Devonnah

Just a scene idea for "The Vessel" where two characters meet for the first time.

Looking out over the deep canyon, Devonnah tried to muster her courage.  The setting sun colored the sky in a wash of orange and purple.  It made for a picturesque background to her impending doom she thought.  She peered over the wood railing into the deep chasm below, her heart hammering inside her chest, as if it was trying to break free and avoid its own demise.  The small river that normally serpentined along the bottom had been long dried up from the summer drought, leaving behind a pattern of jagged cracks in the earth.  
The sharp pain of a splinter on her palm suddenly made her realize how hard she was grasping the railing.  She tried to compose herself; this was proving to be much more difficult than she had imagined.
"Come on girl, you know what you have to do here." She spoke out loud, afraid her own thoughts were being drowned out by her thundering heart.
"Don't be a coward d****t!"  Lifting one leg and then the other, up and over the rail, she stepped onto the outer ledge of the bridge.  It was narrow; barely as wide as her feet.  She balanced precariously, turning her back to the railing.  
The ragged cloak she donned started whipping across her body and her dark curls blinded her as a sudden gust of wind threatened to do the deed for her.  She barely steadied herself back on the ledge.  Her heart made a renewed effort to escape and she momentarily imagined it bursting through the bony cage of her chest and flying off.
Taking a deep breath, she tried to remind herself that this was a logical conclusion to her existence.  She was running out of places to hide.  She had the ability to hurt people, to kill them.  She didn't mean to, and really didn't want to; but there was just no way around it.  Slipping through the night like a criminal was not her idea of a life.  To never touch or be touched.  To never have love.  What was left but to cross the River of Dreams and find a new existence?
The autumn air was cool, but she was sweating and her grip on the rail was becoming less sure. She adjusted her grip with renewed determination.
"Okay, on three….one, two…" Her counting was suddenly interrupted by the sound of thundering horse hooves fast approaching.
"D****t!" She hissed.  
It figured, every day she had come to this bridge at this time, it was completely deserted, for hours.  She hoped they would just keep going; they were definitely traveling at break neck speed.   She had not wanted an audience or anyone to find her shell afterwards.  She imagined her body would lie at the bottom of the canyon, feeding the earth and in time washing away when the rains returned.
She realized the beat of the hooves was slowing.  Severely annoyed by her own procrastination and the sudden interruption, she sighed heavily and turned in the direction of the sound to see who was coming. She turned around to face the bridge, but her foot slipped on some loose gravel resting on the ledge.  In an instant her grip was lost and her chin hit the railing hard as she started to fall.  Instincts kicked in and somehow she managed to grasp the outer ledge with her hands.  
"Hold on!" A woman's voice called over the railing.  
Devonnah couldn't bring herself to look up.  It seemed any movement might send her plummeting to the blissful death she was here to find.  Frustrated, she wondered why she was still fighting to hang on.  She willed her hands to just release and be done with it, but the stubborn appendages held tight, the muscles burning from the strain. Then she felt warm, soft flesh touch her left hand.
"No!" Devonnah screamed, feeling utterly defeated.   She couldn't move to stop the stranger's contact with her skin.  She squeezed her eyes shut, trying to mentally brace herself for the coming onslaught of visions and nausea.  Nothing happened.
"Here, give me your other hand!"  The stranger commanded, grunting as she attempted to heave Devonnah's dead weight vertically with one arm.
Devonnah didn't move, she was completely stunned.
Sighing, the stranger somehow managed to reach her other hand and Devonnah instantly felt another rush of fear and cried out incoherently.  The woman finished pulling her up over the railing now with ease.
Devonnah felt the loose gravel dig into her face as she clumsily spilled onto the bridge.  She looked up into the face of the stranger. A beautiful woman stared back, a puzzled look in her crisp green eyes, her plump lips parted in consternation.  The stranger's lithe frame was contradicted by her commanding stature as she continued to asses Devonnah.  Deep golden hair was pulled back into a single braid at the nape of her neck, a few loose tresses wound across her face as the wind picked up again.  
"Are you alright?"  The woman stepped forward, outstretching her hand, offering Devonnah assistance in getting up.  Devonnah shrunk back.  She wasn't sure why this woman was unaffected by her touch, but she feared it only a fluke and wasn't willing to risk another touch.
"Please, d-don't touch me!" Devonnah retorted, trying to erect herself from the dusty ground as her head spun.
The woman retracted her hand and stepped back.  Placing her hands on her hips, she furrowed her brow and stared in disbelief as Devonnah finally righted herself.
"I'm not going to hurt you.  I could have just let you fall if that was the case you know." The woman crossed her arms over her chest, seemingly insulted.
Devonnah just stared at her, not knowing what to think, what to do.  She suddenly felt a trickling down her neck and realized she must be bleeding rather profusely from her chin.  She quickly covered it with her dingy hand.
"Please, your hurt, let me take care of that." The woman began approaching Devonnah again.  Panicking, Devonnah tried to back away, but another bout of dizziness overcame her and she collapsed.  Tucking her arms in and curling into a ball, Devonnah desperately hoped the woman would understand and not touch her again.  
"No!  Don't come near me!  I don't want to hurt you.  I don't want to hurt anyone!"  The last words came out as a sob. Then she felt it coming, the dull, thick blanket of unconsciousness.  Devonnah's last thoughts were for the beautiful woman, hoping she would heed her frantic warnings.