The Midnight Man

Chapter 2: Be Afraid of The Dark (Sal's POV)

 

            Quickly, we all lit our candles well under the ten second limit. The entire house was pitch black. The white noise of the air conditioner in the living room was silenced. The only sound was our breathing.

            “What happened?” Amber asked.

            “The power must have gone out.” Laura observed. I walked past Brando, and into the living room. I pressed the button on the air conditioner. As always, with a large rumble, it came on. The machine blasted me with its wonderfully cool air. I turned back to Laura.

            “The A.C. is still working.” I showed. Gabi gasped with realization.

            “It’s the Midnight Man!” she exclaimed. “He’s here. He must have shut the lights off.” I couldn’t see Laura, but based on her tone, I’m pretty sure she rolled her eyes.

            “Why wouldn’t he cut the power?” she asked. “Wouldn’t he want to keep it dark?”

            “No.” Brando said. “He wants us to lose. He’s giving us the choice to turn on the lights later on so we’ll lose.”

            “Well we’re not gonna lose.” I said.

            “Besides, are we supposed to be afraid of the dark?” Gabi asked. “Are we five?” Our candles’ combined light was enough to light half of my living room. I scanned it, and I could see no Midnight Man. The house didn’t feel any different. The only difference was the deafening silence. I uttered words just to make it stop.

            “So what do we do now?”

            “We just need to avoid him for the next five and a half hours.” Brando said.

            “So he’s somewhere in the house?” Amber asked. I nodded my head. She looked around nervously.

            “Maybe we should go look for him.” Gabi said. We all exchanged looks of nervousness.

            “Gabi, I don’t think that’s a good idea.” I said.

            “Yeah, something tells me he’ll find us.” Amber said. Gabi rolled her eyes, and started toward the stairs.

            “Where are you going?” Laura asked. Gabi slowly turned back to us.

            “I’m bored, and I’m not just sitting here for five hours.” She ran up the stairs before we could object. The absence of her candle made the room noticeably darker. Everyone’s faces radiated an eerie glow.

            “Should we go after her?” Brando asked.

            “She’s got her candle, matches, and salt.” I explained. “She’ll be fine.” Before anyone could say anything further, a loud crash from upstairs broke the silence in a way I did not like. We all jumped at the sound of it. Our heads turned toward the steps ominously.

            “G-Gabi?” I said. There was no answer. I called her name again. The silence in place of a response seemed to mock me. We all made our way toward the steps, but somewhere in the process, our slow pace turned into unorganized sprinting. We looked around, but there was no sign of our friend. I ran into my parents’ room. “Gabi! Where are you?” I yelled.

            “I’m right here.” She said from a dark corner. Frightened by the sudden answer, I turned around with a jump. Her candle’s fire was dim, but still lit. She was on the ground, picking up shards of glass with an annoyed expression.