𝐬𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐳𝐳𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐚 ━ 𝐭. 𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐛𝐲

V

The horse neighed. It buckled. Thomas tightened his grip on the reins, but it was too late. Valerie didn't even have the time to react. Everything happened so fast, yet it played out so slowly in her mind. And suddenly, she was back on that day, almost twenty years ago.

She was nothing more than a little girl back then. Still — even as a woman — she froze as she once did. The fear shot through her like it did back then. Almost twenty years later, yet she felt just as helpless and petrified as she did when she was a little girl.

Valerie knew that he would fall. And there was nothing she could do to stop it. Before she could open her mouth to let out the terror that was building up in her lungs, Thomas had already fallen to the ground. Her eyes were glued to his body as she fought for air. She couldn't breathe.

Immediately, she jumped off of her horse. The impact of her jump was harder than she had anticipated. Yet her entire focus was on the back of the man in the grass and, when she blinked, the back of the lady. It was the same scene with different actors.

Seeing such a grand woman fall had knocked the air out of her lungs. She hadn't moved at first. She had called out for her.

As she staggered towards him, she couldn't feel her own legs. She couldn't think. Her mind was screaming at her, yet it was saying nothing.

"Thomas!"

At last, Valerie had gotten off her pony. Her tiny hands had touched her grandma, desperate to be pulled into the safety of her arms.

"Thomas, are you alright?"

When she had felt it, she couldn't process it. She had been too young. Nothing but an innocent girl. Her fingers had been coated in a red liquid. She had realized that her grandma was bleeding, and she had let out a cry loud enough to startle her pony. It had galloped away.

"Say something, please!"

Sobbing, she had held onto the body of her grandmother, begging for her reassurance. From the arms that had protected her from the world around her. From the eyes that had glistened with wisdom. And from the heart that had been pounding for her little granddaughter. Everything gone, just like that.

The little child had sat on the wet grass, crying as she had heard the last whispers of her grandmother. Until her last breath, her granddaughter had been holding onto her. She had stayed with her grandmother. She had stayed until the sun had disappeared behind the horizon and had greeted her again. She hadn't moved.

"I'm fine," Thomas blurted out as he sat up. He brushed off some dirt from his coat, evidently confused by her panicked expression.

Valerie was not able to process any of it. She couldn't hear his words. Her entire body was shaking as she struggled to breathe. Her eyes were open wide, but she wasn't looking at anything. All she could see was her grandmother's face.

"Miss Sabini, are you alright?"

Gasping for air, Valerie's fingers dug into the earth underneath her. It wet her fingers like the blood did. The world was spinning. If it hadn't been for Thomas' quick reaction, she would have fallen to the side. He held her.

"Valerie?", he repeated. Her name fell from his lips so effortlessly. But she couldn't hear it. Her eyes were tearing up, unable to blink anymore.

"Valerie!" His tone grew more commanding as he tried to understand what was wrong with her. He had been the one to fall, but she was the one in pain. He cupped her face, his fingertips digging into her skin. He forced her to look into his pale eyes. "Breathe with me."

Valerie tried to focus on his voice. She tried to focus on his eyes. But her heart was racing. She couldn't. She couldn't. Not again.

"Breathe with me."