The sound was faint, coming from the speaker just outside the pantry door.

“You made your choice,” Julian said.

Suddenly, a loud click echoed through the walls.

It sounded like a breaker flipping outside.

The lights didn’t just flicker.

They died completely.

The hum of the refrigerator stopped.

The blue light of the security monitor vanished.

The house was plunged into total, absolute darkness.

“What the hell?” Harris muttered.

He swung his flashlight toward the kitchen.

But the beam of light didn’t reach the doorway.

In the silence, I heard a heavy rustling sound outside the kitchen window.

It sounded like footsteps in the wet gravel.

Someone was moving outside, right by the main power box.

I grabbed the heavy edge of the pantry door.

I slammed it shut.

The lock clicked into place.

The heavy steel deadbolt slid into the frame.

I was alone in the dark.

Harris screamed my name from the other side.

Then, I heard a metallic scraping sound against the kitchen window.

I backed away until my spine hit the cold wire shelving.

A jar of preserved lemons rattled against a tin of flour.