The Grasp of Darkness

“You’re total is 23.46,” she said, bagging the last of the woman’s items. A cheap bottle of perfume, an assortment of candy, and nail polish. The woman lingered just a moment, adjusting her items and purse. Then she was all alone. 

 Kas leaned back against the cigarette case letting her exhausted mind and body take a break. A peek at her watch and groaned. Her shift had just begun. It would be hours before she could go home. God, how she wished she smoked. Smoking meant 3 full 15 uninterrupted breaks. Her eyes found themselves drawn to the glass doors. There were always carts in the parking lot to be taken in from lazy customers who couldn’t be bothered to take them back. She glanced at the empty aisles. Just a quick break, and then she would be back to register in no time. 

Just crossing the barrier between recycled AC's stale air and the country air's freshness was incredible. The scenery wasn’t much because trailer parks surrounded the store from three sides across the street, on the left and right. Small patches of land cluttered together with rusty and broken-down trailers. But behind the store was a field. Although she wasn’t sure how far it stretched, she tried to catch a glimpse beyond the darkness. Pitch black, it was a darkness that ate up everything from the surrounding area. It never made sense to her. As she knew, there was a street, her street, behind the store. What made even less sense was how drawn she was to it. A haze filled her mind as she wheeled the cart back toward the store. A now beacon of light in the dingy, humid evening. 

Even as her feet pushed her toward the store, the darkness whispered and teased at her. It wanted her so badly to come to it. Sink into its embrace. 

A shout snapped her out of it, another impatient customer to deal with. Kas hurried back into the store.

“Didn’t you hear me calling for you… I have been…,” the customer’s voice was drowned out by the humming. The humming of the darkness. With the last beep of the scanner, and all the items bagged, she waited. And waited. Waiting until she could go investigate. There was something wrong with that field. It was a field that swallowed all the light, yet no one had thought it was strange or unsettling. Maybe that’s how it always had been, but yet.

Kas walked out of the store. The parking lot was empty, with not a cart in sight. Yet she stood where the concrete met the beginning of the field. The ice machine hummed with lulling darkness. She stared at it and all of its infinite darkness. It called to mind a part of a quote, “  if you gaze into the abyss, the abyss also gazes into you..” By who she didn’t remember as it had been around for so many, yet it fits perfectly. Madness if you stare into the very heart of darkness, darkness from which there was no heart. Only an unended hunger. She wasn’t sure how long she started trying to decipher its secrets, but there was none, only humming. 

Maybe her mind was making this all up, the stress, and all the books she read. Kas jerked back from the field, shaken. She retreated into the cool store and bright lights. Lights that felt to be too much for her delicate eyes. Eyes that had witnessed the darkness.

Kas sagged against the counter, eyes shut tight. She was fine. Everything was fine. There was no monster waiting for her in the darkness. That was just an empty field with no lights. That was all. There was nothing there. Nothing at all. Why did she feel so drawn to the outside if that was true? But the humming… It was the ice machine. Yes, it had to be the ice machine. There was no other explanation. She was tired, and she worked too damn hard. It was time for a break, smoker or not. Kas wandered down the aisle until she found the came to the one with all the snacks, chips, candy, and sweets. Ripping a box off the shelf, she didn’t care what it was, only that… Before she could even open the box, the bell rang again. Another customer in the middle of this dead town. She got up, but when she got there…

It was empty. No customer was ready to berate her or a heap of cheap crap she had to ring up. She stepped back through the aisle and ignored it as sometimes the AC set it off. It was a daily occurrence, or maybe she was losing her mind. 

Her box of Twinkies kept her company as she watched a small rush of customers come in and out of the store. Cart after cart, and very few came back to the cart area. Her stomach twisted in unease. She has to go and get the cart from the lot. But she felt a pinch of fear at having to step foot outside the safety of the store. It was irrational how it once enchanted her and how she scarcely wanted anything to do with it. 

She was being stupid, acting like a child. There was no reason to be afraid of the dark. Straightening herself up, she made her was to the door.

“Just grab the cart and quickly come back in. In and out.” with that in mind, she was off. She had three collected and back into the store. 

Kas froze at the one in the middle of the field. A soft yellow beacon in the mind-bending darkness. Nope, now was she going in that field. This was the part of the horror movie where the trap has been laid out, and poof, you’re dead. She wasn’t going to fall for that. Whatever it was would have to try much harder to grab her. 

Kas stepped back into the store, the bell rang again. Only this time it was too late.