Pitch Black

Chapter I

This is a shorter story, about three chapters and fifteen-ish thousand words. It does deal with the topic of drug use, mostly non-consensual. It was just an idea I had and decided to write it down. 

Italics are flashbacks and they're not all in order

Please ignore any mistakes, it's two in the morning and I don't know what sleep is. But also feel free to point them out.

Words: 6,469

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Thea's skin itches. It feels as if bugs are crawling over her, sending chills down her spine. She scratches the inside of her elbow before rolling her sleeve down to her wrist. She takes a deep breath and walks inside.

The smell of coffee hits her as soon as she enters the building. The light chatter passing between the other occupants reaches her ears, along with the occasional sound of a chair scrapping across the floor.

Thea folds her arms over her stomach and slowly inches into the room.

"You can just sit anywhere, sweetie," An older, dark-skinned lady tells her, and Thea nods before moving towards an empty seat. The metal folding chair is cold under her legs, seeping through the thin fabric of her jeans and into her skin. She curls into herself.

"Alright, welcome everyone," A balding man says, his hands folded in his lap. "We have some new faces tonight. My name is Don." Thea ignores the way he looks pointedly at her. She never should've come here. But she can't just get up and leave now. "Who would like to start us off?" Another younger man raises his hand and Don nods towards him.

"Um, hi, I'm Darius, I'm an addict." The man announces and everyone greets him back simultaneously. It's kind of creepy. "Today something happened...something that made those thoughts creep back up, you know?" Thea sees some of the others in the room nod but she averts her eyes quickly. "But I didn't listen, I came here instead."

"That's really great, Darius," Don says with a small smile. "I'm proud of you. We all are."

"Thanks," The young man nods and ducks his head, almost bashfully.

"Anyone else?" A lady speaks up then. Thea chews her lips and digs her nails into her sides as she listens. People around the room take turns talking until the moment she's been dreading comes. "Would you like to share?" Don asks her but she only shakes her head and looks to the floor, arms still wrapped around herself. "Alright, that's okay."

Thea lifts her eyes to look at Don, the man's attention finally off of her. She lets her gaze filter across the other people until the pause on the brown orbs across from her. He's already looking at her but he turns his head away when she meets his eyes.

But Thea doesn't look away. She observes the man. His skinny frame is hunched in his chair. She doesn't think he's spoken tonight but she can't be sure. His long brown hair falls into his face, and his knee bounces as he picks at his nails.

"Good meeting, you guys," Don smiles at everyone in the circle. "Until next time, there's an exercise that I would like you all to try. You don't have to, of course. But, if you're feeling up to it, I'd like you guys to write a letter. Whether that be to yourselves, to someone that's been in your life, who is in your life. Now it doesn't even have to be to a person. It can be to anything. That's all for tonight guys, help yourselves to the refreshments."

When the meeting is over, Thea doesn't move. The people around her stand at their own pace, most making their way over to the table holding the coffee and snacks. She doesn't want to be here but she doesn't want to leave either. Ironic? She thinks so.