Dark Places || ONC 2023

Darkness Both Ways

Janelle rushes back to her house for supplies. It doesn't take long, she has half a climbing pack already stuffed with gear, her car has the rest. She digs in her garage for as much rope as she can find, as well as an extra helmet and harness. She throws some granola bars into her bag and fills two reusable water bottles. Then there's the extra pair of clothes for Adam, a first aid kit stuffed with bandaids, one of which she will eventually get around to slapping on her hand. Then she's out the door, whispering to herself, "please still be alive Adam, please be alive."

Adam is frighteningly close to the edge when she gets back to the park, but he's not over it.

"You think the answers are down there?" he asks when Janelle gets closer.

"There has to be something down there," she says, "and if that thing is just garbage, then I've won something at least." Janelle presses the harness and helmet into his chest and in doing so marches him a little farther from the black nothing.

Janelle hopes there's more than just trash down there, for Adam's sake, but she's not optimistic. Alexander Flemming didn't exactly find penicillin at the bottom of a hell hole.

"Let's get hooked up," Janelle says.

Adam changes out of his jeans and into a lose pair of cropped canvas climbing pants. He swaps his parka for a lighter jacket. Janelle is ready to go in her thick leggings and Patagonia jacket.

She doesn't waste time. She should waste time— diving into a dark hole in the middle of the night is dangerous, and spooky and mostly against every safety talk ever—but she doesn't. She does help Adam step into his harness and in that way feels his hands shaking.

"This is gonna hurt isn't it?" He asks with a wry smile. Janelle smirks. Climbing harnesses aren't exactly massage chairs, but they don't hurt too bad. Over the years Janelle's even begun to love the sensation of being tightly strapped into it. It's safety, but she gets that it can feel unusual at first.

"It's not as bad as you think.," Janelle says. She fusses with the straps around his waist, making sure they're tight enough to hold him steady, but not so tight that they'll really hurt while he's descending. When she's done she gives the harness a tug. Adam doesn't expect the pull and stumbles, his shoulder bumping into Janelle's chest. She barely holds her ground and Adam quickly pulls away, adjusting his stance until one leg is braced between hers.

They're close. Janelle can feel his breath, and see his facial features in a way she hasn't been able to in the dark during their moonlit conversations. She notes his warm oak skin. The chickenpox scars around his nose and right eye. He hasn't shaved, and the scratchy shadow along his jaw is flecked in grey. Janelle puts her fingers between the waist strap of his harness and his hip bone. There's just the right amount of space, but Janelle pulls again, just to be certain it's gonna hold, and also maybe because she likes the idea of him falling into her again. 

He lurches, but doesn't lose his footing. His leg holds him steady. The harness fits just right, but she hangs out there for a moment longer than she needs to. Her favorite piece of garbage has green eyes.

He blinks and Janelle leans away. She carefully extricates herself from his leg and his orbit. She needs to get their first anchor in.

She takes a little extra time to tie their rope and get her face under control. When she gets back to the hole Adam is strapping himself into his helmet and doing his level best to follow the instructions she gave him about adding an extension to his harness. She ends up having to fix that as well, her face getting uncomfortably close to his crotch. She tries to figure out exactly how he managed to twist a caribeener through three different ropes and hooks and none of the them are the right one.