Stefan quickly put two members to check the surveillance footage of Anya and Alvin. He hoped they hadn't jumped to the water yet. Meanwhile, he was receiving the reports of the situation and went around the area to check everything was under control.
Stefan's security team left no stone unturned and worked hard to reduce the damage. A lot were hurt and many were exhausted trying to manage so many people.
Some of the innocents were also stuck in the crew space. They had locked themselves in a room as there was no escape. News of this slowly spread in the ship, the captain tried his best to cool everyone down and boost them to fight against the people who were planning to seize the ship for their own benefit.
The Vice-Captain Berwick was locked in his office room. He pounded on the door, questioned, and demanded but there was no one to respond to him. Although he didn't have a hand in the plan of hijacking, he could turn against everyone at the orders of Harper.
Stefan soon received the information that the couple were attacked and they jumped to the ocean. He rushed to the office and saw the footage of the two. He wanted to stay calm but he couldn't. He was also worried about those two's lives.
As far as he knew Alvin wasn't reckless. So he hoped Alvin had a plan. Hence he didn't report it to the captain to avoid him being stressed on this matter.
—------
In the middle of nowhere,
Alvin was first to open his eyes. It took him a few seconds to adjust to the visibility in the water. There were no fish or any signs of any living beings. The ship next to them passed ahead. There was barely any light traveling in the water. It was pitch dark towards the depth of the water.
He hastily looked around to find Anya. He couldn't believe how firm he tried to keep his hold on her, they drifted apart. When he finally noticed a frame, Anya was going further deep into the water. He stayed calm and swung his arms together as he flapped his legs.
Although the distance didn't seem to be far, it wasn't easy to get closer to her. If they were in diving suits, it wouldn't have become difficult to recover in the water. Anyway, they didn't have time for it.
Suddenly it struck him, 'Does she know how to swim?' He had forgotten to ask that. He applied more force to his arms stroke to get to her quickly.
Anya opened her eyes and looked at the sparkling water surface in front of her. Coming to her senses, she noticed her limbs upwards, then she realized she was going down. As if suddenly woken up, she looked around controlling her breathing, and saw Alvin going towards her.
His hair was pushed back, revealing his complete face. He looked rather serious and his cheeks slightly blown holding the air. His white shirt was floating as if there was no gravity to define.
With a strong whip kick and a shallow arm pull, she easily propelled towards him. Another stroke of arms and legs, Alvin held her arm and pulled her close to him.
He wanted to hold her and swim to the surface as they might lose breath anytime. However, just as his left arm wrapped around her waist, her right hand reached to his waist. She continued to swim towards the surface as though she was saving him.
He was glad she knew swimming and it wasn't a suicide fall for her. Adding his momentum with her movements, it took a few seconds for them to stick their head above water and gasp for air.
'Cough... cough…'
With his arm still around her waist, Anya coughed when salty water drops entered her mouth. Alvin's breathing was more stable than her panting. She couldn't help but hold his shoulder to catch her breath.
Alvin, who noted the direction and speed of the cruise ship, approximately calculated the time required for his yacht to reach the position. 'Twenty minutes.' In that twenty minutes, the temperature could drop drastically and she will be exhausted from treading in the water for a longer time.
He pulled her closer, causing her arms to wrap around his shoulders, leaned her head against his, and relaxed. He glanced at her while she tried to calm down with her eyes closed. She was really brave to jump with him without knowing his yacht was coming their way.
Once Anya felt relaxed and her heartbeats lowered, she mumbled while feeling her head heavy. It was really not a good feeling to float on the huge water body. "Why is it cold?" She expected the water to be warm just like inside but she had goosebumps all over. It was a bearable cold.
Opening her eyes, she slowly tried to get away from him as it would be difficult for him to float with her. She was about to use her hands to tread when his arm snaked around her waist and went close to her.
"Save your energy." He deadpanned looking at her dripping wet face. Her pink lips were slowly losing color, her healthy glow was shimmering against the reddish-orange sun rays but the slow exhaustion in the cold water was paling her skin. A drop of water was hanging at her lashes. She blinked, yet it didn't drop.
