Sunset

They walked through the empty cruise ship, eerie with silence. Her footsteps echoed off the hollow hallways, though Liam's were silent. 

He's dead. I killed him. He's dead. I know he is. 

So how was he here?

She followed him up multiple flights of stairs. Cristiana thought about bringing up the elevators, but Liam seemed intent on going up the hard way.

They reached the seventeenth floor, and Cristiana felt like she would collapse. Why was she even following him? She could've escaped by now. They would be docking at any moment, and the authorities would take her away. 

Liam pushed through the glass doors, strutting out onto the deck.

Cristiana squinted as a beam of orange appeared out on the horizon. Even though the beautiful star was setting, Cristiana could still feel its warmth on her cold skin. 

Why am I so cold?

"Isn't it perfect?" Liam asked, smiling at the sun.

"What's really going on?" Cristiana asked, shivering slightly. 

I'm so cold.

"We're on a cruise. Enjoying our anniversary. Enjoying each other. This is your perfect world, Cris. Stop trying to ruin it with elaborate fantasies. Why can't you just let yourself be happy?"

Cristiana watched him with confusion. "I killed you. Don't you get it? You're dead. And no, I won't ever be happy. Not after this trip."

"The point of this cruise was to make you happy."

"Why do I deserve to be happy? I'm a murderer. I'm an alcoholic. I'm…not good. No matter how hard I try, I'll never be good. Not after everything I've gone through. If-if I died right here, no one would go to my funeral. All the people I've ever loved I've betrayed in some way. My mother, because I let her drink herself to death. My father, who I didn't love enough after he lost his wife. My child, who I killed before they could even have a chance at life. I've betrayed you, for getting to know a monster like me. And I've betrayed myself. Over and over and over again."

"Well, there's nothing you can do about that now," Liam said quietly. 

"What do you mean?"

"We've arrived."

Cristiana squinted at the sun. "This is it?"

"You can't run anymore. Look around. This whole ruse is over. You're not under arrest. I never died. In fact, we were never here at all."

She felt her feet lift from the ship's deck. Liam floated up with her, past even the highest levels of the ship. Soon, they were hovering over it.

The water around the ship began to quicken, and massive waves smashed over the deck. The ocean groaned as if a monster swam just below its surface. Cristiana watched as the Denouement snapped in half and sank into the endless depths of the ocean.

"None of it was real?" She asked, her voice cracking. No, this isn't really happening. "Not Jack jumping overboard? Not the murder? Davies and Gil getting rid of your body? The…the drugging?"

Liam shook his head. "You weren't even there for those parts, Cristiana. Those were interludes. Parts of this made-up story where you, the main character, were not present. How would you know about them unless you were the one who made them up?"

"So Denouement wasn't real? The Captain was a figment of my imagination? They weren't secretly drugging us all on the ship? That's the only explanation for…this," she said, gesturing to the absurdity around her.

He shrugged. "All of the people on the ship were made up. Just an elaborate creation made in your brain. But it's time to move on now. I think you've spent enough time on that ship."

"If all those people weren't real, neither were you. Neither are you now. So why are you still here?"

Liam sighed. "I guess…I'm the only one who can make you understand."

"Understand what?" Cristiana screamed. "Just tell me! I can't…I can't do this anymore."

"You…are being drugged. This is not reality. I'm afraid you left that a long time ago."

The ocean below them began to open up, tearing in two. Even though they floated, Cristiana could still feel the vibrations of the shaking Earth. 

"Who's drugging me? I need to get back to reality. How do I get out?" She asked, her mind growing frantic. "There has to be an escape somewhere. There always is."

She was shivering now, nearly every muscle in her body shaking.

I'm so cold. 

Liam watched below as a giant hand sprouted from the water. "Not this time, I'm afraid. You locked yourself away in here, forcing your real self into a never-ending coma. This is now…944 times that you've boarded that cruise. Each time ends up here. And you always do the same thing, despite my warnings."

"What do I always do?" She asked. Whatever it was, she would do the opposite. That was the only way to get out.

Flames shot out over the ocean as if the water was made of gasoline. The hand stretched up even higher.

"There are two options in this situation. Run away or let that thing have you. Every time, you choose to run. If you escape toward that setting sun. you will follow it and experience a new day. You will board the cruise ship. You will see death, murder me, and end up in jail. Then you'll be back here, having this same discussion over again."

"So, I'm supposed to let myself die to that monster? That's the only way?" She could her heart rate quickening.

"The only way." Suddenly, it felt as if his voice were directly next to her ear. He could even feel his soft, warm breath as he spoke. "I love you, Cris."

A face appeared in the ocean, though it almost seemed to be a part of the flames. Despite the rising blast of heat from the fire, Cristiana shivered again. 

I'm so cold.

She gave one last look at the warm sun. If she just followed it, she would never be cold again. 

Her limbs felt numb and she found it getting hard to breathe. Her heart rate began to slow.

Below her lay pain for eternity. Above her was happiness for eternity. 

Which do I really deserve?

The answer that arrived in her head was not one she liked. But it was the truth. She deserved to suffer. For all the suffering she'd caused. 

"Goodbye, Liam," she whispered, as her body began to lower. Cristiana watched as he disappeared into the setting sun. 

Her body began to freeze, and movement became impossible. She could no longer breathe. Her heart thumped for the final time.

Closing her eyes, Cristiana embraced the cold hand as it wrapped around her body. It pulled her downward beneath the surface.

Cristiana disappeared.