Chapter 26
W e enter the room where I last saw Jasper, it’s filled with spare chairs likely used for when added company is on board. But there’s no sign of Jasper anywhere in the area. In the far corner is a closed door leading into another space. We sort through the chairs slowly heading towards the door.??
“Jasper?” I call out in a loud whisper. Hoping he will recognize my voice and creep out from where he is hiding but there is no response or movement sounding in the air. ??
“He must have made his way through this door to get closer to the front staircase.” Caspian points out. I mean, where else could he have gone? I hope more than anything he is still alive once we find him. ??
We go to open the door and hear another loud peal of lightning and the roar of thunder following. I look down at my feet and see the cold ocean water has made its way down the hall into the other rooms and is starting to fill up to our ankles. I look at Caspian, now more uncertain than ever. ??
We are going to die on this ship. I can’t keep the thoughts from replaying in my mind. The water coming through, the amount of men here stopping us from getting to a boat, every second is becoming more and more unpredictable.
Caspian pushes through the door and we rush in to find Arielle behind Jasper, holding a sword that crossed his neck. He’s knelt down on his knees with an open gash on his outer thigh. NO! I shout in my mind. I see the fear in Jasper’s eyes, the look that he has accepted his fate but is worried for someone else.
“Arielle put your sword down!” Caspian shouts, anger builds up inside him. His body tightens and he is extremely alert.
“How could you side with her so quickly, Caspian? Have you forgotten the plan?! Have you completely forgotten about Russell? It's her or him, Caspian.” Arielle yells at him. Her arms start to shake and she looks uneasy. It’s almost like I know what she’s thinking before she says them.
“Ace said they are going to kill Russell, Caspian. If you choose her, you will have to kill me.” She says to him but looks directly at me. I feel bad for her, I know what it's like to choose your family over anything else. The New World is so grey, it makes you do questionable things for the ones you love. Caspian steps in front, guarding me from any rash decisions and then pulls out his sword and points it in her direction.
“Abigail, I need you to take Jasper and go.” His voice demands softly.
“No. I will leave nobody behind and I sure as hell will not let another person die because of me.” Holding my ground, I look over at Arielle. “Please, Arielle. Let me help you find him.” I take a couple steps forward toward her, stepping out of Caspians protection. I want her to trust me, I need her to. She is far more valuable to have on our side than against us. “Please, give me a chance to prove to you that I am worth saving.” I beg.
She studies me for a moment, weighing through her options. I want to say more to try to convince her, but I know anything additional that I say will only tilt the balance against me. She will need to come up with this on her own. She slowly lowers her sword letting Jasper go free. He falls forward, his hands and knees gone to the filling water. He looks up to me and mouths thank you. ??
“Arielle, where exactly is Russell?” I ask her. The water is filling and we are running out of time so we need to know what our next plan is.
“Ace has him on Symbodia. When we were on Parteis Island, one of the soldiers had stopped me to let me know that Ace had him there and would kill him if I didn’t do everything that was demanded of me.” She explains. Hearing her say his name feels like someone is stabbing me in the chest. Every single time she talks of him it hurts me. His words play over in my head and I can't help but to wonder if I really am as bad as he says. This entire time, has he always hated me? Like an idiot I was loving him, wasting my heart on someone who wished for my death.
The boat is smacked with another large set of waves causing us all to stumble. Water rushes from the back and is now filling the boat even faster. It’s almost to my knees and time is escaping us by the second. I look over at everyone, Caspian is moving over to the door that leads back out into the hall. Jasper is standing and now holding his sword, readying himself for what is to happen next. Arielle has not taken an eye off of me and I do fear in the back of my mind, that if she gets the chance to turn against me, she will. This is the team I am handed, we will now either survive off of this ship together, or we will be swallowed up in our own demise.
Caspian looks frantic at me and at the door that he is struggling to get open. There’s too much water on either side to just push open a door anymore. We need to go backwards to go forward.
“We need to go out the doors we came through, quickly!” Caspian shouts. His voice is bold and yet so calm given the situation. I turn around and head towards the previous room. The water is pouring towards making it more difficult to push that direction. The constant water smacking into us feels stronger and more likely to sweep us away. I look behind me and see the other three following closely.
I keep pushing forward, shoving my legs forward step by step. I keep my sights on the door I am trying to get to but now the water is past our knees and the water flow is strong. Another large wave of water thrusts through and the door starts moving. I need to get to it now otherwise it's going to close on us and we will be stuck waiting for this ship to go completely under. I push to exit out the door and wait for the others to catch up, holding the door open so the water doesn’t slam it closed.