Ruin (Part 2)

Cristiana stumbled to the railing and watched as Jack slammed onto the fifth-floor railing below and tumbled off the side of the boat, disappearing into the blackness of the water.

She let out a shriek and covered her mouth as she scanned the water for any sign of movement.

There was nothing.

Help.

She needed to get help.

Cristiana turned and ran. Who would she go to? Who would she tell?

She burst inside and flew past the elevators. Waiting for one would take too long.

She found the stairs and began taking them two at a time. "Help!" She yelled.

No answer.

Cristiana raced down another floor. "Help."

"Ma'am, what is the matter?" Asked a worker holding a spray bottle. He looked at her with a blank face, devoid of concern.

"Jack…he jumped overboard! We need to stop the ship! Go back for him!"

The worker, without a word, dropped his spray bottle and grabbed her by the arm. They made their way down another flight of stairs. They turned down a hallway and quickly walked down it, until they reached a wooden door. The worker rapped his hand on it impatiently.

The door opened and a security guard stepped out.

"We have a man overboard," the worker said.

"Yes, we are fully aware," the guard said calmly. "Since we are still close to the coast, we will have the coast guard do a search for him."

"You have to turn the ship around and search for him too! We're not that far!" Cristiana protested.

"I'm afraid we can't. Besides, the ship would take over a mile to stop and turn around. We're sticking to our current course."

"But…but he fell! He got hurt when he hit a lower floor. He might not be able to swim."

The guard flashed a quick smile. "They will find him. Corpses float." With that, he slammed the door in their faces.

The worker turned to Cristiana. "I am sorry ma'am. Did this man have a relation to you?"

Cristiana shook her head. "I didn't know him."

"Then please, for now, return to your cabin, have a drink. Don't worry about it. They will find him," said the worker. "You must excuse me, I need to continue cleaning."

Cristiana couldn't believe it. Just like that, it was over. There was nothing else she could do. No way to help Jack.

So instead, she made her way to the bar.

"Margarita please," she said for the third time. The bartender obliged. An hour had passed since the incident, and Cristiana was only feeling worse.

She tried distracting herself by watching the people dancing to the music around her. She usually liked dancing. Right now, though, she felt paralyzed.

Cristiana pulled out her phone to check the time. 11 PM.

It was getting late, and she was feeling tired. Maybe it would be best to go to sleep now and have a fresh start in the morning.

Instead, she found herself stumbling into a late-night movie, another daiquiri in her hand. The movie was almost half over, but she didn't care.

"The world is a beautiful place," said one of the characters, an old man. "Take a look at your surroundings, breathe the fresh air. Get out of that vast brain of yours. His death was not your fault, Sarah. It never will be."

Cristiana began to tear up along with Sarah. She still felt guilty, for multiple reasons. The most recent was still the freshest in her mind. Why hadn't she stopped Jack from jumping? One arm movement was all it would've taken. She could've pulled him back. But instead, she'd watched as he jumped off.

He probably was dead, Cristiana thought. If the smack into the railing from fifteen stories up hadn't killed him, the water had by now.

'Corpses float,' the security guard had said.

Cristiana shivered.

Leaving her half-empty daiquiri in a cupholder, Cristiana stood and exited the theater quietly.

She had no idea where she was going. She'd definitely had too much to drink. It felt like the whole ship was flipping upside down, and she could barely keep her balance.

Liam, she thought. He would console her about Jack.

Or would he?

Tomorrow was their anniversary, and they were somehow still fighting. Maybe…maybe she would find him. Tell him her secret that she had been hiding for so many years. That would make everything better again.

No, she couldn't. It was too horrifying to even think about, let alone say out loud.

After all, being a murderer wasn't easy.