𝐈𝐍 𝐖𝐇𝐈𝐂𝐇 a girl who has only ever known a life of peace finds herself at the heart of a revolution, thrusting her into a world of death and destruction. when all that had once made sense suddenly falls apart before her very eyes, she is force...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
IN AN INSTANT, the pressure around my neck ceases and I suck in a deep, desperate breath of air as I turn off of my back and rest on my elbows. I cling onto the bridge's railing as my head hangs over the edge, the cool mist of the chasm spraying onto my face like a gentle wake-up call after a terrible nightmare.
I have to blink several times, staring into nothingness, before the rest of my senses even come back thoroughly enough for me to comprehend where I am again.
"What happened?" I manage to croak out, still facing the water. The inside of my throat feels like it's been rubbed raw just like the outside, thus I instinctively reach up to test just how bad it is, but the skin is already too sensitive to touch. "Did you suddenly gain a conscience, you piece of shit?"
There is a ringing in my ears so loud that it almost overtakes the roar of the river below, so I have to look over my shoulder to see if Drew is answering me, only to realize that he's not even looking my way. Instead, he is bent over and seemingly doing the motions of tying up the laces of his boots — except, from what I can see, they are already done up.
"Hello?" I say, annoyed.
Still no response.
I turn over again and force myself to stand before him, reaching out to knock a fist against his shoulder. He does not react, just continues with his meaningless task as if I were not there. When he stands upright again, I see that his eyes are open, but eerily blank.
All his facial muscles are slack, and he moves without looking at what he is doing. It reminds me of how all the initiates looked when we were in our landscapes, moving and reacting to things that no one else could see, but even then everyone showed more emotion than this.
He is mindless, just an empty shell. What the hell is going on?
As Drew moves to zip-up his already-fastened jacket, I circle around him curiously. Gone is the sadistic boy who was attempting to kill me a moment ago. In his place is someone without any self-preservation, with not a clue of how dangerous it is to be standing before me with such vulnerability.
It would be so easy for me to push him off and into the chasm right now. Just one little nudge and all of my problems would seemingly disappear forever... but I can't bring myself to do it. Not when only weeks ago did I lay in this very same spot, begging Peter not to make himself a murderer. Besides, if I ever do get retribution for everything that Drew has put me through, I want him to look me in the eye and know it's me who has won.
As I stand and watch him though, I briefly wonder if maybe Drew is still in there, watching his body no longer belong to him anymore. I wonder if he is terrified of what I will do to him. I wonder if he is crying out for the same mercy he did not grant me.
