was more to the bottom of the door than the top. He briefly glanced at her and then began to pull with all his might. Miss Parker watched in amazement as he pulled, the muscles in his arms becoming tight and then relaxing and then tensing after every pull. Soon the door was forced open. Jarod ushered Miss Parker towards the open door. She quickly scrambled up the slope and waited for him to join her.
“This is the last floor?” Miss Parker asked, looking around the cold open area, able to see her breath in puffs of smoke as she talked.
“Yes, should be,” he said with a huff, climbing to his feet.
It was a mess everywhere. Boxes and vehicles were tossed everywhere. A couple feet from them, they could see a red mustang effortlessly tossed upside down, the windshield shattered and one of the red doors sticking out from its side.
“Wow,” Miss Parker said in awe, a puff of breath escaping her lips.
It was freezing up there. They both could feel and see themselves shivering violently.
“Hello?” they heard a ragged voice call out. Jarod and Miss Parker glanced at each other briefly before looking in the general direction to where the voice came from.
There they saw three men, two around Jarod’s age, maybe a little older, and the other about Sydney’s age. Four women followed, one teenager, one in her twenties maybe, and the other two about in their late forties.
“Hello?” the oldest man repeated again.
“Hello,” Jarod answered, gently wrapping cold fingers around Miss Parker’s arm and pulling her towards them with him.
“Who are you?” he asked.
“Ah,” Jarod paused. “I’m Jarod and this is Miss Parker,” he said, gesturing towards her with his head. Parker gave a friendly nod, but no smile. “Who are you?”
The old man straightened a little as if relaxing. “My name is Kevin.” he pointed to one of guys Jarod’s age, the blonde and said, “This is Steve and,” he pointed to the other, the black-haired and said, “Michael.”
“And I am Sue,” the blonde forty-year-old said, “and this is Christina,” pointing to the other forty-year-old. “And Lisa and Alley.”
“Where did you guys come from?” Steve asked.
“From the top, well in this case, bottom level,” Jarod answered.
“You guys came a long way,” Alley, the blonde twenty-year-old, said.
Miss Parker nodded. “Have you guys tried to get out of here already?”
All seven exchanged looks and then Kevin answered, “There isn’t a way out. Not a door, or a trap door or anything.”
Jarod bit his lower lip and looked around and saw about ten more people sitting on the floor in a large group. They all had terrified looks in their eyes, chatting among themselves. Way back in his mind he knew that the water was rising fast and if he they didn’t do anything, all these people are going to die, therefore his mind was becoming blurred by panic. He briefly shut his eyes and shifted into Pretender mode. Calm, he needed to stay calm. He spotted a huge box and stared at it.
“Okay, spread out and look in every box you can find. We need something to help cut a hole in the side,” he said to the eight before him, taking off towards the box he was staring at. Everyone did as they were told and started their search.
He walked up to the huge wood box and studied it, trying to figure out how to get in it. The box had to be 5x5ft. Jarod wrapped his fingers on the side of the box and yanked at it roughly. It creaked a little, cueing Jarod to pull harder. He did, and it was yanked open a crack. He squinted it eyes inside and tried to see through the darkness, but was unsuccessful. He stepped back from the box a few steps and looked around frantically.
Then he saw it, a forklift lying on its side. The front windshield was shattered, but other then that… it looked in one piece. He walked over to it and studied it carefully.
Just then, he let out an ear-piercing whistle, grabbing everyone’s attention. “Over here!” he shouted, as the seven and Miss Parker trotted over to him. “You think we can all turn this over?”
Everyone exchanged looks, considering it. “Well, I don’t see the hell why we can’t try,” Kevin, the old man, shouted, clapping his old hands together.
The nine took their place on the side where the forklift’s roof faced them and took a firm hold on its bars. “Okay on three,” Jarod shouted to them. “1…2…3!” And with that, everyone lifted with their whole bodies, letting out grunts of effort as the forklift was lifted from the ground.
Everyone smiled and cheered, including the people on the other side of the room, as the forklift was now up right. “Now,” Jarod said, leaping up on the tractor, “Let’s see if this damn thing still works.”
He leaned down and yanked the key forward and heard the engine rumble and roar… then die away. He briefly glances up at everyone before trying the key again, listening to it rumble… roar, then die.
People that were sitting on the floor on the other side of the storage area now climbed to their feet, trying to see more of what was going on. There might be hope after all.
Jarod let out a rough sigh after the third time of trying. “C’mon you damn piece of shit! Work!” he screamed, roughly yanking the key forward and hearing the engine roar to life, and then it rumbling loudly. “Yes!” Jarod shouted excitingly, slapping the steeling wheel. Everyone let out an excited shout and smiled.
Jarod stepped down from the tractor, still letting it run and trotted over to the large box. “Help me with now,” he shouted to them, as they trotted to his side. They all grabbed a hold of the box’s edge and yanked and pulled, finally hearing it creak as it was pulled open the rest of the way. They all peered inside, and to their surprise and relief the saw all kinds of heavy-duty machines and construction tools, like, chain saws, sledgehammers, axes, electric saws, etc.
“Oh there is a God!” Sue screamed, wrapping her arms around Kevin’s shoulders.
“Hey! We could use more help over here!” Miss Parker yelled to the others. A couple from the group trotted over to them. Everyone happily grabbed a sledgehammer and walked over to a bare spot of metal and iron of the ship, since there were no plugs for the other equipment. Jarod returned to the forklift and drove it to the side along with the others.
“Alright,” he shouted over the roar of the tractor, getting down from the tractor and taking Lisa’s, the teenager’s, sledgehammer and telling her to get on the forklift, since she barely could lift the hammer and driving the tractor would be hell of a lot easier for her. “You give this damn wall a hard smack. Then pull away, and we will all start hitting with all we got, okay?” he said as he raised his eyebrows at her. “Be careful though, it might get a little rough up there.”
She nodded and leaped up on the tractor, quickly scanning over the switches, before pulling a lever. The tractor slowly went into reverse, getting as far as she could to get a run up. Then, taking a breath she jabbed in drive and kicked the petal to the floor. It snapped forward and hit the wall hard, flinging the teenager forward, but not enough to hurt her… badly. The fork in front of the yellow tractor dented the metal drastically, but there was no solid proof that it was even half way through.
Everyone waited for her to back up and then quickly looked at Jarod. He shook his head at them and then looked over to Lisa who was waiting for further instructions. He nodded to her, cueing her to do it again.
She replied with an another nod and backed it up again, but further this time. She kicked the petal to the floor, and it snapped forward, smacking into the wall and denting the metal even further. She flung forward and hit the steering wheel, but not hard enough to lose consciousness.
Jarod shook his head again in disgust. The metal was dented, yes, but in this rate the water would snap a hole in the wall faster then this tractor would. But they had to keep trying.
Jarod walked over to Lisa and told her to get down. They are going to need a large indention now! Lisa got down and stood by the others. They watched as Jarod backed the tractor up as far as he could go, reaching almost to the other side of the storage area, where the others stood, and took a deep breath.
He quickly looked around him for something heavy, and spotted a large metal brick that used to hold down a plastic covering for one of the cars for protection of scratches. He leaped off the tractor and lifted it in two hands, and walking it over to the tractor. He leaned into the tractor and made sure the wheel wouldn’t turn at all, and quickly dropped the brick onto the petal.
It yanked forward, almost causing Jarod to fall out. As the tractor was gaining speed quickly, Jarod leaped out the door and rolled out onto the fall. Miss Parker and the rest ran away from the wall as far as they could as they saw the speeding tractor heading towards it. Miss Parker ran to Jarod’s side, as they both kept their eyes onto the tractor and watched it ram into the side.
They was a huge bang and screech as the large forks in front of the tractor sliced through the side, as well as bending the powerful forks up a little. Everyone stood there a little in shock and stared and then quickly ran to the side.
The tractor was still running, but it had an ill sound to it now. Jarod studied the slice carefully and smiled as he felt a small breeze of cold air seeping through a small cut in the metal.
“Houston, we have contact,” Jarod said happily. Everyone smiled and began to bang on the dents that surrounded the forks of where they are stuck in the wall with their sledgehammers. Indeed they were making progress.
Suddenly, as if hell broke loose, water sprang into the area, knocking into things and knocking objects out of its powerful way.
They could hear utter screams of terror, no one positive that it was their own and desperately trying to get out of its way.
“We have to keep at it!” Jarod shouted to them over the loud rushing of water, still standing his ground by the wall. Everyone hesitated a little, before returning back to the wall and picking up their discarded hammers. They began to pound on it, half in fear, half in panic; the fear causing them to be stronger, the panic causing them to go faster, things they didn’t know they still had left.
Miss Parker could hear the screaming creak of the ships metal as it was bent. The boat suddenly tipped downwards, all the boxes, machines and cars sliding across the floor.
Jarod, trying to keep his footing of where he stood by the tractor, noticed the forklift leaning towards him from the gravity pulling at it. He quickly glanced at the wall and saw the fork that was stuck in the wall begin to slice through the wall side ways, making a huge cut in the wall. Jarod could see the outside through the huge slice and smiled in relief. But as he was about to shout out for the rest of them to look, the whole ship seemed to dive downwards.
Water was rapidly filling the whole area, making the ship heavy and tipping to one side.
Jarod could see that the tractor was on the verge of being ripped out wall. That means it is going to come crashing onto him. Jarod tried to think of what to do, when suddenly the floor became too steep. He fell to the floor, and began to slide towards the water. Thinking fast, he reached out and grabbed a rope that hung from the wall.
As he dangled there, he saw Miss Parker and Lisa slide downwards. Jarod reached out and grabbed a hold of Miss Parker’s arm, as she reached out and grabbed Lisa’s. Miss Parker and the teenager swung towards Jarod, slamming into him. Jarod let out a grunt at the blow to his side, but held on as tightly as he could.
Through all the screams and madness, Jarod looked up over his shoulder and watched as the forklift was ripped from the wall and began to slide towards them on it’s side.
“Oh god!” Jarod screamed, catching Miss Parker and Lisa’s attention.
“Oh no!” Lisa screamed.
“Hold on!” Jarod shouted, as he let go of the rope and letting all three of them slide downwards.
Them being a lot lighter than the tractor, they out slid the forklift and hit a huge box that wasn’t completely covered by the water yet because of the pile up of cars and boxes below. They quickly looked over and up and saw that the tractor was coming towards them faster now that the ship was still moving downwards.
“Over there!” Jarod shouted, pointing towards another large box to their right. Lisa leaped over onto the box and Miss Parker followed. Right as Jarod’s feet hit the surface of the other box, they saw the tractor slam into the box they were on and watched it effortlessly smash it in two.
“We have to get up there!” Miss Parker shouted, pointing up to the hole they had made in the wall. Jarod looked up and nodded in agreement. He could see one of the people trying to climb through the small opening, their feet dangling, and desperately trying to pull themselves through the whole. He watched in horror as a box lost its hold and came crashing down on the person and knocked him right from the wall, slicing a gash in his stomach from the sharp metal edge.
Jarod shut his eyes quickly and tightly, trying to block out the image as the man fell to the water and the cars and boxes below with a huge splash and thud.
The ship was almost completely straight up now, things falling from above and the sounds of cracking and splashing. The lights were blinking too; turning off for a full five seconds and then blinking back on again. But the worst of all were the sounds of screaming and crying. Some were cut short abruptly as a huge splash or a thud followed.
“Madness,” Miss Parker whispered, but Jarod caught it and he glanced down to her pale, shocked face as she stared out at the people that were seeking shelter on cars and boxes around them. He leaned down and kissed her forehead gently. Her blue eyes glanced up at his brown.
“C’mon,” he shouted to Lisa and Miss Parker both, as he walked passed them on the box and found a rope that was hanging down from the wall way up above. He grabbed it and tugged on it a little, making sure it was sturdy enough, and began his uneasy climb upwards, walking on the steep floor, taking some of the effort off his sore hands and arms.
Miss Parker and Lisa followed, both having trouble climbing. They weren’t as strong as Jarod and they couldn’t go as fast as him.
Lisa was the last one climbing and she suddenly lost her hold and slid to the box below again. Miss Parker and Jarod looked down to see if she was all right, and then Miss Parker climbed down. She leaned down on her haunches and checked if she was all right, as Jarod made his way down and leaped onto the box.
“I can’t do it. It is too hard,” Lisa said, looking up at the two. Jarod glanced at Miss Parker.
“Okay,” Jarod began. “I am going to tie the rope around your waist. But you are going to have to use your legs and take some of the gravity off me okay?” Jarod took the end of the rope and began to loop it around his waist and tie it. He then took the access of the rope and looped it around Miss Parker’s waist and then tied the end of it around Lisa’s. “Just hold onto the rope so it isn’t cutting you in two and use your legs and you will be fine, okay?” he shouted to them over the rush of water and the bang/clank or machinery and boxes. Lisa nodded, securing the rope around her waist better. Jarod turned to Miss Parker. “Are you okay?”
“Yes, I will be fine,” she replied, unsteadily. He put his frozen hand on her cold cheek.
“Are you sure?” he asked, worriedly. She nodded as she bit her lip. He nodded back sadly and then grabbed the rope, glancing back at them for warning and then beginning to climb again, pulling Miss Parker and Lisa along with them.
Jarod used all his strength in his arms, gritting his teeth together as he pulled his and both of the women’s behind him. Using their legs onto the steep floor, it was still a lot of weight on his arms, but he kept going.
Miss Parker held on as hard as she could, her knuckles becoming white. She felt the rope at her waist becoming tighter, but chose to ignore it. She knew Jarod wasn’t going to last much longer, since he had three people to pull and not to mention the tightening rope at his waist. ‘Hold on Baby’, she thought as she watched his back as he pulled ahead of her.
Jarod was almost in tears of pain. The rope was cutting at him at his waist dangerously bad, but he kept going. He had to keep going. He just had to. The women behind him are counting on him.
Suddenly, hearing a crash up above, Jarod looked up and saw a medium size wooden box sliding towards them. It wasn’t a large box, but it was enough to knock their hold.
“Hold on!” Jarod screamed, stepping side ways on the wall to the right, desperately trying to get out of the way of the box. He does and so does Miss Parker, but Lisa is slower and the box just nabs her in the left leg, knocking it from beneath her and causing her to fall to the floor.
The sudden weight on the rope pulled roughly at Miss Parker and Jarod’s waist and they both fell to the floor too. Miss Parker heard Jarod’s scream of pain and knew it was worst than what she was feeling.
“Oh god!” Jarod gasped, holding onto the rope in front of him, trying not to let go, because if he did, they would fall all the way back down again and probably cut all three of them in two. He desperately tried to get his footing back on the floor as Miss Parker scrambled to her feet and yelled back to Lisa to do the same, knowing it was killing Jarod and was certain it was killing her. Lisa did so and Jarod started up again.
Finally they reached the top. They were about eight feet away from the hole in the wall and there was only a metal bar they could climb on to get to it. Jarod reached above him and grabbed the metal bar, keeping himself steady as Miss Parker and Lisa climbed the rest of the way up and grabbed onto the bar. Miss Parker looked at Jarod worriedly and saw the tears in his eyes.
“Damn Jarod,” she whispered in shock to see how much pain he was in.
Using one hand, Lisa freed herself from the rope, and then Miss Parker and finally Jarod. Lisa began to move sideways down the bar towards the whole in the wall, as Miss Parker followed. Before Jarod went after him, he quickly glanced to his left and saw about five people holding onto the same pipe, inching their way towards them. Jarod shook his head in disgust and began to move towards the hole.
Lisa finally reached the end of the bar and noticed the hole was about two more feet away. She glanced over her shoulder at Miss Parker and gave a worriedly look.
“You are going to have to jump!” Miss Parker screamed over the rush of water.
“But I can’t!” Lisa shouted back.
Suddenly, there was a big pow, as the water rose higher and was literally swallowing the ship whole. Everyone felt their feet lift off the floor and now they were all just dangling on the pipe, as the floor was completely straight up and down. Jarod felt like his arms were being torn. He looked over his shoulder to see the water quickly filling the boat, also seeing people swimming around in panic, screaming and crying for God. Jarod shut his eyes briefly. He would rather be in the Centre thirty more years to never experience this.
The lights suddenly shut off completely, followed by a huge gasp of the frightened people, as they were now in the dark, afraid and frozen.
There was no hope it seemed, no hope for them all. The ship was sinking, and it was sinking with them in it!
“Lisa jump!” Miss Parker screamed.
“I can’t! I can’t!” Lisa screamed back, tears pouring down her face. “I can’t hold on much longer!”
“Lisa!” Miss Parker screamed, watching in horror as Lisa’s one hand let go. “Lisa no! Don’t give up! Damn you, Lisa!” Miss Parker screamed, as she watched her other hand begin to slip.
Over half the storage area was flooded now, and still the water was rapidly coming.
“NO!” Miss Parker screamed as she watched Lisa loose her grip and fall to the water below with a splash. Miss Parker stared down to the water; her eyes desperately searched the icy waters for Lisa. “Oh god, Lisa,” Miss Parker murmured.
After almost a full minute, the water was almost touching their feet. “Oh no!” people screamed, some were below in the water, some hanging from the bar. Miss Parker looked down again, searching the water for Lisa, but only saw other people, either dead, almost dead or bleeding. Miss Parker swallowed hard as the water began to consume them now.
“Miss Parker let go! Swim to the hole!” Miss Parker heard Jarod shout from behind her. She did what she was told and let go, falling into the water. It pulled her under for a brief second, and then she returned to the surface, gasping for air. She began to make her way to the hole, water already coming in and out of it. Proof that the hole was almost completely under water.
When she reached it, she now had to go under water to go through it. She gasped for air and then dove under, feeling panicky hands pushing at her to hurry. She slid through it, realizing what a tight fit it was and made her way out side the ship and coming up to the surface. She gasped at the sky, the stars, the moon, realizing for the first time how cold she was. She spun around, watching as people’s heads popped up from the water. Her eyes danced upon each face, wondering where Jarod was.
“Oh god,” she whispered in terror. So far, five people are crying and swimming with panic away from the boat as far as they can, knowing the boat will suck them right under with it, but Miss Parker swims closer to it. “Jarod!” she screams, as another person pops up from the water and swimming away from the ship. “C’mon Jarod!” she says, tears now running down her face. “Don’t be a hero, get out of there Jarod!” she screamed, as another head pops up.