"You will be drained." Her worrisome voice was at the brink of quivering. Clearly, her body wasn't prepared for the cold water.
Anya involuntarily closed her eyes when his fingers went close to her eyes. The warmness from his palm made her crave to lean to his palm but she held back. She felt a droplet roll down on her cheek and his palm moved away without touching her.
He responded trying to keep her attention away from the cold, "Then, you keep me on the surface."
Anya gently slapped his shoulder and got away from his arms. He didn't let her get away more than his arm's length.
The ship had gone far, she looked around cluelessly. "Which direction should we swim?" She innocently asked.
Alvin watched her calmness, her scream revealed her nervousness while falling into the water. He was cent percent sure that she was hiding her anxiety beneath and trying to be strong.
"Swim?" He sounded confused, "There is nothing around us for more than hundreds of miles." He knocked her confidence.
Anya didn't lose her hope. Guessing as he was trying to scare her, She forced a smile and asked, "H-how are we getting out of the water?"
Alvin saw her crawling towards him inch by an inch. He shook her head, shrugged his shoulders, "No way out."
"Alvin Matthews." She punched him for still playing with her. She knows how to open his mouth. She turned around and started to swim away.
Her little plan fell flat on its face when he grabbed her hand and pulled her back to him. "Why do you want to exhaust yourself and drown? Let's take our time and drown."
Anya felt like crying. "Alvin, that's not funny." She whined without getting away from his arms. If she dared to jump into the water with him, it was purely due to her trust in him. Hence she wasn't ready to believe his words of tease.
Alvin still didn't reveal anything. He carelessly stated, "Isn't drowning together better than having a blood bath?"
Anya snorted, she didn't want to give him the satisfaction of seeing her cry. She stopped floating and held on to his shoulders, "Then I will drown you first and live a few more minutes."
Though she wanted to sound heartless, she sulked resting her chin on his shoulder. She would be the one to worry and cry first if he couldn't float or she fails to keep on the surface.
She took a deep breath and brushed off the thoughts of drowning. She tried to look around. She could see nothing but the water. So much water reminded her of the monstrous wave from the night and her body shook in dread.
She hoped that following him wasn't going to be another unforgivable mistake. Even if she hadn't followed him, she would have definitely jumped after him. Hence she didn't regret her actions, just like in the past and every time.
However, if anything really happens to them, she wouldn't forgive Alvin. Her son was more important to her than anybody.
"Little Donut…"
He heard her hum in response as she pushed her head back to face him. She looked expectantly at him, hoping to hear how they were getting out of the water.
"Why didn't you fight with me to stay back on the ship?" Alvin knew if she was adamant about being on the ship, he wouldn't have dragged her to the water.
Anya tried to respond but had nothing to say. Exactly, she asked him if they could stay back however she didn't fight him. She followed him even though she dreaded the ocean and ocean creatures.
Alvin had loads of patience. He let her think which took her attention away from the time and water that had turned colder as the sky turned a shade dark.
'Hijack,' Anya knew the first person to be in danger by the hijack was Alvin as he was known on the ship as Bernard Collins' only son. She was worried about him as she couldn't fight so many men alone.
Of course, she wouldn't tell him that she would have failed to protect him if Harper's men had captured her with him.
Another reason why she followed him was, she trusted him. "I- You won't put me in danger."
Alvin was aware that she trusts him. She trusts him to the extent, she doesn't even take him as a man. And she was hugging him with clear sense, whereas she always ran away when he initiated.
"Then why are you trying to run from me?" Alvin leisurely asked and watched her freeze, forcing herself to be expressionless and unreactive.
He didn't stop there. He saw a half-dried hair lock fall on her face. He pushed it back as he asked, "What is stopping you?"
He was noticing her varied emotions and her struggle to keep herself uninterested. She was getting excited and happy around him, then suddenly she would turn into a person who desperately tried to avoid him. He didn't rebuke her and stayed calm to avoid being more hard on her.
"Or who is stopping you?" She was so comfortable next to him so he is certainly not the problem as far as he could analyze.
Thus she forgot to breathe.
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