The Darkness

Chapter 1: Time to Listen

I finished four years of active duty just in time to bury my Pappy.

The news reached me three months ago, four days before I was scheduled to leave active service and transition into the Individual Ready Reserve. I had already packed most of my belongings and was counting the hours until I could finally escape Twenty-nine Palms when a letter arrived from my parents.

Pappy had died peacefully in his sleep.

At least, that was what everyone believed at the time.

My parents said his death was caused by complications connected to his military service. That explanation made sense. Pappy had spent years breathing smoke, chemicals, and whatever else drifted through the jungles of Vietnam. His lungs had never fully recovered.

Still, the news hit me harder than I expected.

Apart from my father, I think I took it worse than anyone else in the family. Pappy and I had always been close. When I was a kid, he taught me how to hunt, repair an engine, identify animal tracks, and make coffee strong enough to strip paint from a truck.

He also taught me something else.

Never ignore the feeling that you are being watched.

At the time, I thought that was simply an old soldier’s habit.