Eight in total, including her, only eight from the eighteen. She shakes her head in disgust, staring down at the water, waiting for Jarod to come to the surface. But no one did. She let out a sob, closing her eyes briefly and then returned them back to the water.
“No Jarod… no,” she sobbed.
Suddenly, she saw Jarod pop his head up from the water, taking in a huge gasp up air.
“Jarod! My god, my baby!” she screamed, wrapping her arms around him and kissing his freezing cheek. He smiled at her weakly.
“C’mon,” he said with a chattering jaw, making his way away from the boat, his one arm still rapped around her waist. They got as far as they could from the ship and turned around, still swimming backwards, and watched as the water around it bubbled and popped as it swallowed the ship whole, including all their belongings, cars, money and most of all, their loved ones.
Miss Parker ripped her eyes from the sinking ship and looked around, seeing all tear filled eyes of terror and sorrow. Miss Parker shook her head in disgust. She then leaned her head against Jarod’s shoulder and asked softly, “How many were on the boat?”
Jarod briefly glanced down at her and then back at the scene of the ship sinking. He answered softly, “More than nine hundred.”
Miss Parker shut her eyes and let out a sob, “Out of nine hundred people, why are we part of the nine who survived?”
He glanced down into her eyes again and stared at her, “I don’t know Parker. I don’t know.”
After a couple minutes, the boat was completely gone. There was a lot of wreckage in the water, like pieces of broken wood, suitcases, etc. They had found only a small upside down lifeboat that they could seek shelter on, but only seven could fit on it. Two were forced to stay in the water.
Miss Parker had climbed up on top of the lifeboat, along with four other women. Shivering violently, neither of the women said a word as the men decided who was going to climb aboard and what two are going to stay in the water. Jarod glanced up at Miss Parker and smiled weakly at her and kissed her hand in which she held his. She looked down at him in confusion.
“I-I love y-you Miss P-Parker,” he whispered, shivering.
She smiled at him, “I k-know you d-do.”
Jarod gave her one last weak smile and then turned to the four men, two being Kevin and Steve. “I v-volunteer for staying in the w-water,” Jarod said to them. All four exchanged looks and then glanced at Jarod.
“J-Jarod?” Miss Parker tried to yell, but her voice cracking in effort. She watched as the other men nodded. “No Jarod,” she whispered to him. He looked up at her.
“I volunteer too,” Kevin said softly, glancing at Jarod. Miss Parker heard Sue gasp next to her at that.
Miss Parker looked down at Jarod again. She stared at him with sad eyes, begging him to reconsider. He looked so cold, his face was pale and his eyes weren’t brown anymore. They seemed black, but they still sparkled. They sparkled of… hope.
“I-I love you M-Miss Parker,” he repeated again. Miss Parker bit her lower lip and squeezed his hand a little.
“I… I-I love you t-too Jarod,” she said, weakly. “Please, don’t let this be our good bye… okay?” she asked in a child’s voice. He shook his head sadly at her. “Please?” she repeated.
“I w-will never die… I will n-never die, as l-long as [you] l-love me,” he said, his jaw chattering, his whole body freezing and shaking violently. Miss Parker felt his hand grow colder at his words and she sobbed.
“Don’t leave m-me Jarod,” she whispered in between sobs.
He shook his head sadly. “N-Never.”
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It [seemed] to be more than thirty minutes, bobbing in the freezing water. Miss Parker still held his hand tightly, rubbing her thumb over his freezing skin. She stared out across the ocean, just staring as she listened to Sue’s weak singing next to her.
‘Eternity’, Miss Parker thought, ‘Eternity of freezing air on my skin. Eternity of the cold water biting at my flesh. When will it stop? When will it?’
Miss Parker slowly turned towards Jarod and looked down at him. He was shivering more than ever now, with his eyes were closed. Miss Parker squeezed his hand. He didn’t respond.
“Jarod?” she asked weakly, surprised by her own voice of how weak and soft it was. He slowly opened his eyes and looked up at her. “Are y-you okay?” Jarod smiled sadly and nodded his head slowly. Miss Parker shook her head. “No you are n-not. You c-can’t even f-feel your hand.” Jarod briefly shut his eyes and then opened them again, revealing unshed tears in their blackness. Miss Parker swallowed hard. “I l-love you Jarod.” He responded with a nod, unable to speak. She laid her head down on her arm and stared at him for a moment, her heart aching for him.
‘Never’ his last word rang in her head. ‘Never’. She sobbed a little, still staring at him, his eyes closed again. ‘I will [never] let you go Jarod.”
Suddenly, they heard the roar of a helicopter coming their way. Miss Parker lifted her head weakly up towards the sky and saw the black helicopter hovering over them, blowing gushes of wind down on them.
“T-Thank g-god,” Miss Parker shivered weakly. She glanced down at Jarod, who haven’t even acknowledged that the helicopter was there. “J-Jarod, we are going to be r-rescued. You are g-going to be safe n-now!” she said excitingly. He didn’t open his eyes. “Jarod?”
She heard someone gasp as a rescuer slid down a rope from the helicopter. He had a bright orange suit on and he hovered over the water about a couple feet and an about one foot away from them.
“C’mon!” the man shouted. He reached his hand out for Miss Parker, but she just stared at it for a moment and then glanced down at Jarod, whom still had his eyes closed, holding her hand. “C’mon!” the man said again.
Miss Parker glanced at the people beside her and then at the man in an orange suit. ‘Never’, Jarod’s last word rang in her head.
Suddenly, she felt a hand grab her arm and yank her to her feet, loosing her grasp on Jarod’s hand. “C’mon!” the man repeated, wrapping his arms around her waist.
“No!” Miss Parker screamed, her voice cracking. She was helpless against the stranger, him being so strong, her being so weak. “No! Jarod! Never! I am sorry Jarod! Please!” she screamed, watching as the lifeboat became farther and farther below them. “No!” she screamed one last time, reaching her hand downwards.
When she was pulled into the helicopter, heat hit her like a ton of bricks. She gasped out loud, as she was wrapped with blankets by the million. “Please,” Miss Parker whispered, her voice weak again from her screaming. The woman that also had an orange suit on that was wrapping her in blankets looked up at her. “Please save him,” Miss Parker whispered, the woman not knowing whom she was referring to.
“Don’t worry miss. They went back to save the rest of them,” she reassured gently. Miss Parker felt the gentle prick of something in her arm.
“I love him,” Miss Parker said weakly, the drug beginning to kick in. Before she blacked out she saw the woman nod and then Sue being brought up to the helicopter. Blackness.
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Warm… heat… fire… burning… hot… She slowly opens her eyes, letting them focus slowly on the nightstand by the warm bed. Warm? She shifts a little of where she lays and feels warmth. It was almost too hot. She slowly lets her eyes scan the room. Hospital, she thought.
“Ah, you are awake!” she heard someone say happily. She slowly moves her eyes to the doorway where Sydney stood. He quietly walked over to her and sat down by the bed.
“Jarod?” was the first word out of her mouth. Sydney’s smile disappeared at that, and than he smiled sadly. Miss Parker’s heart stopped. “No…”
“No Miss Parker. I just came from visiting his room,” he said softly.
“Is he… is he?” she began.
Sydney shook his head. “He is just fine Miss Parker. When they pulled him out of the water, he was unconscious and was very close to loosing his toes…” he smiled weakly. “But he is okay. Everything is in tact, maybe a little frost bitten, but he is okay.”
Miss Parker smiled happily, but it disappeared quickly. “The Centre?”
Sydney shook his head. “I came alone. Broots doesn’t even know where I went.”
Miss Parker smiled again. “I want to see him.”
Sydney nodded his head. “I figured. That’s why I told them to bring a wheel chair ready.” He stood up and walked over to the wheel chair in the corner and wheeled it over. Miss Parker sat up and slid into the chair, then Sydney pushed her out gently into the hall.
Miss Parker could feel her heartbeats becoming faster as they became nearer to his room. As soon as they entered the room, Miss Parker let out a soft gasp of relief and happiness at the sigh of him.
Sydney pushed her over to the side of the bed, where Miss Parker gently took Jarod’s hand. He stirred and opened his eyes, looking up at her and smiled weakly.
“Hi,” Miss Parker said softly.
“Hi,” he said in a raspy voice.
She gave his hand a gentle squeeze. “Can you feel that?”
He chuckled softly. “Yes.”
She smiled down at him and then glanced up at Sydney, who was smiling as he watched. After realizing that Miss Parker was looking at him and he also jumped. “Oh, sorry. I will be leaving now,” he said quietly, leaving the room quickly.
Miss Parker smiled and returned her attention back to Jarod.
“I was asking for you ever since I woke up,” he muttered, his deep voice raspy from nonuse. Miss Parker smiled down at him.
“You scared me so badly. I thought you were dead when they rescued me. I was desperately trying to wake you up… but…” she let out a soft sob.
“Hey,” he said gently, pulling her down to him for an embrace. “Shh, it’s okay. It’s okay. I am [never] going to leave you.”
Miss Parker pulled away a little to look at him. She smiled through her tears. “I know you won’t,” she said softly, hugging him again. She pulled again and pressed her lips onto his gently. As she pulled away she whispered on his lips, “I love you Jarod. I want to spend the rest of my life with you… no matter what.”
Jarod looked at her carefully, before letting his lips curl into a smile. “Really?” he asked with a hint of excitement in his raspy voice. Miss Parker nodded, trying to stop crying, but not succeeding. He pulled her into a hug again. “Oh god, I have waited [so] long for you to say that.” He pulled away and smiled. “If I could feel my feet right now I would be jumping for joy.”
Miss Parker smiled and leaned down, kissing him again.
[Whew] The end!
That wasn’t the best and ‘realistic’ of my fan fic, but it was fun to write. Loved it? Hated it? Whatever. Comments are [so] welcome!
Author's Note: You will notice some parts are a lot like a movie we are familiar with. Hmmm... oops. You will know which movie once you read this.
Their World Upside Down
by AngelWings
Miss Parker slid her sunglasses down her nose and away from her sharp, blue eyes. She slowly looked around her surroundings and huffed in disgust. Oh god, she hated vacation, not to mention California! First thing she was going to do is get an answer from her father of why he sent her here for her two weeks rest. No, wait, that will be the second thing. First she will hurt him severely, [then] ask him.
She decided she shouldn’t stand around at the airport looking lost, so she quickly received her bags and took off for the exit.
As soon as she stepped outside, the heat hit her like a kick in the gut. It was surprisingly hot for late at night. That just made her want to turn around, get another ticket away from here, return to the Centre, walk straight to her father’s office and strangle him with her own two hands. But instead she waved for a taxi.
As the noisy, rusty, bad excuse for a vehicle pulled up to the curb, it made Miss Parker’s revenge more brutal. She just hoped the driver knew English.
She watched with stoney eyes as the driver got out and put her bags in the trunk. He gave her a small grin of yellow teeth, but she ignored it and got in without a word. He quickly returned to his seat behind the wheel.
“Where will it be miss?” he asked, with a small accent lingering in his voice. Miss Parker’s eyes snapped up to the rear view mirror, where she saw his small eyes watching and waiting for her to respond.
“Sunset Inn,” she snapped. He responded with a smile and put the taxi in gear.
“Ah, the hotel by the beach. That is a very nice place. You on vacation?” he began, trying to make conversation.
“Am I paying you to bore me? If I am, don’t expect much,” she sneered at him. His smile and desperation to make a new friend vanished just as quickly as the road zipped under his tires. He swallowed hard and drove the rest of the way in silence.
When they got there, the taxi driver quickly got out and received her bags, dumped them on the pavement in front of the hotel and got back in before Miss Parker could even get out and grind her cigarette under her toe. She threw him a tip and quickly gathered her things and got inside, before her make-up would melt right off her face.
“Parker,” she snapped at the clerk. The clerk gave her a weak smile and ran her poor manicured fingernail down a list of names. Miss Parker tapped her fingers impatiently, as the blonde moved her bright red lips as she read the names.
“Ah, here we are. Miss Parker,” she read, pointing to the name. She handed her a key and gave her one final smile. “Have a good time,” she said. Miss Parker nodded a quick nod and quickly took off for the elevator. At least the hotel halls were decent enough. It was good fashioned, with a flowered vase here and a blue rug there. Let’s just hope the rooms relate.
Miss Parker let out a small sigh of relief when her room was cold with air conditioning and had the same fashion as the halls. She set her bags in the closet and collapsed on the bed. [Ah, yes, this is what I call a vacation] she thought as she lay there and let the cold air dry her sweat. After a long moment she sat up and walked to the curtained sliding glass doors that led to the balcony.
She pulled the curtains open and gasped softly at the view. It was gorgeous! There was a perfect sunset setting in the water, filled with purple, blue, yellow and orange. She slid open the doors and stepped outside. It got a little cooler, but not much, but for the first time she didn’t care. She leaned on the railing and watched as the sun slowly began to disappear into the blue waves.
She sighed and looked around the shoreline. There was no one in sight, except for a guy sitting on a blanket, cross-legged. He had his shirt off and Miss Parker noticed the handsome shoulder blades that stuck out as he leaned back and rested his weight on his strong arms, watching the sunset in fascination. She couldn’t see his face, but knew he was handsome. He had dark hair and a perfect jaw line. She ran her eyes down his backbone, to the waist of his pants. He had the perfect body. If only she could see his face.
As if someone read her mind, a little girl ran out to the guy, calling his name. Miss Parker pushed off from the rail and stood up straight. Did she hear correctly? She leaned forward to hear.
“Jarod! Jarod! Mommy wants you to join us for dinner at the restaurant tonight. She said she wants to thank you for saving Tommy’s life again. Please come, please come!” the little girl pleaded, before Jarod could even turn around.
“Well… alright,” Jarod agreed with a smile. The little girl bent down and wrapped her arms around his neck.
“Thank you!” she said happily.
“Small world after all,” Miss Parker whispered to herself, as she watched the scene. She smiled cat-like before taking off for the elevator.
“I’m going to wash up. Dinner is in an hour!” she claimed, as she took off for the hotel again.
“I’ll be there!” he called after her. He shook his head as he smiled and returned his attention to the sunset again. It was only a couple minutes from disappearing completely. He sighed in fascination. He loved the beach: so peaceful, so pure.
Miss Parker silently trotted up behind him, the sand making it easy to be quiet. She was able to get a foot behind him before he even heard her.
“Didn’t know you were a [water] rat,” she sneered, causing him to leap to his feet and spin around in surprise. He stared at her in shock, as she stared back with her icy glare.
“What are [you] doing here?” he finally asked.
“Funny, I was going to ask you the same thing,” she shot back. He stared at her again.
“Well, I have a dinner to go to,” he said, bending over and picking up the blanket and his shirt.
“Ah-ah, not so fast. You aren’t going anywhere without me!”
“You are welcome to come,” he offered. She lifted one eyebrow in disgust.
“Excuse me?” she asked.
“But, there probably isn’t enough seats to have your sweeper team come,” he said, ignoring her question.
“First, why would I go to dinner with [you]? And second, I’m here alone. I’m on vacation.”
He let out a grunt of laughter. “You, vacation? Impossible!”
It was her turn to cross her arms. “Possible. Look, we can take this conversation in the hotel, where I can handcuff you to a doorknob or something.”
“Sorry. As good as that might sound... I have plans. Are you coming or not?” he said, walking past her.
“I’m not…” she paused, considering it for a moment. Maybe she should. That will probably be the only way she can keep an eye on him. “Fine, I’ll go. But right after, you’re mine!” she shot out, not thinking of what she said.
He turned around and smiled a boyish smile.
“Ah… I mean, you are the Centre’s,” she quickly corrected.
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That night, Miss Parker wore her new navy blue dress, with the slit going down her right leg. She almost smiled as she watched the hotel guests stare at her as she passed them, on her way down the hall. She and Jarod decided to meet with each other in the elevator.
As she got closer and closer to the elevator, thoughts seemed to bounce through her head. Why is she doing this? She is meeting [Jarod] for dinner. Would if he stands her up? She began to think of all the ways she could make him pay if he stands her up, as she waited for the elevator doors to ding open.
When they did, she tried everything in her power not to let her jaw drop to the floor. He was gorgeous! He wore a black tux with a blue tie; almost the same shade as her dress and his hair was softly styled.
She kept eye contact as she entered, noticing how his gorgeous baby browns sparkled in the light.
“You look beautiful,” he said in a deep tone.
“Not bad yourself,” she said quietly. She tried everything she could not to let the weakness show through her voice.
As the elevator doors slid closed and began to go down, she slowly turned her head towards him a little, so she could keep her eye on him. She looked at every detail about him: his shoes, his watch, his tie, his pants, his coat.
Finally the doors dinged open, and they both quietly walked to the exit. As they got outside, he led her to his mustang.
“You may take your own car, if you don’t want to ride with me,” he said, almost in a pouting manner. She looked up at him and into his dark eyes.
“Gentlemen always open doors for women,” she said, gesturing towards the red door. He gave her a smile that sent sparkles to his eyes and gladly opened the door for her, as she stepped inside. He slammed the door shut and trotted over to the driver’s side and hopped in as well. He was about to put the key in when she spoke up again, “And besides… I didn’t bring my car.” He paused at that, glanced at her and then put the key in and turned it on.
They rode in silence, Miss Parker looking out the window and Jarod tapping his finger on the wheel quietly as the soft whisper of music sang from the radio. Miss Parker had to admit the city was beautiful at night. She didn’t know why, but she felt so safe and happy. She quickly glanced at Jarod, who kept his eyes on the road, and almost smiled. That is where her safe and happiness is coming from, it is him. Having him with her, being so close to her, for him nowhere to run. She let out a soft sigh, getting his attention. He glanced at her.
“Something wrong?” he asked with concern. She quietly shook her head. “Are you sure? I can turn off the radio,” he said, reaching for the knobs on the dash. She quickly pushed his hand down.
“You worry too much,” she snapped. He quickly brought his hand back to the stirring wheel and shrugged his shoulders.
“Well, always want to make you happy,” he said without a thought. She looked at him. “Um… well since you, ah, always like it to be prefect and everything,” he quickly corrected. His uneasiness was cute on him, she thought.
“Of course, “ she said with a smile, returning to the window again.
