Blackout

Air Raid

Sheer terror. That was all Amanda Moore felt that night.
The sirens had gone off again, with that awful wailing sound going on for hours on end. She was under the little wooden table in the kitchen, shaking like a leaf and thoughts racing through her mind. Was help ever going to come? Would those dreadful sirens ever stop? Was she going to die? She truly didn't know. Glass was scattered across the kitchen floor, the ground was shaking, and she was completely alone. Her husband, a RAF pilot, was dead, as she had been told the week before. Shot down in his plane, after a long dogfight. Her parents had been evacuated a while ago to Cornwall. She believed that she would never see them again now.
It seemed everyone else had already made it to the shelters, but now it was too late to go out there. Debris was scattering everywhere and she was too terrified to draw up her blackout curtain to take a look at what was going on out there. She might have seen a dead body, which made her feel sick, or if someone could see her. The curtain was there for a reason. She couldn't do anything but simply wait and hope that maybe she would come out of this alive.
All of a sudden, a thunderous banging started at her door. She nearly jumped out of her skin, and made for under the table again, heart racing. She couldn't see a thing, but still found her way, and just hoped for someone.
The door suddenly broke down and she nearly screamed. She was too nervous to open her eyes, so she just rocked herself on the floor and squeezed her eyes shut, holding her breath. Before the door slammed shut again, she caught a glimpse of the blood red sky, filled with smoke and the roar of planes.
Amanda had to take a breath, or she felt she would faint. As soon as she did, she heard a footstep. Or she thought she did. Her heart was pounding now, her eyes wide staring into the hallway, which was in complete blackness.
Who was there? Were they here to help?
She didn't hear a footstep again that night.
Immediately, after she thought she was finally safe, a sharp pain pierced her back.
Amanda sat there, still staring, not quite believing anything. The pain grew and she threw her head back and screamed and cried with all of her might. She tried to move but she felt so weak and her legs stopped working because of how petrified she was, like it was a nightmare. She was being held down by something now, and she felt heavy, warm breath on the back of her neck. Everything went black.
Amanda never came out from under that table.