Page 103 of Sinners Retreat

My foot slides onto the first board, and I test my weight. The plank wobbles underfoot, but it doesn’t crack or groan. This is a good start.

I take two more steps, and my confidence rises. Until I look down.

A stream cuts through the ground far below me. Rocks of all shapes and sizes line both sides of the water. The stream is too shallow to provide any sort of help, and the lack of vegetation doesn’t bode well for me either. One slip and I’m done.

“Watch your step,” a raspy voice says behind me. “Wouldn’t want to...fall.”

The bridge sways violently, and I lose my balance. It feels like I’m twisting for an eternity, but then my chest connects with the rope railing. I sling my arms over it and try to find my footing. With one foot on the board, I turn my head and see my attacker.

A woman in a yellow jumpsuit stands at the head of the bridge. She grips the bridge post with one hand as she leans over with her other hand on her knee. There’s a dagger in that hand, and the wild look in her eyes tells me she isn’t afraid to use it.

She has a dagger. . .

“What did you do to her?” I ask as I try to steady myself. “If you hurt Kindra?—”

“The bitch that did this to me?” She stands upright, and I see things I shouldn’t be able to see. Someone has eviscerated her. “If I have to die, I’m taking all of you motherfuckers down with me!”

With a grimace, she grips the rope attached to the post and begins to shake it. My feet scramble to stay put as the bridge rocks under me, but it’s no use. My left heel slides and cuts through air. My right foot loses its battle, and now I’m dangling by my hands and sheer determination.

I turn my head to beg the woman to stop, but the rope is no longer shaking. She’s doubled over as she tries to shove her guts back where they belong, but they keep sliding out of her.

“As much as I’d love to stay and play, I think I’m running out of time,” she rasps. “Bon voyage, motherfucker.”

She raises the dagger above the rope securing the bridge to the left post. The same rope I now grip. If she cuts it, I’ll be forced to climb it to the other side. I’m fairly strong, but I’m not that fucking strong.

There’s only one solution. I have to get my feet back on solid ground before she can saw through the threads.

With every ounce of power in my arms, I pull myself up until I can raise my legs and get my feet onto a board. As soon as my toes touch the solid surface, she shakes the ropes again and sends me back to my previous position. I don’t know how long I can keep this up.

“Did you kill her?” I ask. “At least tell me that. If you did, I can save you the trouble and let go.”

“Oh, I killed her all right. Slit her pretty little throat and left her to choke on her own blood.”

I smile at her. She’s lying. Kindra would never let her get that close. I don’t know how she came into possession of that dagger, but I feel confident she didn’t take it from Kindra’s corpse.

A newfound strength buzzes through me, and I hoist myself back to the board again. I only need to travel across three boards to get back to firm ground, but that’s easier said than done when this bitch is halfway through the first rope.

I’ll never make it.

“Can you at least give her a message for me,” I say as I step to the next board, which isn’t exactly simple since nearly two feet of empty space waits between them.

The woman stops sawing and rolls her eyes.

“Tell her that I love her,” I say, “and I’m sorry.”

Part of me thinks she’ll stop, that my heartfelt words will sink through to her and she’ll realize I’m just a guy who loves a girl. She could let me go. Sunshine. Rainbows. Happily ever after.

Then she lowers the blade.

And starts sawing again.

I move to the rope on the other side and hop to the next board. I don’t know how this side of the bridge will behave when she cuts that rope, and I don’t plan to find out. Only one more step...but I’m out of time.

The bridge gives way on the left side. The boards slant toward the water and rocks, and I lose my footing. I grip the rope still attached to the right post, but I’m walking on air now, and not in a good way. With nothing to push myself off of, I’ll be forced to edge down the rope these last few feet.

The same rope the woman now turns her attention to.

Hand over hand, I move closer to the cliff’s edge, but her blade is poised. If I come any closer, she’ll slice through my fingers. I’m also losing steam, and I still need to hoist my body onto land.

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