When they arrived to dinner, Jarod was greeted with four hugs and a handshake from the family.
“I’m so glad you could make it Jarod,” the mother, Mrs. Hoard, said with a smile. Her husband nodded thankfully in agreement.
“Me too,” Jarod said, giving Miss Parker a brief glance. “Um, excuse me. This is my… this is Miss Parker.”
“Oh, how nice to meet you,” Mr. and Mrs. Hoard said, holding out their hands. Miss Parker forced a smile and shook both hands. “Glad you could make it as well.”
All of them finally took their seats. Miss Parker took a seat by Jarod, as the two little girls, one she saw earlier and the other a little older, were fighting over who will get the other seat next to Jarod.
“Sarah, Nicole! Knock it off!” their father demanded in a low voice.
Finally, the oldest, Nicole took the seat across from Jarod, as the youngest gladly took the seat next to him. The little boy, probably Tommy, sat next to the oldest, as the parents took the last remaining seats.
“We can’t thank you enough, Jarod,” Mrs. Hoard began as she clasped her hands in front of her and laid them on the table. Jarod replied with a smile. “How can we ever repay you?”
“Don’t. This is enough,” he said with a smile.
Miss Parker glanced at Nicole, who was staring at Jarod, with her elbow on the table, with her chin resting on the back of her hand and her eyes half in a daze. Miss Parker had a hard time keeping the smile from her lips.
After a quick glance at the menus, the waitress finally came, a smile on her face and pad of paper in her hand. Everyone made their orders and she quickly left, only to return with their food.
As they began to eat, Miss Parker saw Sarah, the youngest daughter lean forward to see around Jarod at Miss Parker. She then tugged at Jarod’s jacket.
“Is that lady your girlfriend?” she whispered, but Miss Parker heard it. She saw the smile appear on Jarod’s lips and then he shook his head no. Miss Parker could not deny the sligth disappointment she felt.
Dinner went by rather quickly and the night grew late. Mr. and Mrs. Hoard said they better get the kids home and to bed before they fall asleep in their chairs. As they were leaving, Sarah walked with Jarod outside.
“You gonna visit?” she asked, tugging on his jacket, almost bending her neck in half to look up at him. Jarod smiled and bent down on his haunches.
“Of course,” he said with a smile. Sarah smiled and wrapped her arms around his neck for a quick embrace. Jarod wrapped his long arms around her tiny waist and lifted her toes from the ground. He effortlessly through her in the air, as she giggled. “Well kiddo, we got to go,” he said with a huff, setting her down on the ground. She nodded a sad nod and gave him a finale kiss on the cheek and took off for their minivan. Nicole waved in a shy manner before getting into the van after her sister.
“Thank you,” the little boy, Tommy, whispered shyly before taking off after his siblings.
Jarod waved as the van was put into gear and began its way out of the parking lot.
“Some family,” Miss Parker said behind him. He slowly turned around.
“Yeah, the family I never had,” he said softly.
“Oh, you are breaking my heart,” she sneered. He looked to the ground and she caught the hard swallow in his Adams Apple. She almost felt sorry for him, [almost]. “Well we better get back to the hotel before it gets too late to call the Centre.”
“It’s never too late to call the Centre,” he replied. “Besides, who said I was going back to the hotel with you? I have other plans.”
“Don’t even…”
“What are you going to do about it?”
“So help me god, I will knock you over the head with my shoe and [carry] you back to the hotel!”
“Well, if you are going to do that, ask someone to take a picture. I would like to see it.”
“Smart ass!”
“Bitch!”
She leaned back a little. “Excuse me?”
“You heard me!” he yelled with a smile.
That was the first time she had heard Jarod call her a name like that. But it wasn’t that he was trying to be mean, it was sort of in a playful manner. He grinned boyishly at her as she turned speechless.
“How dare you!” she hissed through her teeth. He shook his head knowingly before glancing to his watch and letting out a sigh.
“Well, it has all been… really nice, but I have a boat to catch.”
“A boat?”
He nodded, as she put her hands on her hips and put her weight on one leg.
“You on a boat? What boat on what ocean, going where… without me?”
He shook his head as he smiled. “You are too funny,” he said, a trace of sarcasm.
“Ha. Ha. Ha. Ha,” she said slowly, sarcasm dripping from her tone. “Now water rat, come back to the hotel and we will discuss it later, okay?”
He shook his. “Sorry, not tonight,” and with that he took off towards his car.
“Jarod! Get your butt back here!” she shouted after him, before breaking into a run herself. “Jarod, I’m going to kill you!”
As soon as he was there, he yanked open the car door and sat inside with a thud, almost bumping his head on the roof, and roughly jammed the key in and turned it until the engine roared.
“Jarod, you better not leave me here or I’ll kill you!” Miss Parker shouted, only a few inches from pulling the handle on the passenger door. Right when her fingernails touched the metal of the handle, Jarod kicked the accelerator to the floor and took off out of the parking lot before Miss Parker could even get her first cuss word out.
“Damn you son-of-a-bitch!” she shouted after the speeding red mustang leaving her in its dust. [Mental note: ALWAYS bring a gun].
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“Thank you,” Jarod said to the ticket master, before taking off towards the walkway to get on the huge luxury liner, the Mauritania.
The air was fresh, the sound of seagulls in the air, the wind was light. Jarod thought it was the perfect day. He had decided to take this cruise for only one reason, just to get away. See, on an ocean liner in the middle of the ocean no one can get you. He smiled at that thought. A whole week of not worrying or checking if the coast was clear, because now it was going to be clear every minute of every day of the week.
As he stepped on the ship, he almost gasped out load. It was beautiful. The halls on the ship were dark oaks, and had old fashion designs on the ceiling and the dinner area had fresh china and table clothes of white lace. The smooth railing on the beautiful staircase in the dining area that leads to higher decks were dark oaks also that shined from varnish. In a matter of fact, everything shined like it was brand new. Which it probably was, since Mauritania has had only two journeys across the Atlantic.
Jarod walked slowly up the stairs, admiring every detail of the ship. What a week this is going to be!
Finally he came to his room. He stuck the key in the slot and turned it, pushing the door open he looked around in awe. The room was beautiful. Everything was old fashion, with a fireplace here and a painting there. The only thing that looked modern, was the TV and the radio in the far corner.
He smiled as he sat down on his huge bed. [Wow] he thought, [I am going to enjoy this week].
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Later that night, Jarod roamed around the ship, checking out everything and everyone about it. He had already made a couple friends as well.
Now he was on top deck, enjoying the chilling night air brushing on his face and enjoying the light of the moon and stars in the sky. The wind gently blew at his hair and his long drench coat, feeling the freedom he barely had. God he loved to be free.
He walked over to the side railing and looked over the side and watched the waves splash up onto the huge ship as it crashed through the water effortlessly. He let out a long and happy sigh and leaned down to rest his chin on his crossed arms that rested on the cold metal railing.
She watched him lean on the railing and fascinate the water below. She found herself sighing happily as well. She couldn’t help her self. Jarod had a good idea about getting on a boat. Just the wind and the sound of the waves crashing into the ship’s sides were enough to make [anyone] feel happy and free.
He slowly let his eyelids close while listening to the soft sound of the waves below him whooshing against the boat. A smile yanked at the sides of his mouth at the feel of the chill in the air whisking through his hair almost put him to sleep. He could have gone to sleep right there if someone hadn’t said anything to him from behind. He quickly stood up and turned around to see Miss Parker standing before him. His eyes widened at her figure.
She can’t be there! She just can’t! No! This was his week! It was his week of freedom!
“What the hell are you doing here?” he shouted at her angrily. She was surprised at his explosion and stepped back a step.
“What do you mean? I would think you would be used to it,” she sneered. Jarod spun around and leaned forward, putting his weight on the railing again. “Something troubling you, rat boy?” she asked, crossing her arms across her chest. Jarod concentrated on the waves, trying to block out her voice. This is not what he wanted, not at all!
“Oh god do I hate this!” he shouted, spinning around again. “Always on my heels! I hate this so much!” Miss Parker narrowed her eyes.
“I hate [you] more!” she shouted back, almost in a childish manner. Jarod let out an angry and frustrated grunt, as he pushed past her. “And where are you going?”
“It’s a damn boat, Miss Parker. I’m not going anywhere!” he shouted over his shoulder.
As he walked along the railing on the far side she whispered to herself, “Wow, didn’t see that one coming.” Usually, Jarod would make a smart remark as they came face to face again. But now he just [blew up] in her face.
She trotted up to him again. “Well, aren’t you going to tell me what is wrong?”
He spun around to face her again. “What is wrong? What is wrong? What do you mean, ‘what is wrong’. I know you aren’t a genius, but you aren’t stupid! You are what’s wrong!”
“Well, excuse me! It’s my [job] to be on your heels! If you got a problem with it then you… you can… um,” she couldn’t think of anything to say, so she just crossed her arms and looked to the ground as if she was pouting. Jarod rolled his eyes, spun around and started walking alone the rail again. She caught up with him, staying right on his heels. He suddenly stopped and leaned on the rail and stood there for a while, waiting for the other one to say something.
“Well, I’m on vacation, so… let’s call it a truce,” he finally said. He looked at her, as she stared back. “Truce?”
She then crossed her arms and just stared in consideration. “Truce as in what?”
“As in completely staying away from each other! Truce or no?” he asked, reaching out his hand. She glanced down at it and then back into his eyes and finally took his hand as he gentle shook it.
She suddenly tightened her grip and pulled him to her, so their breaths were both on each other’s lips. “And after the ship docks, you are mine,” and with that she spun on her heel and left him there, still with his hand out stretched, watching as her figure disappeared down the stairs.
Jarod shook his head and spun around to walk to the front of the ship. He slowly leaned over and watched as the bow of the ship sliced through the blue waves with effortless ease. Again, he closed his eyes and let the sound of the waves fill his ears.
“Are you okay?” he heard a female voice ask. He stood up and spun around in surprise.
“Excuse me?” he asked the blonde politely. She was beautiful. Long blonde hair that went past her shoulders, a blue unbuttoned shirt, with a white v-neck under it, that blew in the wind, and faded blue jeans.
She smiled shyly. “I ah, saw how that woman treated you. I was wondering if you were alright,” she said, putting her hands behind her back. Jarod smiled.
“I’m fine. Thank you,” he said with a nod. She nodded back in response.
“I’m Mallory, Mallory Green,” she introduced, reaching her hand out for his.
“Jarod… Smith,” Jarod said, taking her hand.
She could have held his hand forever. God he was gorgeous. The tall, dark and handsome was always her type. She smiled at that thought. When her and her friend spotted him coming aboard earlier that day, both of them could have died. Perfect, stuck on a boat with a handsome guy for a week! Now she had him right where she wanted him. Her friend is going to be so jealous!
“Would you like to accompany me to the dinner party tonight, Mr. Smith?” she asked, waving her hand behind her.
“Please call me Jarod. Sure, I’d love to get to know you more,” he said with a smile.
“Great!” she said a little too excited. She swallowed hard. “Great,” she said more calmly. “See you tonight.” She slowly spun around and walked to the stairs that lead to the lower decks.
Jarod let out a long sigh and spun around again to watch the waves gently white cap in the distance. Looks like a storm is coming.
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That night, dinner was a little too elegant and good mannered for Jarod, but he hung in there. Everywhere he looked there was an overly jeweled nose in the air with a pinky sticking out from their wineglass.
Mallory and Jarod sat across from each other at a table on the far end of the room.
“Goodness, this place is nice,” Mallory said, looking around. Jarod nodded in agreement.
“I feel out of place,” Jarod admitted.
“Me too,” Mallory said. Just then, the waiter showed and received their orders.
“Will that be it?” the waiter asked, tucking the menus under his arm.
“Um, and some wine please,” Mallory said, glancing at Jarod who lifted both his eyebrows. Waiter nodded and disappeared.
“Wine, eh?” Jarod said with a smile, leaning forward a little. Mallory nodded.
“Of course. You can’t be in a fancy place like this without wine, now can you?”
“I guess not,” Jarod replied, leaning back in his chair and glancing around one more time. Every once in a while, he would spot a woman staring at him, and not knowing why, it made him uncomfortable. Jarod returned his attention to the woman across the table from him. “Did I tell you that you look really nice tonight?”
Mallory felt the blush that crept up from her collar. “Thank you. You are handsome [and] sweet!” They sat there for a while before Mallory spoke again, “To get more personal, where you from?”
“Um, here and there,” Jarod asked, fiddling with his napkin.
“Ah, a traveler, no?” she asked, leaning her chin on her left palm.
“You can say that. And what about you, where you from?”
“Florida,” she replied.
“I’ve been there. Nice place. Been to Disney World?”
Mallory let out a soft giggle. “Love it!”
“Me too,” Jarod responded with a smile that made his eyes sparkle.
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Miss Parker watched from outside the glass doors that lead to the dinning area at Jarod and some bimbo. They seemed to be having a good time since both were laughing and smiling constantly. She couldn’t help feeling a little jealous, but she would never admit it. She let out a long and tired sigh and retreated back to her room.
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Jarod slowly walked down the hall to his room. Dinner was the best he had in a while and enjoyed the company too. That Mallory was something, but nothing he would jump over board for.
He stopped by his door and was about to put the key in when…
“I’m surprised you didn’t bring her back to your room!” Miss Parker sneered from behind him, stepping out an elevator. He looked over his shoulder.
“Well, well Miss Parker, taking notes on what I do?” Jarod asked, spinning around all the way.
“Of course,” she said with an evil smile. She pulled out a pen, looked at his door and wrote on her hand while reading out loud, “Room A13.” She snapped the pen’s top back on with her thumb and dropped it in her pocket.
“Well, I’d love to chat with you, but I’m beat, so if you don’t mind,” he said turning to his door again and putting the key in the slot.
“You tired? The one who never sleeps, never gets tired,” she stated, crossing her arms. She watched as he turned the key and pushed the door open.
“Good night Miss P.,” he said with a smile, pushing the door closed. Miss Parker stuck her hand in the way of the door and pushed it open.
“Ah-ah, not so fast,” she said, stepping inside his room. She looked around and nodded. “Nice place.” Jarod plopped down on his bed.
“Yeah well, they all look the same,” he said, lying down on his back, with his legs still hanging off the end of the bed.
“Anyway, there is a dinner party tomorrow night. You are coming with me,” she ordered. He snapped his head up and looked at her over his chest.
“Huh?” he asked, dumbfounded.
“You heard me,” she said, putting one hand on her hip and all her weight on her right leg.
“Oh please,” he said with a laugh.
“And what could be so funny about it?”
“[You] are asking [me] to do to dinner tomorrow night. Is that possible?”
“Possible,” she hissed through her teeth. He sat up and cocked his head to the side and lifted both eyebrows.
“And… why?”
She stared at him for a long moment. “Because… because I can um, keep an eye on you, of course!”
“Why?”
“What do you mean?” she asked, feeling a little more uncomfortable.
“Why keep an eye on me? I’m not going anywhere. I can’t go anywhere!”
“You are Jarod. Of course you can go somewhere. You [always] have your ways of getting away from me!”
“Well not this time.”
She shook her head in disagreement. “Well, I’ll see you tomorrow!” and with that she quickly opened the door and left with a slam. Jarod shook his head before getting ready for bed.
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Knock, knock, knock. He slowly opened his tired eyes and waited for them to focus. Knock, knock. He closed his eyes tightly again and then opened them. He hadn’t dreamed the knocking.
“Jarod, are you in there?” he heard a muffled voice come from the other side of his door. He slowly sat up as he groaned and then patted over to the door in bare feet, white T-shirt and boxers. He looked through the peek hole and saw Miss Parker standing there. He leaned back from the door and let out a sigh.
“Three in the morning and already you are on my case?” he asked, yanking open the door. She looked at him up and down and couldn’t hold in the smile.
“Well excuse me,” she said, pushing her way into his room. “At least I knocked.”
“Oh, of course. We will give you credit for that,” he said in sarcasm. She spun around and looked at him with her hands on her hips. She couldn’t help but let her eyes trail down him again. He looked good in blue [silk] boxers. She let out a giggle. “What?” he asked, looking down at himself as well.
“Nothing,” she said, shaking her head and covering her smile with her hand.
Changing the subject, Jarod asked, “So what brings you here so [early] in the morning?”
“Captain’s orders. There is a huge storm coming this way and they want all passengers prepared.”
“Wait, wait, you came here in the morning at three o’clock to tell me of bad weather? Why would you do that? Are you worried about me?” he asked, stepping closer. She lifted both eyebrows in surprise.
“Yeah right,” she said, sarcasm dripping from her tone. She pushed him farther away. “You wish.”
“Actually, no I don’t,” he said with a smile. She gave him an evil eye. “Then why?”
“Um… the captain told everyone to spread the word around. I didn’t know very many people, so I came to you. Is that so hard to understand?”
“Yeah,” he said, smiling a huge smile that made his eyes glitter.
“Well guess it’s your problem then. Anyway, get dressed, we are going to breakfast,” she ordered, snapping her fingers.
“We?” Jarod asked, crossing his arms. “And now?”
“Yes ‘we’, and now! C’mon, get dressed.”
He just stood there and stared at her like she was talking in a foreign language.
“Get dressed,” she demanded, walking past him and looking in his closet. She brought out his suitcase and plopped it on the bed. “Now!” she said, pointing to the suitcase. Jarod shook his head.
“Do you enjoy your power over people?” Jarod asked, walking over to the bed.
“Oh yes, especially over men,” she said with a smile. He gave her a brief glance of shock before opening his suitcase and grabbing a black T-shirt and a pair of khaki bootleg jeans. He quickly retreated to the bathroom, where he would get some privacy. She let out a sigh and sat down on the bed and waited for his return.
When he came out a few minutes later, she sat up straighter to look at him better. He looked good in baggy jeans, held up with a brown belt. She found herself staring at him as he looked in the closet for his black leather coat.
He finally looked at her and saw her eyes on him. He wiped his hair back with his hand nervously. “What?” he asked. She blinked a couple times and leaned back a little after realizing she had been staring.
“Huh?” she asked.
“You were staring at me,” he said, throwing his coat on the bed and picking up the suitcase and placing it in the closet.
“C’mon, let’s get going,” she said, changing the subject. He nodded and received his coat from the bed, and followed her out the door.
