“When you gonna get the lights on again?” Jerry asked. “It’s like Saturday Night Fever in here.” He swept his penlight around the room, strobing the low-hung, suspended ceiling like a disco hall. Movie posters of a disgruntled-looking Deniro and an uncomfortable-looking Ben Stiller lit up and disappeared as the light passed over them.
“If it is, you’re no John Travolta!” Ben walked across to the far side of the office, behind the IKEA computer desk and towards the fuse box. He didn’t know anything about electrics and he was hoping to flick a switch and be done with it. Likely, it would be more complicated than that.
Before the power had gone off, Ben had been watching the news with Jerry (well, to be more honest, Jerry was waiting for a re-run of The Matrix to come on). The reports had said that the country’s infrastructure was expected to be affected by the snow for several more days and that blackouts were likely as people’s heating usages rose to monumental amounts. It didn’t bother Ben too much, so long as nothing happened to his father’s store whilst he was in charge of it; that was the main thing. The way he saw it, people just loved an excuse to panic, and the snow was their most recent fixation. You wouldn’t catch him freaking out though. Ben’s father had taught him better than that; taught him about being a man, and about how business came first.
Before anything else.
Before silly little friendships with that imbecile, Jerry.
Ben shook his father’s words out of his head and pulled out his keys from his pocket, sifting through them one by one.
There must be twenty keys here! I don’t even know what Dad uses most of them for. I’m sure one of them is for the fuse box though. It’s a little silver one if I remember correctly…
Earlier, he and Jerry had become concerned by the amount of snow that had been falling throughout the day – especially as it seemed to be worldwide (was that even possible?) – and, when it had started to pile up above knee height, the two of them had gone across to the supermarket down the lane – which was also, surprisingly, open – to stock up on snacks and beers in case they got stuck there. They were willing to wait it out if they had to, but Ben hoped Jerry could keep his exuberance under control during that time. His best friend had a knack for breaking things. Ben called it the Jerry-effect.
Ben swung open the fuse cabinet and flicked open his monogrammed lighter. He’d stopped smoking months ago but it had been a present from his father – and they were too few and far between to just go discarding them. His eyes glazed for a second as they adjusted to the light and, when his vision finally compensated, he blinked, unsure of what he was seeing. From the look of things, the entire fuse box had burnt out and melted in a flash of intense heat. It was a mess and smelt like singed rubber. It made no sense at all. Wasn’t the whole point of having fuses to prevent things like this? Power surges and whatnot? There wasn’t anything he could think of that could cause such severe heat damage, especially without burning anything outside of the fuse box. It was entirely localised to the area within the metal frame and not a speck of paint was damaged beyond that. It was strange, for sure. Ben plucked at his scruffy brown beard rhythmically as he tried to find a thought that fit, a thought that didn’t worry him. A thought that wasn’t insane. But all he could think was…
Dad will blow a fuse of his own when he finds out about this.
At that moment, Jerry shouted out from the shop floor. “What’s happening, Gandalf? You squeezing one out in there or what?”
Ben shook his head and rolled his eyes. “Dude, I swear, not now, okay!”
“Okay, okay,” Jerry said. “Don’t get your beard in a twist. It’s not like it’s the end of the world – although we are missing The Matrix.”
Chapter Five
Kath wasn’t prepared to stay here all night in the dark. She tried her mobile phone again and hissed when it still refused to dial out.
Knew I should have stayed home this morning.
Everyone else in the country had been skiving off and calling in sickies due to the unprecedented snowfall, so why hadn’t she? Because I have integrity; something most other people sadly lack in this day and age. Luckily, Peter and Jess lived within walking distance of the store and had had no excuses not to come in. They knew she wouldn’t stand for any absence. If I can make it in then so can they. Most people who drove could have gotten to work if they really wanted to, but they were lazy degenerates that worked only when they had no choice or social benefits available. Not many people would have come in for a ten hour shift like she had that day.
Where has it gotten me though? Nowhere!
Kath looked toward the exit doors. They were closed but she could still see the drifting snow outside, pilling up against the glass. Peter had cleared it away only two hours before and it was already rising back again. She’d have to have the lad shovel it away again if they didn’t get going soon. It was starting to feel more like the North Pole than central England.
Shivering, Kath untucked her arms away from her sides and felt around the till-area for the phone. The thought that someone may have been responsible for the power going off still worried her and all she wanted to do was talk to someone in authority. Mr Campbell. The power company. The police. Anyone.
Peter stood nearby (she’d insisted on it) and the intermittent glow of his mobile phone made Kath feel a little safer, but it was only enough to take a slight edge off her nerves. She plucked the phone off its cradle and typed in a number.
There was still no dial tone.
Kath slammed the handset back down.
“Is okay?” Peter asked in his horrible broken English.
“Everything is fine. I just dropped the phone. Do you know where Jessica is yet? I need to close up, but not before I’ve done a staff search. Its night’s like tonight when things go missing.”
There was silence for a moment and Kath’s heart-rate rose as the emptiness poked at her anxiety. A few seconds later Peter made himself known again. “I do not know where she is. Do you?”
Kath sighed. “Would I have asked you, if I did? Last I knew she was out front checking if anyone knew why the power was off. I don’t think she’s come back.”
Peter started heading off towards the exit. “Should I go look for her?”
The thought of being alone made Kath shout out. “No! Stay here. The last thing I, uh, need is you both getting lost.”
Pete began walking back toward the counter. “You think she is lost?”
Kath sniggered. “That girl would lose her head if it wasn’t sewn on. I’m sure whatever she’s doing out there, she’s managed to find her way into trouble. Just lea-”
Her body was suddenly wracked with shivers, cutting her words off mid-sentence. It was getting colder. It hadn’t seemed anywhere near as chilly just an hour ago when the power had first gone off. Perhaps the temperature had dropped so rapidly because the heating was out? It made sense, but for some reason didn’t seem right. It had gotten too cold too fast; unnaturally so.