I am gone, but they remain.

Ivy wakes up on her bed with a jolt. One second ago, she was falling into water, but now, she finds herself here. The sheets are just as soft as she remembered them. Something is wrong though, because she is drenched in sweat. She grabs her phone beside her, and checks the time. 

It is 4:53 PM.

Though she has the foggiest recollection of being sick and being out of control, she does not remember much. Perhaps, she imagines, it was all a dream. A dream that she somehow managed to have in the thirty seconds that she was lying down. It is all too odd for her. She pulls out her phone and looks up lucid dreaming, sleep paralysis, and every other condition under the sun that she can think of. None quite describe what has happened to her.

Maybe, she thinks, her imagination is a bit more active than she had previously thought. Perhaps she could turn this all into a videogame, which could actively describe her experience. Like a playable character, rather than a real person.

~~~

One second ago, Alvaro was holding on to Clara and Maverick, holding them both underwater. Now, a man slugs him in the face, causing him to stumble backwards. His gun is still in his hand, but Alvaro can't bring himself to kill. Instead, he shoots the man in the leg and leans in.

"Get out of town now, or the boss will have your head," Alvaro says, covering the man's mouth.

Alvaro runs out of the house. He feels exposed, without a mask. He tucks his gun into the waistband of his pants and moves through the city. The material of his pants feel so much more comfortable than he remembered. The bright streetlights accost him. Was New York always this painful to look at? He isn't sure. He feels like he is being watched.

Adrenaline is quickly flowing through his body. He arrives home, but he doesn't feel happy. In fact, he feels as if he has been dragged to the depths of the ocean.

"Shit," Alvaro manages. He wants to punch something, hard. But there is nothing to punch. All of the events fly through his head, and he is sure they happened.

Unfortunately, he is also sure that he lost.

~~~

"Get up, you're going to miss your cue," a voice hisses.

Tim pulls himself off the ground. He is sore everywhere, but he can stand. His legs are no longer broken, it seems. Maybe he hit his head very hard when he fell down. He begins to feel himself panicking. Where is he? What is going on?

He's backstage.

Tim runs off and pukes in a garbage can. He's missed his turn to run on, but the show must go on without him. Some extra holds him by the shoulders and asks if he is okay, but he most certainly isn't.

How do you move on when you know that you are capable of murder? Even if it was caused by some head-induced trauma, some unreal weeks of time, Tim knows that he could've pushed someone off a cliff to save his own skin.

And he hates himself for it.

~~~

There is no more water in the world. It is gone. Mickey has to take a second to remember where he is. On a stroll. He sits down on a bench, trying to collect his thoughts. He was screaming for Clara. His lungs were full of water. He couldn't breathe.

Now he is here, and calmer than ever. He watches as the people walk by.

Once, in the dark, they had all talked about where they were when they were suddenly stolen by the ocean. They had all discovered that it was the same time, across time, and the same date as well. March 5th. He had told Clara the name of the park he was in when he drowned. Surely, she remembered it.

She is not here though. Perhaps she had forgotten. More likely, however, she either didn't want to see him, or she died.

Mickey hopes that she is dead.

~~~

Adwin continues to choke on air. There is nothing there though. He pulls himself off of a desk and opens a drawer to grab a notebook.

He begins to write everything down that he remembers. All of their names, their entire story. All the details that he remembers. Then, he can do some research later, and see if there was really a socialite named Flo McWilliams who lived in New York City.

Then, he knows that there is a war coming. It won't be safe for him here in the United States with his terrible accent, but he is not going to be safe in Germany neither. He needs to get his family here, if it isn't all true.

On his desk, he notices an apple. One provided by a student, who undoubtedly didn't want to eat it. His stomach rumbles like he hasn't eaten in centuries. Adwin takes the apple and bites down on it. The scent reminds him of cool days in the grass, spent lounging with Beverly. It reminds him of Hubert Tremblay, of truths he would rather not face.

Adwin hopes that they concurred the spectre. He has no way of knowing if he did or he didn't, but he hopes he has the power to change fate itself.

~~~

As Flo falls, she grabs hold of her vanity. She really, really needs to eat. If she was hungry before, she is starving now. Damn this stupid, yet beautiful dress. She isn't happy to be back in wonderful clothing. Instead, she wants to be in the arms of those she loves, in the most hideous dress she has ever seen, tucked away at some distant point in time.

It had to be real. Flo has never loved so much, so it had to be real.

She pulls herself up and sits down at the vanity. Flo rubs her arm across her face, smearing her crimson lipstick. She takes a cloth and begins to rub at her eyes. She can't stand the sight of herself. It has been so long since she has seen her own reflection, and she hates it.

Flo is not going to go out tonight. Rather, she will stay in, smoke a cigarette, and create dresses perfectly tailored to a girl who died many years ago.

~~~

The water from the tub is overflowing. Clara turns it off. She wades through the water, opening the bathroom door, where it bleeds on to the carpet. The front door to her house opens, and it is sure to be her husband, who is sure to be cross with her, and Clara is back to her terrible life.

She runs downstairs, hoping to explain herself, trying to swallow back the voice inside her that cries to be loved.

In the doorway, she finds Maverick, standing with his hat in his hands.

"Miss Bennet," he says, lowering his hat to his waist.

She stumbles, nearly falling over her wet dress. He runs over to catch her.

"How did you find me?" she asks.

He shrugs. "I've had three years to look. We haven't got much time before your husband comes back from work, do we? Maybe twenty minutes?"

When she nods, she pulls him into a hug. It had only been thirty seconds, but she had never thought she would see him again.

"Run away with me," he begs.

Clara doesn't even care to pack. She has travelled with less before. So, she heads off with him to Canada, bursting out the front door.

~~~

At his desk, Maverick jolts up. The pulls out his watch and checks the time. Nothing has changed. He wants to slam his hands against the desk, to scream out in anguish. He is almost a hundred years away from Alvaro. He shall never find him again.

Instead, he begins to plan. Clara is from Virginia. They were all taken at the same date and the same time. He can get to her, and she will be okay with his affections towards men, just as he will be okay with her never loving him back. It's the perfect wife.

He walks up to his father's office, and moves inside.

"In three years time," he says. "I am going to take a trip to Virginia."

He doesn't add that, after that, he will no longer work for his father. Maverick hasn't found his passion yet, but he knows now that he can do anything he wants. Even love the forbidden.

~~~

Bev bursts to the surface on the water. A man grabs her arms and helps pull her out of the freezing water.

She chokes, and cries, but she has never been happier in her life. She can feel pain again, which is something. All of her extremities work. She cradles her hand, and the man above her asks if it feels broken. She shakes her head. It has never felt better.

The man offers to take her home, but she shakes her head. Instead, she sits on the edge of the peer, and dangles her feet over the edge. She can see her soaking wet reflection. If she wanted to, she could run away and join a pirate ship. She could find work as a sailor, or better yet, as a gardener. The reality of her time hasn't weighed in yet. In this second, anything she desires is possible.

So, she plunges back into the water, hoping it will bring her to her salvation.

~~~~~

This is the end of Plight! Thank you for sticking by me. I love you all dearly and I hope that we continue to support each other in all future endeavours! For now, I can't wait to see y'all over at Degrade (and if you haven't done relationships yet and you are in that story, please do).