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Raelynn
“Rae, stop!”
I growled at him. “For the love of fuck, you’ll let me go. Even if it kills me.”
My phone stumbled out of my hand as I bit down into Michael’s arm. But he released me. And I threw myself toward the edge of the bridge again. I felt him rushing for me, desperate to pull me back as I gazed over the twenty-foot drop. Sirens finally sounded in the distance. I flashed my light down there, catching yet another glimpse of where Clint was.
After slipping away from Michael’s attempt to block me against the metal railing, I rushed for the tree line.
“Rae, are you thick-headed? You’re going to get yourself killed!”
“I’m not leaving him down there by himself, Michael! Get over it or go home if you don’t like it. I’ll have an officer take me home.”
I tripped over tree roots I couldn't see and forced myself to slow down. It was a very long drop to the river. A drop that would easily put me in Clint’s position if I wasn’t careful. But I knew he was alive. He had to be alive. Because no God in this universe was as cruel as that. I refused to believe that.
“I’m coming for you, Clint. Just hang on.”
Sirens wailed at they rushed up the road. It felt like they were an eternity away. I heard the sirens, but I didn’t see their headlights. And I wondered how much longer until they actually got here. I pointed the flashlight on my camera down toward the ground. I heard Michael cursing my existence as I grabbed on to trees.
They inched me down, centimeter by centimeter, until I slipped.
“Rae!”
“Shit!”
I tumbled into a tree that caught me and I almost lost my phone. I lay against the tree, catching it as the steep ravine turned into damn-near the straightest drop I’d ever seen. Vines hung from the trees, dangling above the ground. And while I considered taking the chance, none of them dropped all the way to the river’s bank.
Where Clint was sprawled out.
I groaned. “Come on, Rae. Think.”
“Rae! Can you hear me?”
Michael’s voice echoed off the trees and I rolled my eyes.
“Unfortunately!”
“Quit being a smartass and stay there. If you move and that tree gives—”
“Didn’t I tell you to go home if you couldn't stop ordering me around?”
“Maybe I give too much of a shit to let my best friend kill herself over—”
The sirens swallowed his voice and I was thankful for it. Because I was damn near ready to toss him over the bridge’s railing. I placed my phone inside my bra, with the flashlight facing outward. With the angle I was sitting at, it meant I had a clear shot of what the downslope had for me to cling to. Some rocks. A bunch of massive tree roots. If I was careful, I could still get down there.
So I shimmied down the tree and hung on tight.
“Damn it, Rae!”
I blocked out Michael’s yelling as the sirens grew closer.
“Don’t make me come down there after you!”
I rolled my eyes as I slipped over the edge, placing my foot on the first rock.
“Rae, Allison is going to kill you!”
“Shut! The fuck! Up!”
I heard Michael slam his hands against the metal guardrail as headlights slowly filtered through the trees, giving me more light to work with. I touched down on the first rock and let go of the tree, digging my nails into the dirt. I reached my foot out for the first tree root I saw and caught it, slipping my foot inside it.
And just as I stepped off the rock, the tree root moved.
“Ah!”
“Rae!”
I dug my hands into the dirt, feeling my fingernails scrape across rocks. I clung to the side of the earth, looking down at the fifteen-foot drop below me. I wasn’t even halfway down, and already I was struggling.
He needs you, Rae. Don’t force him to be alone like he’s been all his life.
I panted. “I’m coming for you, Clint. Just hang on.”
With some careful maneuvering, and lots of dirt caked under my fingernails, I finally hit the halfway point. If I dropped, it wouldn't kill me But, it would hurt. I closed my eyes and breathed, allowing the rushing water to fill my ears. I plucked my phone out of my bra and shone it down, watching as the headlights through the trees poured light down onto us.
“They’re here! They’re here, Rae! Stop moving!”