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“What will it be today, folks?” the waitress said politely, holding a pad of paper in front of her, waiting to jot down their orders.
“Just give me the eggs and bacon,” Miss Parker snapped, tossing her the menu.
“I’ll have the same,” Jarod said politely, handing her the menu, rather than throwing it. The waitress smiled at Jarod before turning and walking back to the kitchen. Miss Parker shook her head.
“Do have like a spell that attracts the hearts of women everywhere you go?” Miss Parker suddenly blurted out.
“What?” Jarod asked, looking up from the newspaper he was reading.
“Oh come one, don’t tell me you don’t notice all those females smiling and drooling at the sight of you,” she said, leaning forward on the table.
“Why? Do you ‘drool’ at the sight of me?” he asked with a boyish smile, leaning forward a little as well. She leaned back.
“No!” she said, a little too fast and sharp. Apparently he didn’t believe it when he responded with a laugh. “I don’t!”
“Of course not,” he said, leaning back again and returning his gaze to the paper. Miss Parker rubbed her neck nervously. “Do you notice them?” he suddenly asked, not even looking up from the paper.
“What?” she asked. He folded the paper and put his arms on the table.
“Do [you] notice the [men] staring at you?” he asked.
“They don’t.”
“Yeah they do,” he assured her, and gestured towards the door. There, standing there was a blonde man, staring at her from under a pair of eyeglasses that rested on his nose.
“Well at least you get the attractive ones,” she said with a smile, turning back to Jarod. Jarod smiled and shook his head. He looked at the blonde again, who now saw Jarod watching him. Jarod waved in a childish manner, causing the man to run right out of the door quickly. Miss Parker began to laugh, followed by Jarod. “Should I thank you?” she asked while still laughing.
“You’re welcome,” he said with laughter in his voice.
“Here you go,” the waitress said, coming up from behind them. She set down the two plates. “Need anything else, just give a holler,” and with that she left them two to enjoy their meals.
They both ate in silence, glancing up at each other once in a while. When they were finally finished they quickly paid the bill and took off.
As they walked down the hall of the great ship, Miss Parker began to get second thoughts of what she was doing. She couldn’t be in love with Jarod. It wasn’t possible to love him. He was supposed to be her enemy!
“Now what?” Jarod asked, as they walked down the hall.
“I don’t know about you, but I’m going on top deck,” Miss Parker snapped. Jarod looked at her oddly.
“Why the sudden attitude?” he asked with a frown.
“What attitude?” she asked innocently, giving him one last evil eye and taking off for the elevator. Jarod followed her. “And what do you think you are doing?”
“Going on top deck with you,” he said. She stared at him for a long moment before turning and entering the elevator. “Look I don’t know what I missed, but I hope it scrambles under a table and out of our sight fast, because I’m not liking it one bit!” he said angrily to her, as the elevator doors slid closed and began to move up.
“What are you talking about?” she asked wickedly.
“You know perfectly what I’m talking about,” he snapped back.
The elevator doors opened with a ding and Miss Parker quickly exited. “Jarod, just leave me alone.”
“What? Leave [you] alone?” Jarod asked, following her up the stairs and onto deck. “What has gotten into you?”
“Look, this is wrong for us to be… together and to have smiles on our faces,” she said looking down to the ground, not wanting to bear with his eyes.
“What?” he asked. He stared at her for a long moment, and then leaned back a little when it dunned on him. “You just don’t want to admit it, do you?”
“Admit what?” she asked, looking up at him now.
“Admit that you… that we could be happy together. That you are in love with me!”
“What? You have got to be kidding!” she said, spinning around and beginning to walk away from him.
“You do, don’t you?” he said, trotting behind her in order to keep up with her pace. She suddenly stopped and spun around, almost having Jarod bump right into her.
“How on earth would I ever be in love with you? You are the most… childish, immature, egoistic man I have ever met, let alone being a lab rat, and not a clue of who you are and where you came from! As far as I’m concern, you were scraped on the bottom of the Centre’s shoe and there is where you were left to be stumped on and walked on every second of every minute of every day of your damn life! And there is where you belong and should have stayed! You are a child Jarod! God damned child who is lost and no where to go! Well don’t drag your teddy bear to me!” After she had blurted it all out, she wanted to bring it all back to her lips, after seeing the pain in his eyes. It felt like a thousand knifes slicing their way through her cold heart.
He quickly looked to the ground, unable to look into her eyes anymore. Her words bounced painfully through his head and soul, causing more pain than a pick-up truck running him over again and again. He wanted to leap over the railing right now and let the icy water kill him; well at least it would be warmer than her words.
He slowly looked up at her again, as she stared at him, not wickedly, almost concern in her eyes, but it just couldn’t be. He stepped back a little and turned around on his heel, and jolted down the stairs before she could stab him one more time with her words.
She swallowed hard as she watched him disappear down the stairs. She had gone too far, too far indeed. Hell she could park a van in his wound that she had caused. Where did that angry arise from? She has been hiding her feelings for so long, she would hurt someone she cared about to keep it that way. No, she couldn’t care for him, well not as a lover anyway, maybe as an old friend.
She let out a long and desperate sigh before turning for the bow. She stopped dead in her tracks as she noticed for the first time how dark the sky was and how the waves white capped in the distance. Now she could feel the boat rock back in forth, not hard enough to cause her to be unbalanced, but it was enough to make anyone nauseous.
She saw a crew member trot passed her. She quickly grabbed him by the arm.
“What’s the hurry sailor?” she asked. He looked at her quickly and glanced out at the waves.
“Storm’s coming miss. We are getting prepared. You must return to the lower decks. It’s not safe up here,” and with that he got free from her grip and retreated to the stairs.
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“Attention ladies and gentlemen! Thank you for cooperating with us. For your own safety, there is a dangerous storm approaching, so we would like you all to be prepared for the worst,” the captain announced to the huge crowd gathered in the dining area, and it was only half the people.
Miss Parker slid into the crowded room, only inches of room left for her, and turned her attention on the captain’s words.
“I would like you all to put on your life jackets on for safety purposes.” As the captain showed the crowd how to tighten the straps, Miss Parker glanced across the room to spot Jarod standing there, all his attention on the captain.
“You are kidding,” Miss Parker heard someone whisper behind her. She looked over her shoulder to see the same blonde bimbo Jarod had dinner with the other night and another woman, that had black hair, standing by the door, watching Jarod. “You had dinner with [him]?” the one ask.
“Yep,” the bimbo replied. “He was the sweetest thing too.”
“Oh god, I hate you,” the other said, crossing her arms across her chest. Miss Parker turned to face the two and gave them the wickedest smile.
“Jarod is mine, so back off!” she hissed at them. Both women exchanged glances and stepped back a little.
Finally gathering her courage, Mallory said, “You don’t deserve him!” And with that both women spun around and left the crowded room before Miss Parker could get another word out.
Miss Parker stood there, Mallory’s words echoed through her head. ‘You don’t deserve him!’ Of course she doesn’t. She never did and never will. That thought made her heart grow even heavier.
Just then, Miss Parker noticed that everyone began to exit the room. She soon followed the crowd out of the glass doors. When she got into the hallway, she leaned against the wall to let everyone by. When she saw Jarod coming, she grabbed his arm and pulled him to the side as well.
“What do you want?” he asked sadly. Miss Parker opened her mouth to say something, but hesitated. Jarod just stood there and waited, but soon became impatient and was about to leave, when she tightened her grip on his arm, causing him to stop again.
“You are right. We should just stay away from each other the whole week. But when the ship docks…” Miss Parker didn’t even have to finish her sentence for him to understand. He nodded sadly in agreement and began his way down the hall to the elevator. Miss Parker shook her head in disgust. Why did she always have to be such a bitch to him?
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It was now in the late afternoon. Fifty percent of the people on board are now seasick form the constant rocking back and forth. The waves were growing bigger and bigger by the minutes and the captain and his crew became worried about the liner and the passenger’s safety.
“Captain, the waves are now ten feet high and still growing,” a crewmember announced to the breaded captain who stared out the front window of the Captain’s Quarters at the huge ominous waves that crashed into the sides of the ship. The captain shook his head in disgust and then finally turned to the crewman.
“Have no one on top deck,” he ordered softly.
“Yes sir,” the crewman said with a nod and then quickly left.
Suddenly, another of the captain’s men barged into the quarters on the verge of panic and shouted to him, “Captain, an underwater earthquake! A tidal wave of 70 feet is approaching!”
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Miss Parker sat on her bed and tried to block out the feeling of nausea that came over her. Oh god, she didn’t want to be sick. She glanced at her room’s desk and noticed the papers and pens sliding back and forth, and, once in a while, a pen would fall to the floor. She lay back on her back, trying to steady her stomach more, but was having no luck at all at doing so.
Suddenly, the sound of lamps and tables crashing to the floor caused her to sit up. She watched in horror as furniture around her crashed to the floor from the rough swaying. She barely could even sit up from the back and forth movement.
“What the hell is going on?” she asked herself out loud. She wobbly went to her door and swung it open, to see panicked passengers roaming the halls, some having life jackets, others none. She then spotted Jarod down the hall, trying to get some answers out of a crewman, but seemed to have no luck when the man kept shaking his head. Miss Parker used the wall to steady her self as she wobbled down the hall, making her way towards him.
“Jarod!” she shouted over the screams and panicked voices of the hall. He looked up from the man, as Miss Parker came up to him. “What is going on?” she asked, as the crewman ran down the hall and struggled up the stairs.
“He wouldn’t tell me. All he said was that the storm was bad and we should all go to our rooms,” Jarod said over the noise. He glanced at her and then turned for the elevator.
“Where are you going?” Miss Parker asked, grabbing his arm.
“To my room,” he replied over his shoulder.
Miss Parker looked around at all the panicked faces and then turned to him again. “C-can I come?” she asked with a hint of fear in her tone. Jarod stared at her for a moment, and then nodded. She gave him a weak smile and followed him to the elevator.
As they stepped inside, Jarod pushed the button for his floor. Both leaned back on the wall in order not to fall from the roughly swaying. As the elevator began to move up, the lights blinked off and on suddenly.
“What is going on?” Miss Parker asked nervously, clutching the side rail of the elevator.
“It’s the storm,” Jarod explained. “You scared?”
“Me? No, of course not,” she said. Jarod caught the sarcasm in her voice right away. He inched closer to her.
“It’s going to be fine,” he whispered to her. She glanced up at him and stared into his brown eyes.
“Will it?” she asked, not exactly a question to be answered.
Suddenly, the whole elevator slammed on its right side, causing both Miss Parker and Jarod to hit the wall. Then it crashed to the left, and then to the right again.
“Jarod!” Miss Parker screamed.
“Hold on!” she heard him scream.
The elevator was filled with both their screams and the echoes of outside screams as well. They were tossed throughout the elevator, crashing into the walls and railings.
Then the ship slammed on its right again, and they heard the scream of metal being twisted and then beginning to tilt and turn over wards. Miss Parker and Jarod laid there on the wall and began to slide to the ceiling. Lights still blinking, Jarod felt the slice of one of the light bulb’s glass crunching under his palm, as he tried to soften his fall to the ceiling.
There on the ceiling, Miss Parker and Jarod felt the slam of the boat, and a shrieking and crunching noise. Miss Parker felt a huge piercing through her arm and she let out a scream of pain.
Everything was a blur of red and white. Hitting hard against walls and slicing through glass and wood.
They heard the shrieking noise again, now sounding as if it was right above them. Suddenly, the elevator shot downwards, causing Miss Parker and Jarod to loose their stomachs. They both felt their bodies lift from the ceiling a little as they fell, faster and faster until the elevator had no where else to go and came to an sharp and painful stop, causing both a vision of blackness.
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Miss Parker opened her eyes slowly and painfully. Her eyes didn’t focus right away, so she could only see a blur of blinking, as the lights turned off and on and a few sparks flew. She still felt the ship rocking back and forth from the waves outside, as her vision cleared. She inhaled sharply with fear at the sight of shattered glass and blood covering the walls and ceiling. Ceiling? She looked down and noticed that it was the ceiling. She slowly lifted her eyes to the top of the elevator as she saw the carpet and noted that the ship was upside down, or just the elevator was. What had happened?
She tried to lift her self off the glass and blinking lights, but pain sprang through her body making her fall back to the floor with a yelp. As she lay there, she breathed heavily and raggedly, trying to think of what had happened. Did she want to remember? Just then, she tilted her head down to see someone lying there on his side facing her, eyes closed and blood streaming down his face and jaw line. Blood seemed to soak his clothes. Jarod? Then it dawned on her. She knew what had happened and began to dread the worst.
She slowly outstretched her leg and gently nudged him in the shoulder with her toe. He didn’t move. She nudged his limp body again… same response. [Oh my god, don’t let him be dead, please don’t let him be dead!]
“Jarod? Jarod, wake up,” she whispered hoarsely, as she nudged him again and again. “Jarod, c’mon, wake up!”
Now she had to get up. She slowly and painfully lifted her body from the glass and began to scoot her way towards him backwards. She noted the extreme pain she had in her arm, but didn’t even bother looking at it.
When he was in reach, she quickly checked for a pulse; there was one. She let out a sigh of relief and then checked for breathing. She let out another sigh as she felt him take small and rugged breaths of air.
“Jarod, wake up. Wake up Jarod,” she said gently, shaking him. She heard a moan escape his lips. “C’mon, wake up.” As his long eyelashes began to flutter open, Miss Parker smiled in relief. “Thank god. You okay?”
Jarod stared at her, confusion in his brown eyes, and then blinked a couple times. He drew his eyes away from her and began to look around, trying to remember where he was. She noticed his confusion.
“We are in the ship’s elevator. We had an accident,” she explained, talking a little louder than usual, making sure he could understand and hear her correctly. He slowly drew his bloody hand to his ear.
“Be quiet!” he snapped. She leaned back in surprise. “No, I… my head is spinning. You are talking too loud,” he quickly explained hoarsely, before the unspoken argument began. She noticed the blood on his hand and grabbed it. He let out a hiss through his teeth in pain.
“Sorry,” she apologized and then began to examine his bloody palm and noticed a piece of glass sticking up from it. She gritted her teeth together and hissed in disgust, and slowly rotated his hand back and forth. “Jarod, I’m going to pull that piece of glass from your palm, okay?”
“What piece of glass?” he asked, pushing his forehead to hers, trying to see his own hand. He gasped softly as he saw the glass sticking up. “I-I can’t even feel it,” he said, just a hint of panic in his voice. Miss Parker took that as her cue and used the tips on her fingers to pinch the end of the glass. She gave him a quick glance of warning before she… “Shit!” Jarod shouted in pain. Miss Parker leaned back a little, grasping the bloody glass piece between her thumb and index finger. She stared at it in shock.
“That wasn’t so hard,” she said, to herself more than to Jarod. Jarod held his hand with the other; gritting his teeth and muttering swear words under his breath, waiting for the pain to subside. “C’mon, we have to get out of here,” she finally said. He glanced up at her, for the first time getting a real good look at her.
“You are hurt too,” he said, getting up from his side painfully. Man, did his muscles ache!
“Hmm?” she asked, looking down at herself. She saw the huge slice going down her arm, cutting her sleeve in two, blood streaming slowly down her elbow.
“Here,” Jarod offered, as he scooted closer to her. He slowly slid off his leather jacket, noticing his bloody arms, and ripped out a long piece of fabric from the thin cloth that layered the inside. He then reached for her arm and wrapped it around gently, and carefully tying it in the front.
Miss Parker was amazed by his gentleness, but she told herself it was probably from the experience of being a doctor.
“There, that should stop the bleeding,” he said, looking up from his handy work and into her blue eyes. They seemed to stare at each other for a long moment, getting lost into each other’s eyes, when Jarod broke the silence. “You are right. We should get out of here.”
“Yes,” Miss Parker agreed. Jarod slowly stood up on wobbly knees, and used the wall to guide him self to the doors… the upside down doors. He leaned against them and looked down to the bottom.
“Looks like we now have a step-up,” he said humorously, gesturing towards the bottom of the doors, where once the overhead was on the ceiling, now was on the floor. He then began to pull and push on the doors with all his might. Miss Parker slowly got to her legs, noticing the ship wasn’t rocking as much and wobbled over to his side, coming to his aid.
Together they pulled and pushed, finally forcing the doors to come apart and open.
As soon as the doors opened, they both wanted them closed again, as water rushed over the overhead and onto their feet. Jarod quickly grabbed his ripped coat from the elevator floor before the water hit it.
“Damn is that ever cold!” Miss Parker shrieked, backing up from the doors. Jarod grabbed her arm and pulled her to him. He then wrapped his coat around her shoulders, as she looked up at him in confusion.
“What about you? I have long sleeves, shouldn’t you take it?” she asked.
“C’mon,” Jarod encouraged, ignoring her question and beginning to wade through the shin deep water.
The Atlantic water felt like thousands of needles pricking at their skin, numbing its way through their flesh all the way to the bone. Miss Parker having the warm coat and Jarod only having a black muscle shirt on, his teeth began to chatter from the freezing air that lifted from the blue water, plus the numbness his toes began to feel.
Jarod leading the way, they waded down the hall, trying to avoid tripping over a light or doorframe. They noticed the carpet on the ceiling and the doors being upside down.
“My god, the [whole] ship is upside down!” Miss Parker said, bringing the thought more to attention. She saw the back of Jarod’s head bop up and down as he agreed. She grabbed his arm for support as they walked farther down the wet hall and found his arm to be numbing cold. She stopped, forcing him to stop as well. He looked at her in confusion as his jaw chattered. “Jarod you’re freezing and you are loosing a lot of blood!”
“I’m fine. The faster we get up on higher decks the better,” he said, excusing the subject to quickly for her concern.
As they started down the hallway again, Jarod looked ahead and stopped dead in his tracks. Miss Parker made a quick glance at his face in curiosity then turned her attention to where his was.
There down the hall was a lifeless floating body of a woman. Her back stuck out from the water and bobbed quietly down the hall.
Jarod found himself holding his breath, and when he allowed himself to breathe again, his breaths were short and fast. He tugged his arm under Miss Parker’s grip to get her moving again, and they stepped around the body cautiously.
