1
INTO DARK
1
Sharleen
Wind sang on its way down the mountain, flickering through the trees and creating harmony with the rustling of the leaves. Sharleen stood on the edge of the campsite, looking up towards the nearby peak.
Bushwalking up Mt Bogong was ambitious, but not beyond her. Sharleen adored adventure and lived for thrills like this. As her final year of school kicked into gear, she knew she had to focus completely on her studies, and she wouldn’t have a chance to get away until the HSC was over and done with.
Like I give a fuck. I don’t care about my exams, about Uni. I’d rather just disappear out here forever.
She closed her eyes, feeling the cold wind on her cheeks. It was still late autumn, so there probably wouldn’t be snow on the ranges yet, but the chill in the air heralded winter’s coming.
We chose to come now so we wouldn’t get mowed down by tourists skiing. It’s colder than I thought, though.
There was a loud yell from behind her and Sharleen looked around to see her friends gathered around the warm light of the fire. Adam was laughing his ass off, holding a split bag of marshmallows. Most of them were on the ground. From the look on Lex’s face, she’d attempted to steal the bag and Adam had held on to it until it broke.
“Stop it, guys,” Erica said. “Now none of us will get to roast a marshmallow.”
“I brought a spare bag,” Sharleen said, hurrying back to the fire.
“Already on it,” Stratton said, coming out of their tent with a huge bag of soft, sugary goodness.
The smile that leapt to Sharleen’s face at the sight of him shone straight from her heart. Every time she looked at him, it was the exact same thrill it had been the first time she saw him.
He was tall, but not built. He moved with a careful elegance, like a dancer. Apparently, he had done ballet as a kid. She adored his deep red lips and the way his pale skin contrasted against the perfect black of his hair.
More than anything, she loved his dark blue eyes. Like sapphires come to life, they glinted with hidden jewels, like points of light sparkling against the waves of the deepest oceans.
“You mind reader,” Sharleen said, heading over to him and wrapping her arms around his waist. “Always there when I need you, huh?”
“You bet,” Stratton answered, gently kissing her forehead. “I’ll always be there, whether you need me or not.”
Sharleen melted all the way to her bones. His charm hit her with such raw emotion she felt as if she was just like one of those toasty marshmallows, slowly dissolving on her boyfriend’s tongue.
She turned her face up, stretching on to her toes to kiss Stratton lightly on the lips. His arms tightened around her and for a few seconds, it felt as if they were completely alone.
“Share!” Adam bellowed. “You’re going to squish them between the two of you if you don’t hand them over.”
“Apologies,” Sharleen laughed. “I forgot.”
She pulled away from Stratton so Adam could take the bag. He headed back to the fire where he sat on the ground with his back against a log. Erica was perched on the log right next to him, her nervous glances towards Adam betraying the fact that she had a massive crush on him.
It was so obvious that everyone knew about it. Except Adam. Sharleen’s heart went out to the poor girl. Erica was quiet and awkward, conducting herself with very soft body language as if she didn’t want to upset anyone with her existence. Even her light brown hair and plain brown eyes seemed understated, as if the last thing she wanted was to stand out.
On the flipside, Adam was a large, obnoxious personality. He played footy and could even go professional if he went the right way in Uni. His massive, muscular build enhanced the sense of force about him, while his bright blonde hair, pale blue eyes and bow shaped mouth had almost every girl in school panting over him. He had never once in his life noticed girls like Erica.
Lex hurried over to the other two, a huge bottle of Jack Daniel’s in her hand. Her impressive mane of bright red hair caught in the wind and flew back to slap her in the face, almost making her drop the bottle. Lex was a firecracker, always obnoxiously stating her opinion and shoving her agenda on others. She planned to get into journalism, which seemed to make perfect sense to Sharleen.
Lex sat down next to Erica and immediately tried to get her to drink. No matter how many times Lex batted her pale gold eyes at her, Erica declined to take the bottle. Sharleen winced as she broke away from Stratton and headed to the fire, watching the other doomed-to-fail love story in their group playing out.
Lex was a lesbian that had a massive crush on Erica. Since Erica had a crush on Adam, she was probably straight, but who knew? Erica might be open to exploring one day. Clearly, Lex wasn’t giving up anytime soon.
Sharleen grabbed a few logs and threw them on the massive fire. They had all worked on it, feeding it until it was an impressive size. It was near enough to winter that they didn’t have to be worried about starting a bush fire, so they could indulge in a good-sized blaze.
Stratton approached with a few pots and pans and tins of soup. Sharleen watched the shifting light from the fire play over his handsome face in the dark. She was entranced by his blue eyes, his night dark hair and his gorgeous lips, as well as the easy, gentle way he carried himself. The coming night only made him seem even more haunting and dramatic.
As if he could hear her thoughts, Stratton looked up and grinned. She grinned back, feeling warmth flooding through her that had nothing to do with the fire.
The five of them had bonded early in high school and stayed in a tightly knit group ever since. They’d been misfits, thrown together simply because the other kids discarded their company. Even though they all appreciated each other for different reasons, Stratton and Sharleen had hit it off immediately, and they’d barely been separated a day since then.
Even though the others had such violently different aspirations, they still enjoyed each other’s company. There was a familiarity between the five of them that made them feel like family.
Of course, the group might only be together now because of everybody crushing on everyone else.
“I’ll get the bread and snacks,” Sharleen said, heading over to the packs. They had lugged a lot of stuff up here and the first leg of the Staircase had taken a lot longer than it should have, but it was worth it. They wanted to party and rest a few days before they moved on to tackle the peak of Mt Bogong.
By the time she returned, Stratton had set up a spot over the fire to warm the soup. Sharleen handed out snacks and sat down with a bag of plain chips, sipping on a juice box. She watched Adam, Erica and Lex from across the fire.
They weren’t drunk yet, but they would be soon. Sharleen didn’t really approve of them getting totally shit-faced, but she did want them to have their fun. The whole point of coming out here was to completely let loose so they could enter the last leg of their senior years refreshed and ready to tackle the HSC.
Sharleen looked around at the dark trees. Night had come and the mountain was silent and steeped in shadow. Faint thoughts of Ivan Milat and the Belanglo state forest flitted through her mind.
Don’t be fucking ridiculous! There is nothing out here. Stop being crazy.
“Hey, Sharleen?” Adam called. She looked over to see Adam holding up the bottle of bourbon.
“What?”
“You want a sip?”
What the hell.
Sharleen got up and grabbed the bottle, taking a big swig. The burning liquid rushed down her throat and straight into her chest, where it left a warm glow.
Time to let loose. Just go with it!
But her faint sense of fear did not leave her. She had a horrible feeling that from out there in the pure black darkness, they were being watched.
