Abby

Why did I do this?

My heart is in my throat as I leap towards the waterfall, propelled by some inexplicable force that tugs at

the wolf that lives inside of me. The world blurs and turns into a swirling tornado of color and sound, and I

brace myself for the icy plunge.

But it never comes. Instead, after a cacophony of cold water and sharp breaths, my feet hit solid ground,

jolting me to a sudden stop. I blink, disoriented. Why am I not submerged in water? I thought that I would

be swimming beneath an icy current, but I’m not.

I glance up, my eyes widening. I’m in a cave—a secret, hidden cave concealed behind the curtain of

water.

Enter title…

Before I can even begin to process this turn of events, a crashing sound erupts from the waterfall, and

suddenly, Karl bursts through, stumbling forward and landing right on top of me. We both fall to the ground

in a heap of limbs.

“Abby!” he exclaims an instant later, his eyes wide, filled with a mixture of relief and panic. “Why did you

do that? I thought you—”

Our faces are inches apart. I can feel his breath on my skin, warm and shaky. His eyes bore into mine, a

deep well of emotions that I can’t quite decipher. It’s a strange, electrifying moment; time seems to stretch,

elongating the seconds, amplifying the tension that pulses between us.

“I’m okay,” I breathe, unable to tear my gaze away from his. “I’m fine, Karl.”

his eyes searching mine as if looking for confirmation, for some kind

thought you were crazy, jumping through

head in disbelief, swallowing. “I thought I was going

hang in the air, heavy and thick. I can feel his body pressed against mine; he’s

I’m sure he can hear it. And then, as

that led me here,

stop, frozen just before our

what-ifs and almosts, until Karl slowly pulls

from my eyes to the cave

should—um—figure out where we are,” he stammers, awkwardly extricating himself from me

rising to his feet.

a

it, letting him pull me to my feet. For a second,

and I feel a surge of something

is gone, dissipated as if

around the cave, my mind spinning. How did we end up here? What is this place? And,

so inexplicably pulled toward

them away in a corner of

odd twist of fate that brought us here, to this sanctuary behind

capture, that gave us a moment to breathe,

eyes of guards and the

says, breaking the silence that has

my mind still racing, still trying to catch

way to put

heart is still pounding from the almost-moment that took place between

in a cave—a

or whatever else had a hand in

leads,” Karl suggests, his eyes scanning the

aside the emotional rollercoaster of the past few minutes. “Yeah. We need to figure

out.”

to get out,” Karl

footsteps echoing eerily between the

littered with rocks and unexpected dips

hike through the forest.

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