The Devil's Temptation!

197 The Broken Bridge

The moment she stumbled back, Anna was quick with her reflexes and instinctively held onto the edge, hanging on for dear life while her body remained dangling below. If by chance she accidentally let’s her hands slip, then she was going to drown in the river below her feet!

“Ah!” She let out a short cry when she tried to pull herself up, but felt weak when it came to using her strength like they had been sucked out from her system, which was frighteningly odd since she wasn’t supposed to feel these things.

The lightning above didn’t stop with its terrible rumbling as those heavenly light flashed within its depths, leaving Anna’s eyes to widen in trepidation and she immediately tried to pull herself back up again.

The thundering voice that spoke to her didn’t seem to belong to a human being for sure, there was this power that came with the voice, like it carried weight, a power that made her tremble despite having no clue what it was, but how is she supposed to face what she can’t even see??

With one final pull, she successfully pushed herself back up onto the edge. Taking a deep breath, she safely brought her feet to the front and jumped safely on the bridge’s pathway, almost falling on her knees once again when they involuntarily gave out, but she placed a hand to the edge of the bridge in order to support herself.

But after making it back on the ground, something shocking caught her attention and to Anna’s quick surprise, the people who were currently walking with her earlier couldn’t be seen, not even one of them as though they all vanished out of thin air.

The loud rumbling and crackling sound of thunder startled the poor soul, and when she looked up at the once clear sky, the darkness of the cloud only worsened by the minute, but for some reason, it confusedly dawned on her that there might be another reason why the clouds had darkened so abruptly.

Frantically looking around in case she spots anyone, even the old woman she was peacefully conversing with before all this happened was nowhere to be seen as well.

“What’s happening??”

.....

Anna felt like she’d lose her mind if nobody explained the situation properly to her. She was obviously the only person standing on the bridge as of now, but how the remaining souls also disappeared wasn’t something she understood.

Deep down, although she wasn’t sure how true she meant to trust the eccentric feeling, she could feel the presence of another in this place. Somebody else is here but where??

The voice that said something made mention of her curse, leaving her big eyes to narrow into contemplation, but she was still cautious of the lightning that wasn’t letting her walk through...... which means she’s still cursed??

But she’s already dead isn’t she?? What else could they possibly want from her??

Balling her fist at her sides, Anna’s eyes remained fixed on the path ahead. If she’s able to cross this then she’ll make it to the afterlife with all of her memories washed away, she’ll forget everything about her past life and she might just forget her feelings for Roshan as well.

Although it stung, it was still okay because knowing he’s fine and out of danger is enough to free her from the worries, and it’s possible that her love was only one-sided.

He’ll forget about her within a matter of days and everything will return to the way they were. Maybe this is the way things were meant to be, and she has no problem with it as long as it secures her Roshan safety, and knowing that he’ll be happy from now on.

Shaking away the heaviness she felt in her chest, she gave it a light pat as though it’d ease the ache before letting her feet walk carry on with the journey, despite the crackling of thunders that seemed to oppose her decision.

As she kept walking with nothing holding her back anymore, at the end of bridge lied a blinding white light, so bright that Anna had to look away, blocking the light with her palm as though she’d lose her sight if she lets herself marvel at the sight.

Closing her eyes, she slowly headed for the light that was already trying to suck her in, but before she could take a step in, she heard a voice that made her stop in her tracks.

“Anna!”

Her closed eyes instantly snapped open at the familiarity of the voice. Her lips parted, giving way for a shocking gasp to escape from their sealing.

That voice sounded too familiar, no no she couldn’t mistake that voice for anyone else, there was only one person who was capable of calling her name in ways that took her breath away, ways that made her heart flutter and made her realize just how beautiful her name actually sounds

Swirling around to see who it was, her eyes widened in disbelief the moment Roshan came into sight, but to her quick horror, Roshan had falling to his knees, he appeared weak and had severe injuries that penetrated through his clothes, like someone who had been mishandled with the blades of a sword.

When he looked up to meet her dubious and dumbfounded gaze, Anna also noticed the little cut he had just below his eyes to the left side of his cheek.

“Roshan??”

“Don’t go in there.” He said to her, but Anna had even forgotten about the afterlife as her gaze was solely focused on the being who was struggling to get to his feet. He appeared weak and tired, but his eyes glinted with determination that was a contract to his severe predicament.

“He’s..... really here?” Anna muttered to herself in disbelief, she didn’t want to believe it but how can she not when she was seeing him standing at the other end and looking at her with the same eyes she’s admired since the first day she saw him.

“Roshan!” She wanted to go meet him, but before Roshan could warn her not to move a step towards him, it was too late and the bridge shook violently, leading Anna to fall to her feet and before her very eyes, she watched as the bridge started to break from the middle.

It left her taken aback as the bridge kept breaking and breaking, only to stop before where Anna stood. The same thing happened with Roshan who just cursed silently in his head at the worsened predicament.

With the bridge broken, it was impossible to make it to Anna who just stood at the other end, staring, but with no way of coming to him.

Looking down the bridge, Anna stared at the water below, but then something she wasn’t expecting to see started displaying before her eyes as the water bubbled, except it bubbled with hot steams evaporating from it, as though it was..... BOILING???