The Lights Came On

“What happened?” Michelle asked as she moved to try to find her phone to see what she might be able to see in the darkness. Her hands frantically searched for the device that would literally shed light in the darkness. “I found it,” she said with joyful glee.

“I’m not sure what happened. What time is it?” David asked as he leaned over to look at her phone.

“It’s midnight,” she replied. “Exactly midnight,”

He looked at the phone and turned back towards her. In the darkness, her eyes seemed hollow and empty. Just off in the distance, he thought he saw two red eyes staring at him from just outside the room. This startled him and he found himself falling back before he realized what happened. “Agh,” he cried as he stumbled. His midsize frame wasn't agile enough to prevent the fall as he found himself crashing onto the floor of their living room.

“Are you alright?” She asked him with a worried expression on her face. Her dulled eyes ached as she moved towards him as quickly as she could. Once there, she wrapped her arms around him and handed him her hand to lift himself from the ground.

“I…” he shook his head. “Yeah, I just thought I saw the strangest thing. I got to admit, this is all pretty creepy,” he chuckled nervously as he grabbed ahold of her hand and lifted himself up. He ran his hand through his dirty blond hair and smiled at her with his signature crooked smile.

“What do you think you saw?” she asked inquisitively. She needed to know what he saw because she had grown to feel so powerless. She needed some semblance of validation that what she was seeing wasn’t all in her head. If they shared these visions perhaps she wasn’t losing her mind. She leaned closer towards him to ease his anxiety in hopes of getting him to open up to her. David’s eyes fell somewhere off in the distance. They were searching. She knew the look well. “David?” she whispered his name like a lullaby. His frantic eyes moved from around the room and fell on hers.

“Baby, it’s nothing, it was just…” his words fell from his lips and the sound lingered in the air. “I thought I saw these red eyes that you are always talking about. I think I might be losing it. Isn’t that insane?” he asked. Her gaze deepened as a part of her soul ushered in a wave of peace she hadn’t felt in a long time.

“Not at all,” she said smiling and leaned in to kiss him. The kiss was gentle and desperate. It was hungry yet satiated. She poured every ounce of love and affection she had towards him into this kiss. She didn’t want it to end. She wanted for this moment to last forever. The moment when she no longer felt alone and isolated. The moment when the world made sense and she could be free from her demons. The demons that resided inside of her and around her. The demons that had taken everything she had. Only now, was it clear that they hadn’t taken everything. They hadn’t taken her sanity and they hadn’t taken David. With him, she had everything that she needed.

“Why?” he asked as her lips slowly peeled away from his.

“Because...I’ve seen them too,”

“You have? I thought you were just talking about them. You know like with your sister and whatnot. I'm sorry. I didn't realize,” he said with a frown on his face and saddened eyes. He searched her eyes for the truth that he secretly hoped he wouldn't find. If her words were true he didn't know what that would mean or how they would move forward. He secretly prayed that this was just an illusion, a trick of light and that he could replicate it somehow and put both of their minds to rest.

“Yes,” she said in almost a whisper. Her dark brown hair fell on her face and her eyes widened.

“Where?" The words escaped his lips before he realized what he had done. He hadn't really wanted the answer. It was too late.

“Everywhere,” and with the utterance of that word all of the lights in the house came back on.