She jolted awake, a ragged gasp tearing from her throat. Her body, already screaming from the agony in her ankle, shot upright. Now, though, a new pain joined it: her heart, hammering wildly against her ribs. The oppressive darkness confirmed it was still night, and the relentless drumming of rain offered no comfort, only a suffocating backdrop. She had no memory of drifting off.
As her breathing gradually steadied, her gaze fell upon the thorn journal clutched in her hand. With practiced care, she slipped it into her cloak's deep pocket. Then, favoring her injured ankle, she started her slow, deliberate trek into the forest. Each few steps brought her to a halt, hands braced on her knees, breath catching in her chest—as if searching, straining to find something hidden in the shadows.
Finally, a rusty hanging bridge emerged from the gloom, its decaying planks stretching across a gap to a distant town. She limped onto it, each step a carefully placed gamble. The bridge swayed precariously with every movement, a dizzying dance, but she couldn't spare a moment to worry about the fall. A chilling awareness settled over her: she was still being followed, and whatever it was, it was gaining on her, fast.
She clutched the ropes, knuckles white, clinging to the bridge for dear life. She was only halfway across when a hard impact slammed into her waist—the same spot that had struck the jagged stone. With a sickening thud, her body careened, her left side hitting the bridge's rough rope railing. Then a scream tore from her lungs, swallowed by the wind. She coughed, a warm, metallic stream of blood spilling from her mouth, her arm dangling uselessly through the railings. Her body began to tremble, and as if on cue, her knees buckled. Her waist still burned with a blinding agony.
Just as she tried to push herself back up, another force struck her waist, stealing her balance completely. The numbing pain in her side was the last thing she registered before she flew out from the bridge. The journal she'd so carefully protected tumbled from her pocket, plummeting into the raging water a thousand feet below. Then she heard someone calling her name, a frantic cry swallowed by the roar of the chasm. And then, there was nothing.