In Excess of Dark by Press DarkLit & Lagoe Red

Author:Press, DarkLit & Lagoe, Red
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: DarkLit Press
Published: 2024-03-15T00:00:00+00:00

The scramble up the loamy soiled slope was a haze. Her broken arm screamed as she grabbed young saplings for support. For brief seconds at a time, it eclipsed the pain within. She sat in her car on the side of the road clutching Xander’s sketchbook, begging for forgiveness. Dreaming every possible scenario where she could have him back and make things right, but she’d need to stay the night and give it time to come true.

Karina put the car in gear and left the site of the accident behind her. It was late afternoon by the time she got to the campground. There was nobody at the ranger station when she arrived, so she followed the camping honor system and left the twenty dollar fee in an envelope before picking her site.

A few other primitive campers had set up, scattered across the grounds—lone hikers or travelers dropping in for one night. On a cool Wednesday afternoon in the spring, she could expect that there wouldn’t be many more people trickling in.

It was a struggle putting up the dome tent with only one fully-functional arm, but she managed to use her right hand to help with some of the tasks, even though using that side for anything brought waves of pain shooting up through her elbow all the way to her shoulder.

Karina mindlessly set up camp and sat by a cold empty fire pit with no flames, staring into the ash with a lifeless gaze.

What are you going to do now?

She’d think of nothing but Xander...and force him back into existence. Her stomach grumbled, and she realized she hadn’t eaten anything all day. The only thing she’d consumed was a cup of coffee that morning. Thinking on it, she hadn’t been eating much of anything lately. It was getting late, the sun would be setting soon, and the camp store down the road at the base of Sharp Top was closed. She could head down to the lodge and sit at the restaurant alone, but the thought of eating turned her stomach. Hunger bit at her insides, stomach acid gurgled, but she denied it a meal.

You don’t deserve to eat.

She brought the empty coffee cup down the hill near the restroom where there was a pump for fresh water. The last time she walked this path was with Gavin after making love in the tent.

Now, she walked to the bathroom alone. The woods were already darkening as the dying daylight became trapped in the branches of mountainside trees. The darkness stole away the bright greens of the freshly budded forest and replaced it with a dull gray hue. She checked over her shoulder before entering the restroom, to be sure nobody had followed the lone woman into the bathroom, but there was nothing but tall trees, gnarled brush, and shadow.

Inside, the lights flicked on, and Karina went to the same stall—the larger, wheelchair-accessible one with the creepy ventilation windows at the base of the wall. She recalled imagining a face poking through last time she sat on that seat.

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