Aurora 2025 with cover

Justin Sullins

soon.”

The dirt trail had woods on both sides of it. It wasn’t as dark as it was earlier at the restaurant. He couldn’t see any other buildings or houses, and they were far away from the town. He missed this type of escape. In New York, he was surrounded by the concrete jungle. The only time he was this secluded was when he was in his apartment, and even then he could hear people talking outside his window. It was nice to be away for a while. They arrived at a small fork in the road. There were bottles on the ground, next to the wood and ashes. There were four cobblestone graves sitting on the hill slightly hidden by the trees. Their branches loomed over them like an unexpected guest.

“Ok, so are you going to tell me why we’re out here now?” Paul asked.

“After you left town, I started dating Austin. It was nothing serious. We were both just trying to figure out what we had. While we were dating, we would come here sometimes. He called it The Hollow.” Angie explained. Paul took a long sip of water.

“Austin told me that he found this site when he was a kid.”

“Why didn’t I know about this place?” Paul interrupted.

Angie continued, “One night we decided to come out here. His engine wouldn’t start, so we decided to sleep on the bed of his truck. A week later, he told me that his life fell apart. Then there was the accident. He told me about all these books he read and how the place had haunted him.” Paul sighed at her. She was always coming up with childish ways to explain things. She could never grapple with the reality of what happened to Austin.

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