The Dark Place (#FrightFest2016 Gold Winner)

The Dark Place - Chapter Six

Chapter Six

1

Amanda was angry and she made no secret of it as she released a discontented sigh. The other two girls waited patiently but she could sense their restlessness as heavy as the musty air which surrounded them. Where was Penny? She knew that they always met in the barn at twelve and she never went out of her way to get there on time, but Penny had never been this late before.

Amanda watched as Sarah arched her back, cat-like, over the hay bale on which she lay and then stretched out her long slim limbs as far as she could. She moaned a throaty yawn before turning onto her side – her back facing the spectator – and curling up into a ball.

"This is getting really boring," said Wendy staring into her compact mirror before applying a thick sheen of lip gloss to her pout.

"Look, just shut up will you?" Amanda retorted.

"So how much longer do we have to wait here?"

"I told you already, we wait till Pen gets here all right?"

"Silly bitch probably isn't even coming," sighed Sarah, not moving from her comfortable, foetal position.

"Of course she'll be here," snapped Amanda as she stood up and marched over to the barn door.

"Why do we always have to wait for her anyway?" Wendy asked eyeing her reflection in the mirror and toying with her fringe. "She knows where the lake is. I say we go down there now and she can catch up with us later."

"Umm... I'll second that," Sarah mumbled, turning to face the others but still maintaining her snuggled posture.

"We'll go when she gets here and not before, do you understand?" Amanda turned away from the other two and peered through a small gap in the old wooden planks.

"Well, do you see her out there?" Sarah's voice was flat and tired as she asked the question.

"No, but she'll be here," Amanda said taking her eye away from the gap.

She turned to the others again. After the brightness outside, the barn now looked disturbingly dark and it took a little while for Amanda's eyes to readjust. She walked back over to the hay bales, dragging her feet across the creaking floorboards as she went. She became more despondent with each passing second but she knew that Penny would turn up in her own good time. She always did.

The next five minutes passed in silence. Sarah closed her eyes and curled up again. Wendy – her lip gloss now perfectly applied – moved on to checking her fingernails while Amanda just sat and watched without paying any real attention to either of them. Another five minutes passed before Amanda finally conceded defeat. The others were right; Penny wasn't coming today. Amanda walked over to where Sarah lay gently snoring and shook her awake.

"Huh... what's going on?" asked Sarah still half asleep.

"Come on Sleeping Beauty, time get up," replied Amanda.

"So she finally got here then?" Sarah wiped the thin trail of saliva from her cheek with the back of her hand before sitting up and rubbing her tired eyes.

"Don't ask silly questions, just get your things together and let's go."

"And about time too," said Wendy as she closed the lid on her bottle of nail varnish and threw it into her make-up pouch being careful not to scuff her wet nails.

The three girls gathered their swimming bags, exited the protective shade of the old barn and set out for the lake under the blistering heat of the afternoon sun.