If it weren’t for the sound of Andy in the kitchen, Lilith could close her eyes and pretend she was still in the city. The storm had returned in full force. The wind howled against the house washing the dirt from the siding. Lilith leaned into the couch braiding the end of her hair over her shoulder.
Andy, on edge after seeing the backyard slowly fill with inches of water, starting rolling the cigarette between his lips. He had headphones in trying to drown out the rain. The music was loud enough to hear from the next room.
“I don’t mind you hanging out.”
He sponged off the plate in his hand and ran it under the water. He refused to even look down at the tap. He picked up the next dish and took in a deep breath. Andy had tried getting drunk before storms, but it just made the nightmares worse.
“And talking in your sleep.”
His hand touched the bottom of the sink and he swished it around, but there were no more dishes. He pulled the plug. He dried his hands off on a dishtowel and threw it on the counter where it slipped and fell to the floor.
“It doesn’t matter where you’ve been.”
Andy shut his eyes and leaned against the table. He put his hand down and took another long drag before blowing it out his nose. The rumble of the storm echoed through the furniture. There was no escape.
Lilith grabbed onto his arm and Andy’s skin trembled. She could feel the shock reverberate up to her shoulder. He jumped around and stared down at her with moon sized eyes. They looked like a child’s eyes. Deep and shimmering.
“What?” He spat, but his voice nearly broke. Andy sucked in again and His cigarette hit bottom. With his two fingers, he flicked it across the room into the sink. It hit with a dink.
“I-” Lilith pulled her arms back and watched Andy’s eyes dart around the room. “I was going to ask if you were cooking-. Are you alright?” His eyes stopped on her and a shimmer of him flashed through them.
“Shut up.” He snapped. There was a pause and Andy opened his mouth, but the lights flickered and clicked off. Everything went still. Lilith could only hear the rain and Andy’s music.
Andy’s boney fingers snatched onto her shoulder and she heard him pull out one of his earbuds. The music got louder and dropped away. He pulled her closer to him then leaned down near her ear.
“To your room.” He said walking behind her. Even his footsteps were soft and unsure. A weak spot in his brick wall.
Lilith held out her arms and tried to trust in Andy’s blind leading. She felt the walls pass her and Andy paused to throw out his leg. It smacked against a door and a deep angry grumble came from deep inside.
“Power’s out. Get up.” Andy shoved her again and jerked her around just as she almost smacked into the doorframe. Lilith took another step and slipped. Her hand squeezed Andy’s and he pulled her back up. Her free hand touched his chest and flattened. She had no idea where or how far from anything she was.
The other earbud fell out and Andy ran his hand up her back. They stood quietly in the room for a moment. The rain was like ocean waves. He moved her closer to him and she could feel his legs.
“Just let me walk you. I know where I’m going.” He said softly moving his legs so they lightly pushed against hers. She stepped in time with him until the bed brushed against her back. Lilith couldn’t see anything. The entire house was flooded with black.
His hand touched her jaw and she could feel his warmth on the side of her face. The music from his earbuds barely thrummed through the air.
“If you move, I’ll know.” Andy guides his finger over her lips and immediately grabs her throat. She gasps for a breath and claws at his tightening fingers. His hand nearly wraps around her.
“You can’t run from me in the dark.” Both of his hands squeeze and Lilith’s clawing becomes desperate. He runs the side of his face over hers and a content rumbling comes from deep inside him. Andy wanted Tom out of the house. He wanted a chase in the dark. Anything to get rid of the hunger.
Andy dropped Lilith on the bed and she sucked in. The sound of her struggle made him feel alive. She was better than the pills. They made the world fade away and she made it worth living in.
That was almost sweet. He was sure Lilith wished he didn’t live in it at all. Maybe he’d manage to give up pain pills after all. When he started through her door a thought crept into his mind that made him smile.
Andy left her bedroom door open as he crossed the hallway. Tom was leering just outside his bedroom holding a flashlight. He was tapping it impatiently on the wall. Tap. Tap. Tap.
“You didn’t shut the door.”
“Shut up and help me find the fucking candles.” Andy waited a second then grinned before snatching the flashlight and pointing it at the end of the hall.
It was empty. Lilith was sitting quietly in her room on the bed. Better than running into a wall or losing a few teeth tripping over a table. Andy walked over to the table holding a large vase and pulled open the drawer. There was a small package of unopened short pillar candles. He ripped one out and sat it on the table before lighting it.
“Sorry about the table Grams,” he whispered to himself before taking a look at the picture on the wall.
