Heather and Zack in the Dark

“Is that a fire?” Zack noted, pointing out over the fence to where a steam of dark smoke billowed out from a hole in the ocean of trees that covered the side of the hill.

“Looks like. Maybe someone camping out in the forest. Some people who don’t own cabins in the area would sometimes hike into the forest and set up their own campsites. There are a few clearings about specifically designated for such things,” Heather explained as she turned on a flashlight and waved it towards the cave as a test. “I wonder if Kurt asked them if they saw Vicky anywhere.”

“If he didn’t, Lisa probably would,” Zack said, taking the flashlight that Heather handed him. “You really seem to know a lot about this place. Did you really learn it all just from your dad owning a cabin here?”

Heather shook her head, “There’s a summer camp at the Lake every year which my parents used to send me to. I haven’t been in a few years, although I think Kurt volunteered as a helper last summer. It was pretty cool and organised by the rangers, so we learned all kinds of cool stuff about the park.”

“That’s awesome,” Zack complimented. “My family own a cabin out by Cobalt Lake, but I don’t think I know half as much about Cedar Springs as you do about Silver Lake and its surroundings.”

“Thanks, but it’s nothing. I just like this place and find it interesting. Therefore, I just naturally absorb all the information I can about this place,” Heather said with a smile as she turned towards the caves. “Well, shall we?”

Zack nodded and the two teens entered through the large natural opening into the darkness within. Using their flashlight to guide their feet, they walked carefully along the rough, jagged, rocky ground as it gently curved round. The stone beneath them began to decline, small drops in the rock acting as steps, a wide, spiralling staircase down into the heart of the hill. In the darkness, with only the single beam of light shining ahead, Zack listened for Heather’s breath, hearing her confident soft inhaling and exhaling to remind himself that he wasn’t alone.

“Are you finding this claustrophobic too?” Heather asked, the sudden sound of her voice startling Zack.

“Thank god you mentioned it,” Zack whispered, though he didn’t know why. It just seemed appropriate in this oppressive darkness to keep his voice low. “I thought I was the only one.”

“Talk to me,” She breathed back, lowering her voice to match his. “It doesn’t feel so bad when we’re talking.”

“Um…” Zack stammered, the enclosed space of the cave seeming to suffocate any thought in his head.

Heather laughed lightly and said, “You’re hilarious. Just tell me something…like what do you plan to do next year after high school?”

“I don’t know,” Zack confessed, glancing at the darkness beside him where he imagined Heather’s face to be. “I mean, I haven’t decided. I’m not sure what I want to study or do with the rest of my life.”

“Typical Zack,” Heather replied. “Much like your love life, you’re gonna have to decide soon.”

“I know, I know. I keep telling myself the same thing.” Zack sighed, following the path down and down continuously. “I decided that this would be my last week goofing off before I finally focused and settled on something. Anyway, what about you?”

“Me? I’ll go into my father’s company. I’ll study something that’ll help with that but the best experience I can hope to get is on the job,” Heather insisted, confident of her spot as her father’s successor. “I’ve been training for this my whole life practically.”

“You never thought of doing anything else?” Zack asked, finding the tunnel beginning to level out again. “With your passion for this place, I’m certain you could get a job with the National Park organisation that manages Silver Lake.”

“I admit, I did consider becoming a ranger when I was younger,” Heather confessed, taking the torch and shining the light around as the cave walls opened into a larger room of dug out rock. “But I really do want to do what my father does. I admire his tenacity and his business sense. My father has never really pushed me to follow in his footsteps…it’s just a legacy I really want to do proud.”

“I can understand that,” Zack said, following Heather rightward as she walked along the wall. “Neither of my parents have ever pushed me to be in medicine but with a surgeon for a father and an OBGYN as a mother, it sort of feels like a natural fit, don’t you think?”

“I’ve never told anyone about that, you know. I mean, about considering being a ranger. Not even Ashley or my mother. All everyone knows is that I want to join my father’s company, and someday take over the day to day running of the businesses. They probably think that I’m doing it out of some sense of entitlement or nepotism, but really this is something that I choose because I wanted it.” Heather replied, a hand upon the wall as it led her to another opening. “I think you should do what you want to do, not what people think you ought to do.”

“You’re wise beyond your years,” Zack complimented the dark-haired beauty again, walking behind her as she moved through the opening into another stony room.

“You shouldn’t be so surprised…” Heather playfully chastised then paused, cocking her ear to one side as she began following the wall with one hand, just as she had done in the other room. “Wait, do you hear that?”

Zack turned his head and listened, just as Heather had done. Now that neither of them were talking, he could hear the faint echo of someone. It sounded like they were talking, or maybe running. Definitely some sort of panting or arguing. Maybe it was an animal, Zack considered, following Heather around the wall. The noise grew louder and louder as they came to another opening. Through it and into yet another room, they could see a light, illuminating a gap in the cave wall on the other side of the room.

“I'm turning off the flashlight,” Heather warned. “Take my hand so you don’t get lost.”

As soon as his light was off, Zack felt Heather’s hand being thrust into his. Her hand felt soft and warm against his sweaty palm as she led him cautiously across the room to the opening on the other side. Standing to one side of the gap, in the dark shadow cast by the light in the next room, the two teens peered in at the source of the foreign sound inside the cave.