Their pace quickened as they spotted two more lifeless bodies floating in their watery graves. Jarod felt Miss Parker’s grip tighten, almost cutting the circulation from his arm, if he had any left from the numbing cold.
“My god,” Miss Parker whispered, as they passed the fourth body.
“The impact must have killed them,” Jarod explained, trying to make matters a little better, not that the situation of floating bodies around your ankles can get any better!
As they reached the end of the hallway, they stopped. Over head were the stairs and before them was a big slant downwards that was, used to be above, parallel from the stairs that lead to the higher, in this case lower, decks.
“Shouldn’t we be going up?” Miss Parker asked, looking up to Jarod’s shivering face. He then looked around frantically for the other pair of stairs.
“Do you remember where the stairs that lead ‘down’ were before we tipped over?” Jarod asked, his voice quivering from his chattering jaw. Miss Parker shook her head slowly, half disappointed in her self. “This way,” Jarod said suddenly, turning down a corridor to their right, with Miss Parker still hanging onto his arm.
They rushed down the hallway, passing a young woman’s body along the way, and noticed that the water reached their hips now.
“Um… Jarod,” Miss Parker began.
“I know,” Jarod quickly agreed.
As the water began to reach their rib cages, they began to gasp from the sudden coldness they felt.
“This is freezing!” Miss Parker shouted.
“Shh,” Jarod hushed her, trying to listen to something.
“Help, help! Someone please help me!” they heard a little girl shout. Jarod pointed down to his right.
“It’s coming from that way,” Jarod said, taking off in that direction.
“Wait, it’s deep down there!” Miss Parker shouted after him, but he just ignored her. “Jarod! Jarod don’t go down there!”
“Someone needs help!” he shouted over his shoulder, which now the water reached up to his chest. “Stay there if you want!”
He let out a loud gasp as the water reached his neck and he began to swim. His teeth were chattering like there was no tomorrow now. His whole body felt numb from the freezing water and he couldn’t feel his toes anymore.
“Help! Please someone!” the little voice was clouded with tears. Jarod noticed her voice was louder now, so she must be close.
Now Jarod couldn’t even touch the floor without the water going over his head. He was afraid that he wouldn’t be able to reach her in time before the whole hall got flooded.
Finally he reached the room. There she was, lying onto an upside down dresser with tears staining her little cheeks.
“It’s o-okay,” Jarod converted with shattering teeth. “I a-am g-going to get you out of h-here.” The little girl, around the age of seven or eight, responded with a nod.
Jarod reached a floating mattress and climbed upon it to catch his breath. It didn’t float very well after he was on it, but it did provide a little rest. He scooted off it and swam to the little girl. She was shivering violently, but not as bad as Jarod was, since he was in the water.
“Okay, I’m g-going to have t-to ask you t-to get off t-that and swim with m-me. Can you s-swim?” he asked, grabbing a hold of one of the handles on a drawer to hold himself up.
“Yes… but not very good. I am in the middle of taking swimming lessons with my mommy,” she said, her voice quivering from her chattering jaw. Jarod nodded and smiled a weak smile.
“That will be g-good enough. I am warning you, it is c-cold,” he said, as she lowered her legs over the side of the dresser. As soon as her shoed foot hit the water, she pulled it back up.
“It’s [really] cold!” she shrieked, climbing up on the dresser again.
“I know, but you are g-going to have get in it. P-Please, we don’t h-have much time b-before the whole hall f-floods!” She nodded softly and then began to climb down the dresser again, and landed in the water with a splash.
Quickly, Jarod grabbed her by the forearm and helped her keep herself a float. She gasped in shock from the freezing water and began to doggy paddy towards the exit of the room.
Just the sight of wildly thrashing arms was enough proof to Jarod that she wasn’t an expert at the floating and swimming talent, so he swam close behind her.
As they reached outside into the hall, they began to swim towards the awaiting Miss Parker.
At the sight of the little girl and Jarod swimming close behind with water up to their chins made Miss Parker take off down the hall until the water reached to her armpits. As soon as the little girl came in reach, Miss Parker pulled her up by her waist as far from the water as she could. Then she began to wade back to the shallow part of the hall, with Jarod close behind.
When the water was shallow enough, Miss Parker set the little girl on her feet and placed the leather coat on her tiny shoulders.
“C’mon, we b-better get out of h-here,” Jarod said, glancing down the hallway to the rapidly flooding halls. Miss Parker glanced at him worriedly as he violently shook from the freezing cold and he looked a little pale as well.
Jarod wrapped the little girl into his arms and began carrying her down the hall, with Miss Parker following, and went in search for another staircase.
“Jarod!” Miss Parker shouted, pointing down to the right of a four-way turn. “There is a staircase!”
Jarod nodded softly with chattering teeth and began wading down that way with the little girl tightly in his strong arms. When they made it there, Jarod set the girl into the cold water, hearing her gasp of surprise from its icy numbness.
“Look, y-you are g-going to have to do this on y-your own, o-okay?” Jarod stuttered out with a chattering jaw. The little girl nodded slowly. “Okay. You are g-going to have to climb t-the ramp. I can go first, if you l-like and then I can pull you up half way.” The little girl nodded again.
Jarod smiled at her and glanced up at Miss Parker, who was staring at him. He stood up straight and stared her as he shivered, as if waiting for her to say something. After a few seconds of silence, he turned and began to climb up the ramp. The water reached half way up the ramp, therefore making it impossible to climb without lying in water while doing so.
He gasped out loud as he lied down and began to inch his way up. The numbness in his hands and other parts of his body made it difficult to climb. It felt like a million small needles prickling into his flesh and he hissed in pain. He finally reached the top and climbed onto the ‘ceiling’ of the next hall. It was much warmer on dryer ‘land’.
He quickly glanced down the hall to see a woman lying against the wall in tears. She only glanced up for a second to look at him and then quickly looked to the ground again.
Jarod shook his head in disgust and then reached down to grab the little arm that reached up for him. He effortlessly pulled her up to dryness. As Jarod waited for Miss Parker to begin her climb, the little girl climbed to her feet and saw the woman down the hall.
“Mommy!” the little girl screamed in excitement, talking off down the hall in a full run. Jarod looked over his shoulder to see the woman leap to her feet and swing out her arms with a warm smile on her lips.
“Oh my dear! You are alive! Oh thank god! Oh thank god!” she screamed with tears of joy in her eyes and hugged her child.
Jarod smiled and looked down to see Miss Parker almost to where he can reach her. She lifted her hand up and he grabbed it, and gentle pulled her up. He wrapped one arm around her waist when she came into reach and pulled her the rest of the way to shore.
They stared at each other for a moment and then finally realized both hadn’t let go of each other. They quickly let go of their embrace and nervously climbed to their feet.
“Where’d she go?” Miss Parker asked, looking around the hall.
“I guess she had found her mom and they ran off together,” Jarod said, glancing down the hall to where they disappeared. Miss Parker nodded. “C’mon, we don’t have much time,” Jarod said, taking off down the hall, as Miss Parker followed.
“We need to find a way to higher decks,” shouted from behind him.
“There are no higher decks, Miss P. We are upside down,” Jarod said, then paused and slowed his pace. He looked at her in realization as he stopped in shock.
“What? What is it?”
“The bottom of the boat is our only way out. There are no holes in the bottom, so rescuers will have to cut a hole. But by the time we call help, they get here and cut a large enough hole…”
“We’ll be sunk.”
Jarod nodded his head slowly. Miss Parker looked down the hall nervously.
“Well? What do we do then?” she asked, crossing her arms.
“I don’t know,” Jarod said sadly, looking down to the floor.
“What do you mean, ‘I don’t know’? You are supposed to know! You are the genius!”
“I’m telling you I don’t know!” he shouts at her. She lets out a sigh of frustration and swings her arms in the air.
“Damn it Jarod! Then what in God’s name do we freaking do!”
“First, calm down Miss Parker and second… I don’t know,” he muttered.
“Damn it!” she screamed, spinning around. He suddenly grabs her by her shoulders and spins her around to face him.
“Look, will you control your anger!” he shouted at her. She glared at him.
“Bite me!” she snapped back.
“Just for once, knock that ass hole of a wall down and help me out a bit!”
“What the are you talking about, you mother f…”
“Miss Parker!” he snaps, cutting her off from her last sentence. “Please!”
She shot him a look that could have cut a man in two. They seem to stare at each other for a moment, before she rips away from his grip that he had on her shoulders. She steps back a few steps, still keeping eye contact and just stares.
Suddenly, to Jarod’s surprise, she wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him towards her. She captures his lips and gives him a rough and painful kiss, pulling away quickly.
“Is that good enough for you, you bastard!” she shouts at his stunned expression, and then slapping him hard across his face. His head snaps to the right and he keeps it there, staring off into the distance in shock. She can see the blood trickle from the small cut that is now on his bottom lip.
Still keeping his head turned to the right, he slowly closed his eyes and licked at the blood, hissing softly from the sharp pain that followed. He slowly brought his eyes back to her face, as she glared at him.
“You always think you know me! Know how I work, how I feel! But you don’t you ass hole! You don’t! You never did! So just stop your smart ass act and leave me the hell alone!” she screamed at him, spinning around and taking off down the hall. He ran after her.
“Miss Parker!” he shouted after her, but she kept running. “Miss Parker please!”
She turned down a hallway to her right and broke into full speed.
“Miss Parker!” Jarod shouted, turning the corner after her. The numbness in his feet slowed him down drastically and he hopelessly watched her out run him and disappear from his sight. He soon slowed down to a trot and then to a walk.
The hallway seemed to be spinning before him and he didn’t know what was with him. He couldn’t stand straight and soon fell to his knees. His whole body seemed to be drawn downwards, like dead weight, and he drooped to the floor. He let out a moan as he blacked out.
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Miss Parker slowed down when she realized that he wasn’t following her anymore. As she walked alone, she felt something tugging at her to turn back. Something’s wrong… She glanced back again and didn’t see him.
“No!” she told herself. “I am not going to crawl back to him!” She crossed her arms across her chest. Damn long sleeve shirt wasn’t helping at all from the coldness. It was a bit warmer up here where it is dry, but not a lot. She was still freezing her ass off.
Not able to take it anymore, she spun around suddenly, and before she was about to take off down the opposite direction, she looked down to her feet. About a centimeter of water was filling around her shoes.
“Oh shit!” she cursed, breaking into a run towards where she had left Jarod. “Jarod! Jarod where are…” She stopped dead in her tracks. There he was, lying there in the water, with his own blood floating about him.
“Oh my god, Jarod!” she shrieked, running to his side and getting down on her knees. She rolled him onto his back and noticed the death like paleness to his face. ‘Blood loss’ she thought. She felt for a pulse. “Oh my god!” she screamed and then pulling her hand away quickly. She leaped to her feet. “Someone! Someone please help me! Please!”
After a few seconds had gone by, she collapsed to her knees again and tilted his head back to clear his airway. She quickly checked for a pulse again before starting CPR.
It seemed like over five minutes of working on him and there was no improvement. “Oh, c’mon Jarod! C’mon!” she said, as she pumped with her hands onto his chest.
Suddenly, he let out a cough, turning on his side and wrinkling his forehead in pain.
“Oh, thank god!” she said as touched his face. He opened his eyes slightly to look at her. She smiled warmly down at him. “Hi there,” she said with a smile.
He quickly sat up out of the cold water, well with the help of her, and stared at her. “W-what… what h-happened?” he asked, shivering again.
“You passed out. From all the blood you lost and the coldness no doubt,” she said, brushing his hair back from his face. He stared at her in confusion.
“Did I miss something?” he asked suddenly. She cocked her head to the side.
“Pardon?”
“Why are you ‘suddenly’ being so nice to me? I thought you wanted me to go to hell and leave you alone.”
She looked away from him briefly.
“Would it help none if I said I was wrong and I am sorry?”
Jarod let out a sigh. “Well, I don’t know. You were pretty mean. In other words you were just a plain…”
Before he could finish his sentence, she wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him to her. He flinched as she brought her lips to his, but this time she was gentle and the kiss was passionate. He finally gave in and banished the tension from his body as he let her explore his mouth.
After a long and passionate kiss, they ended it and stare at each other in a daze.
“Wow,” they both said at the same time.
“You are a good kisser, Jarod, I’m proud.”
“So are you…” he said softly.
Just then, they both realized the water around them seemed to be getting deeper by the second. They quickly leaped to their feet; Jarod almost tumbling over from dizziness and they both took off down the hall. They had to get higher, and they had to get higher now!
When they reached the end of the hall, the water was at their ankles. They quickly sped up, Miss Parker holding onto Jarod’s arm so he wouldn’t faint again, and turned to their left down another corridor.
The ground below them, or ceiling, was becoming slippery, causing them to skid a little as they tried to take the corners fast.
Suddenly, they heard a snap of a door… They both exchanged glances and then turned around, looking down the hall.
There, three feet of water came splashing their way, causing doors to crack and pop from his power and pressure. They both spun around and took off as fast as they were allowed, but the water was faster and swept both of them away.
On the end of the hall, Miss Parker and Jarod were slammed into the wall with a bang. The both let out grunts of pain and tried to catch their breath after it was knocked out of them.
The boat suddenly took a drastic dive to their right, and Miss Parker and Jarod slid downwards, their backs hitting lights on the ceiling as they slid faster and faster, as the ceiling became steeper and steeper. The hall was filled with their screams, screams they didn’t even know they had let out.
They slammed into the wall at the end and was helplessly washed away by the water. Jarod could hear Miss Parker’s screams becoming softer and softer as she was getting farther and farther away. He tried to look ahead, but every time he did, he would get water in his eyes.
Blindly, he reached downwards and grabbed a hold of a light and hung on. The water was getting deeper and it soon swooshed over his head, caring doors and chairs over him. He had to let go and when he did, he took in a huge gulp of air before the water consumed him again.
He took a chance and opened his eyes to see doors and belongings floating everywhere, and then he looked to where he was heading and saw a wall coming up. Thinking fast, he quickly stuck his feet out in front of him and let his legs take the impact. As he hit, a sharp pain zapped up his body and he let out a yelp.
Just then, he felt something hit him hard into his upper back, causing his whole body to go numb with pain. His vision became blurry and then blackness consumed his eyes and vision.
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“Ma’am?” she heard someone say from afar. “Hey? Hey lady, wake up! Are you okay?” She slowly opened her eyes to see a woman, around her age, standing over her. She had blonde, wet, hair and blue eyes. She was rather pretty behind all the scrapes and bruises that she had. “Are you okay?” her words echoed through Miss Parker’s head, but she couldn’t make them out. “Are… you… okay?” she said slower. Miss Parker nodded painfully. “Good. C’mon, I’ll help you up.”
As Miss Parker sat up, she noticed she was wrapped in a blanket and she was rather dry and warm. She looked around to see three more people, a teenage boy and girl and a little girl, around the age of probably nine.
“W-what?” Miss Parker asked, confused at her surroundings.
“We found you in the water as we were on our way to dryer floors and so we carried you with us once we found out you had a pulse. We got blankets and other stuff we needed from the abandoned rooms.”
“Thank you,” Miss Parker muttered. The woman nodded.
“Oh, where are my manners. My name is Andrea, and that is Chad and Mere and there…” She pointed to the little girl. “Is Jessica.”
“Hello. You can call me Miss Parker,” Miss Parker said. Then it hit her. “Jarod!”
“Jarod?” Andrea asked. “Who is…”
“Did you see him? Oh please say you saw him!”
“Miss Parker calm down.”
“Did you see him?”
“No. I don’t know what you are talking about.”
“He has dark hair and brown eyes and… oh god! We have to go back and get him.”
“No way! We can not go back down there. All the halls are flooded by now,” Chad said, getting up from the floor and walking over to Miss Parker and Andrea. “Who ever he was, he is dead by now.”
“No! No he is not!” Miss Parker shouted at him, climbing to her feet and glaring at him. The sixteen-year-old glared back at her. “Jarod is alive and I am going back to get him!”
“It is suicide!” Chad shouted at her as she turned for the doors. She ignored him.
“Miss Parker please. If you go down there you will be killed as well,” Andrea pleaded. Miss Parker stopped in her tracks and turned to face them.
“I am going down there, with or without your help,” Miss Parker said.
Andrea stared at her, then shook her head. “This is crazy,” she muttered, walking towards Miss Parker and following her out into the hall. Chad and Mere exchanged looks and took off after them.
“Wait for me!” Jessica called.
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Warmth… warmth… warm? Jarod became aware of the warmth he felt and the wet cloth wiping at his forehead. He could feel his toes again and never thought it would feel this good to be back in circulation. He slowly opened his eyes and saw a blurry figure in front of him, wiping at the scars and bruises on his face with a wet cloth.
“Finally. I was beginning to worry,” he heard her say. Her? He tried to focus, but his eyes seemed not to work. He felt panic arouse him, and he tried to sit up. “Don’t try to get up. You were smack around pretty badly.”
“Where am I?” he asked hoarsely.
“You are with me of course.”
“Who are you?”
“My name is Stacy. Don’t worry, you are in good hands.” She smiled. “And who are you cutie?”
“Jarod.”
“Hi Jarod. That is a cute name.”
“I-I can’t see,” he said suddenly.
“Nothing?”
“Only a blur.”
“Your vision should come back in time. Must be from all that water in your eyes. I found you half dead in waist deep water. I dragged you to safety and got us a couple of blankets. You were soaking wet, so I ah, took your clothes off.”
Jarod opened his eyes wider at that and surprisingly, could see her now. He shifted a little, and indeed, for the first time, knew he was naked.
“Was it [just] because I was wet?” he asked.
She couldn’t hold back the guilty smile and looked away to try to hide it more, but having no luck. “Look, I’ll do some roaming in some of the suitcases I found and will find us dryer clothes.”
“Us? You are naked to?”
“Well yeah. I was wet too.”
“Did I miss something?”
“I’m not that kind of a girl, so don’t worry. I would have awaken you first.”
Jarod smiled, almost in a shy manner and closed his eyes. “Damn,” he muttered.
“What? What is it?” she asked.
“I have a head ache that you wouldn’t believe.”
“Probably got hit pretty hard, huh?”
“Yeah.”
“Well, I will go find us clothes. We have to get moving before this floor floods too.”
“Floods? Miss Parker!” he shouted in realization, springing upwards.
“Who? What?” she asked.
“Did you see anyone else after you found me?”
