The first day of the voyage was boring.

I had brought as many books as I could, but Katy capped me at five, telling me that there would be plenty to read in London.

I'm heartbroken for you, I really am.

Shut up.

Shut doesn't go up.

Ugh. Anyway.

I spent the first morning  in the cabin that Katy and I shared reading one of the extra two books that I had smuggled in.

At midday, Katy dragged me out to have lunch and to meet some of her fellow nurses.

All of them were nice, normal people who led nice, normal boring lives.

I caught Katy's eye as they moved on talk of cooking, both of us stifling our grin at the thought of my incinerated spam.

I couldn't look at her again for the rest of the afternoon without wanting to dissolve into giggles.

As soon as the first person stood up to leave, we excused ourselves, bursting into peals of laughter as soon as we rounded the corner.

Katy was the first to come to her senses.

'Can you imagine the looks on their faces if we had told them about your little cooking incident.' 

She dissolved into laughter again.

I grinned, wiping tears from my eyes, 'I can just about imagine. Miss whats-her-name? Prissyfoot. She'd be scandalised.

'Alina Ascania,' she put her hands on her hips, 'It was Prisfet and you know it.'

'Eh, it was close enough.'

She grinned and we ran back to our cabin, racing each other down the narrow corridors and dodging the crew members and other passengers walking along them.

»--«

Our cabin was quite small, containing only enough space for our two bunks and a washbasin. The ship itself was larger, carrying medical supplies and crates of weapons and ammunition as well as passengers. Mainly nurses and soldiers travelling to the front lines.

»--«

The second day was much the same as the first. 

I read in the morning, was dragged out to lunch by Katy and sat awkwardly as Miss Prissyfoot- sorry, Miss Prisfet talked about her perfect cooking and perfect nursing track record.

Her eyes kept shifting to the right as she spoke. I hated people who made up good things about themselves to distract people from their assholeness.

One of the others obviously noticed my disgusted expression because she insisted on me accompanying her on a turn about the deck.

The wind was refreshing as we stepped out onto the slippery deck, carefully holding onto each other and the railing.

We couldn't have a casualty before we even got to the war.

I had soon got used to the rolling of the ship, the winter season making the waves bigger and the act of walking in a straight line much much harder.

Still, at least it's quicker than when I made the crossing the first time.

Sixteen- something I think.

That was not a fun six weeks.

The girl grinned at me, the salty breeze  whipping our hair out of it's neat coifs and into our eyes.

'Much better than Prisfet and that stuffy room.'

I smiled, 'Her boasting was getting just a tad annoying.'

'You know, she failed the first time she did it. The nurse training I mean.'

'Mmm, she did have a couple of tells,' I remarked thoughtfully, 'Didn't think it was that bad though.'

She grinned at me, 'You're Alina aren't you? I've heard so much about you.'

'From who?' My tone was suddenly wary.

She laughed gaily and my alarm grew.

'You're a tricky one to find Alina Von Lübeck, even with all the information Friderich has on you.'

Magick flared through clenched fingers.

'Who the hell are you?' I snarled.

She smirked, 'Let's just say, only the people close to him get to call him Friderich.'

The canteen door opened and the B**** carefully schooled her features into a much more innocent expression.

'The others are leaving if you wanted to go back to the cabin,' Katy slipped up to me, her smile teasing, 'I'm sure you have at least five books to finish before we get to London. And yes, I know about the extra two you snuck into your luggage.'

Well then.

Her expression faltered when I didn't say anything, 'Unless you want to stay out here with Jenny?' 

'No it's fine. I would much rather read than be out in this weather.'

'Jenny' watched us curiously as we left, smirking when I shot a parting glare at her behind Katy's back.

Once inside, the thought of curling up on my bed and losing myself in a book sounded wonderful.

You can't just ignore your problems Alina.

Worked last time.

»--«

I kept reading.

»--«

Katy brought me supper; sensing my distress and lack of sympathy for Miss Prisfet's perfect cooking.

I was still reading when Katy went to bed, making me promise to go to sleep soon.

'Of course,' I agreed.

After living for over 800 years on this Earth as a hunted species, a Magick, lying comes easy to me.

»--«

I finished my book when the sky was long dark. I tucked it into my bag and picked out an extra jumper, pulling it over my head.

I made my way out onto the deck, keeping a tight grip on the cold metal of the railing. The ship bucked and rolled.

