The Storm

It was dark and raining hard when Elspeth Sanders pulled into the driveway. The old house stood and looked menacing
in the shadows of the lightening that flashed constantly, casting an eerie look about the place. Thunder rumbled deep, shaking the earth under her feet as she stepped out of the car and she could hear the waves crashing against the rocks below. She wished Jonathan was with her but he had to stay in London an extra day and would probably drive over first thing the next morning. They had fallen in love with the old Tudor style mansion the moment they had set eyes on it and bought it immediately. It had fallen into disrepair and they had lovingly restored it in their spare time. This was the first weekend that they would spend together in the house alone. Family and friends had helped to bring the house back to its original state and now, she thought, they would be together just the two of them, a nice peaceful, long weekend, relaxing.
She ran up to the door fumbling in her bag for the keys. Opening the door, she reached for the light switch and turned it on. Nothing. “Damn”she cursed, “Power must be out” Taking off her coat and hanging it behind the door she decided to go straight to bed. Lightening flashed and lit up the large staircase that led to her bedroom. It was an old staircase that they had purchased at an auction with wide steps that led up to the left and right, and Elspeth loved it. It had a granduer look like something out of “Gone with the Wind” one of her favourite movies. Outside, the thunder rumbled closer and the rain came in giant drops making a thunderous sound on the tiled roof. She didn’t like storms and wasn’t looking forward to spending the night alone. She wished again that Jonathan were with her.
As she was about to make her way up the stairs she heard the sound of something breaking in the kitchen. She froze for a moment, listening. There was another crash and she gingerly headed towards the kitchen with only the lightening for guidance. She was nervous and found herself jumpy at the sound of the thunder. Slowly she crept along against the wall feeling her way and stopped outside the kitchen door. With a shaky hand she pushed open the door and went in. There was no one in the kitchen, crossing to the window above the sink she stood on broken glass, crunching it under her feet. She crossed to the drawers and opened one, withdrawing a box of candles and some matches and lit one of them. Holding the candle high she crossed back towards the sink and looked down at the broken glass. Jonathan or someone had obviously left a glass in the dish rack, but she couldn’t work out why it had fallen. Maybe someone was in the house. She felt nervous. The window was shut so it couldn’t have been the wind. What else could have caused the glass to fall and break?
She cleaned up the glass quickly and went back into the foyer listening intently for any other strange noises. If someone were in the house they would have heard her come in the front door and maybe hiding somewhere, waiting for her. Her first thought was to get back in the car and leave but it was raining too hard and the roads would be slippery. She checked the dining room and the living room, everything seemed fine so she went upstairs. Taking the stairs to the left that led to her bedroom she heard something on the stairs behind her. She turned around holding the candle high, lightening flashed and her heart stopped. The shadow on the wall was huge. For a moment Elspeth couldn’t think, she waited for the next lightening strike, her hands trembling trying not to drop the candle. Her nerves got the better off her and she ran to her bedroom hearing fast footsteps behind her, it was making noises as well but above the thunder Elspeth couldn’t distinguish the sound, couldn’t think clearly, it was a sound she had heard before sometime in her life but at this moment she couldn’t think what it would be. Reaching her room she shut the door and sat on the bed, trembling, hoping that whatever or whoever it was would not enter the room. What to do? The phone was downstairs, why hadn’t she tried to ring Jonathan. “Probably not working anyway in this storm,” she thought to herself. She found herself sweating despite the coldness in the room and shaking uncontrollably, her breathing getting shallower as she tried to pull herself together, then slowly the door started to open.
It was an old wooden door and she had forgotten that the latch didn’t work on it. Jonathan was going to repair it when he arrived this weekend. Elspeth was on the verge of sheer panic by now, she looked around the room for something to use as a weapon, there was nothing. “Hide”she told herself “Hide” Under the bed? “No” Behind the curtains? “No” “Where, where?” Blow out the candle. Get in the wardrobe. “Yes, Yes, the wardrobe” She jumped of the bed and reached the wardrobe. As she climbed in and pulled the door shut another bolt of lightening lit up a shadow on the wall.

It was claustrophic in the wardrobe as Elspeth tried to control her breathing. Suddenly it was there outside the wardrobe! She could hear whatever it was trying to find a way in, banging against the door and trying to get the door opened from the bottom. Elspeth thought that was strange. Why should something so big be trying to get the door opened from the bottom? Why didn’t it just wrench the door off its hinges? She huddled into the corner trying to blend in and not being seen, her heart racing as the door opened a little way then slammed shut again. Whoever or whatever was outside was trying desperately to get in the wardrobe as it pulled at the door furiously. Suddenly the door flew open and Elspeth screamed as the lightening flashed and large green eyes stared at her, she gasped and gulped trying hard to breathe but she couldn’t catch her breath. The pain in her chest was unbearable and everything went blurry before she passed out.

The next morning the sky was clear as Jonathon pulled into the driveway. He had left London early to beat the city traffic and cruised along the highway, humming along with the radio. He was looking forward to today. The drive was pleasant and there was not much traffic once he was out of the city. In two and quarter hours he arrived at the house. He stretched as he got out of the car and breathed in the fresh sea air and listened to the waves crashing gently against the rocks below. Looking around the garden, he thought how nice it looked. Snapdragons and daffodils wavered gently amidst the pansies and daisies, a mass of colour that heralded the coming spring. Swallows and wrens darted in and out of the flowerbeds taking their sweet nectar and twittering with delight. Jonathon walked at a steady pace up the front steps, inserted his key into the lock and opened the door. It was so quiet in the house. Leaving the door ajar he called her name. “Elspeth. ..Darling I am here” There was no reply so he called again. When he got no response he placed his keys on a small table near the door and went and looked in the downstairs rooms before heading up the staircase.
He went directly to the master bedroom and entered the room. The bed looked like it hadn’t been slept in and thought maybe Elspeth had got up early, made the bed and had gone for a walk. He turned towards the wardrobe, stopping in his tracks he took in the sight of Elspeth curled up inside the wardrobe, a look of fear on her face. He gently spoke her name, she didn’t respond. He felt weak and sick inside as he reached down a hand and touched her face. She was cold, her eyes stared blankly through him as he closed them and then he made his way back downstairs. Jonathon took a few deep breaths before going back out to the car. He wasn’t sure what his reaction should be, he felt kind of numb. A part of him had also been taken and nothing could replace that. The years they had together, and the hard work it took them to buy the house so they could retire in peace, far from the hussle of the city. He shook the thoughts from his head as he crossed back to the car and opened the passenger door.
“You can come in now” he smiled taking the hand of his passenger
She was tall and slim and stretched her long legs as she took his hand gently and got out of the car. She gave him a kiss on the cheek and spoke. “It worked then?”
“Yes” he replied surprised at his lack of remorse.
“Comes in handy working with the weather bureau.” She said
“Mmm. Poor Elspeth. She was always afraid of storms and things that go bump in the night and her asthma helped a lot.
The girl laughed. “I had better go find Tiger. He will be starving by now after being locked inside for days. “You did buy cat food didn’t you?”