“Um, no not really. Not alive anyway.”
“Oh god. Did you see anyone with dark hair and blue eyes? She is thin and lengthy…”
“No, not that I remember.”
Jarod closed his eyes briefly. [Oh no].
“Is she your wife?”
“No… a friend.”
“I’m sorry. I’m going to find us clothes now. I will be right back, I promise.” And with that she left his side. He let out a sigh.
[Oh god, where are you Miss P.? ]
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Miss Parker looked down the slope and indeed saw water that was almost filling the whole hall.
“See? We can’t go down there. We should be heading up, not down!” Chad told Miss Parker, but she just shot him a look.
“We are going to die anyway! The boat is going to sink with all its passengers and there is nothing we can do! I want die knowing what has happened to Jarod,” Miss Parker barked back.
“We are going to survive this one way or another!” Andrea shot back. She paused. “Who is this Jarod anyway? Is he your husband, brother?”
“No… friend,” Miss Parker said softly, glancing down the upside down stairs again to see the glimmer waters below.
“Yeah, a dead friend!” Chad said, turning the opposite direction and taking a few steps down the hall form them.
“He is not dead!” Miss Parker shot at him.
“Where are you going?” Andrea asked him. Chad turned around, glaring at Miss Parker.
“We wanted to know what has happened to your friend, well I’ll tell you,” Chad began, ignoring Andrea’s question. “I saw him, he is dead. Freaking dead! He was floating around like a fishing bobber!”
“No!” Miss Parker shouted at him. “You didn’t see him!”
“I did!” he shouted back, stepping towards her again.
“Chad?” Andrea began.
“I saw him before we found you. I checked his pulse and everything. He was stone cold. No life left in him at all!” Chad shouted.
“Chad!” Andrea shouted.
“You said you didn’t see him!” Miss Parker said, trying to hold back the tears of fear and sorrow.
“Yeah, well, I lied! I was just trying to keep your damn hopes up!” he said bitterly, then turning down the hall again. “C’mon let’s get out of here, before this hall flooded as well.”
“What was he wearing?” Miss Parker asked, as the other three started to follow him. Chad turned around to face her again, a confused question on his face.
“What?”
“What was he wearing, what did he look like?” Miss Parker asked again, pulling the blanket tighter around her.
“He ah… he was wearing…”
“Yes?” Miss Parker snapped. She waited.
“A um, a blue shirt and blue jeans.”
“You bastard!” Miss Parker snapped, turning for the water again. Chad grabbed her by the arm.
“You can’t go down there!” he screamed at the struggling woman under his grasp.
“He is down there! I have to find him!” Miss Parker screamed back, trying to rip his grip from her arm. “You asshole, let me go damn it!”
“No! I can’t allow you to go down there!”
“Let go of me!” she shouted, and with that she ripped his hand from her arm and fell backwards with a scream.
“Miss Parker!” Andrea shouted.
SPLASH! All four looked over the edge and down the slope to see the bubbling water below.
“What have you done, Chad?” Mere asked, looking back at him. He shook his head.
“She was good as dead,” he muttered. Andrea suddenly spun around and whipped her hand across his face… hard! He let out a yelp of pain.
“You son-of-a-bitch!” Andrea screamed. “First you tell her, her friend is dead and then you push her in there and say… ‘She was as good as dead?’” Andrea screamed at him.
“I didn’t push her! She fell!”
“Right!” Andrea said in sarcasm.
“Miss Parker!” Jessica screamed. “Look!” she said, pointing downwards.
There she was, soaking wet. She gave them one glance and then started to wade, chin deep, out of their sight.
“No Parker! Come back!” Mere called to her, but there was no answer.
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“Here we are. All warm and cozy clothes for the picking. This looks like your size,” Stacy said, handing Jarod a white v-necked T-shirt, a pair of wide leg, dark faded, blue jeans and underwear.
“Thank you,” Jarod said, studying the clothes. He glanced at her and noticed her eyes on him. “Um… could you, ah, turn around for a few?”
“Like I haven’t seen you before.”
“Yeah, but I am aware of it now.”
“Oh, I see,” she said, giving him a wink.
“No, not that… it’s just…”
“I know, I understand.” She gladly turned around. Jarod quickly got up from the floor and let the blanket drop. The cold air hit him like a ton of bricks and it made him gasp out loud. He quickly clothed himself before his body parts would go numb and won’t be able to work anymore.
“Okay, done,” he announced, quickly reaching down and grabbing his blanket, wrapping himself tightly with it.
“Okay my turn,” she said, dropping the blanket before even warning Jarod. He winced and quickly turned around. “Oh, sorry. I am not modest.”
“I can see that,” Jarod said with out facing her. He could hear her giggle and then rustle around as she clothed herself.
“Okay. Me done,” she said childishly. Jarod turned around to see her wearing the same white T-shirt and black wide leg jeans. “Lucky for us, the couple is our size.”
Jarod nodded. “Yeah, lucky us.” She smiled at him.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“Jarod!” Miss Parker shouted the hundredth time. “Oh Jarod please!” The water was up to her chin and she could feel her body slowly freezing. “Jarod!” she screamed. Her last once of hope was draining fast and she felt like going under with out holding her breath, but then…
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“Did you hear that?” Jarod asked, sitting up.
“Yeah someone was calling your name,” Stacy announced.
“Oh my god,” he said softly, leaping to his feet and taking off for the door, letting the blanket drop carelessly behind him.
Jarod trotted down the hall way in search of the stairs. After turning another corner and seeing no stairs he muttered, “Damn!”
“Jarod?” Stacy asked, coming up behind him, but he brushed passed her in a hurry.
“Damn it! Stacy where are the damn stairs?”
“This way.”
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“Jarod!” Miss Parker shouted one last time weakly. Her body felt like it wasn’t there anymore, and she slowly let herself sink downwards. “I love you Jarod…” she muttered ever so softly, letting the water flood over her head.
“Miss Parker!” Jarod shouted, leaping into the water after seeing her go under. He swam as fast as he could and then dove downwards.
Under water, he searched frantically, and finally seeing her, he grabbed her arm and pulled her to the surface. Wasting no time, with her in one arm, he made his way towards the stairs again. Stacy was waiting for him.
She helped him pull her up and then helped him climb to safety as well.
Without a word to Stacy, Jarod began rescue breathing on her. After a few minutes, Miss Parker let out a mouth full of water and then let out a gasp. Jarod, shaking violently again from cold and fear, quickly swooped her up into his arms and carried her to the room.
He gently sat her down on the floor and wrapped his blanket around her tightly. He then received another blanket and covered her up with that as well. Stacy came up behind him.
“Is she okay?” Stacy asked, bending down beside him.
“She’ll be o-okay, once I get h-her circulation b-back,” he said with a chattering jaw, grabbing Miss Parker’s hand. “Can y-you get her c-clothes?”
Stacy nodded. “I’ll get you more too, now that you are soaking and shivering again.”
Stacy got up and left the room and heading towards the room she had received clothes from earlier.
Miss Parker slowly opened her eyes and saw someone standing over. She forced her self to focus and then she saw him. “Jarod?” she whispered. He snapped his attention back to her and smiled weakly with a chattering jaw. “Am I dreaming?”
“No, you are not,” he said softly.
“You are freezing,” she whispered weakly, lifting her hand up to his face.
“I am fine,” he said quietly.
“No, you are not. You are shivering like there is no tomorrow.”
“Miss Parker, I’ll be fine. Right now you need the help…”
“Jarod, I am warm. Look at you…” she paused. Warm? She glanced down at herself.
“It’s a blanket Miss Parker,” he said with a laugh, after seeing the confusion in her eyes. She looked up at him and smiled. Suddenly, he felt so warm. Her smile, that smile. It was like the sun and fire for his freezing soul. Not in a long time has he seen that smile. He returned the smile.
“Here we are,” Stacy said, entering the room. Miss Parker looked at her in surprise.
“Who are you?” Miss Parker whispered.
“She is the one who saved my life Miss Parker. Her name is Stacy.”
Miss Parker stared at her. “Hello Stacy. Saved you, eh?” she asked, turning back to him again. He nodded. She glanced back at her again. “Thank you.”
Stacy smiled and then nodded once. “Oh, ah, here are your clothes,” Stacy said, handing them each a pair of blue jeans and white T-shirts. “Obviously this couple wasn’t hot on color.”
“Guess not,” Jarod said, glancing back at Miss Parker. “You need help, or is your circulation back?”
“Help for what?” Miss Parker asked, dumbfounded.
“Getting dressed. You can’t keep those wet clothes on,” he said.
“I guess I can do it,” Miss Parker said softly. Jarod glanced up at Stacy.
“Oh, right,” Stacy said, realizing she been staring and leaving the room.
Jarod smiled at Miss Parker. “I’ll be in the next room if you need me, okay?”
“Jarod,” Miss Parker said. He returned his gaze onto her again. “Don’t leave me. Stay here.”
Jarod stared at her for a long moment and then gave her a nod and a smile. “Okay, Miss Parker.”
She smiled back. “Help me up?” she asked, reaching her hand out for him as he stood up. He grabbed it and effortlessly pulled her to her feet. As soon as she was level with him, she gave him a kiss on the lips. “I was so scared that I had lost you for sure. Don’t ever leave me again, you hear me?”
Jarod smiled weakly and then nodded, kissing her this time. They let the moment stretch before pulling away. Miss Parker made the move first, letting the blanket fall to the ground and placing her hands onto Jarod’s wet hips. She then, grabbing the shirt by the waist, pulled it over his head in one motion. Running her fingers down his chest, she could feel his flesh was cold as ice. She put her hot lips onto his collarbone and gave him a light kiss, and then pushing herself against him, her wet shirt against his bare chest.
Jarod felt a shiver run down his entire body when her lips touched him and then the cool wetness of her shirt press up against his chest.
They stood like that for a moment, letting their body heat warm each other, before she moved onto his jeans.
She slowly unzipped them, heading for the button next. She glanced up at Jarod and kept eye contact as she pushed the jeans down his slim hips, letting the piece of clothe fall to the floor. As he closed his eyes briefly, she kissed his eyelids gently. He slowly stepped out of the jeans at his ankles and tried his best to control his breathing as she headed for his underwear. She smiled as she heard him gasp at the coldness of her fingertips as she slid them between the elastic and his skin.
Savoring the moment, she slid her hands downwards, pulling the underwear with them. As the article of clothing dropped, she ran her hands, fingers out spread, up his cold thighs. Still keeping eye contact, she smiled at him as he took a deep breath.
“You are so cute when you are scared,” she whispered, her warm breath onto his lips.
He smiled warmly and whispered back, “I’m not scared.”
She smiled and then tilted her head towards his neck. She began to cover him with light kisses, moving from his neck to his shoulders, then moving down his muscular arm.
“Miss Parker,” he whispered.
“Hmm?” she asked, her voice vibrating on his skin.
“It is cold. We shouldn’t do this now, especially when [someone else] is in the other room.”
She smiled, and he could feel her lips curl onto his skin. “When you are right, you right,” she said, meeting his face again. She kissed him lightly on the lips. “But [if] we survive this. You are mine.”
He smiled. “Of course.”
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“Alright, how do I look?” Miss Parker asked, modeling off her clothes.
“Good,” Jarod said with a smile, looking her up and down. Her hair was wet, make-up washed away, a plain white T-shirt, blue jeans and Jarod tells her she looks good. Whatta guy.
“You guys ready?” Stacy asked, crossing her arms across her chest and looking at the two. They both nod. “Alright then. Let’s move before this floor floods as well.”
They walked out into the hall and turned towards the direction of the stairs and indeed saw water ahead.
“Are you sure this is the way to the stairs?” Jarod asked Stacy. She nodded, still staring off towards the water. Jarod glanced at Miss Parker before beginning to make his way down the hall.
The water wasn’t deep at all, only making a tiny noise of a splash as they walked through it. As soon as Jarod spotted the stairs, he broke into a trot, as they other two followed. When they reached the stairs, he quickly turned to the two women.
“Alright, who goes first?” Jarod asked.
“I don’t think it is a question to take time to answer. The water is rising! And it is rising fast!” Stacy observed. Jarod nodded in agreement.
Stacy exchanged looks with Miss Parker, and then stepped forward. “I’ll go,” Stacy said, beginning her way up the ramp. Jarod watched after her and then turned to Miss Parker.
“Okay, you’re up,” he announced. Miss Parker stared at him for a moment before heading for the ramp.
When they were all on the next floor, they took off down the hall. As they ran, Jarod asked Stacy, “You know where other stairs are?”
She glanced at him and shook her head. “No, I don’t. But how hard is it to find stairs? Right?”
“Very hard,” Miss Parker answered. “I speak from experience, and this ship is so big, it is very difficult to find stairs leading to the level you want. And when the ship turned over, all the freaking signs were knocked off the walls.”
“Hey! Listen!” Jarod said, slowing down.
“What? What is it?” Miss Parker asked.
“You hear that rumbling?” Jarod asked. They fell silent.
“Oh no,” Stacy whispered. “It’s another after shock!”
At that, the whole ship screamed as it tilted to its side. They could hear wood beams and doors cracking and snapping from its dangerous weight and power, as they slammed into the wall. Soon, they could hear the rush of water heading their way.
“C’mon!” Jarod screamed over the hissing of metal and cracking of wood. They began to run down the hall, full speed, desperately trying to beat the water before it reached their floor.
They turned the corner and took off. The boat was rocking back and forth now, making it very difficult for them to run in a straight line, or even staying on their feet without the support of wall to guide them. All three finally made it to the end of the hall and looked down both halls.
“Where do we go?” Stacy shouted in panic. Jarod shook his head in disappointment.
“I-I don’t know. We will have to guess!” Jarod shouted at her. She then looked down both halls and briefly closed her eyes. The rush of water growing louder helped her with her decision and she pointed to her left.
They took off, but when the turned the following corner and seeing a dead end they slowed to a trot.
“Oh god!” Miss Parker shouted. “What now?”
“We have to go back,” Jarod shouted, but as he turned, all three screamed in fright as they saw the water making its way towards them. It at least had to be about five feet deep, and causing the doors to snap inwards from its power. It had no merci and it was heading towards them!
“C’mon!” Jarod screamed, grabbing Miss Parker’s arm and heading towards one of the rooms. Surprisingly it popped open and all three headed inside. Jarod closed the door and stood back. “Don’t get in the door’s way because the water will punch it…”
Before he could finish, the door was effortlessly snapped in two, flying into the room and crashing into the opposite wall. Miss Parker, Jarod and Stacy ran to the corner of the room, as far as they could get from the water as it poured inside. The icy water hit them like a ton of bricks. Its coldness and power made them all scream in fear.
They could hear crashing of glass and wood, as objects were worthlessly broke and thrown around. But the loudest sound that filled their ears was the rushing and splashing of the water, as it consumed everything, including them, in its path.
There was nothing they could do. The water was so powerful they couldn’t fight it. They just had to let the water throw them around. Let the water take over… and just pray they might survive.
[It will all be over. It will all be over soon] Miss Parker thought, as she felt the water rush over her head and take her last breath of air. She desperately tried to swim to the surface, yearning for that breath of life. Her thirty lungs screamed for air.
Miss Parker could hear her own gasp, as her lungs took in the air. Never in her life had something felt so good. She noticed the water almost flooded the whole room and they wouldn’t have enough time to get out and to swim higher. She looked around, hoping to spot someone…
“Jarod!” she screamed, a cough followed. “Jarod!” she screamed again.
She then heard coughing behind her and spun around. There he was, coming up to the surface and gasping for air.
“Oh thank god!” Miss Parker said happily, swimming towards him.
“Are you okay?” he asked, swimming towards her.
“Yes,” she answered. “Where is Stacy?”
Jarod gave her a look of confusion and then looked around. His eyes soon came to rest on her gaze. “I don’t know,” he said sadly. And then his eyes came to rest upon an object over her shoulder. She watched him as he stared off.
“Jarod?” Miss Parker asked in concern. She spun around to see… Stacy floating lifelessly across the room. “Oh god!” Miss Parker screamed, swinging her arms out in front of her, causing a splash of water, and desperately trying to get away from the body.
“C’mon,” Jarod began, taking a nervous swallow as he stared at the body. “We have to get out of here.”
Miss Parker said nothing, only nodded as she stared at Stacy’s opened eyes as they stared out, her body floating lifelessly through the swaying icy water.
They swam out into the hallway. They were unable to touch the ground without the water going over their heads, so they had to swim, therefore causing the to go very slowly.
Miss Parker knew they weren’t going to make it before the whole floor flooded, but she kept quiet. She was almost certain Jarod was thinking the same.
The water was rising and now and then Miss Parker and Jarod could feel their heads hit the top of the hallway. The water reached to their chins and they just now reached to the three-way turn.
This time they went straight, swimming as fast as they could down the hall. Time was running out, and they had to make it to the stairs.
Now, they had to bend their necks in order not to get a mouth full of water. The hall soon was going to be completely full, and they were only half way down the hall.
“J-Jarod,” Miss Parker stuttered out.
“I k-know Miss Parker. We are almost t-there.”
The water numbed at their skin, feeling like a bed of needles was pressed against their bodies.
Soon enough, they finally reached the end of the hall. They had to literally kiss the ceiling in order to breathe.
“Alright, M-Miss Parker, go. I am right b-behind you.”
Miss Parker swam passed him, and swam up the ramp half way, and had to crawl the rest of the way. As she reached the next floor, she was relieved to feel a little heat. She looked down the ramp and waited for Jarod to make his appearance.
At that, Jarod appeared, swimming his way up the ramp and then climbing to her side. Like her, he was shivering violently again.
“So much f-for keeping dry, huh?” he said with a weak smile.
Miss Parker nodded as she smiled back, hugging her arms to try to keep herself warm.
“Alright, n-now we have to find more stairs, b-before this floor snaps like the l-last one.”
They began their way down the hall, walking quickly, when suddenly they heard someone yelling. They exchanged looks as they realized it was on this floor and that the yelling wasn’t cries for help… but…
“Forever young! Forever… young! Young… Young forever!” Miss Parker and Jarod heard the voice slurp. The man was obviously drunk and… singing?
They took off down the hall towards the voice.
“Hello?” Jarod yelled out.
The singing paused for a second… then started up again. “Forever young!”
