Page 1

The back doors of the transit van swing open with a groan. Rain sprays inside as they haul her up from the back by her battered arms and legs. Her bare body is limp, head flopping, blood slicking her pallid skin. The downpour hisses as it assaults the van’s metal shell, masking their heavy breathing.

“Are you sure she’s dead?” One of them barks from inside, his voice barely heard over the rain.

The two outside don’t answer straightaway. They drag her closer to the bridge’s rusty barrier, their boots splashing through puddles as they move. One of them grips her wrist, pressing two fingers against her cold skin. Nothing. No flutter of life beneath his touch.

“Yeah!” One finally calls back.

The other curses under his breath, shifting his hold on her legs. “Why the fuck did he have to go that far? Mom is going to fucking kill us for this.” His voice is taut.

“Not if she never finds out.” His brother tilts his chin toward the barrier. “She won’t be found here. Plus, she deserved it.”

Silence stretches between them, thick and heavy. The storm howls around them, the wind pulling at their loose clothing like a warning.

“And how do we explain her disappearance?”

“We fucking don’t,” his tone is sharp, final. “She’s been trying to kill herself or run away for years. It’s what people will think,” he tightens his grip, muscles straining. “Now shut the fuck up and lift her higher.”

Together, they hoist her toward the edge. The bridge looms over the water below—hungry and waiting. As soon as she’s high enough, they share one last glance at her before letting go.

Arabella’s lifeless body plunges from the bridge, swallowed by the stormy night. Her long black hair whips upward, tangled in the wind, until—

Splash.

She hits the pitch-black river with bone-crushing force, the surface breaking around her in violent waves. The impact sends a shockwave through the water, then silence. Slowly, she begins to sink, her blood unfurling in eerie vines.

The depths take her. Darkness swallows her whole. No heartbeat. No sound. No struggle for air.

Wake up, Arabella. Wake up.

The soft words echo in the void, faint but urgent. The seconds continue to stretch.

When suddenly—

Her eyes snap wide open. A muted scream tears from her lips, bubbles bursting from her mouth.