lights out

They reached the neighbor’s house with 3 minutes to spare.

After her shower, Nathalia had put her hair in a ponytail to save some time and rushed down the stairs, almost killing herself when she’d missed the last step. Lucky for her, however, Darius wasn’t in the hallway to witness her clumsiness as she managed to steady herself at the very last moment.

Making her way around the house in search of Darius she found him in the kitchen. As always. They hadn’t used the living room much. To Nathalia, it just didn’t feel like her own home. Maybe it was the decor, or maybe it was the situation she found herself in. But either way, she didn’t like the general vibe of the living room. And she wondered if he felt the same.

His head was slightly turned as he looked out the window at their backyard, but he turned around when he heard her approach.

“I’m not gonna lie,” he started, “I didn’t expect you to be this quick,”

Nathalia felt a weird sense of pride, but she wasn’t sure it had been a compliment. Perhaps it had been an insult she didn’t get. So she decided to ignore it.

“Yeah, I just needed a quick shower. But I’m ready to go now,” she replied as she tried her best not to pant from her run down the stairs.

“Alright let’s go then,” he said as he walked towards the front door, holding it open for her.

She awkwardly scuffled past him, but as she did he put his hand on the small of her back before following her out the door.

As summer approached the days were getting longer, yet the sun was already setting. The disappearing sun left behind a beautiful yellowish pink sky, making the world around them seem surreal.

The walk to the neighbor’s house was a longer one than one would expect because of the length of the front yards. Taking a shortcut through the garden would significantly shorten their travel time, but it was sure to raise some eyebrows. So they took the long way around.

As they stood at the front door the feelings Nathalia had managed to repress for a little while came up again. Self-doubt. Nervousness. Anxiety. Would she be able to recite her cover? What if they’d ask something that wasn’t in the file, would she be able to improvise? Above all, would it be convincing enough?

She wished she could be like Darius, the man practically oozed confidence. He never seemed to doubt himself at anything he did. But then again, what would an attractive person like Darius need to doubt? She saw it in other peoples’ eyes, when he spoke he had them hang on his lips. She wasn’t any different. He spoke so little, but every word uttered had her savoring them. She’d repeat it in her head until his voice didn’t sound like his anymore.

“Relax, you’ll do fine,” he whispered. She didn’t know if her feelings were that obvious, or if he was just really good at picking these kinds of things up. But in any case, the words helped her. She forced her shoulders to relax and took a deep breath. She just had to believe in herself. And in him. She reached forward to press the doorbell.

The melodic chime was soon replaced by the muffled, but unmistakable sound of a couple bickering.

“Hank, there are people at the door.”

“Yes dear, I’ve heard.”

“I’m cooking the food I can’t open it.”

“Well, I’m on the toilet so I can’t open it either.”

After a few more muffled words the door swung open, revealing their neighbor Gertrude in a pink apron, holding her oven mitts in one hand and gesturing for them to come in with the other.

“Oh, I’m so glad the two of you could make it. Come in, come in, dinner’s almost ready.”

“Thank you for having us, ma’am,” Darius smoothly replied as they followed Gertrude into the living room.

The interior was everything Nathalia’d expected it to be. It was nicely furnished, if not a little outdated, and very warm and welcoming. It reminded her of her grandparents’ house in Florida, where she’d stay during her summer breaks in middle school. It even smelled like it.

“Your home looks lovely, Gertrude,” Nathalia said sincerely.

“Oh, call me Trudy, dear, no need for formalities now. We’re neighbors after all,” Trudy replied.

It was then Hank entered, reminding his wife that she was going to burn her casserole again if she didn’t pay enough attention to it.

“Oh dear, yes, the casserole, Hank get the two of them something to drink will you?” she said as she left for the kitchen.

After getting them the drinks Hank sat down on the recliner to their left, kicking up his feet and reaching for the TV remote.

“So Darius, what’s your team?” Hank asked as he turned on a sports channel.

Recognizing it was going to be a conversation about football Nathalia quickly thought of a way to remove herself from the conversation.

“I’ll uh, go see if Trudy needs any help,” she said as she practically made a run for the kitchen.

Football confused her, she didn’t know the rules, despite multiple people trying to explain them to her over and over again. But she just wasn’t interested in the sport at all, or any sport for that matter. She’d rather watch a good TV show than a group of men seemingly out to hurt each other.

“Trudy, can I help you with anything?” she asked, praying she wouldn’t say no.

“Oh, Katherine, yes, could you stir the sauce? It’s going to burn soon I think.”