Many bright stars twinkled above me, the night cold and clear with the same salty wind as earlier in the afternoon.

That made me think of 'Jenny' and my new problem. Friderich knew where I was now, which meant he most likely knew where I was going.

But he wouldn't find out until we docked in Southhampton, one or two days from now.

Weather permitting.

Surely no one would suspect murder if she took a tumble in a particularly vicious gale when no one else was around to save her.

Especially if I had a convenient alibi.

My senses tingled unexpectedly. 

All Magicks can sense when another is using their Faé stone, no idea why though.

Natural selection. It helps you to identify each other and form secret communities. Any who didn't find anyone else would never pass on their flawed DNA.

Huh. Interesting. My Narrator is a genius.

Anyway, my senses tingled and I felt the pull draw me to the stern of the ship.

That's the back for any of you ignorant Landlubbers.

Don't be rude.

I stopped around the corner from the Witch, debating whether to draft my own Magick. I would most likely be revealing myself and removing any chance of surprising them.

I glanced around the corner and saw to my not-surprise, that the user was 'Jenny'.

She had her back to me, facing towards New York and seemed completely engrossed in her task.

She pulled magick from her stone and shot pure Fé into the air. Only certain people could see it, and only if they were trained. Which of course, I was.

Mother was very thorough in her tuition.

Once in the air, 'Jenny' shaped the Fé into shapes, some sort of code.

Dang . And not one that I knew either.

I decided that now was as good a chance as any to get rid of her before she could do any further damage.

I took a step forward, then another, rounding the corner with the silent steps of a trained assassin. And froze.

Just beyond the end of the ship was the swiveling periscope of a German U-boat.

That bi-

Language Alina.

She was smuggling information out!

My location could already be in Nazi hands.

Holy Morgana.

William is going to kill me.

I ran forward, tackling 'Jenny' to the floor. I drafted Magick from my stone, forming a dagger made out of Fé and sent it flying downwards. 

She rolled out of the way just in time.

I pulled it out of the deck and stood up, dagger in one hand, magick at the fingertips of the other. 

She faced me, magick blooming under her skin and feet in a defensive stance.

Mother's calm voice echoed in my head, 'Never wait for an attack Liebchen.' I shot Fé at her, propelling myself forwards at the same time.

My first hit pushed her backwards, the second almost knocking her over.

I breezed past her pitiful attempts at defense, my third fé infused punch sending her into the railings. She glanced behind her.

'You know, when Friderich told me that you were good, I didn't quite realise just how good. I have had training in offensive arts since I was a child, yet you've brushed past me with barely three punches.'

'What do you want?'

She glanced back again, 'I just want you to remember that you could've prevented this.'

Then she shot a final signal into the air and jumped over the railing, propelling herself away from the churning edge of the ship with a blast of fé.

I rushed to the railing. The U-boat had it's whole body out the water now and someone was helping 'Jenny' into the hatch.

She saw me watching and lifted her fingers in a mocking salute.

The U-boat disappeared inder the waves.

I walked slowly back to the cabin, oblivious to my surroundings.

Then the whole boat shuddered and I grabbed the wall to keep from falling over. The fog in my brain vanished immediately.

Holy Morgana. The submarine.

An alarm rang out on the deck as I raced back to mine and Katy's cabin.

But when I got there the door was open  and her bed was empty.

I let out several colourful ejaculations.

I grabbed the two lifejackets under the bed and sprinted back to the deck. To anyone I passed, I asked the same question, 'Have you seen Katy Miller?'

With every shake of the head my desperation grew.

One by one the lifeboats were lowered from the deck, each empty of both Katy and I.

I knew that my magick could probably save both of us; but not if I couldn't find her.

There were cracking sounds coming from the hull now and the crew members rushed around, gathering up as many people as they could, to fill the last two remaining lifeboats.

The ship cracked again, the noise getting steadily louder.

Through the noise I heard a cry.

'Alina!'

Katy.

I ran towards it, barely able to hear the shouts of the remaining passengers behind me over the sound of the ship breaking apart.

Thank goodness the torpedo hadn't hit the gunpowder stores. Then we'd all be toast.

The cries got louder as I reached the bow.

Then they vanished as the ground fell from beneath me.

All I could hear as I fell were the screams of sailors who'd been pitched into the cold Atlantic.

Then I hit the water and the world went black.

[5331 Words]