It barely lit the hallway. Outside, the wind was howling and the trees were throwing branches and leaves to the ground in mass. It’d be a hard day of cleaning it up after everything dried back out. All the curtains in the living room were pulled shut. They couldn’t see what it looked like but they could tell it was pitch black.
“Give me those. I’ll set them up. Go find something to cook. I’m starving.”
Tom took the candles and stuck them around the living room before starting up the fireplace. It took a few minutes before the wood he had stacked started to burn. A soft orange glow lit everything up. The crackling of the fire didn’t even begin to match up with the storm outside.
The doors were shaking, suctioning in and out with the wind change. Rain pelted the windows like hail. Now and then the windows would light up and thunder would shake the whole house. There was no point in keeping tabs on Lilith. She couldn’t make it five feet before the water would wash her away.
Tom started towards her room holding a candle in his hands. It was a big scented candle in a thick heavy glass jar. When he leaned around the corner, Lilith looked up. He gestured for her to come and slowly she got off the bed and followed. He pointed to the couch and she sat down in front of it. The fire felt warm and smelled like pine.
“Stay right here, alright? Are you cold?” Tom didn’t wait. He could see her digging her fingers into her sides. She was small and cold natured. The clothes they had gotten her probably weren’t warm enough for the upcoming winter. He pulled a blanket off the back of the couch and wrapped it around her. After a few minutes, she pulled it tighter and stared off into the flames.
Lilith watched as Tom waited at the front door looking through the window. He stood there unmoving with the curtain barely pulled open. He watched the clouds roll across the sky for what felt like hours. He didn’t even take his eyes off the outside when Andy came in and updated him about dinner and walked off to the bathroom.
Lilith watched the bathroom door shut and checked Tom. She had plans to make or break it to Andy’s room across the kitchen. She snuck down and pushed off her blanket. He couldn’t see her over the couch and hadn’t checked since he walked to the window. She quickly crossed into the kitchen and got onto her feet. The floor was icy cold.
Andy’s bedroom wasn’t lit but the door was wide open. She slowly made her way around the dining table and towards the pitch black doorway. Inside she checked behind her for Tom or Andy.
Neither of them was there.
Quickly she reached back and pulled the door shut. She didn’t want the click to alarm anyone. As fast as she could she opened the curtain and looked around the room. It was green with a big bed against the wall, a dresser against the opposite wall, a large mirror at the end of the bed, and a closet door at the end of the room.
She searched over the dresser and inside the first few drawers desperate to find her phone. She had seen Tom hand it to Andy the next day. It had to be somewhere in there.
The next two drawers had nothing but clothes inside. However, the next one had something else. A black pocket knife. She snatched it up and shoved it into her front pocket and went to the next drawer. She gasped and picked up her phone. It felt like a brick. She didn’t remember it being so heavy before.
Suddenly she heard Andy call out. Lilith gripped the phone in her hand and searched around for somewhere to hide. She threw the drawer shut and dropped to the floor as quietly as possible. She grabbed the underside of his bed and slid under it.
The door opened just as she made her way to the back. She could see Andy’s boots step into the near darkness and shut the door behind him. A spark of light glowed in the room and he set down a candle.
“I know where you are.” His voice was quiet as a whisper as he took his first slow step towards the dresser. “I can feel your heart racing.”
Lilith held her hand to her mouth and struggled to take in a breath. What would Andy do when he found her under here? He was right about her heart racing. What was her plan after finding her phone anyway? This was a ridiculous idea.
“Tom’s gonna go outside to start the generator and I’m going to hunt you down in the dark before he gets back. I’ll give you ten seconds to run.” She could feel tears drip down her face.
“So I’d get out from under that bed and run.” Her heart squeezed and nearly stopped. She scrambled out, barely looking in his hungry eyed direction before sprinting through the living room and down the hall.
But she didn’t make it. Andy grabbed a fist full of her hair and threw her into Tom’s room. She hit the floor and screamed only to have it cut in half when Andy stomped down on her stomach. Bile rose in her throat.
“You’re slow.” He reared back and kicked her. He kicked her again and again watching her curl up on the carpet.
He stepped down on her wrist and she let go of her phone. She looked over towards it and went to grab it but was too late. Andy stomped it. The screen verbally cracked. It sounded like small bones under his thick sole. He stomped on it again and again until one of the side buttons popped off and the glass was falling out.
“You’re never leaving here. You’ll die in this house. I’ll make sure of it.”
Andy spit on her and laughed walking out of the room.
“Clean that up.”
ns 15.158.61.39da2