“Hello?” Jarod shouted again. This time, Jarod’s voice was ignored and the singing continued. They turned the corner and saw a man walking wobbly kneed towards them, a whiskey bottle in one hand. Both stared at him in confusion.
“What… what do you want?” he slurped.
“You are drunk,” Jarod stated simply.
“Brilliant… analysis!” he said, having a hard time pronouncing his words. “We are all gonna drowned right? Why not drown in a bottle of fresh cool… Whiskey!” he shouted, lifting the bottle to Jarod’s face. “Do… you want a sip son?”
Jarod pushed it away with disgust. “No. We need to get off this floor. Come with us. There is still a chance of survival.”
The man shook his head, almost tumbling over at that. “No… no survival. No nothin’! All gone! Buh-bye!”
“Listen to me! You must come with us! We can’t leave you down here!” Jarod shouted, pointing to the ground.
“Don’t talk to me like that, son! I am a … cop!” he said, flinging his free hand in the air, and then let out a girlish giggle.
“Then you should know better than anyone that you are too drunk! Come with us!” Miss Parker shouted this time.
The man lifted his index finger and pointed at her. “I know you! You are that cat lady on the movie… Bat Man!” he said with a huge stupid smile.
Miss Parker rolled her eyes. “Look, you are coming with us if you like it or not. I will drag your sorry ass myself if I have to you drunk bastard!”
He snapped his eyes at her and then spun around and entered a room. Miss Parker and Jarod followed him. They watched him as he pulled out another bottle of whiskey.
Before the man could open it, Jarod snatched it out of his grasp.
“Hey you little…”
“Listen to me! Get out of here while you still can! There is still a goddamned chance! Take it!” Jarod shouted at him.
Suddenly, the man reached in his inside pocket and pulled out a pair of cuffs. He snapped one on Jarod’s wrist and then pulled him roughly to a pipe and snapped the other on to the bar before Jarod could realize what he was doing. Jarod yanked at the cuffs.
“What the hell do you think you are doing?” Jarod shouted at him. He smiled back.
“See… who is leaving… now!” the man shouted, walking towards the door.
Miss Parker suddenly swung her arm out and hit him hard onto the chest, knocking the man down. “Look you old bastard, you have no shit of an idea of who you are dealing with! Cough up this damn keys and you can live a few extra minutes to gulp down more of that poison!”
“I lost them…” he slurped out with the goofiest smile.
“What?”
“I… lost… them,” he said slowly.
Miss Parker then kicked him hard into the side and he let out a grunt of pain. “YOU BASTARD!” she screamed.
Jarod blinked a couple times in amazement.
The man leaped to his feet and took off down the hall without another word. Miss Parker let out a huge huff of frustration and turned to Jarod. He had a weak smile on his face.
“Go,” he simply said.
Miss Parker cocked her head to the side in confusion. “What?” she whispered.
“Go. Find the stairs, climb to higher floors, get out of here.”
“No! Not without you!”
“This will only slow you down. There is no way you are going to get these cuffs off before the hall floods. Look.”
Miss Parker turned towards the door and saw water sneaking into the room. It wasn’t deep, not deep at all, maybe only a centimeter deep, but it was there and it was solid proof that the water was coming and that it was in charge. She turned to him again.
“Jarod?”
“Go!” he shouted, clinging the cuffs onto the metal pipe. “Leave Miss Parker!”
She shook her head. “No!” and with that, she began her search.
“Miss Parker…!”
“No Jarod! I am not leaving without you! You die…” she paused to take a breath. “I die.”
Jarod shook his head, “No, Parker. Go.”
“No Jarod!” she shouted, searching in one of the drawers in a dresser that was in the room. She pulled out a paperclip. “Here! We will pick the lock!”
“There is no time to do that! I’m telling you to get out of here while you still can!”
“And I’m telling [you] to shut-up! I am not doing this alone! Now are you going to help me or not?” she asked, walking over to him, while she straightened the paperclip with her hands. She stuck one of the ends into the cuff’s slot.
“Miss Parker… please,” he whispered softly, leaning the side of his face on the cold bar, watching her twist and wiggle the paperclip in the slot. She glanced up at him briefly and then continued her work on the cuffs.
Suddenly, a big gush of water came into the room, reaching up to their shins. Miss Parker and Jarod let out a gasp of surprise. Miss Parker’s determination strengthened at that moment, and she began to jiggle it faster.
“Miss Parker leave me!” Jarod screamed, feeling the water’s freezing numbness at his legs again.
Suddenly, she snapped her face up to his and whipped her hand across his face. He let out a gasp, more in surprise than pain and stared at her for an explanation. She shook her head in disgust and then leaned forward and kissed him, hard and rough.
As she pulled away, she whispered harshly, “I am not leaving you, you got that? Never!” And with that, she began her work on the cuffs.
They both knew the water was rising by the second. Now to their thighs, they both didn’t want to admit it. Jarod too scared to say something, and Miss Parker too ashamed to say something. They both stared down at the cuffs as they were pricked and pocked.
“Damn it! Why won’t they open!” Miss Parker screamed in frustration.
“Oh no,” Jarod whispered softly. Miss Parker looked up at him.
“What?” she asked.
“You hear that?”
“Hear what?”
“Listen…”
Miss Parker paused, and listened. She had no idea what she was suppose to be listening to, but soon knew. She heard the creek and crack of beams as they were snapped in two, and the rushing of water coming down the hall.
“Oh no,” she repeated, spinning back to Jarod and beginning her work on the cuffs again.
“No Miss Parker. You have to get away. Go!”
“Jarod! Shut-up!”
Jarod opened his mouth to protest, but as he did, water came pouring into the room. He watched as Miss Parker was swept off her feet and slammed into the near by wall. Jarod was also knocked down, but having the bar there, he was just swept under water and roughly pulled at.
As Miss Parker gained her feet back, she quickly got back to the cuffs again. The water was rushing in so hard, that it knocked the paper clip from Miss Parker’s hands.
“Shit!” she screamed, looking the general direction to where the paperclip had fallen. She suddenly dove downwards, in search for it.
Under water, she searched frantically. When she spotted it, she grabbed at it and returned to the surface. There she met Jarod, jaw chattering, with the water now to their chins. Miss Parker had plenty of room above, but as for Jarod, the bar held him down, so he had to twist his neck backwards to breath.
“M-Miss Parker…” he began, talking in his throat.
“Quiet,” she snapped.
And with that, she dove under water and jabbed the paperclip in the slot and roughly twisted.
Now the water was over Jarod’s head. He desperately tried to hold his breath as long as he could, but felt his consciousness slipping. Miss Parker returned to the surface after a couple seconds of failure of opening the cuffs and saw that Jarod’s head was under water. Not knowing how long he was under, she gasped for air and dove downwards, pressing her lips onto his and blowing her air into his mouth. She could see his eyes were pleading for her, not for air, but for her to leave. She shook her head in protest and made her way back to the surface.
She then dove down again and jammed the paperclip into the cuff’s slut. As if by magic, the handcuff popped open.
She returned to the surface, as Jarod frantically returned to it as well, struggling to catch his breath.
Freed now, they both quickly made their way out of the room and swimming as fast as the rushing water wood allow, they took off down the hall.
Not knowing where to go, they took corners by last minute decisions and prayed they were going the right way.
“Oh thank god!” Miss Parker screamed, seeing stairs up ahead. Jarod smiled and increased his speed with a renewal of strength.
“Hurry!” Jarod shouted from behind her. As they reached them, they quickly began their slide upwards.
When they reached the next floor, Jarod looked around. “Hey! Hey!” Jarod said, spinning around.
“Hey what?” Miss Parker asked.
“This is the last floor, meaning the next one is the storage area that is…”
“The very bottom of the boat… meaning…?”
“Meaning, if we get down there, we can figure out how to knock a hole in the top and get out of here.”
“Yeah but earlier you said cutting a hole and then getting help is a long time, in which no time we have.”
“I said that just to get the excitement up for our readers,” he said, smirking a little. Miss Parker cocked her head to the side in confusion.
He stared at her for a second and then sighed. “Oh have faith,” he said. “C’mon,” he said finally, grabbing her arm and pulling her down the hall.
“But…” she began.
“There has to be another way,” he said simply, pulling her around a corner and quickly turning the opposite way seeing it was a dead end.
“Doesn’t this damn boat believe in signs?” she asked as she allowed Jarod to pull her down the hall.
“There!” Jarod shouted, pointing towards a door that led to the stairs. He picked up his pace, forcing Miss Parker to break into a trot. They reached the door and Jarod reached down to grab a good grasp on the cold metal handle that was more to the bottom of the door than the top. He briefly glanced at her and then began to pull with all his might. Miss Parker watched in amazement as he pulled, the muscles in his arms becoming tight and then relaxing and then tensing after every pull. Soon the door was forced open. Jarod ushered Miss Parker towards the open door. She quickly scrambled up the slope and waited for him to join her.
“This is the last floor?” Miss Parker asked, looking around the cold open area, able to see her breath in puffs of smoke as she talked.
“Yes, should be,” he said with a huff, climbing to his feet.
It was a mess everywhere. Boxes and vehicles were tossed everywhere. A couple feet from them, they could see a red mustang effortlessly tossed upside down, the windshield shattered and one of the red doors sticking out from its side.
“Wow,” Miss Parker said in awe, a puff of breath escaping her lips.
It was freezing up there. They both could feel and see themselves shivering violently.
“Hello?” they heard a ragged voice call out. Jarod and Miss Parker glanced at each other briefly before looking in the general direction to where the voice came from.
There they saw three men, two around Jarod’s age, maybe a little older, and the other about Sydney’s age. Four women followed, one teenager, one in her twenties maybe, and the other two about in their late forties.
“Hello?” the oldest man repeated again.
“Hello,” Jarod answered, gently wrapping cold fingers around Miss Parker’s arm and pulling her towards them with him.
“Who are you?” he asked.
“Ah,” Jarod paused. “I’m Jarod and this is Miss Parker,” he said, gesturing towards her with his head. Parker gave a friendly nod, but no smile. “Who are you?”
The old man straightened a little as if relaxing. “My name is Kevin.” he pointed to one of guys Jarod’s age, the blonde and said, “This is Steve and,” he pointed to the other, the black-haired and said, “Michael.”
“And I am Sue,” the blonde forty-year-old said, “and this is Christina,” pointing to the other forty-year-old. “And Lisa and Alley.”
“Where did you guys come from?” Steve asked.
“From the top, well in this case, bottom level,” Jarod answered.
“You guys came a long way,” Alley, the blonde twenty-year-old, said.
Miss Parker nodded. “Have you guys tried to get out of here already?”
All seven exchanged looks and then Kevin answered, “There isn’t a way out. Not a door, or a trap door or anything.”
Jarod bit his lower lip and looked around and saw about ten more people sitting on the floor in a large group. They all had terrified looks in their eyes, chatting among themselves. Way back in his mind he knew that the water was rising fast and if he they didn’t do anything, all these people are going to die, therefore his mind was becoming blurred by panic. He briefly shut his eyes and shifted into Pretender mode. Calm, he needed to stay calm. He spotted a huge box and stared at it.
“Okay, spread out and look in every box you can find. We need something to help cut a hole in the side,” he said to the eight before him, taking off towards the box he was staring at. Everyone did as they were told and started their search.
He walked up to the huge wood box and studied it, trying to figure out how to get in it. The box had to be 5x5ft. Jarod wrapped his fingers on the side of the box and yanked at it roughly. It creaked a little, cueing Jarod to pull harder. He did, and it was yanked open a crack. He squinted it eyes inside and tried to see through the darkness, but was unsuccessful. He stepped back from the box a few steps and looked around frantically.
Then he saw it, a forklift lying on its side. The front windshield was shattered, but other then that… it looked in one piece. He walked over to it and studied it carefully.
Just then, he let out an ear-piercing whistle, grabbing everyone’s attention. “Over here!” he shouted, as the seven and Miss Parker trotted over to him. “You think we can all turn this over?”
Everyone exchanged looks, considering it. “Well, I don’t see the hell why we can’t try,” Kevin, the old man, shouted, clapping his old hands together.
The nine took their place on the side where the forklift’s roof faced them and took a firm hold on its bars. “Okay on three,” Jarod shouted to them. “1…2…3!” And with that, everyone lifted with their whole bodies, letting out grunts of effort as the forklift was lifted from the ground.
Everyone smiled and cheered, including the people on the other side of the room, as the forklift was now up right. “Now,” Jarod said, leaping up on the tractor, “Let’s see if this damn thing still works.”
He leaned down and yanked the key forward and heard the engine rumble and roar… then die away. He briefly glances up at everyone before trying the key again, listening to it rumble… roar, then die.
People that were sitting on the floor on the other side of the storage area now climbed to their feet, trying to see more of what was going on. There might be hope after all.
Jarod let out a rough sigh after the third time of trying. “C’mon you damn piece of shit! Work!” he screamed, roughly yanking the key forward and hearing the engine roar to life, and then it rumbling loudly. “Yes!” Jarod shouted excitingly, slapping the steeling wheel. Everyone let out an excited shout and smiled.
Jarod stepped down from the tractor, still letting it run and trotted over to the large box. “Help me with now,” he shouted to them, as they trotted to his side. They all grabbed a hold of the box’s edge and yanked and pulled, finally hearing it creak as it was pulled open the rest of the way. They all peered inside, and to their surprise and relief the saw all kinds of heavy-duty machines and construction tools, like, chain saws, sledgehammers, axes, electric saws, etc.
“Oh there is a God!” Sue screamed, wrapping her arms around Kevin’s shoulders.
“Hey! We could use more help over here!” Miss Parker yelled to the others. A couple from the group trotted over to them. Everyone happily grabbed a sledgehammer and walked over to a bare spot of metal and iron of the ship, since there were no plugs for the other equipment. Jarod returned to the forklift and drove it to the side along with the others.
“Alright,” he shouted over the roar of the tractor, getting down from the tractor and taking Lisa’s, the teenager’s, sledgehammer and telling her to get on the forklift, since she barely could lift the hammer and driving the tractor would be hell of a lot easier for her. “You give this damn wall a hard smack. Then pull away, and we will all start hitting with all we got, okay?” he said as he raised his eyebrows at her. “Be careful though, it might get a little rough up there.”
She nodded and leaped up on the tractor, quickly scanning over the switches, before pulling a lever. The tractor slowly went into reverse, getting as far as she could to get a run up. Then, taking a breath she jabbed in drive and kicked the petal to the floor. It snapped forward and hit the wall hard, flinging the teenager forward, but not enough to hurt her… badly. The fork in front of the yellow tractor dented the metal drastically, but there was no solid proof that it was even half way through.
Everyone waited for her to back up and then quickly looked at Jarod. He shook his head at them and then looked over to Lisa who was waiting for further instructions. He nodded to her, cueing her to do it again.
She replied with an another nod and backed it up again, but further this time. She kicked the petal to the floor, and it snapped forward, smacking into the wall and denting the metal even further. She flung forward and hit the steering wheel, but not hard enough to lose consciousness.
Jarod shook his head again in disgust. The metal was dented, yes, but in this rate the water would snap a hole in the wall faster then this tractor would. But they had to keep trying.
Jarod walked over to Lisa and told her to get down. They are going to need a large indention now! Lisa got down and stood by the others. They watched as Jarod backed the tractor up as far as he could go, reaching almost to the other side of the storage area, where the others stood, and took a deep breath.
He quickly looked around him for something heavy, and spotted a large metal brick that used to hold down a plastic covering for one of the cars for protection of scratches. He leaped off the tractor and lifted it in two hands, and walking it over to the tractor. He leaned into the tractor and made sure the wheel wouldn’t turn at all, and quickly dropped the brick onto the petal.
It yanked forward, almost causing Jarod to fall out. As the tractor was gaining speed quickly, Jarod leaped out the door and rolled out onto the fall. Miss Parker and the rest ran away from the wall as far as they could as they saw the speeding tractor heading towards it. Miss Parker ran to Jarod’s side, as they both kept their eyes onto the tractor and watched it ram into the side.
They was a huge bang and screech as the large forks in front of the tractor sliced through the side, as well as bending the powerful forks up a little. Everyone stood there a little in shock and stared and then quickly ran to the side.
The tractor was still running, but it had an ill sound to it now. Jarod studied the slice carefully and smiled as he felt a small breeze of cold air seeping through a small cut in the metal.
“Houston, we have contact,” Jarod said happily. Everyone smiled and began to bang on the dents that surrounded the forks of where they are stuck in the wall with their sledgehammers. Indeed they were making progress.
Suddenly, as if hell broke loose, water sprang into the area, knocking into things and knocking objects out of its powerful way.
They could hear utter screams of terror, no one positive that it was their own and desperately trying to get out of its way.
“We have to keep at it!” Jarod shouted to them over the loud rushing of water, still standing his ground by the wall. Everyone hesitated a little, before returning back to the wall and picking up their discarded hammers. They began to pound on it, half in fear, half in panic; the fear causing them to be stronger, the panic causing them to go faster, things they didn’t know they still had left.
Miss Parker could hear the screaming creak of the ships metal as it was bent. The boat suddenly tipped downwards, all the boxes, machines and cars sliding across the floor.
Jarod, trying to keep his footing of where he stood by the tractor, noticed the forklift leaning towards him from the gravity pulling at it. He quickly glanced at the wall and saw the fork that was stuck in the wall begin to slice through the wall side ways, making a huge cut in the wall. Jarod could see the outside through the huge slice and smiled in relief. But as he was about to shout out for the rest of them to look, the whole ship seemed to dive downwards.
Water was rapidly filling the whole area, making the ship heavy and tipping to one side.
Jarod could see that the tractor was on the verge of being ripped out wall. That means it is going to come crashing onto him. Jarod tried to think of what to do, when suddenly the floor became too steep. He fell to the floor, and began to slide towards the water. Thinking fast, he reached out and grabbed a rope that hung from the wall.
As he dangled there, he saw Miss Parker and Lisa slide downwards. Jarod reached out and grabbed a hold of Miss Parker’s arm, as she reached out and grabbed Lisa’s. Miss Parker and the teenager swung towards Jarod, slamming into him. Jarod let out a grunt at the blow to his side, but held on as tightly as he could.
Through all the screams and madness, Jarod looked up over his shoulder and watched as the forklift was ripped from the wall and began to slide towards them on it’s side.
