Page 18 of In the Dark

She understood more now than ever. During the fight with the entity she and her sisters called Darkness, Karsia wondered why the thing didn’t attack them outright. With Astix, Darkness hunted them down from inside her lackey, a man named Herodotos. For Aisanna, Darkness chose a more direct approach, driving the woman insane by hearing voices in her head, then taking her body out for a test drive. Karsia assumed the closer they got to the eclipse, the stronger the being became.

Now she understood it was free will. She had the power at her disposal, but the results of her actions depended on the affected person. Those strong of heart had a better chance of resisting.

She felt the pull to those deeds every waking moment. During her first week on the run, she’d spent a few minutes talking with a woman over food only to realize each word said pushed the woman, already skirting the edge of dementia, into full-fledged Alzheimer’s disease. Karsia had no idea until the woman became a drooling mess in front of her and was taken away by a hysterical son.

She rubbed the particular spot on her chest and made her way back to town. Seeing the town, sleepy and quiet, got to her. Nostalgia rose until she tamped it down. Days blurred into weeks and passed into the recesses of her memory as she struggled to find herself.

She walked until she saw the restaurant where she’d dined with Morgan hours before. The lights were off and the door locked, chains pulled down to protect the interior from thieves. Hard to imagine hours earlier there were people packing that square interior, couples on their first date and families enjoying a meal together outside the home.

Morgan was long gone.

Karsia scowled and turned away. What had she expected, in the wee hours of the morning?

She walked to the hotel on feet sure to blister and slammed the door to her room behind her, waking several patrons in the process. Their hearts sped, she knew, recognizing the instant their conscious selves burst to life. There would no longer be any sweet dreams there.

Her jacket dropped to the floor, with the rest of her clothes following. Karsia moved naked into the shower and stepped under the cold water.

It did the job, if only for a moment. She felt her old self return with a great heaving sigh. Guilt swamped her, remorse for every foul thing she’d done. Tears streaked down her face and mingled with the steady stream of water. Eventually, the hot water heater kicked in and brought the drops to a near boil.

She stayed there until her skin turned pink. A punishment. In spite of everything, she felt tension release from her shoulders. It had been a long time since she’d let herself relax. The combination of steam and blistering water had a dangerous effect on her brain. Her mind was a vault constantly in danger of opening. The wall keeping her feelings of guilt and sadness under control began to crack. Soon a pure, profound sorrow came over her.

“Why?”

Her fist pounded the tile. Depression loomed if she thought hard enough about her situation. It took minutes for her self-pity to vanish. It always did, never staying long. The only reason she had any ability at all to draw back from the brink of evil was the gemstones guarding her heart.

Her tears turned to laughter and Karsia sank to her knees, control lost.

---