Chapter 94 - A Death Wish

The sun was nearing the horizon, the bright blue sky was slowly turning dark. The glowing stars started to twinkle in the sky. The gibbous moon was peeking in the sky, waiting to shine in the darkness. 

Unlike the soothing atmosphere, screams were resounding in the outer passageway. "Catch them… Don't let them escape…"

One side was a wall, another side was the water. The passageway was blocked on both sides by Harper's men. Anya and Alvin looked at each other, there was seriousness on both of their faces. While she thought to fight those men, he uttered fearlessly, "Let's jump."

Although Anya could defend herself, he wasn't ready to see her hurt by knives if all of them attacked them simultaneously. Hence he thought to jump to the water and those people would think as they jumped to suicide. They wouldn't dare to jump into the water. 

Anya felt her body turn cold as ice. Her whole being froze at his words. 'Jump?' From the position where they were standing, the jump could only mean, jumping into the ocean.

For a moment, she felt everything going in slow motion, all the sounds went into mute and heartbeat loud in her ears. The enormous ship was so tall that she could never imagine jumping from such a height without a harness. She only learned swimming for survival while being trained. She wasn't professional or experienced. She had hoped to sustain some time in the ocean with the oxygen cylinder.

Alvin shook her shoulders to get her out of her daze, "Little Donut, we need to jump." He reminded her in clear words. He could pull her to the ridge and jump. However, if she panics, then both of them will be in danger in the water. So it is important for her to be mentally prepared. 

"I-I can't." She wasn't sure if she was afraid of sharks or didn't have much confidence in herself to swim. This kind of adventure never came to her mind. This was just too overwhelming.

Alvin brushed her hair back with his fingers and cupped her face. Although he looked calm on the surface, there was worry in his eyes for her safety. He unhurriedly asked, "Do you have fear of water? Or height?"

Anya felt like crying when she glanced at the water and height. She wasn't scared of either of those but she never thought she would have to jump from such a height to the ocean.

"Alvin Matthews, this is not a swimming pool where we are diving." She responded sarcastically to his question. Any person in the right state of mind wouldn't dare to jump into the ocean without knowing how they were going to get out of the water.

A faint chuckle left his lips hearing her trying to cool her mind. He understood the problem as it was also his first time doing something like that. His right arm wrapped around her waist and gently tugged her.

She hesitantly followed him and climbed on the railing while Alvin directed her, "Don't look at the water or the height." He least wanted her to faint. 

Anya's eyes were fixed at the water surface. She swallowed hard. Her every movement felt very exhausting and tough. She grumbled tightly holding his shirt on his back when he pulled her close to his body, "There is water everywhere, where else should I see?"

Standing on the last rail, adrenaline pumped through her body before they could even jump. She was feeling dumber every passing second. She itched to run from there but the danger was no less on the ship. 

More than herself, she was worried about him. To save her, he could put himself front and get hurt. She wasn't ready to see him in pain and suffering due to her. She felt like she was going crazy to even follow him. Shaking her head to clear her mind, she looked at him hopefully and probed him, "Alvin, let's fight together and be on the ship." 

At the same time, the men's angry or bewildered voices continued to yell at them. "What the f*ck are you doing?"

"Hey, don't jump."

"Do you have a death wish?"

"Get off from there." And so on.

Alvin looked at Anya who was giving him an endearing pleading gaze without blinking even once. He was certain the moment he would accept her request, she would turn into a fierce tigress and fight daringly.

His eyes brushed over the men who were very close to them. He said what she wasn't ready to do yet. "Jump." He jumped, pulling her next to him.

"Ahhhh…." Anya involuntarily started screaming in raw fear. Unconsciously reaching out, she hugged him with all her might. Her stomach clenched in nameless dread. The thrill she had felt in the drop tower of the amusement park wasn't there. She shut her eyes, tightening her arms around him.

She was so close that he could feel her erratic heartbeats and her shaky body. Alvin wrapped his right arm firm around her waist. He didn't want them to separate in the water, it would be difficult to catch up and stay together. Any small mistake could cost them hefty.

