Darkness Falls

Rain pounded Arthur Green’s face as he worked his way to the power plant on the edge of town. Using a car would have made him traceable, walking didn’t. This was the only way to save her. The only way to make sure she got home safe. He had thought his criminal days were past him. Apparently they weren’t. His hand in his pocket fingered the list of instructions that he was supposed to comply with. 

He had gotten home that afternoon from work ready to come in the sweet smell of a homemade dinner. Instead he had found a kicked-in door and a note telling him that if he didn’t follow the instructions, his wife would be dead. 

He had immediately jumped into action. He would do anything to get his wife back, even murder. Thankfully it was nothing too drastic, just cut the power to the entire city. He worried however what they had planned once the city was down. 

Nowadays, electricity was what kept the city running. Phones, lights, televisions: everything that kept order in society. Once the lights were out, that's when the trouble started. He would know, he used to be one of those people. But not anymore. His wife had changed all of that. Emily Green, the beautiful woman who had convinced him to change his ways. The woman who told him there was more to life than being a criminal. 

He had to get her back. There was nothing more to it. He would take down the power a thousand times over if it meant his Emily would be safe. As he neared the power plant he became cautious that someone was watching him. He looked around. There was no one. It was nearly midnight now and the city was far behind him. 

He found his way to the center of the power source, not knowing how to proceed. He dug a lighter out of his pocket, ready to set the place aflame. 

“Wait!” He heard a voice call behind him.

He turned around, struggling to see in the darkness. He knew it wasn’t a cop. If it was there would be a flashlight. Instead, all he could see was a dark silhouette a few steps in front of him.

“Who are you?” Arthur asked, pulling his hood down farther. 

“I was sent to stop you from making a mistake you will never forget.” The figure stepped closer.

Arthur put a hand into his pocket, ready to pull out a knife if the man persisted. “I’m just going to take out the power. That is not that big of a mistake.”

“What do you think will happen when all the lights go out. What monsters appear when there is total darkness. All the thugs on the street will come out. No one will feel safe. Besides, if you blow this place up, how long do you think it will be before they get the power back on? How long could this society survive without access to electricity?”

Arthur wasn’t hearing it. He wanted his wife back, no matter the cost. He didn’t understand what the big deal was about losing power. He had spent most of his life on the streets owning nothing but the clothes on his back. 

“What did they offer you?” The voice asked from the darkness. 

Arthur didn’t reply. What was this guy’s deal? Why did he care what the men had offered for the power outage. 

“Was it money, or a loved one?” The shadow coaxed. It paused and then said, “If it was money, I can offer you ten times what they are offering. If it was a loved one… I can help get them back.”

“I don’t need your help,” Arthur spat, turning away. It was clear this man didn’t want to fight. “I have a job, and once I do it, she goes free.”

“You don’t have to do this. There is another way.”

“Stop saying that!” Arthur wheeled around, his blood boiled. He was done talking. He was ready to get it over with. He wouldn’t stand for this guy anymore. He turned around and flicked the lighter open. He threw it in a jumble of wires and started to run away. He could feel the heat behind him as he ran. He turned back and saw the dark shadow get thrown into the air. He turned but then something ran into him, hard and hot, knocking him off balance. He flew through the air and then it all went dark. 

♢♢♢

He woke up on the cement with a raging headache. The air smelled of smoke and burning metal. He slowly got to his feet and looked around. Pieces of metal littered the ground close to where he had been standing. Any closer and he would be dead or seriously injured. 

The cops were beginning to arrive even though it was early in the morning. It seemed odd that they hadn’t appeared earlier. Arthur pressed a hand to his head. It was pounding so hard that he could barely see.

He tried to walk in a straight line to where the cops had started getting out of the cars. An officer started waving others over as Arthur got closer. 

“Hey, do you know anything about this? Knocked the power out of the whole city. We got the back-up generators going but they’re not going to last long,” The officer asked him.

Arthur shook his head, the officers were blurring in and out. 

“You okay? You don’t look that good,” The same officer asked as the others ran out to assess the damage.

“I think I have a concussion,” Arthur managed. 

“We can get you to the hospital. Say, what brings you all the way out here. Where’s your car?” 

“I was out walking. I heard an explosion and then I got knocked out. I saw a man though, in the explosion.”

The officer nodded and then walked away towards the wreckage. Arthur sat down and leaned against the car. He knew that the man he had been talking to had to still be in the wreckage. He had looked back and seen him get thrown away. There was no way that man was still alive. 

There have been no casualties seen in the wreckage. There must have been no one there. We are still looking, but it seems as though the whole place was evacuated before getting blown up. The police officer was relaying the message to everyone. 

That was not right, Arthur thought. He had been talking to someone in the power plant. Where was the man? Surely he couldn’t have walked away from an explosion like that. 

He got a ride home from the officer after refusing to go to the hospital. The splitting headache had gone down to a dull rumble. He threw open the newly repaired door of the house to see his wife sitting on the couch. 

“Emily!” He cried, running and crouching down in front of her. “Emily, are you all right? They didn’t hurt you? Please tell me they didn’t hurt you.”

“I’m fine Arthur. What is all this nonsense about?”

“Emily, they took you. Yesterday, don’t you remember?”

Emily laughed. “Honey, you must have hit your head really hard. Come, let me look at it.”

Arthur let her lead him to the counter but his head was spinning. How did she not remember. She had to have remembered. Unless… it didn’t happen at all. Was it possible that he made the whole thing up. He felt in his pocket for the instructions that he had neglected to follow the night before. They weren’t there. Was it possible they fell out? And the door, the door hadn’t been broken. And Emily, she didn’t remember. And the man, the man that had tried to convince him to stop. Had he imagined that too? 

“Honey, what’s wrong? I know that there is no power, but why are you acting so strange?” Emily put a hand to his face and looked into his eyes. 

Arthur looked into her eyes, unable to think of anything to say. What was happening?

“Arthur, what happened?” She asked.

“I don’t know,” He whispered and collapsed into her arms.