"Whitney!"
Lewis reached me a second too late. Her fingers slipped from mine, and she was gone — over the edge and into the dark below. In that moment, twenty years collapsed into nothing, and I was right back in that old nightmare, watching her disappear all over again.
"No!"
The scream tore out of me, raw and broken across the open cliff. Then the world went black, and I felt my body giving way, no strength left to hold it up.
"Elena!"
Lewis's voice reached me from somewhere far behind, desperate and fading all at once. I couldn't hold onto it.
I lost consciousness.
In the dream, I was five years old again. A small figure in the water was waving at me, her voice frantic. "Elena, help me!" I jumped in without thinking and grabbed her hand. People on the shore tried to reach us, but the current was too strong and swept us both away. I held her tight and begged, "Don't let go. No matter what, please don't let go."
"Elena, I can't hold on anymore."
