Lost Heart √

Twenty One

Skylar's POV

The cab driver who picked me up from my apartment gave me a weird look when I told him of my destination. And he kept giving me the same looks throughout the entire ride too.

I found out pretty soon why when he dropped me off here.

To the Costa Bridge.

It was abandoned--as abandoned as a bridge on the outskirts of a small town could be. And there was no one out here, I realized, as I watched the cab driving away, back to the same route we'd come from.

There was not a single soul here apart from me.

Well, there were those birds. And a few animalistic noises from the wide stretch of abandoned woods down below too. I stepped towards the railing, carefully stepping over the sharp rocks, and looked over it. Trees and trees and nothing else. A gentle, cold breeze ruffled my hair from my shoulders and I breathed out a sigh.

It seemed to be peaceful here in the morning. Not so much at night, I could imagine. But it was far from nighttime right now. And I wasn't here to stay for long.

What was I here for? I asked myself.

Shifting a little against the railing, I looked around me once again, hoping I'd see some other random passerby. But it was just me. Or at least it seemed like it.

A few silent seconds later, I found myself sitting down on the ground, sliding my legs through the railing gaps, and pressing my forehead against the cool, rusty surface as I stared.

Sideways, along some distance, if one walked along the bridge, there was a tiny spot where thousands of small colorful stones were placed. Blues and greens and pinks. So many of them. Perhaps that's what people used to do when they visited here. When this place hadn't been so abandoned.

Was one of them placed by Caden when he'd visited here?

My phone buzzed and I bristled, running my tongue over my slightly chapped lips before taking it out of my jacket pocket.

As if the universe somehow kept a record of my own thoughts, I saw that it was Caden himself.

"Hey," I answered.

"Skylar." He sounded mad. "For fuck's sake, I've been calling you for hours!"

Hours. Day. A whole day.

"Sorry. I was...well, Alex told you--"

"Yes." He cut me off. "And I've been trying to get a hold of you since then, but you keep on avoiding me!"

I sighed. "I'm not avoiding you, Caden."

"Aren't you?"

"No," I told him. "I was just a bit unsettled with what happened yesterday. Alex told you what happened." A small pause. "Didn't he?"

A beat of silence passed by and I curled my free hand around one of the railing bars. I could've seen something moving around one of the bushy trees below. An animal, probably. The fall from up here was deep and I was glad I wasn't down there.