The Black Out

It was getting dark and starting to rain, as Sarah pulled her car up into the driveway. She had been at her friend’s book signing at the mall and had done some shopping while she was there.  She was thankful that they had installed the security light over the garage.  She pushed the remote and the garage door slowly opened, and she pulled in, shutting it behind her. She was supposed to have been out a lot longer, but she had gotten tired and come home early.

There had been a series of burglaries in the neighborhood of late, so her and her husband Bill had a home security system installed. Sarah grabbed her bags and briefcase out of the car and punched in her code for the garage door into the house, resetting it once she was inside.

She kicked off her shoes on the mat inside the door, headed upstairs to her room, and dropped her bags on the bed.  The kids were spending the night with friends. Bill was on his way to New York and wouldn’t be back until tomorrow late, so she had the house to herself and had plans for a nice long bubble bath and a glass of wine.

She peeled her clothes off, put on her robe and started her bath. There was a flash of light outside the window, then a rumble of thunder seconds after.  “Well, so much for a nice long bath, she thought.  The lightening looked pretty darn close, so she just climbed in and hurriedly took a shower. 

She walked down stairs meaning to pour her a glass of wine, settle back, and watch a movie, when there was a flash of lightening that looked like it hit right outside the house. All the lights went out. “Oh shit, thought Sarah, I hope I have some candles.” She walked over and opened the drapes only to find that all the streetlights and neighbors lights were out too. It looked like the whole town had blacked out. She checked the phone, no signal there.

She was stumbling around in the dark trying to find the candles and some matches, when there was another flash of lightening that lit up the whole room. The thunder after made her jump even though it was expected.

She finally made it to the kitchen in between the flashes and pulled out the candles and matches stuck them in the candelabra. She lit them, opened the cabinet grabbed the bottle of wine, a glass, and headed into the dining room. 

The candles cast a eerie glow around the room. Sarah poured her wine and sat there sipping on it, watching the lighting flash outside on the patio. She wished the damn storm would pass over. She didn’t like the dark. She never had. She glanced toward the wall and jumped, her heart beating rapidly, until she realized it was a shadow from a sculptor sitting on the corner table flickering from the candle light.

She had just stood up to walk into the living room for a book, when she looked up and there standing outside her window was the silhouette of a man.  She gasped and backed up into the kitchen hiding around the corner.  She heard the sound of someone yanking on the patio doors. What could she do? Her cell phone was upstairs in her purse. 

She waited for what seemed like hours, and then peeked around the corner. There was no one there, so she slowly crept over to the table, took the candelabra, walked over to the door, and peered out. Maybe it was just her imagination.

Then she heard a noise at the front door.  She walked towards the door, her hand shaking so bad she thought she would drop the candles. She saw the doorknob turn back and forth.

It was then that she glanced up at the security alarm and realized that it was not lit up.  The storm must have knocked it out too.  She ran to the stairs and started up, tripping in her fright and almost dropping the candles. She raced into her bedroom and felt around on the bed for her purse, finally locating it. After fumbling around, she found her cell phone, pulled it out and started dialing 911 when she realized the cell phone had no bars. It had no service.

She was alone and isolated and couldn’t even call for help. She was terrified and close to tears. She had to think of something. She couldn’t just wait for the man to come and find her.

She found a flashlight in the drawer by the bed and took that in exchange for the candles. They didn’t have a gun. Sarah had refused to keep one in the house.

She made her way downstairs and listened. The lightening flashed again lighting up the room. She made her way into the kitchen, grabbed a butcher knife out of the wooden knife holder, and held it in front of her.

She heard a crash out on the patio, peeked out, and saw the man trying to get in the door. She bit her lip to keep from screaming as she realized that it might be one of the burglars that was canvassing the neighborhood lately, and didn’t know she was in there. He moved on, and she could hear him trying other windows to find a way inside the house.

Sarah backed up in the kitchen, into a dark corner and waited, listening to every little sound. All of a sudden, the doorknob from the garage into the kitchen started turning violently back and forth.

Then there was a shatter and the door splintered. The man was prying the door open. All Sarah could do was stand there with the knife, crying, and thinking she was going to be murdered. She dropped her flashlight in her fear and could hear it break on the floor.

Finally, the door gave and the man came through. It was dark and she couldn’t see his features but her sense of survival took over and she jumped out and stabbed at him with the knife. She could feel it slide in and heard a gasp, but in her frenzy, she pulled it out and stabbed repeatedly. The man fell to the floor, but she could still hear him moving so she bent over him, still hysterically stabbing, till she heard a gurgled drawn out breath then didn’t hear anything more and there seemed to be no more movement.

She felt something wet splattered on her face and down the front of her robe. Her hands were wet where she gripped the knife. She stood up to step away, slipped, and fell on the wet floor. She couldn’t see anything in the dark, so sobbing she crawled away and sat against the cabinet, shaking and in shock.

The phone rang and she scrambled to answer it. It was the security company checking on her, explaining that the power had knocked their system out and that they were calling people to check on them.

“Are you alright Miss?” the voice on the phone asked.

She was sobbing so much she couldn’t speak for a moment but then she gasped

“A man broke into my house and I have killed him. Please help me.”

“Are you hurt Miss?”

“No I don’t think so.”

“Okay just stay where you are and we will have someone out there in just a few minutes”

There was some blinking and then the lights came on. “Oh thank God, the lights just came back on,” she told the voice on the phone. 

“Oh God there is blood everywhere. I have blood all over me.”

“Miss try to stay calm,” the voice on the phone, said. Then the voice heard a curdling scream.

“Miss, Miss, are you there Miss?”

When the cops and EMS arrived on the scene, they found a woman covered in blood, kneeling beside a man. She was staring down into the face of her beloved husband Bill. His flight had evidently been cancelled.