Cerulean Found

Chapter 48 - Hello, Darkness

Josh gets me home in record time. The sky is black, but thankfully it hasn't started raining on this side of the island yet. Judging by the looks of the somber clouds, I know that it is the calm before the storm and that at any moment it is going to start pouring.

"Do you want to come in? You can stay for dinner, I'm sure my Grandparents won't mind. Matty would love to see you. He is completely fascinated by you and your dad. He thinks you two are like pirates because you live on that ship," I explain.

"I would love nothing more than to stay here with you, but I really can't. I have to head back home before it starts raining and help my dad secure the boat and prepare."

"Is the storm really going to be that bad, I mean it's just a storm. Your dad can't manage without you?" I ask.

Josh lets out a laugh. "I don't think my dad would be too happy with me if I left him alone. You saw the storm earlier, and that was just the beginning. Plus when you live on a boat everything seems way worse than it is. The boat rocks with every gust of wind that blows through. It really isn't fun, but you get used to it."

"When will I see you again?" I ask, hoping I won't have to wait long before we hang out again.

"Tomorrow? How about I'll swing by here after work?"

"Sounds good. I can't wait," I say, as I get out of the Jeep and begin to open the wooden door that leads down to the villa.

"Stay safe and be careful," Josh calls out.

I turn around and walk toward the open window of the Jeep.

"Me? It's you who needs to be careful. You're the one who's going to be out on the water in the middle of the storm!" The mere thought of it makes me queasy. I would not want to be going home to wait for that.

"Bye Mila," he says, as he reaches his arm out of the Jeep and pulls my head down gently and kisses my dirty cheek. I feel my knees go weak for the second time today. The first was due to fear, now it was because of something completely different.

Every time he kisses me, it is like I am transported to a distant land, my happy place in the desert. Only now I am not there alone, I am there with Josh. He makes me happier than I have ever been in my entire life.

As I walk down to the villa I can't help but smile and giggle to myself. I poke my head into the kitchen and tell Gram I am home and that I am going to shower before we eat dinner. I hurry out before she has time to examine my appearance and ask me any questions.

I open my closet and grab a pair of pink sweats and a black tank and then head to the bathroom to shower and clean up.

I have just begun to lather up my face and am about to rinse the suds off when the bathroom goes pitch black. I stand in total darkness for a solid minute, thinking, hoping, praying that the lights will go back on. But they don't.

My heart starts to race. I never noticed how creepy the old bathroom was until now, when I am stranded in the dark. Suddenly a bright bolt of lightning shoots down from the sky and thunder rips through the air. I instantly scream and jump out of the shower. I quickly wrap a towel around my wet body, find my clothes and speed out of the bathroom. Another flash of lighting shoots through the sky casting a bright white light in my room. All of the eyes of the 90's boy bandmates stare at me. I feel like I am in a horror movie and someone with a knife is going to pop out from inside the closet and attack me.

Another rumble of thunder echoes across the sea. I start walking backwards, towards the door. And then I feel it. Something hard. And it reaches forward and grabs me.