This story contains mature themes including various kinds of violence and psychological issues. Read at your own discretion. This is your warning. Don't read this story series if you can't handle it. This is not a romance story.
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It was a good thing I had gotten home before the storm had broken.
This morning had been all bright sunshine and blue skies without a cloud in sight. By midmorning, strong winds had begun to pick up, gushing across the city and making trees fall or big branches break and smash into houses or block roads. Traffic had almost been brought to a standstill by the unexpected strength of the winds and all the accidents that had taken place on the roads.
Surging clouds had encroached the bare blue sky until the hot sunshine had been blocked by the mass of roiling dark clouds. Shadows had teemed with the sense of increased atmospheric pressure as if announcing the ominous arrival of an unworldly being. Thunder had rumbled in the distance as flashing clouds had drawn closer and closer.
Lightning had streaked through and from the sky in a display greater than any new year's fireworks, creating flashing pillars of heavenly fire. According to the news, buildings, trees and helpless people who had just happened to be carrying lightning attracting metals on them had been struck haphazardly. The tallest building in the city had already received over ten strikes of lightning bolts worth over forty thousand amps. It was a pity that the technology to harvest lightning had not yet been produced, but that hadn't stopped some crazy scientist from trying and being arrested by police for his safety.
What people had thought might just be a flash storm was lasting far longer than the updates the meteorologists kept predicting. Various streets in the city and had turned into raging rivers. People were being warned to stay out of the water, but not before some dare devils had gone kayaking or rafting, only to be apprehended by angry policemen for the scolding of heir lives.
Thunder rolled, rumbled and boomed almost consistently without reprieve. From the lack of gaps between the flashes of lightning overhead and the sound, it meant the dancing lightning I could see in the clouds above my house were indeed, directly overhead. Every now and then, the outside air would become charged such that I could feel all my hairs stand on end, the street would become bleached white with a tinge of blue and then deafening booms would resound, making my ears ring. These close lightning strikes made my doorbell ring with every new strike. The lightning had never rung my doorbell this many times during a storm before.
Feeling the danger of the storm, despite being inside my dry, cosy house where I should be safe, I was very glad I wasn't outside on a night like this. I hoped nobody else was stuck outside on a night like this either. I felt sorry for any emergency workers who had to be out rescuing people or ensuring safety. I drew my curtains shut, but not before another flash of lightning outside caused the silhouette of a man wearing a wide brimmed hat to show up in front of me in stark relief.
My heart leapt and I fell backwards with a brief shriek at the unexpected sight. My mouth had gone dry and I could feel the blood racing through my blood vessels. After a moment, I sat back up, patting my chest to try and get myself to calm down. Steeling my courage, I peered out the window, cupping my hands to block out the indoor reflections.
'See,' I told myself. 'There's no one there. What crazy person would still be out on a day like this?'
Thinking it a trick of the eye, I quickly closed the curtain properly and took another few breaths to stabilise my shaken emotions. I could still feel myself trembling. Thunder boomed with an ear ringing, deafening sound. The whole house shook and trembled. I could feel the ground shaking.
The television shorted out. The house went dark as all the electricity in the house died. I sat on the floor again, rubbing my deafened ears and feeling off balance. The ground continued to shake and the air rumble, but I couldn't hear it. I could only feel it.
Fumbling for my phone, I began to check the news services to see if anyone knew how much longer this storm was going to last. However, a cold and wet gust of wind slammed my locked front doors open, making me jump with another shriek.
Had I not locked the doors properly? I was sure I had. The doors had never opened like this during a storm before. It was impossible for the storm to open doors like this. I didn't want to think of how else my front wooden and security doors might have opened on their own. The thought was too scary to contemplate.
Shivering, I fought the crazy weather, driving torrential rain into my house to try close the doors against the wind. Thankfully, my hearing was returning while I struggled with the door. The moment I had reached the security door, I was already drenched. Thankfully, the security had been closed and locked once more after only a brief struggle. While fighting with the wind to close the heavier wooden door, I wished for someone to help me close. My meagre strength didn't seem quite sufficient. I was being blown back.
