You’re the one who saved me : Chapter 22 Preview 👀
“Lev… I can’t… I can’t do it!”
The wind whistled against her eardrums as she clung to the ladder with all her strength. The cold bit into her skin and froze her knuckles.
Eyes shut, throat tight, she felt snot dripping from the tip of her nose. The cables whipped against the metal, the wood creaked beneath her weight. She should never have followed Lev onto this damned bridge.
Her heart was pounding so hard it felt like it might burst out of her chest. Legs trembling, Abby hauled herself up onto the last rung. Then she made the mistake of looking down.
The fog had lifted, revealing the tiny city beneath their feet. Buildings, trees, rivers… all nothing but smudges, ants crushed by the vastness below. Between her and the ground, there was nothing. Nothing but empty space.
Falling would mean certain death.
Abby dropped to all fours, her lips quivering. Her heart climbed into her throat, burning her chest. She couldn’t believe this was real.
She shut her eyes again, convinced she was going to die here.
The voice was so faint it could have been nothing more than a breath lost in the wind.
Abby’s eyes snapped open.
A few meters away, a figure took shape. Black, straight hair danced before a face lined with scars. She was sitting on the edge, legs dangling into the void.
Those tired brown eyes pierced into hers. Abby recognized them instantly.
She looked exactly as Abby remembered her, her amputated arm wrapped in bandages, scars marking her face, wearing the same clothes she’d died in that night. The only difference was her hair, now free from the traditional braids, rippling in the wind.
“Why are you here ? You shouldn’t be here.” Yara’s voice was calm, unnaturally so, even as she sat at the brink of the abyss.
Abby reached a trembling hand toward her, eyes wide. “You’re too close to the edge. Step back !”
Despite her desperation, her body wouldn’t move. Yara was so close to falling, and yet Abby couldn’t get to her, couldn’t grab her and pull her to safety. Her limbs felt welded to the metal.
“Are you stuck ?” Yara asked.
A shaky breath escaped her lips. “I… I think I am.”
Yara looked at her for a long time, a shadow of sorrow in her eyes. “You have to move.”
Abby felt sick. Her head was spinning. The slightest movement could send her plummeting.
“You can do it. You’ve done it before.”
The memory of falling, and the sound of their screams, twisted her stomach. It was true, they’d made it out alive once. But this time there were no buildings, no pool below. She couldn’t rely on luck again.
Abby shook her head. “It’s not like before.”
“Everything.” Her chest tightened. “I’m too scared.”
“If you stay, you’ll die. Your only chance to live is to move.”
“Yes, you can. You’re the bravest person I know.”
Yara rose to her feet, standing on the slick edge.
“Yara ! Step back, it’s too dangerous !”
Yara’s lips curved into a sad smile. “For me, it’s too late.” She turned her gaze toward the abyss. “But not for you.”
When Yara took a step forward, time seemed to slow. For a moment, she looked as though she were floating in midair.
The next, Abby screamed her name.
