The six of us hung onto the railing on the side of the cable car as it zipped up and down the hills. The wind was cold and blew my skirts in rippling waves as if I myself was a tsunami of midnight blue. The lights of the city were in full blaze and the smell of cold air mixed with that of warm food as we traveled closer and closer to the ocean. We descended the final hill into the wharf and began strolling down the boardwalk. Little lanterns were hung periodically off of trees, railings, and buildings, and they increased as we approached a large ship in the harbor. The ship itself was bedazzled with lanterns that looked like fairies in the cold night air. John, Robert, and Henry walked ahead with Alice, and Thomas hung back with me, strolling slowly and quietly.
"You okay?" I asked discreetly. Thomas looked up and stared at me for a few moments before answering, "I... I'm just worried this may not go as planned," he finally replied. "I just don't want you to get hurt,?" he added. "Hey, it's not like we're going to a beheading this time," I said playfully. "I'm not sure," Thomas said, but was cut off by a shout from Alice, "Come on Tom! Let's go!" We reached the gangplank of the ship and proceeded up onto the deck. There were people from fore to aft in some of the most luxurious and beautiful gowns, suits, and of course jewels. John, Henry, and Robert immediately broke off from the group and disappeared into the lavishness of the other people. Alice turned back to me, gave a wink, and disappeared herself into the crowd.
Thomas grabbed my hand and pulled me along the outskirts of the people, walking along the railing looking towards the ocean. As we strolled, two men in white tie dress walked forward and stopped us. "Miss?" the first man with a long oiled mustache said, "we would like to present you with something to keep your neck warm on this chilly night." The second man pulled a blue velvet box from his pocket and opened it to show the most beautiful necklace I had ever seen. It was a mixture of sapphires and diamonds set in silver that swirled with an Art Nouveau flair that reminded me of a heart. I gasped. "Thank you," I choked out as the first man grabbed the necklace and strung it around my neck. "We will collect the necklace at the end of the night, in the meantime, mingle, show off our most precious piece," informed the second man. Thomas looked at me and a smile seemed to be stuck on his face, but then he frowned as the men walked off.
"I was hoping Alice would be chosen, I don't want you to become a target tonight," Thomas mused. "Well, I have you and the others to protect me, I think we'll be fine," I replied. Of course, I was wrong. As Thomas and I continued our walk along the edge of the ship, we ran across John, Henry, and Robert, who smiled hungrily at my necklace and continued to mingle nearby. We finally arrived at the back of the ship where no one else was around. We looked off into the bay and I found myself fixated on the stars reflecting back into the water. Thomas moved closer and put his arm around my waist and leaned his head on top of mine. "How are you feeling?" I asked, he groaned a bit and said: "I feel weak from all of the walking." "Let's sit," I offered and we sat with our backs against the captain's cabin and looked off once again at the sky.
A considerable amount of time must have passed because we both dozed off, propped up against one another. I woke up to the sound of footsteps and found myself alone at the back of the boat. Thomas was gone. The footsteps manifested themselves into Robert coming around the back of the boat, and I let out a sigh of relief. Robert walked towards me and offered me a hand to get up, I took it and he quickly pulled me upright, pushed me towards the railing, and shoved his big hand around my neck as he leaned me over the railing. I couldn't breathe and I began kicking and scratching at his hands to loosen his grip. He just pressed harder, his dark eyes were full of quiet burning anger.
"Give me the necklace and if you breathe a word of this to anyone, you're dead," Robert whispered angrily into my ear. I nodded as best I could with my neck preoccupied, he stepped back and unclasped the necklace from my neck. Then, I punched him right in the mouth. My hand stung with the impact and as I regrouped he grabbed my neck once again, the jewels cutting into my neck as he was still holding the necklace. His eyes turned from quiet anger to boiling hot rage and that's the last thing I saw as he pushed me over the railing and into the bay.
I hit the water with a hard smack and as the water rushed around my body, I felt the stabbing of cold water as I writhed to try and push myself back up the surface, but my gown was heavy and weighed me down. I kicked off my shoes and began trying to unclasp my dress. I struggled and the world around me kept growing darker and colder. Finally, I got myself fairly free of the gown and ripped the rest as I propelled myself back to the water's surface with all I had left of my energy. I finally broke the surface and gulped air. The ship was way off and the nearest shore looked like craggy rocks from where I was. I began pulling my shivering body through the water towards the shore, one slow stroke at a time.
I was within twenty feet of the shore when something pulled my foot, and I immediately lashed out with the other leg, delivering a quick hit to a hard part of the body of whatever was attacking me. It pulled my leg again and propelled itself to come face to face with me. "Thomas!" I gasped half angry and half relieved. "I'm sorry," he chattered, "the water was so cold I couldn't yell to you until I got closer." I grabbed him and hugged his shivering body and cried out of joy at not being alone in the water any longer. Together we propelled ourselves to the shore and pulled ourselves up onto the rocks. We lay there shivering, holding onto each other for any ounce of warmth. Everything once again went black as we passed out from the chill.