Sophia's pace was fast as the waterfall of tears that flowed down her face. It was impressive that she even had the ability to cry as much as she currently was- she had, after all, already spent much of the day crying. In isolating herself in her room, she likewise had not consumed any liquids to replenish her tear duct reservoirs; no doubt all the crying was not good for her health but that was not at all a concern for her at that time. She raced through the mansion and outside through the back door once more, sobbing with no restraint. Sophia had hoped their visit to Sharpy Island would be one filled with relaxation and fun- instead, the poor girl had suffered nothing but pain and sadness since arriving.

She realized soon that, though aimlessly running, her feet were taking her closer and closer to the high cliff ledge. Below, pointed rocks and crashing waves awaited. This led to a crisis of conscience from within her.

Maybe I should just let myself run off the edge, she thought glumly, everyone thinks I'm crazy now as it is. I doubt they'd miss me.

Her mind then drifted to Albert. Oh, Albert, her handsome yet shy cousin-in-name-only. He had always been so kind and supportive of her. Surely she was wrong to have these dark thoughts- if no one else, Albert would surely miss her were she to end it all right then and there. Albert was such a gentle soul, could she really allow herself to put him through such devastation?

But, then again, when inside she had pleaded with Albert to tell her that he did not think she had committed the ghastly acts and crimes she was now accused of; Albert had said nothing, leaving others to attack her reputation in his silence. Yes, of course she was aware of his shyness and the difficulty he had in many social situations to speak up, but if there ever was a time for him to prove himself to her it had been there, in the hallway, with the body of Jane the cook lifeless before them. Albert had said nothing, and instead that doctor- the doctor her own father had called in to diagnose her- decided she was mentally disturbed.

I know I am not crazy, she thought to herself emphatically, though it only made her stream of tears increase. How could her family feel her so unwell and so untrustable that a doctor was called in to confirm her instability? Was she mistaken- was she in fact going insane? She was nearly certain she had not done anything to harm Jane, yet no one else could possibly explain the injury. LIkewise, she was nearly certain she had seen a sealman. Minnie seemed to confirm her sighting but now lay nearly comatose, making Sophia look all the more like the bad guy in the whole mess. Could the doctor- brief as their interactions had been- be correct? Was there something going on inside her that made her believe she had seen she had not or not done things she truly had?

Perhaps that was why Albert didn't speak up, she sadly reasoned; it was because he knew she was to blame and did not want to hurt her feelings any further, And if that was the case, poor Albert, even if he cared about her as he so sincerely seemed to, he did not deserve to have to suffer through deceiving her and how guilty that must have made him inside.

Her moist eyes again turned towards the cliff edge. No, she thought, I must jump. It will be better for everyone if I just go away.

Sophia sniffled a moment and then took off running as fast as she could towards the ledge. There was no hesistating- she had made up her mind.

"Oh, dear mother," she exclaimed, "I'm coming to join you!"

She took a tremendous leap, certain it would all be over soon. However, her gown was suddenly grabbed tightly from behind but an unknown party. It happened so fast, yet their unexpected force pulled her back, preventing her attempt at suicide. Instead, their yank caused her to fall to the ground at the cliff's edge. Bewildered and emotional, the young woman took a moment to recognize what had happened.

"Who-" she began, spinning around to see the face of the individual who had stopped her.

To her confused horror, the face was not a human. In fact, it was not even one face. Looking back at her were three sealmen. The closest, and presumably the one who had thwarted her jump, was black and white spotted; behind him about a foot stood one that was a jet black and one that was a strange combination of amber and brown. All three stared at her with their vacant eyes.

"Arf," they said in unison.

Sophia, already light-headed, taxed enough from the stress of the day, and dehydrated from all the crying, fainted at the sight.