Dark Desire

It was still rather light out in the national forest. The trees were tall and the underbrush was dense. The weather warm, if not slightly muggy. Ferns and like plats littered the spaces between the trees that were tall and had moss growing over them. It didn’t look like the area had been disturbed for a very long time. Yet there was a faint trail where perhaps a logging road used to be. Though now it was overgrown. Even the tracks were hard to see.

It was just the sounds of nature. Slowly a slight rumbling sound came and then within a couple of minutes, a car showed, with a small silver truck behind it. There was loud music coming from them that was muffled by the fact that the windows were closed. You could hear singing from inside as well. Clearly, the group was having a good time as they headed deeper into the forest.

The small blue car stopped first, where the loudest music was coming from. Then the music stopped and the doors opened as five people got out. Then three from the silver truck. In total, there were eight people all on the younger side, in their twenties. There were four men and three women that got out. One of the men with the lightest hair moved around the back of the car and opened the trunk.

“See awesome right? No one is out here, and we can be as loud as we want to.” He said with a smile and there was a rather loud happy agreement. A skinny young woman with stick-straight brown hair walked up to him and warped her arms around his waist kissing his neck.

“I’m so excited, finally we got out and away. I don’t have to worry about shit. This is awesome.” The words came from a dark-haired male who wore a blue shirt and grabbed a few of the bags out of the back of the truck. The others took the tent bags and moved into a space that was there trampling down the vegetation in the way.

“Amen to that.” A woman with brown and caramel hair said moving alongside him with a ready smile and helping as well grabbing the items that they had. He gave her a smirk as well and they were joking and laughing as they set up their campsite. A few opened some of the beers that they had.

“Hey Jake, put the rest of the drinks in the cooler. Mel just put ice in it,” Kristen called over to Jake who pulled the last of the bagged items out of the truck. Jake was the one with the lightest hair. Kristen the mix of brown and caramel that fell mid back. She was clearly one of the group that helped organize it. A leader, not a follower.

“No prob,” He said coming over and pulling out the case of beer and then the bottles of soda that he had as well. Mel, his girlfriend, started taking the items out of the cases and putting them in the cooler with him as the others were putting up the tents. The last of them making an area they could have a campfire. Clearing the brush and gathering some of the rocks around to make and small circle to burn stuff.

“Ben,” Jake said searching through the bags with their food and drinks. “Where did you put the hard liquor? I have mixers, no hard liquor.”

“In the trunk of the car,” Ben called over to him. So Jake went back to the car and looked in the trunk.

“It’s not here,” Jake commented irritated because that was the expensive stuff. Ben dropped what he was working on and came over looking at Jake like he was being dense.

“Yeah, it is,” He said and the others just moved finishing set up. A couple of them goofing off in a bit of fun. Kristen walked over to where TJ and Dylan had finished with the tents. She eyed the other two who were starting to argue that things were forgotten.

How typical she thought. This group never could remember to bring everything. Honestly, she hadn’t really wanted to come. She had started to grow apart from the group a bit. Never really feeling like she fit in anywhere. Pretty much the main reason she chose to come, to feel like she had someplace.

“That’s his first problem, he trusted Ben to remember to put the shit in,” Dylan said loudly with a flash of white teeth. His eyes were a chocolate brown and his skin the darkest of the group, a tan brown.

“Exactly. Sounds like we’ll have to do a run. I need me some rum and coke. Good wake-up juice.” Dylan proclaimed and Kristen shook her head. It would not shock her if that was seriously how he woke up. Probably brushed his teeth with the shit, disgusting.

“Why don’t you just intravenous it? I’m surprised you made the drive without a drink.” Kristen had a sarcastic smile on her face. She hated when others could not keep their shit together. She wasn’t about substance abuse, she lost family to it. She watched herself carefully. She knew her mother had hit the bottle hard.

So had her father, she told herself she’d be stronger than that. That her family demons would not take her down that whole. No matter the darkness they felt inside, she needed to be stronger than that. Kristen was strong too, she never broke.

She was the reason her mother had lived as long as she had. Taking charge and being the leader of her family. Sadly though, no matter how hard Kristen had tried her mother succumbed to the mental demons. The whispers to hurt others or yourself. Feeling trapped inside. Kristen had gotten good at ignoring it. She would not be weak like her mother. It might sound harsh, but she loved her mother dearly. Kristen would not succumb to it.

