Rightfully His

35.

All rights reserved...@brightlights101

The next day Andrea drove to Matteo's without an ounce of sleep from the prior night. Her eyes were blood shot and her face was puffy and swollen.

She stayed as long as she could at her parents, but the moment the sun started setting she wanted to get home, in hope that he was there.

She pulls into the garage noticing that his car was still gone. She peaks at her phone, no text and no missed calls. There was a pit in her stomach that wouldn't go away. All she hoped was that he was still alive somewhere out there.

Once getting into the foyer, the entire house was completely dark. She runs her hand across the wall, looking for the light switch.

Her eyes try to readjust to the lighting. She kicks off her shoes and hangs up her purse. She looks down the hallway at his office. She takes long strides hoping he might be inside. But once she got to the door, there was no light coming from underneath. She pushes it open and turns on the light: empty.

She closes the door and walks into the living room. Throwing some chopped up firewood into the fireplace and lights a match, throwing it in. She makes a makeshift bed, having little energy to climb stairs. Her false labor pains grow gradually. Unable to sleep, she watches the flames dance with her head on a pillow and the blankets tucked underneath her chin.

1:00am

All the power in the house shuts off. The spot lights outside flash on thanks to the smart purchase of a generator.

Completely unaware and in a deep sleep, Andrea hadn't noticed. The fire was the only source of light in the house with a shadow appearing on the wall.

Suddenly, the dogs outside began barking. It was loud enough to wake her up. She had never heard them bark before which startled her immediately.

She sat up, wiping at her eyes and noticing that the foyer light was off but there were bright lights shining in through the backyard patio door. Using the couch to pick herself up, she walks to the open glass back door, seeing a frenzy of men and dogs running around.

Fear seeped into her. Not understanding what was going on she rushes to her phone. But there was no signal.

"Damnit," she curses. She begins to breathe heavily, working herself up to the point of hyperventilating.

"It's okay, Andrea," she tries to work through her panic. "Just breathe. Everything is okay. You're a big girl, just go out and ask them what's happening."

Tossing her phone back onto the couch she walks back to the patio window. She waves her hands and arms trying to get someone's attention before she attempted to go outside when it's close to being pitch black. She didn't want them to think she was an intruder.

"Hello!" She hops around. "I'm over here! Please look this way! Hello!" She even taps and knocks on the glass.

After a minute of jumping around she knew her second option will now have to go into effect. She makes her attempt and pulls on the handle. It doesn't budge. Her eyebrows furrow together. She tries again. Nothing.

"No, no, no," the realization dawns on her. "Since the power cut out that means the house went into an automatic lockdown. And I don't have the override code. He said this would never happen," she groans out of frustration and anger.