Back on Track

And by back on track I mean I’m behind by about 5,000 words. LOL

But never fear, the weekend is soon to be upon us and I have no doubt I’ll be able to make up at least a few of those words.

So last week’s excerpt was the first meeting of my main characters Nathan and Sara, this one is kind of a continuation of that.


Excerpt

They were surrounded by dense whiteness. It was like walking in the center of a cloud. No up or down, no beginning and no end. It was like they were weightless. An intense feeling of vertigo washed over her and Sara stumbled, nearly dropping her hold on Nathan. He was leaning more and more of his weight on her. If he passed out completely she didn’t know what she’d do.

Time started to lose all meaning. It felt like they’d been scuffling along for hours, even though it was probably only minutes. And was it just her imagination or was it getting lighter up ahead? No, not lighter but the fog was definitely thinning.

“Come on, Nathan, we’re almost out of it.”

It was just barely possible to make out the shapes of trees and brush now. The fog eddied and swirled and soon parted to reveal a path. The path itself was even more frightening than the fog. It was a dirt track, strewn with rubble, cutting a path through the gloom. She and Hannah had walked to town from the house many times and she knew for a fact there was no path like it anywhere around here. So where were they? Had she somehow taken a wrong turn? It just didn’t seem possible.

Sara shivered without realizing it. Her mind kept insisting the fog wasn’t natural. It flowed just beyond the path as though there was an invisible wall keeping it at bay. Where were they? Certainly not in the woods near the causeway. What was happening? Maybe she took a blow to the head when she hit the brakes in her car.

“Left,” Nathan whispered. “The camp.”

Okay, don’t let the fear become paralyzing. She tightened her grip on her victim and they staggered off to the left, following the path. Sara grew more afraid with every passing moment. She kept expecting the fog to break through the invisible barrier and consume them. They’d be lost forever. But the question that kept tormenting her was, where were they?

Just when her own strength began to fail the path opened up into a clearing. There were several tents and a couple of long tables, and every sign that people had been here, but the camp was deserted. Sara dragged Nathan to the nearest tent and eased him down on the cot inside. He never made a sound and she sank to the floor to rest. After several minutes she caught her breath and turned around to get her first good look at Nathan.

“Oh, my!” She all but licked her lips in appreciation.

She estimated he’d top her by several inches when he was standing, instead of leaning on her. His smooth skin was a golden bronze and he wore his jet black hair long, braided in hundreds of tiny braids. High cheekbones graced a strong face and dark lashes swept down from his closed eyes.

“Okay, get a grip girl,” she muttered. “You’ve seen gorgeous men before.”

He didn’t look badly hurt, from what she could tell he looked in damn fine shape. She noticed a smear of blood and gently ran her hands along the sides of his head. Lifting his head slightly she felt the back of it and her hand came away bloody. She frowned. If she didn’t know better, she’d say he’d been hit on the back of the head with something. There was no way she could have done that with her car.

Sara sat back on her heels. Now what? She really should see if there was something she could do for his head wound, but she suddenly felt exhausted. There was another cot in the tent and she sank down onto it gratefully. Maybe all she needed was a good night’s sleep and when she woke in the morning she’d discover this had all been a product of too many margaritas and too much raw cookie dough afterwards.