The Eden Projects (Book I)

Chapter 17. In present Darkness.

In this present darkness I find my home. In this ebbing shadow I find my rest. So it will be, only the dark- Only I.

Archer was gone. And in losing him, Both Zak and Kasper lost direction. They were a compass made wild by some unforeseen pull from below. Was it up, or down, left or right? Around. Around. Around. Always around. Never to. Night snapped at their heels like hungry dogs as they sat waiting for the sun to settle. Waiting for the forest to come alive with night things that scurried and scuttled. As dangerous as it might be... they had no choice. They had nothing. Barely anything. But they couldn't risk the group finding them again.

Once the dark had well settled in, Kasper pulled a few branches over their bags and left them cradled between the logs. Zak was lethargic and moved with a snails pace in everything he did. "Tell me this isn't real..." He muttered, turning over the gun he had taken on his way out. "It isn't real-" He looked at his hand. Waving it back and forth as if doing so would shake the illusion.

Kasper put his hand over Zak's and lowered them. Slowly. "It's real. This is real."

"Take me home, I want to go home." Zak looked up, eyes glassed, and nodded.

Kasper wasn't sure which he hated more, that Zak was becoming less and less, or himself beginning to understand what Archer meant. Am I bad because of what I have to do or because of how I do it? Either way, it was all wrong, everything that circled around in his head. There was nothing there for anyone. So there was nothing there for him. They walked quietly under the light of the moon, Kasper taking lead, guiding Zak around logs he couldn't see and brushing back branches that tugged at their clothes. Across the road, and into the first tree line. Then, they reached the edge of the trap. He worked his way around a few paces ahead while Zak followed close behind, just within earshot.

"I don't see anything." Kasper whispered. Leaning up against the side of a car. The area was lit up with the glow of fresh blood, and the smell drew at him like a banquet to a beggar. It all meant dinner for anything with claws and teeth to match. "We need to be quick." Scooting along the side he pushed his way between the cars and back into the trap. They jogged the line until they came to the spot they had veered from the road and had gone down. "There it is."

Archers body still sat in the sidewinding field. He was stripped of his jacket and boots and anything that could be useful. He was nearly naked. Caked in dirt and blood. He wasn't Archer anymore, he was just another body and that was all. The man Kasper had culled lay bent necked like some roadkill animal. Kasper kicked him as he went past. Zak had gone for the car and was quickly sorting through what wasn't taken. He emerged holding the watch, one arm flailing near the door, feeling for the pocket he had placed the map in. "Got it." He pocketed the items and moved inside again. "They took my straws..." He shook the empty cup before setting it atop the car.

Kasper whispered. "Weirdos." Reaching under the backseat for the bag that held Zak's hidden syringes. It had been gone through, the contents mostly strewn about but they had missed the prize, he ripped away the back padding and grabbed the needles out carefully.

"Is that everything?" Zak whispered, just louder than the crickets.

Kasper eyed Archer. "You think its ok to just leave his body there? I don't know how we can take him."

Zak sighed. "We don't have any choice." He lowered, setting one of cars maps over Archers face. "I'm... sorry."

Kasper was elsewhere. Watching the darkness for signs of monstrous life.

"Kas, I'm sorry... I... was wrong, I shouldn't have said that to you."

"Its okay-"

"-No it's not-"