Nathalia didn’t have the heart to tell the elderly woman that the sauce was already burned at the bottom, so she just stirred as asked.

“That fiancé of yours is very handsome, where did you find him?” Trudy asked offhandedly.

Lucky for Nathalia, stuff like this was written in the files, ensuring their story would at least match on these points.

“I met him in college a few years ago, back in San Jose.”

Lying about this came surprisingly easy to her, yet it made her feel guilty. This woman had been nothing but nice to her and here she was, lying her ass off.

“Oh that’s just lovely dear, I remember when I met Hank. He looked so dapper in that suit of his. A mutual friend introduced us and he asked me out immediately! How could I say no? So we went to a drive-in theater and it was just so lovely, dear. Oh and I remember our next date…”

Nathalia loved hearing these stories, the way the woman talked about her youthful years made Nathalia miss her life back home and the friends she’d had. There weren’t many, but the few she had were good ones. She wondered what the police had told them, if they told them anything at all.

It also seemed like Darius was right, they were mostly invited so Trudy and Hank could talk about their own lives. Nathalia didn’t mind at all, the more the woman talked the less she had to.

Suddenly she felt an arm wrap around her waist, pulling her to a chest. Because of the unexpectedness, she let out a small gasp. Causing Darius to chuckle.

“The food smells delicious Trudy, you’ve outdone yourself,” Darius said, disarming the elderly woman with his smile.

“Oh, this? This is nothing dear, you should’ve tasted my Thanksgiving cranberry sauce. It was my grandmother’s famous recipe. Maybe the two of you could come over again soon? I promise you it’s the best darn cranberry sauce you’ll ever taste.”

Nathalia froze. She didn’t know what to say. Despite the fact she was actually having fun right now, she didn’t know if she could handle another evening like this again soon. And besides, she’d have to discuss it again thoroughly with Darius, who was still standing behind her.

Either he noticed her freeze up or he just cut in before she could say anything because he answered almost immediately.

“Thank you for the invitation, but we can’t plan that far ahead because of our work schedules. We were lucky to have this day off, right love?”

“Yes. Very lucky. We had a day off today. From work,” Nathalia confirmed.

“That’s too bad, maybe some other time then. Or maybe I’ll just drop some off next time I make it, yes I’ll do that,” she nodded to herself, “Take a seat, children, I’m going to serve dinner.”

In her mind Nathalia protested, she wasn’t a child. And Darius was even less of one. But she knew the woman didn’t mean it in a bad way, and Nathalia wasn’t one for confrontations anyways.

Thanking Hank and Gertrude for the dinner they bid their farewells and made their way back to their home again. As they turned to leave Darius put his hand on her back again. But when Trudy closed the door he didn’t take it off. Nathalia didn’t comment on it for fear he would.

By now night had fallen and what little sun they’d had was gone entirely. Nathalia, in all her hurry, hadn’t brought a coat along. Though winter had ended the cold winter air persisted. A chill ran through her.

“Why did these homes have to have such huge front yards?” she thought bitterly.

Just then Darius removed his hand from her back, making her miss what little warmth it had provided immediately. His timing also couldn’t have been worse as the wind picked up at that very moment, freezing Nathalia even further. But the cold didn’t last for long as she was soon engulfed in a sea of warmth as Darius draped his jacket over her shoulders, effectively blocking out the iciness of the night.

His smell was now all around her, intoxicating her. Yet the high didn’t last for long as she soon realized he was the one without a jacket now. She felt bad about taking his when she was the one that forgot to bring one.

“No, you should keep it on, it’s too cold,” she said as she began to take it off, “And besides, I’m the one that forgot to bring their jacket so it’s me who should suffer the consequences for it.”

“No,” he started as he pushed the jacket up to her shoulders again, “I’m fine with the cold, it doesn’t bother me.”

“Well, I– It doesn’t bother me either.”

The lie would’ve sounded a lot better if she hadn’t stuttered. But she doubted a better lie would convince him of all people, as she was sure he’d see through every lie. After all, he was trained for these things.

“I literally felt you shiver a moment ago. Just keep the jacket on we’re almost there anywa–“

Suddenly, every single light in their street went out, covering everything in total darkness. Nathalia stopped to take in the beauty of it all. Up in the sky, the moon was barely visible, granting them little to no light.

Total silence reigned. No hums or buzzes from electrical appliances could be heard, it was just them and the ocean of darkness around them.

Until she heard a gun click.