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My fingers tighten on the weak rope. I can tell it was tough and strong at one point in time, though age and weather have deteriorated it into frayed fibers that scrape against my palms.
A few more steps, my knees tremble, though this time for fear of falling through the planks, and I know I need to distract myself. I decide to bring up something else entirely. “Do you ever plan to talk about what you did last night?”
“And what was that?” he asks, his voice empty.
We move forward another step, and we’re finally out far enough that the wind grabs us, rocking both of us back and forth. I’m holding the rope on each side of the bridge in a death grip, squeezing my eyes shut and feeling dizzy as the wind blows me back and forth.
I take a deep breath. “How you kidnapped me,” I whisper.
He steps forward again, his body strong, commanding and keeping us moving. He’s not scared of the rocking, or the fragile boards that creak with every step. His fingers curl around my ribs, spanning across my sides. I’m sure no one could see it if they look at us, but his hands are there, lighting me on fire.
“How could I have kidnapped you, if you’re standing right here?” he rasps, coming so close I can feel the heat of his body against mine. I let out a shaky breath, opening my eyes as I take another step forward.
“You humiliated me in front of your friends. Terrified me. I didn’t know if I would survive.”
He doesn’t say anything, and it only makes me grow angry.
“I could have died going into that water, you know. I could have died during the fall.”
“Seems to me you’re doing just fine,” he says lowly.
I shake off the way his voice rolls over me like silk. How can someone so evil and dark cause me to disintegrate in his palms? The way his voice rasps is a whiplash directly on my soul. The way his touch molds to every piece of me, like he’s making certain I’ll never be rid of him, not in this eternity.
We fall into another silence, and I keep my steps steady and slow, my feet light, my tiptoes barely pressing against the wood. Felix moves at the same pace behind me, his fingers never wavering in their hold on me as I make my way across the bridge.
As I come up to the hole in the middle, the wind grows heavier, more aggressive, knocking us from side to side.
“Are you guys all right over there?” Blaire shouts to us.
I open my mouth, but all that comes out is a whimper.
“I’m scared,” I choke out after a second, looking through the gap in the bridge and seeing the black water crashing below me. It’s like it’s beckoning me, taunting me to fall through. Pure fear clutches my entire being in a vise grip, cloaking my veins and turning them to ice.
“It’s going to be okay,” he mumbles, and maybe for the first time ever, he sounds sincere. He isn’t menacing, or scary, or teasing with his words. He sounds as if he wants to protect me, as if he already is. “Just take a step forward, Hazel. You won’t fall.”
I nod, my entire being shaky. My knees feel like jelly as I take a step forward, over the hole that feels so much larger than it is. I realize I’m panicking more than I need to. I’ve done scarier stuff than this, and maybe I’m overreacting, but it feels petrifying up here, with the wind blowing us around so recklessly, and a man who seemed like he wanted to kill me last night, keeping me safe only hours later.
My foot presses against the wood, and I can feel the splitting before I hear it. It’s slow, though it happens faster than I could ever react. My eyes widen, and my fingers whiten around the rope as a piece of the board splits from the footing, breaking in half right down the middle.
I let out a yelp as my foot falls through, my fishnet tights tearing along the sharp wood. It gets caught around my knee, my foot dangling below, tense and in pain. I can hear all my friends gasp and scream, shouting my name that repeats in an ominous echo across the bridge.
Felix is there, his hands moving from my waist to underneath my arms, hauling me up like I’m a baby. He doesn’t give a fuck at this point, lifting me into his arms and racing across to the other side.
He drops me to the ground, falling with me as we tumble onto the damp grass. I let out a gasping breath, my heart pounding in my chest. My fingers curl into the dirt, my nails scraping against rocks and twigs. Felix’s hand presses into my back gently before he gets up, his touch drifting away as he turns toward our friends. I roll over onto my butt, watching each of them with equal amounts of fear and dread.
“It’ll be fine. No more than two at a time, move quickly, and don’t step anywhere near the hole. The rest of the bridge is sturdy,” Felix shouts with his hands cupped around his mouth.
Blaire shakes her head as she backs up, her face white as a sheet. “No way. No fucking way am I crossing over that thing.”
Atticus growls and snaps his hand out, wrapping his fingers around her wrist. He hauls her to him, grabbing her around the waist and lifting her over his shoulder. She lets out a cry, her arms and legs flailing as he walks toward the bridge. His steps are light and steady as he walks quickly across. He hops over the hole like he isn’t moving over a literal death trap, and is over to our side in what seems like seconds.
He drops her to the ground, and she rolls over to me, tears flooding her eyes as she stares at the bridge. She brings her gaze to Atticus. “I hate you.”
Shrugging, he crosses his arms across his chest, looking at the rest of our friends on the other side.
Piper waves for Levi to go in front of her, and he does, quick steps making their way across the bridge. Piper moves in his exact steps, safely landing on our side right behind him.
Lastly are Malik and Vera. Vera looks nervous but doesn’t back down as she makes her way to the bridge. Malik stops her at the last minute, turning around to talk to her. She nods her head, and he goes first, following the same steps Piper and Levi did. It only takes moments for them to cross.