“Can you do that?” He asked seriously to her statement about putting alcohol in an IV. When she looked at him he smiled to show he was joking and she just shook her head again. Dylan was a mess, she wasn’t interested.

“Horrible,” Kristen responded

“Actually I wanted it for you. Drunk Kristen I was hoping to take advantage of.” TJ gave him a knuckle pound and she put her hands on her hips. Kristen felt an odd excitement at the suggestion of being taken advantage of.

Dark fantasies that Kristen knew normal people would be disgusted with. So she was into dominant men, with a bit of control in the bedroom. Maybe a little roughness, Kristen didn’t let that show though.

Even with that. Kristen would not hesitate to kick the living shit out of them if they tried. She was not a pushover. She would stand up and fight, that was for sure. She wasn’t interested in some weak-ass man who couldn’t stand by his word. Also a little bit of the reason Kristen didn’t stay in relationships long. It just never felt… right.

“Keep dreaming, it won’t happen. You’re just not enough man for me.” Kristen supplied batting her eyelashes. Dylan touched his chest like he was in pain, and TJ stood straighter.

“Well uh, if not him…” He gave a slow smile.

“Sorry, but no. I didn’t come out here to get in a sleeping bag with either of you.” Kristen rolled her eyes as Emily moved over. She was the last of the group and the shortest and fairest. She had blonde hair and was extremely girly and petite. She was Ben’s girlfriend, though all of them were friends. This trip was a little bit of a final group get-together in Kristen’s eyes.

They were all about to start moving on in their life now that they were done with school. It was already happening. Kristen could see it, a little bit of her was sad about it. Another part was happy, that dark part that just felt like it was more than them. She inwardly sighed at her silent mental demon. Unable to help herself her gaze kind of looked about the group as they spoke.

Kirsten however found that Emily could get on her nerves really quickly. Especially when she started to play the princess card. Which she was looking at the dirt and waving her hand at bugs, imagined or real with a sour look on her face.

Yeah, this was going to get old really fast if she started acting up and complaining. They just got here for their four days of camping. She looked ready to start bitching. Guess Kristen was going to find out how much she could take with her A-type personality.

“Alright, so genius over here left our stuff sitting in the house,” Jake commented pointing at Ben who flipped him off and moved over to Emily putting an arm around her waist. “So we’ll go in a little bit to get some more. We should look and see what we forgot, anything else so as to not have to make a shirt ton of trips.”

“Good idea,” Kristen said to him, grabbing the chairs that were still in their bags and pulling them out to set them up. Mel was using bug spray. TJ moved grabbing some of the wood that they had brought, but it wasn’t a lot. None of them were concerned in the slightest that there might be danger out in these woods.

“This area is amazing. You’ve been here before?” Kristen asked Ben as Dylan started a fire, though it took a bit with the dampness. They were putting things away, and a few of them munching on some of the snacks as their camp was set up.

“Yeah, the national park here is huge. This part isn’t really monitored. We drove on that gravel drive for some time before coming up on this path. There are some homes and stuff over on this backside, but my family loves to hike in this area a lot. Off-trail stuff.” He said sitting with Mel on his lap.

“Okay, well I want something a bit harder than beer. So let’s go get some before the stores close. The sun is getting low.” TJ stood up tossing the half-burnt stick he’d been playing with into the fire that they had going. Clearly, he didn’t want to wait until tomorrow.

“Sounds good to me,” Jake commented getting up. Mel stayed where she was when he asked if she wanted to join. She just shook her head and Ben got up as well to go with them which left Dylan with the three women.

“Hey, see if you can get some firewood too!” Mel shouted as they were going to need it. They gave a motion that they heard and then turned the car around and moved back down the overgrown road to leave. The four of them sat and talked about those they knew and laughed at things they remembered doing.

It was good bonding for the moment. Their worries and concerns gone with the laughter. None of them realized that their trip was not going to end the way they hoped. That the choices of those who left were about to bring a monster to them. One that had a taste for a certain kind of prey. One Kristen had no idea would take a dangerous interest in her.