"Let me help," said a soft male voice in my ear, adding a shoulder beside mine to shut the door and the battle of the elements outside.
"Thank you," I had replied automatically, concentrating on getting the door shut.
I shut and locked the door, taking a moment to breathe and enjoy the calm. I'd have to mop up all this rain water that had gotten in and clean myself up. I was dripping wet.
"I'm going to have a shower and dry myself up," said the man's voice, making me jump. "Where's the bathroom?"
Stranger! There was a strange man in my house!
Jumping back, I felt my heart thump painfully. I landed on my backside once more, jarring all my joints and making me groan with pain.
A man holding a dripping wide brimmed hat nodded and smiled at me as if it were only natural for him to be here. In a shocked daze, I raised a trembling finger to point. The stranger flashed another smile.
"Thank you," he said and walked calmly toward my bathroom, dripping water as he went.
Fumbling with my phone, I immediately called the emergency services. There was a short delay before my call was answered.
"What's the nature of your emergency?" a calm male voice asked me.
Stammering, I related to how a stranger had somehow unlocked my front doors in the midst of the storm and entered my house. He was now having a shower in my bathroom.
The emergency worker's voice grew more serious and asked if I had anywhere safe to hide. Despite the storm, there was a police car already in the area and they were on their way to me now.
"If it's safe outside, you should leave the house."
"I can't," I shouted into the phone over another boom of thunder. "The lightning is striking my lightning rod or something. It's dangerous out there."
"Is there anywhere you think would be safe to hide, where you'll be safe from the storm and the intruder?" the emergency worker asked. "Before the man comes out from the shower?"
"I don't know," I stuttered.
Since the police were on the way, I figured I could at least unlock the front doors for them. Maybe I could hide in the small lobby area between my security door and the wooden front door. I told the emergency worker my plan and was almost flung to the ground by the strength of the billowing wind when I opened the wooden door. Scrambling to find my balance again, I hurried to unlock the security door. Then I attempted to close the wooden door when the stronger gusts of wind momentarily calmed down.
A strong hand caught me by the arm and yanked me inside, slamming the wooden door shut behind me. I fell on the ground in a tangle of my limbs and looked up at the stranger with horror. A flash of lightning outside allowed me to see for a split second.
He was naked save for my pink towel wrapped around his lower body. If I weren't so frightened, I might have admired his muscles and physique more.
"What are you doing?" he asked me with both anger and curiosity. "Are you crazy? There's a storm out there!" His eyes dropped to the phone clutched tightly in my hand and the lit up screen showing that I was on the line with somebody. "Why are you on the phone?" he asked me in a conversational tone, while I picked myself up and backed away from his slow approach. "Who are you talking with?"
My mouth and throat had gone completely dry, with horror hammering at my chest. I couldn't breathe.
"Who are you talking to?" he shouted and made me jump, kicking my brain and body back into gear.
Turning on the balls of my feet, I tried to run but felt a heavy blow strike me across the back of my head so that I cried out in pain. The phone was wrested from my grasp and hung up. It was also turned off and then tossed across the room, skittering and sliding to a stop beneath the couch.
The lights flickered back on at that moment, reminding me that there was such a thing as light, but it was too late. I couldn't see the features of my assailant. I was kicked back down when I tried to get up and knocked unconscious while the man gave me a faint apology.
The next thing I knew, a policeman was shaking me awake. Groggily, I allowed myself to be sat up and I rubbed the sore back of my head and neck. The policeman sighed with relief.
"Stay here," he cautioned. "We're going to call the man out and search the house."
The pair of policemen shouted into the house, ordering the stranger to make himself known and come out. When there was no reply, they ventured into the house, searching room by room. There was a scuffle, shouting and then silence.
I didn't dare to move or make a noise. What had happened? Had the police caught the man?
Lightning flashed outside and thunder boomed once more. Thankfully it sounded like the storm was finally moving on. The thunder was not as earth shaking or deafening as before. The wind was not quite so strong. Even so, the lights flickered and went out once more, leaving me in dim darkness.
When there was still no sound for a long time, I crept over to the corridor to have a look. I blinked and felt my heart begin hammering at my ribcage again. Both policemen were lying unconscious on the ground.