KATHERINE

"Come closer with Alexia, but leave that monster behind, or there’s no deal!"

I looked at Elliot; he didn’t seem willing to let me go.

"I need to do this. Don’t worry, I can handle it, I can," I told him, trying to calm him down.

He wasn’t happy at all. He shifted restlessly, growling.

"Besides, you can’t step onto the bridge. You’re too heavy; it wouldn’t hold," I pointed out another logical reason.

I wasn’t exactly sure how his transformation worked.

In the end, after much persuasion, I placed my feet on that rickety, swaying bridge. It was narrow. I held the woman in front of me, keeping a tight grip on her.

She kept struggling to break free, but I wouldn’t let her. My Lavinia’s life depended on it.

"Stop resisting. If you cooperate, this will be over soon." I shook her slightly, gripping her tied-up arms tighter, enduring her stench along with the swamp gases rising like the smell of rotten eggs.

I moved forward, nearly dragging her. She nearly slipped through one of the