When they got close to the water, he whispered in her ear, "Inhale," He was contemplating she might not breathe in and end up drinking salty water but she stopped screaming. She inhaled a deep breath against his shoulder, without leaving him a second. Instead, she held him as if there was space left between them.

'Splash.'

As soon as they hit the surface, they went deep into the water due to the height of the jump. Their bodies started to drift away from each other due to water density. 

Unlike in the swimming pool, Alvin needed a moment to get adjusted to the water to open his eyes while he tried to keep his hold on Anya.

Anya was no different, she couldn't open her eyes immediately. The more she tried to hold on to Alvin, she felt like somebody was pushing her away from him. She blanched with a new dread pulsing through her. 

She flapped her hands but couldn't find him, she tried to open her eyes to see and swim towards him but her eyelids refused.

She wanted to scream his name, call him closer to her but couldn't do so in the water. She was level-headed to know she shouldn't let the water enter her body. However, she felt the time dragging when her body was refusing to cooperate. She was slowly losing her air and each second was like a never-ending struggle.

....

The men on the ship who wanted to catch the couple was bewildered. They thought the couple was putting on the show to keep them away. Holding the railing, they watched the couple freely falling into the water without any safety measures. They couldn't believe the couple suicide to avoid them. 

Everyone's heads slowly moved right where they had seen the couple drop. The ship continued to move ahead, the water surface cleared but the couple didn't appear at the surface for a long time to catch their breath.

"Did they die?"

"Who could be alive after this fall?"

"They are crazy."

They continued to comment. They didn't have a death wish to jump into the water to get them so they could do nothing about the couple who suicide like fools. 

The ship moved quite a distance, yet they couldn't see the couple float to the surface. A man in the center pointed out, "Update to the manager." The hijack was mainly because of the couple so it was important to let the manager know the situation.

Another man who was at the corner started running to report to the manager of the vacation without knowing the security was covering the whole ship. As soon as that man took a turn, the junior officers struck him unconscious without making any noise.

The three junior officers peeked at the eight-plus men who were in the passageway, looking at the water. One of the officers briefed the situation, "They have knives, we need backup or a plan." The junior officers had missed watching Alvin and Anya jumping into the water.

Another junior officer noticed the water spray cannon at a distance and pointed it. "Let's use that."

And the three officers coordinated well and immediately pulled the rolled pipe. An officer stood at the water controller and the other two held the pipe tightly. 

Harper's men heard the noise and rushed towards them with the intent to capture those officers.

"Shoot," An officer near the pipe shouted to turn on the water when those people were getting near.

The jet spray of water hit Harper's men on the face and body, throwing them back by a good distance. The two officers struggled to handle the holder of the pipe, shooting the one who was trying to get closer.

With such force, Harper's men lost their balance and fell to the ground as many times as they tried to get up. Eventually, they lost their grip on the daggers and knives while trying to balance themselves. 

Shortly other officers joined in and attacked the Harper's men to seize them. Similarly, the small incidents were happening all over the public and stateroom spaces. 

—-------

Meanwhile, in the ship engine control room. The captain was shocked after he heard everything and watched the videos Stefan showed him.

The Captain didn't mind Stefan taking action first, "I don't care who that manager is working for. Don't let him come out of the crew space. Explain to the guests about the situation and ask them to make do with what we have. Appoint somebody to take care of the guests' needs. I will inform the engine room to keep working overtime. We will reach the port as soon as possible."

He paused glancing at the laptop screen. He clenched his fist and gritted his teeth. He couldn't believe Berwick would fall so low and accept an obscure job. He declared, "Lock the Vice-captain in his room. I will handle it alone here." He would hand those people to the law and let them fend.

Stefan responded and was leaving the room when the captain stopped him. "Where is the couple now?" He briefly knew about the attacks on Collins and how they gave heads up to Stefan. 

Stefan's eyes involuntarily moved to the floor-to-ceiling glass wall and saw the ocean water. He uneasily responded, "Th-They are jumping into the ocean."

"What!!!?" The captain blurted in shock. He recollected quickly and continued, "We are in the middle of nowhere. Do they have a death wish? How could you let them do that? The water temperature will drop to freezing point once the sun goes down.... Go, stop them right now."