Natalie's POV
I scrambled backward. The crack in the earth kept spreading and the sound it made was like someone snapping bones. Like the world itself was breaking apart. An arm pushed through the opening. Then a shoulder. Then a head with hair so white it made mine look gray by comparison.
She climbed out of the ground like she was climbing out of bed. Slow. Casual. Like a hundred years of being buried alive was nothing more than a long nap she was finally waking from. When she stood fully upright I felt my breath catch in my throat and stick there like I had forgotten how to exhale.
Beautiful. That was the first word that came to mind. The second was terrifying. The third was impossible because nothing that looked like that should exist in the real world.
Her skin was so pale I could
