Face The Dark

1. Detour

     "Are you sure you can't make it to the next big city?" Reagan asked her mother as she squinted at the map. She had it unfolded on the trunk of their shitty dodge neon and struggled to keep the wind from sweeping it away.
  Her mother sat on a termite eaten bench a few feet away, hands idly pressing on her stomach, her face pinched and uncomfortable. Her long red hair was frazzled, part of it still held back by the fuzzy scrunchy that Reagan had made her years ago in summer camp. The screen of her cell phone cast a blue glow over her soft features. It was useless. Reception was non existent. 
"I'm really uncomfortable, Reggie." She replied lowly.
Reagan cringed at the nickname and sighed, "There isn't even an Omega Falls on the map, ma. It sounds like a made up name."
  They were almost a half hour off the interstate, parked at an busted down gas station in the middle of the night. They had been heading south to Florida when her mother's stomach pain got intense. She was worried and wanted the nearest hospital.
Warmer weather and better job opportunities her mother had told her as they packed for the trip. As if uprooting a girl in her senior year of high school could be justified in anyway. Reagan had been bitter about the decision but hermother had tried to assure her.
Just a little road trip. She had said with a odd sparkle in her eyes. I just need to get away from here and I'm not leaving you behind. So reluctantly She had agreed to go.
  A loud clanging of trash cans jolted her from her thoughts and She whirled around in time to see a mangy cat sprint off into the tree line across the street.
Reagan sighed, turning to try to inspect the map one more time before bunching it up.
"I'm going to go in, talk to the cashier. See if he knows where the hell we are." She grumbled crankily. She had hoped to be in bed by now. Not lost in The hills have eyes territory.
"Language!" My mother scolded as she crunched her way through the gravel toward the station.
She pulled open the door and was greeted by an obnoxiously loud electronic buzzer. Cringing somewhat she turned toward the counter where an overweight man in baggy camo clothing sat perched on a stool. Open chip bags littered the little space available for transactions and a little tv blared gunshots across the tiny room.
  She mentally prepared herself as she drew close. She wasn't much of a people person and tended to avoid most conversations. Especially with strange men in the middle of nowhere.
  He didn't glance up once as she drew within talking distance of the counter. She felt irritation flutter in her chest.
His jacket had a dingy name badge pinned to it. It just held the letter R in a dull puke green shade.
"Excuse me." She started, awkwardly clutching the map at her side. He seemed unbothered by the interruption. She stood there for a moment and her heart began to hammer in her chest.
A dull panic started to blossom and she touched her hand to it. Calm down. Calm down.
After an agonizing minute R turned to look at her with a mildly interested expression and a brow cocked as if to ask: Well?
"Bathroom?" She managed to squeak out as She struggled to squash the incoming panic attack. He sighed heavily in response as if She were interupting something and motioned toward the back.
Still clutching the map she turned and weaved around shelves advertising dusty packages. A pink neon sign flashed over a door to the bathroom. The 'room' part of restroom was burned out. Her hands were wet with sweat and slipped twice on the knob before she was able to get inside. The door hinges screamed and flaked rust off as she swung the door shut behind her. She fumbled for the lock and then the light. A high buzz erupted as the florescent lights flickered to life and she dropped the map on the floor as she stumbled forward to grip the sink.
How long had it been since I had taken my medication?
  She stared at herself in the dingy mirror. Her honey colored eyes shone with anxiety and her normally pale face was even paler. Her head pounded and she reached up to undo her ponytail to try and relieve some of the pressure. Long red hair fell in long strands to frame her face and She quickly started fumbling around in her pockets.
She swallowed the urge to puke and with shaking hands managed to free a small green pill bottle from her inside pocket.
xanax, 1 miligram take 1 pill three times a day or as needed for anxiety.
The lights continued to flicker as she tossed two little blue pills into her mouth and drank from the tap. The water tasted coppery and she pocketed the bottle as she closed her eyes tightly.
For as long as she could remember she suffered from panic attacks. Forced to take medicine to keep her brain foggy enough to be calm. It had started with an earthquake when she had been six years old, the quake had nearly leveled the whole neighborhood. She didn't remember much of that night but from then on her mother sought ways to keep her only daughter numb.

  She wasn't sure how long she had been in the bathroom by the time the pounding in her head started to slow and her breathing came easier. She opened her eyes and watched as she started to lose that crazy look and her pupils swelled - reacting to the medication. Even the light stopped flickering.
  With a deep sigh she collected herself and bent down to grab the map off the filthy floor before leaving the bathroom. She turned to head up to the counter and nearly collided with R.
"What? Are ye doin' drugs back there or wha?" He accused gruffly.
"No!" She snapped and self consciously smoothed out her clothes. "My mother and I are lost. I need directions to Omega Falls."
He eyeballed me, shifting something around in his mouth before spitting into a dusty old soda cup. Up close she could smell him. Unwashed clothes and tobacco. Her stomach rolled.
"Hippy town, eh?" He gruffed, "Why's a lil' girl like you wanna go there for?"
"My mother needs a doctor." Internally she bristled at the little girl jab.
R stared at her for a long moment before spitting into the cup again.
"Five miles up the road. Left at the cemetery." He finally replied. She didn't like how he was looking at her so she nodded and all but bolted for the door. A loud cackle from the television followed her through the aisles before she stepped through the door with a loud buzz and headed for the car.
  Her mother sat in the passenger seat and reached for her as she slid into the drivers seat. Reagan shrugged off her hand.
"what-" her mother asked, worry accompanying pain on her face.
"Don't worry about it. I know where to go now." Reagan assured her. Trying to hide her discomfort and irritation. "Sit back and relax. We'll get you checked out."
She started the car up and pulled back onto the road. Happy to get far away from the creepy guy at the gas station.

I just wanna go home.