“Oh god!” Jarod screamed, catching Miss Parker and Lisa’s attention.
“Oh no!” Lisa screamed.
“Hold on!” Jarod shouted, as he let go of the rope and letting all three of them slide downwards.
Them being a lot lighter than the tractor, they out slid the forklift and hit a huge box that wasn’t completely covered by the water yet because of the pile up of cars and boxes below. They quickly looked over and up and saw that the tractor was coming towards them faster now that the ship was still moving downwards.
“Over there!” Jarod shouted, pointing towards another large box to their right. Lisa leaped over onto the box and Miss Parker followed. Right as Jarod’s feet hit the surface of the other box, they saw the tractor slam into the box they were on and watched it effortlessly smash it in two.
“We have to get up there!” Miss Parker shouted, pointing up to the hole they had made in the wall. Jarod looked up and nodded in agreement. He could see one of the people trying to climb through the small opening, their feet dangling, and desperately trying to pull themselves through the whole. He watched in horror as a box lost its hold and came crashing down on the person and knocked him right from the wall, slicing a gash in his stomach from the sharp metal edge.
Jarod shut his eyes quickly and tightly, trying to block out the image as the man fell to the water and the cars and boxes below with a huge splash and thud.
The ship was almost completely straight up now, things falling from above and the sounds of cracking and splashing. The lights were blinking too; turning off for a full five seconds and then blinking back on again. But the worst of all were the sounds of screaming and crying. Some were cut short abruptly as a huge splash or a thud followed.
“Madness,” Miss Parker whispered, but Jarod caught it and he glanced down to her pale, shocked face as she stared out at the people that were seeking shelter on cars and boxes around them. He leaned down and kissed her forehead gently. Her blue eyes glanced up at his brown.
“C’mon,” he shouted to Lisa and Miss Parker both, as he walked passed them on the box and found a rope that was hanging down from the wall way up above. He grabbed it and tugged on it a little, making sure it was sturdy enough, and began his uneasy climb upwards, walking on the steep floor, taking some of the effort off his sore hands and arms.
Miss Parker and Lisa followed, both having trouble climbing. They weren’t as strong as Jarod and they couldn’t go as fast as him.
Lisa was the last one climbing and she suddenly lost her hold and slid to the box below again. Miss Parker and Jarod looked down to see if she was all right, and then Miss Parker climbed down. She leaned down on her haunches and checked if she was all right, as Jarod made his way down and leaped onto the box.
“I can’t do it. It is too hard,” Lisa said, looking up at the two. Jarod glanced at Miss Parker.
“Okay,” Jarod began. “I am going to tie the rope around your waist. But you are going to have to use your legs and take some of the gravity off me okay?” Jarod took the end of the rope and began to loop it around his waist and tie it. He then took the access of the rope and looped it around Miss Parker’s waist and then tied the end of it around Lisa’s. “Just hold onto the rope so it isn’t cutting you in two and use your legs and you will be fine, okay?” he shouted to them over the rush of water and the bang/clank or machinery and boxes. Lisa nodded, securing the rope around her waist better. Jarod turned to Miss Parker. “Are you okay?”
“Yes, I will be fine,” she replied, unsteadily. He put his frozen hand on her cold cheek.
“Are you sure?” he asked, worriedly. She nodded as she bit her lip. He nodded back sadly and then grabbed the rope, glancing back at them for warning and then beginning to climb again, pulling Miss Parker and Lisa along with them.
Jarod used all his strength in his arms, gritting his teeth together as he pulled his and both of the women’s behind him. Using their legs onto the steep floor, it was still a lot of weight on his arms, but he kept going.
Miss Parker held on as hard as she could, her knuckles becoming white. She felt the rope at her waist becoming tighter, but chose to ignore it. She knew Jarod wasn’t going to last much longer, since he had three people to pull and not to mention the tightening rope at his waist. ‘Hold on Baby’, she thought as she watched his back as he pulled ahead of her.
Jarod was almost in tears of pain. The rope was cutting at him at his waist dangerously bad, but he kept going. He had to keep going. He just had to. The women behind him are counting on him.
Suddenly, hearing a crash up above, Jarod looked up and saw a medium size wooden box sliding towards them. It wasn’t a large box, but it was enough to knock their hold.
“Hold on!” Jarod screamed, stepping side ways on the wall to the right, desperately trying to get out of the way of the box. He does and so does Miss Parker, but Lisa is slower and the box just nabs her in the left leg, knocking it from beneath her and causing her to fall to the floor.
The sudden weight on the rope pulled roughly at Miss Parker and Jarod’s waist and they both fell to the floor too. Miss Parker heard Jarod’s scream of pain and knew it was worst than what she was feeling.
“Oh god!” Jarod gasped, holding onto the rope in front of him, trying not to let go, because if he did, they would fall all the way back down again and probably cut all three of them in two. He desperately tried to get his footing back on the floor as Miss Parker scrambled to her feet and yelled back to Lisa to do the same, knowing it was killing Jarod and was certain it was killing her. Lisa did so and Jarod started up again.
Finally they reached the top. They were about eight feet away from the hole in the wall and there was only a metal bar they could climb on to get to it. Jarod reached above him and grabbed the metal bar, keeping himself steady as Miss Parker and Lisa climbed the rest of the way up and grabbed onto the bar. Miss Parker looked at Jarod worriedly and saw the tears in his eyes.
“Damn Jarod,” she whispered in shock to see how much pain he was in.
Using one hand, Lisa freed herself from the rope, and then Miss Parker and finally Jarod. Lisa began to move sideways down the bar towards the whole in the wall, as Miss Parker followed. Before Jarod went after him, he quickly glanced to his left and saw about five people holding onto the same pipe, inching their way towards them. Jarod shook his head in disgust and began to move towards the hole.
Lisa finally reached the end of the bar and noticed the hole was about two more feet away. She glanced over her shoulder at Miss Parker and gave a worriedly look.
“You are going to have to jump!” Miss Parker screamed over the rush of water.
“But I can’t!” Lisa shouted back.
Suddenly, there was a big pow, as the water rose higher and was literally swallowing the ship whole. Everyone felt their feet lift off the floor and now they were all just dangling on the pipe, as the floor was completely straight up and down. Jarod felt like his arms were being torn. He looked over his shoulder to see the water quickly filling the boat, also seeing people swimming around in panic, screaming and crying for God. Jarod shut his eyes briefly. He would rather be in the Centre thirty more years to never experience this.
The lights suddenly shut off completely, followed by a huge gasp of the frightened people, as they were now in the dark, afraid and frozen.
There was no hope it seemed, no hope for them all. The ship was sinking, and it was sinking with them in it!
“Lisa jump!” Miss Parker screamed.
“I can’t! I can’t!” Lisa screamed back, tears pouring down her face. “I can’t hold on much longer!”
“Lisa!” Miss Parker screamed, watching in horror as Lisa’s one hand let go. “Lisa no! Don’t give up! Damn you, Lisa!” Miss Parker screamed, as she watched her other hand begin to slip.
Over half the storage area was flooded now, and still the water was rapidly coming.
“NO!” Miss Parker screamed as she watched Lisa loose her grip and fall to the water below with a splash. Miss Parker stared down to the water; her eyes desperately searched the icy waters for Lisa. “Oh god, Lisa,” Miss Parker murmured.
After almost a full minute, the water was almost touching their feet. “Oh no!” people screamed, some were below in the water, some hanging from the bar. Miss Parker looked down again, searching the water for Lisa, but only saw other people, either dead, almost dead or bleeding. Miss Parker swallowed hard as the water began to consume them now.
“Miss Parker let go! Swim to the hole!” Miss Parker heard Jarod shout from behind her. She did what she was told and let go, falling into the water. It pulled her under for a brief second, and then she returned to the surface, gasping for air. She began to make her way to the hole, water already coming in and out of it. Proof that the hole was almost completely under water.
When she reached it, she now had to go under water to go through it. She gasped for air and then dove under, feeling panicky hands pushing at her to hurry. She slid through it, realizing what a tight fit it was and made her way out side the ship and coming up to the surface. She gasped at the sky, the stars, the moon, realizing for the first time how cold she was. She spun around, watching as people’s heads popped up from the water. Her eyes danced upon each face, wondering where Jarod was.
“Oh god,” she whispered in terror. So far, five people are crying and swimming with panic away from the boat as far as they can, knowing the boat will suck them right under with it, but Miss Parker swims closer to it. “Jarod!” she screams, as another person pops up from the water and swimming away from the ship. “C’mon Jarod!” she says, tears now running down her face. “Don’t be a hero, get out of there Jarod!” she screamed, as another head pops up.
Eight in total, including her, only eight from the eighteen. She shakes her head in disgust, staring down at the water, waiting for Jarod to come to the surface. But no one did. She let out a sob, closing her eyes briefly and then returned them back to the water.
“No Jarod… no,” she sobbed.
Suddenly, she saw Jarod pop his head up from the water, taking in a huge gasp up air.
“Jarod! My god, my baby!” she screamed, wrapping her arms around him and kissing his freezing cheek. He smiled at her weakly.
“C’mon,” he said with a chattering jaw, making his way away from the boat, his one arm still rapped around her waist. They got as far as they could from the ship and turned around, still swimming backwards, and watched as the water around it bubbled and popped as it swallowed the ship whole, including all their belongings, cars, money and most of all, their loved ones.
Miss Parker ripped her eyes from the sinking ship and looked around, seeing all tear filled eyes of terror and sorrow. Miss Parker shook her head in disgust. She then leaned her head against Jarod’s shoulder and asked softly, “How many were on the boat?”
Jarod briefly glanced down at her and then back at the scene of the ship sinking. He answered softly, “More than nine hundred.”
Miss Parker shut her eyes and let out a sob, “Out of nine hundred people, why are we part of the nine who survived?”
He glanced down into her eyes again and stared at her, “I don’t know Parker. I don’t know.”
After a couple minutes, the boat was completely gone. There was a lot of wreckage in the water, like pieces of broken wood, suitcases, etc. They had found only a small upside down lifeboat that they could seek shelter on, but only seven could fit on it. Two were forced to stay in the water.
Miss Parker had climbed up on top of the lifeboat, along with four other women. Shivering violently, neither of the women said a word as the men decided who was going to climb aboard and what two are going to stay in the water. Jarod glanced up at Miss Parker and smiled weakly at her and kissed her hand in which she held his. She looked down at him in confusion.
“I-I love y-you Miss P-Parker,” he whispered, shivering.
She smiled at him, “I k-know you d-do.”
Jarod gave her one last weak smile and then turned to the four men, two being Kevin and Steve. “I v-volunteer for staying in the w-water,” Jarod said to them. All four exchanged looks and then glanced at Jarod.
“J-Jarod?” Miss Parker tried to yell, but her voice cracking in effort. She watched as the other men nodded. “No Jarod,” she whispered to him. He looked up at her.
“I volunteer too,” Kevin said softly, glancing at Jarod. Miss Parker heard Sue gasp next to her at that.
Miss Parker looked down at Jarod again. She stared at him with sad eyes, begging him to reconsider. He looked so cold, his face was pale and his eyes weren’t brown anymore. They seemed black, but they still sparkled. They sparkled of… hope.
“I-I love you M-Miss Parker,” he repeated again. Miss Parker bit her lower lip and squeezed his hand a little.
“I… I-I love you t-too Jarod,” she said, weakly. “Please, don’t let this be our good bye… okay?” she asked in a child’s voice. He shook his head sadly at her. “Please?” she repeated.
“I w-will never die… I will n-never die, as l-long as [you] l-love me,” he said, his jaw chattering, his whole body freezing and shaking violently. Miss Parker felt his hand grow colder at his words and she sobbed.
“Don’t leave m-me Jarod,” she whispered in between sobs.
He shook his head sadly. “N-Never.”
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It [seemed] to be more than thirty minutes, bobbing in the freezing water. Miss Parker still held his hand tightly, rubbing her thumb over his freezing skin. She stared out across the ocean, just staring as she listened to Sue’s weak singing next to her.
‘Eternity’, Miss Parker thought, ‘Eternity of freezing air on my skin. Eternity of the cold water biting at my flesh. When will it stop? When will it?’
Miss Parker slowly turned towards Jarod and looked down at him. He was shivering more than ever now, with his eyes were closed. Miss Parker squeezed his hand. He didn’t respond.
“Jarod?” she asked weakly, surprised by her own voice of how weak and soft it was. He slowly opened his eyes and looked up at her. “Are y-you okay?” Jarod smiled sadly and nodded his head slowly. Miss Parker shook her head. “No you are n-not. You c-can’t even f-feel your hand.” Jarod briefly shut his eyes and then opened them again, revealing unshed tears in their blackness. Miss Parker swallowed hard. “I l-love you Jarod.” He responded with a nod, unable to speak. She laid her head down on her arm and stared at him for a moment, her heart aching for him.
‘Never’ his last word rang in her head. ‘Never’. She sobbed a little, still staring at him, his eyes closed again. ‘I will [never] let you go Jarod.”
Suddenly, they heard the roar of a helicopter coming their way. Miss Parker lifted her head weakly up towards the sky and saw the black helicopter hovering over them, blowing gushes of wind down on them.
“T-Thank g-god,” Miss Parker shivered weakly. She glanced down at Jarod, who haven’t even acknowledged that the helicopter was there. “J-Jarod, we are going to be r-rescued. You are g-going to be safe n-now!” she said excitingly. He didn’t open his eyes. “Jarod?”
She heard someone gasp as a rescuer slid down a rope from the helicopter. He had a bright orange suit on and he hovered over the water about a couple feet and an about one foot away from them.
“C’mon!” the man shouted. He reached his hand out for Miss Parker, but she just stared at it for a moment and then glanced down at Jarod, whom still had his eyes closed, holding her hand. “C’mon!” the man said again.
Miss Parker glanced at the people beside her and then at the man in an orange suit. ‘Never’, Jarod’s last word rang in her head.
Suddenly, she felt a hand grab her arm and yank her to her feet, loosing her grasp on Jarod’s hand. “C’mon!” the man repeated, wrapping his arms around her waist.
“No!” Miss Parker screamed, her voice cracking. She was helpless against the stranger, him being so strong, her being so weak. “No! Jarod! Never! I am sorry Jarod! Please!” she screamed, watching as the lifeboat became farther and farther below them. “No!” she screamed one last time, reaching her hand downwards.
When she was pulled into the helicopter, heat hit her like a ton of bricks. She gasped out loud, as she was wrapped with blankets by the million. “Please,” Miss Parker whispered, her voice weak again from her screaming. The woman that also had an orange suit on that was wrapping her in blankets looked up at her. “Please save him,” Miss Parker whispered, the woman not knowing whom she was referring to.
“Don’t worry miss. They went back to save the rest of them,” she reassured gently. Miss Parker felt the gentle prick of something in her arm.
“I love him,” Miss Parker said weakly, the drug beginning to kick in. Before she blacked out she saw the woman nod and then Sue being brought up to the helicopter. Blackness.
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Warm… heat… fire… burning… hot… She slowly opens her eyes, letting them focus slowly on the nightstand by the warm bed. Warm? She shifts a little of where she lays and feels warmth. It was almost too hot. She slowly lets her eyes scan the room. Hospital, she thought.
“Ah, you are awake!” she heard someone say happily. She slowly moves her eyes to the doorway where Sydney stood. He quietly walked over to her and sat down by the bed.
“Jarod?” was the first word out of her mouth. Sydney’s smile disappeared at that, and than he smiled sadly. Miss Parker’s heart stopped. “No…”
“No Miss Parker. I just came from visiting his room,” he said softly.
“Is he… is he?” she began.
Sydney shook his head. “He is just fine Miss Parker. When they pulled him out of the water, he was unconscious and was very close to loosing his toes…” he smiled weakly. “But he is okay. Everything is in tact, maybe a little frost bitten, but he is okay.”
Miss Parker smiled happily, but it disappeared quickly. “The Centre?”
Sydney shook his head. “I came alone. Broots doesn’t even know where I went.”
Miss Parker smiled again. “I want to see him.”
Sydney nodded his head. “I figured. That’s why I told them to bring a wheel chair ready.” He stood up and walked over to the wheel chair in the corner and wheeled it over. Miss Parker sat up and slid into the chair, then Sydney pushed her out gently into the hall.
Miss Parker could feel her heartbeats becoming faster as they became nearer to his room. As soon as they entered the room, Miss Parker let out a soft gasp of relief and happiness at the sigh of him.
Sydney pushed her over to the side of the bed, where Miss Parker gently took Jarod’s hand. He stirred and opened his eyes, looking up at her and smiled weakly.
“Hi,” Miss Parker said softly.
“Hi,” he said in a raspy voice.
She gave his hand a gentle squeeze. “Can you feel that?”
He chuckled softly. “Yes.”
She smiled down at him and then glanced up at Sydney, who was smiling as he watched. After realizing that Miss Parker was looking at him and he also jumped. “Oh, sorry. I will be leaving now,” he said quietly, leaving the room quickly.
Miss Parker smiled and returned her attention back to Jarod.
“I was asking for you ever since I woke up,” he muttered, his deep voice raspy from nonuse. Miss Parker smiled down at him.
“You scared me so badly. I thought you were dead when they rescued me. I was desperately trying to wake you up… but…” she let out a soft sob.
“Hey,” he said gently, pulling her down to him for an embrace. “Shh, it’s okay. It’s okay. I am [never] going to leave you.”
Miss Parker pulled away a little to look at him. She smiled through her tears. “I know you won’t,” she said softly, hugging him again. She pulled again and pressed her lips onto his gently. As she pulled away she whispered on his lips, “I love you Jarod. I want to spend the rest of my life with you… no matter what.”
Jarod looked at her carefully, before letting his lips curl into a smile. “Really?” he asked with a hint of excitement in his raspy voice. Miss Parker nodded, trying to stop crying, but not succeeding. He pulled her into a hug again. “Oh god, I have waited [so] long for you to say that.” He pulled away and smiled. “If I could feel my feet right now I would be jumping for joy.”
Miss Parker smiled and leaned down, kissing him again.
[Whew] The end!
That wasn’t the best and ‘realistic’ of my fan fic, but it was fun to write. Loved it? Hated it? Whatever. Comments are [so] welcome!
