Virgin Sins | Harry Styles

Riverside Bridge

The more brutal the storm became, the quicker her heart. Nina's breath came in small spurts, hot and nervous. At her sides, cold fingers curled into sweaty fists, swinging forward as if it would make her run faster. Her mind had not a clue as to where to go, but her heart seemed to take over her system, directing her feet to carry her to it's destination.

The old, yellow and brown leaves hustled in the wind, as the sounds of dead, weak trees, creak at every push the wind gave. The rain thrashed upon the earth's surface in big, painful droplets that were heavy enough to cover Nina's tracks.

She wiped the sweat from her forehead, exhausted. Her long legs broke from beneath her weight and collapsed onto the mud-polished floor. It had not been long before Nina got back up - her heart started racing and Nina knew she had to keep going.

Branches constantly attacked her, leaves crumpled under her feet and big, brown logs seemed to appear out of nowhere as if to try and stop her.

Bitter gusts rip at her flimsy clothing. It nips at her cheeks and stings her eyes that are narrowed to keep out the relentless curtain of rain. Nina refuses be reduced by this storm, for only such violence can deliver her to be strong when she needed it the most. She fears not what may chase her, only what may reside ahead. She has to save Grayson.

Just like the storm, Nina's insides were in a chaos. A mess. The panic was twisting her innards like a knife had been plunged into her torso and twisted, over and over, to then be ripped out of the wound it had caused, only to collide again with another area of flesh it hadn't met before.

She ran through the maze of twining trees and winding roots as the sky rumbled and when she reached the destination, she almost falls to the floor as her heart was revealed to be correct.

Along the Riverside Bridge, Grayson stood. He leant along the rail, his mind lost within the water beneath the wooden panelling of the bridge. The river is a sleeping cobra. It lies across the land in smooth seductive curves, beautiful in the morning light, cool and innocuous. Yet, beneath it's beauty, it hides a collection of certain dangers, its swift undertow being the least of your concerns. It's dirty water was icy cold, which ran over the sharp rocks of the surface like a thick blanket.

Nina kept running until her feet met with the wooden panelling, her loud footsteps, quiet against the storm that raged wondrously.

"Grayson!" She screamed, piercing his and her own ears. Tears flooded down her cheeks but you couldn't tell in the rain and her body shook in fear. Grayson tore his gaze away from the dangerous water and to his sister, who was as pale as a ghost.

"Grayson! We have to go now!" She cried, grabbing onto his forearms and looking around her, a paranoid expression among her face. Grayson furrowed his eyebrows, the rain droplets falling from his soaked hair, down his forehead and dripping at the end of his nose.

"What do you mean?" He asked, grabbing her shaking hands and clasping them in his own. "Nina, what's going on?"

The fright sits on her like a blanket over her mouth and nose. Enough air gets by it, allowing her body to keep functioning, but it's crippling all the same. Her knees feel weak and she feels hot even in the cold, winter-like air.

"We have to go! He's coming." She replied.

"Who's coming!" He yells as she starts to pull on his hands, dragging him along the bridge, but Grayson stops in his tracks, letting go of her grasp. "Nina, I'm not going anywhere until you tell me what the hell is going on."

Nina looks around in a daze of panic, searching the dark corners of the woods for any sign of the demon. "The thing that's killing everyone, he's coming! We don't have enough time, we have to go!" She cried, grabbing his hand once again and pulling him to the road that the bridge met with.