Sudden Darkness: a short story

Everything about our meeting was so rapid. One minute it was just gloomy and over cast. The next, it was pitch black.

The sudden darkness left me reeling. I put out a hand for balance and felt the cool, smooth plastic of the manikin’s bare chest beneath my palm. I tried blinking once, twice.

Nothing happened. The darkness remained.

I dug around in my pocket with my other hand, searching for my phone. A sudden jolt of panic raced along my nerves as my hand came up empty. I checked the other pocket and only found my wallet. Had I dropped my phone?

“A TORNADO HAS BEEN SPOTTED ON THE GROUND IN DOVER COUNTY. SEEK SHELTER IMMEDIATELY.” I could hear a weather radio droning on somewhere near the fitting rooms, but with no phone to light my way, there was no way I was going to be able to safely navigate the store, let alone find suitable shelter.

I had been standing near the checkout counter. It was just beyond the manikin. I reached forward, expecting the touch of the cool, smooth glass.

Instead, my hand made contact with a very hot substance that felt eerily like human skin. I couldn’t help it. I screamed bloody murder.

“Liam?” A light flashed from the direction of the weather radio. “Everything okay up there?”

In the glaring light I took in a tall, lanky boy with dark hair. He wore a vest embroidered with the store’s name and his right below it. He made eye contact with me and smiled, patting my hand gently as it rested against his bicep.

I had screamed, but not pulled away.

In my distress, my fear of the dark had surmounted my fear of unexpectedly touching another human body.

“Liam?” The light was slowly making its way toward us. Now that my eyes had adjusted, I realized that the light was rather far off. The voice calling out was suddenly muttering something under its breath. From the tone, I assumed he was cursing.

Liam patted my hand again and pointed in the direction of the light before slowly pulling me toward the back of the store. He didn’t say a word. And he didn’t forcibly move me. He just began walking and I didn’t let go of him.

The warmth of his arm, now that I had verified that it belonged to a normal human and not some ghoul that resided in my darkest nightmares, was suddenly calming. With his guidance I no longer felt like a passenger overboard, adrift in the sea of darkness. His presence moored me and I was lulled into a sense of contentment despite the torrential storm pounding on the roof of the department store.

Before I knew it, the flashlight beam was no longer dancing along in the distance, but glaring directly in my eyes.

“What kind of dark magic is this, Liam?” Once my eyes adjusted, I read the vest of the man calling out to Liam. His name was Dan and he was apparently the store manager. “Only you could scare a girl half to death and still have her clinging to you like you’re some kind of savior.”

I expected Liam to respond, but again, he didn’t say a word.

I wanted to tell Liam’s manager that it had been an accident. But before I could, Dan started talking again. “Don’t give me any of that crap. I heard her scream and I know it was because you were creeping around in the dark not saying anything.”

Confused, my gaze passed between Liam and his manager. Liam wasn’t saying a word, and yet Dan was responding as if he had.

Dan’s eyes narrowed as he spoke again. “Don’t get smart with me, boy! I am well aware that it wouldn’t have done you any good to try saying something in the dark.”

Liam moved his hands and suddenly it clicked. Liam was signing.

“No. Don’t worry about it. I will locate the rest of the stranded shoppers. Just escort her to the shelter and try to detach yourself from her at some point. Preferably sooner rather than later. You’re still on the clock, not a date.”

I felt my face flush indignantly. I was standing right in front of the man! Out of sheer frustration I snatched the flashlight from his hands and flicked it off.

“Let’s see how you navigate in the dark, Danny Boy,” I retorted hotly.

“Give me back my flashlight this instant!”

I dropped it forcefully on the floor before tugging on Liam’s arm. “Come on, Liam. Let’s go make out in the fitting room.”

Dan cursed darkly from behind me. “I have half a notion to toss you out into the storm, you little punk!”

“First you’d have to find me,” I responded darkly. “Besides, isn’t that against the law or something during a tornado?”

Liam squeezed my arm gently before dropping his hand to mine. He gently attempted to guide me away from Dan. He was probably trying to steer me toward safety, or the fitting room.

I lowered my voice and whispered in what I hoped was the general direction of his ear, “Just so you know, I was kidding about making out in the fitting room.”

He squeezed my hand and kept walking.

Eventually we made our way to a door, adjacent to the fitting rooms. A small emergency light was lit above it, allowing me to read the sign that read, “Employees Only”. There were a few other people huddled around a small camping lantern. Some of them were wearing employee vests like Liam and Dan. Others were customers like me.

Liam squeezed my hand once more before pointing at the small circle of people. I tried to pull him toward the circle with me, but he shook his head and dropped my hand. His hands moved rapidly, signing something I couldn’t understand.

One of the other employees translated for me, but I didn’t take my eyes off of Liam. “He says he has to go back and find Dan.”

“You could just leave him out there,” I offered.

Liam smiled, but shook his head again, hands moving once more.

“He says he has to go make amends. He really can’t afford to lose his job. But he will be right back.” Liam nodded to his coworker, seemingly satisfied with her translation, before waving to me.

I wish I had known then that it had been a wave good bye, and not see you later.

I never did see him again. Liam, my anchor in a stormy sea of darkness...
Maybe he lost his job because of me—one he couldn’t afford to lose. Maybe he got a better job. Or maybe, like Dan, he lost his life in that storm.