Page 68 of Art of Love

Lightning flashed and less than a second later, a boom of thunder made her flinch as it rattled the dishes in the cupboards.

“Okay,” she whispered, as the lights flickered once and went dark. The light from the television went out, sending the entire house into darkness.

Now, the only light was the candle she held in her shaky hands.

“No ghosts. No murderers. Just a storm,” she told herself softly.

She double-checked the front door, then moved to the kitchen to check the back door. That’s when she heard it.

The sound of a floorboard creaking somewhere from inside the large house.

She froze.

The breath she’d just taken was frozen in her lungs.

It hadn’t come from the kitchen or the TV, since it was still off, along with everything else in the massive house.

Seconds ticked by and she heard the generator kick on outside for the lighthouse. The bright light swung around outside the windows, temporarily lighting portions of the rooms.

Shadows played over spaces, making everything ominous.

Had the noise come from somewhere deeper in the house. Had it been her imagination?

Her heartbeat thundered louder than the storm as she reached slowly into the drawer, closing her hand around the handle of the heavy flashlight that she had seen in there when she was looking for a can opener.

It wasn’t her gun, which was tucked in her purse back in the room she would be sharing with Abe, along with her cell phone. In a pinch, the heavy flashlight would have to do.

She heard another floor board creaking and glanced to where Abe was still fast asleep. She knew that his pain meds would keep him out for hours at a time. Since he’d taken them shortly after lunch, he would be out for at least another hour.

She doubted there was time to creep down the hallway and get her gun or her cell phone. His phone had been lost in the accident and they hadn’t replaced it yet.

Fear had her heading towards the living room, where Abe was.

Another sound. This one louder. A creak of wood. A deliberate step.

Someone really was inside the house.

Lightning flashed, illuminating the hallway.

For a second, just a second, she thought she saw an outline of a person, but no, it couldn’t be. A man in a sailor’s outfit. The shadows were playing tricks on her.

Then another flash and she saw a different shadow retreating around the corner near the bedrooms.

She turned off the flashlight, relying on the storm’s intermittent flashes and the lighthouse’s bright light to guide her.

The air felt electric. Charged.

She crept forward, heart pounding in her throat. She purposely put herself between the sounds and Abe, willing to risk everything to protect the man she loved. Behind her, Abe stirred.

“Dylan?” His voice was groggy.

She turned just enough to whisper, “Stay there. Someone’s here.”

That sobered him instantly.

She heard the rustle of the blanket, the soft thump as he reached for his crutches, but she shook her head fiercely. “Don’t move,” she hissed.

There was a crash from the back of the house as something fell or was knocked over. Then silence.