"In order for the light to shine so brightly,

The darkness must be present."

(Francis Bacon)

Her cell phone was ringing.

Why the hell was her cell phone ringing?

Catherine kicked her quilt off of her, muttered something her mother would smack her backside for saying, and pawed for her iPhone that was trilling out an entirely-too-cheerful tone on her bedside table.

Ben?

"Hello?" Catherine answered, sleepy hoarseness still fogging her throat.

"Cat, it's Ben."
"Yeah, I know. It's 9:30, Ben, I've got to get up in 4 hours." Cat rubbed the back of her neck. She had recently been switched to third shift and it sucked d…

"Catherine, listen." Ben's voice was tight, stressed. Catherine straightened up, immediately recognizing the tones that weren't native to her brother's voice. "What is it?"

"It's all turning off."
"What is?"
"The lights. The power. The electricity. It's all going to go away. Everything. Even the batteries."

"Where is it going to go, Ben?" Catherine rubbed her forehead. "Have you been drinking?"
"Catherine, just…" Ben was silent for a moment and then spoke again. "Start filling water jugs. Okay? Just do it for me."
"Ben, I've got to go to work in…"
"No, you're not going to be going to work. Ever again. It's all turning off, Cat. There's not going to be any power. Just…trust me on this, okay? If it doesn't happen, so you'll have a few gallons of extra water. Just hurry up, alright? It's going to happen soon." And the line went dead.

Catherine stared at her phone for a long while before heaving a heavy sigh and swinging her legs over the side of the bed.

She padded down the hallway, stopping to peek in her mom's room. The oxygen machine was loud, but somehow it never seemed to bother Donna Matheson. Her stomach tightened when she thought of what would happen if the power did go off. Her mother could die within hours of not having oxygen.

She pushed the thought away, heading downstairs. Ben was a bit crazy, everyone knew that. He rambled a lot, and when he wasn't rambling, he was sitting silently in the corner all by himself, looking like he had the weight of the world on his shoulders.

Catherine flipped the kitchen light switch, and got out a stepstool to reach the cupboard over the fridge where the water pitchers were kept. She pulled down 3 of them, and headed over to the sink, turning on both the purified water faucet and the main faucet and placed the pitchers underneath, heading for the snack cupboard and a granola bar. Chances were she wouldn't be going back to sleep tonight.

Her phone trilled.

She glanced down; an automatic text message from Giant Eagle about the amount of fuel perks points she had on her card. She'd have to take her car in before work to fill it up…

The lights blinked.

Catherine's heart leapt in her chest, and she stared at the light fixture, phone still in her shaking hand. It continued blinking; she heard the sparking sound that the electrical conduits made before they shorted out.

The water faucets started trickling. Her phone went black.

And then it all stopped.

She stood there for a very long time.

At least it felt like a long time; it was probably only thirty seconds.

Her shaking legs finally moved, carrying her over to the window. The whole street was dark. For the first time in ever, she saw stars glistening in the sky.

And then the stars started falling.

The house shook when the first airplane crashed. Catherine saw the mushroom cloud of fire from just beyond the neighborhood.

She gasped, stumbled backward into the house and shut the door, locking it. She dropped her phone on the rug, running back upstairs to her mom's room, tears filling her eyes.

Donna was already awake and gasping, the shock of being taken off the oxygen so suddenly wasn't going to bode well for her.

"Mom, Mom, come on. Take deep breaths. Alright? Just take deep breaths. It's gonna be okay, alright?"

"The mask…" Donna feebly motioned to the oxygen tank.

"It's not gonna work right now, ok? You're gonna have to breathe on your own."
"Can't…"

"Yes, Mom, listen, you can, alright? The doctor said that the oxygen machine was just a precaution. Your lungs are perfectly capable of breathing on your own? Alright? You're just gonna have to breathe, ok?"

Donna was panicking.

Catherine's hands shook as she stroked her mom's head, her arm. "Calm down, alright? Just take it easy. It's gonna be okay." No, no, no, she couldn't lose her mom tonight too. If there was no power, how would she ever bury her, or hell, even get her out of this room? Cat wasn't strong, she was tall but slender, and had no muscle definition at all. She almost gagged with the image of her mother decomposing in this bed, and renewed her efforts to calm her.

Hours passed. Donna finally fell asleep, but her breathing was labored. Catherine lay beside her in the bed, not sleeping herself, and willing the sun to rise and light to be restored. Her mind drifted to her brothers; Ben in Chicago with Rachel and her niece and nephew, and Miles stationed in South Carolina at the Marine base. Transportation by car or train or plane was impossible now. She would probably never see them again. She thought of the disaster and apocalypse movies that were becoming so popular. Each one was rife with theft, murder, and rape. She swallowed. She couldn't defend herself, and she definitely couldn't defend herself and her mother. I'm gonna be the blonde girl who dies first. She thought angrily to herself.

It was dawn now. Catherine slid out of bed and walked to the window. There were people starting to emerge from the houses, gathering in the streets. She crossed her arms over her stomach. She would bet none of them got a call from their brother last night warning them that the power was going to go out. Ben had known something, obviously. Perhaps it was even part of the big government top secret mission thing he was involved in. Maybe it was Ben's fault, for all she knew.

Donna was waking up again. "Mom?" Cat whispered softly as she moved back to the bed, patting her mother's shoulder. "Mom, are you okay?" Breathing still labored, Donna's eyes opened. "What…what happened?"

"The power went out."

"Oxygen…on batteries."
"I know…I mean…everything went out. All power. Electricity. Batteries. Everything."
"That's impossible."
"I would've though so too." Cat inhaled. "Ben called me last night. And warned me."

Donna's eyes moved to her face. "Ben?"
"Yeah. He knew. Before it happened. It must have something to do with the government project he and Rachel were working on."
"Can you call him?"
"Nothing's working, Mom. Not the phones. Not anything. Planes fell out of the sky last night."

Donna's eyes closed. "I can't…I won't live without the oxygen."

"The doctor said you were perfectly capable of…"
"No, Catherine." Donna's eyes focused on her again. "I won't. You've got to go."
"What?" Catherine shook her head. "Are you joking? I'm not going to leave you."
"You have to find your brothers."
"Mom, they're hundreds of miles away. Without a car, that would take me…weeks. Not to mention I'm not strong enough to even consider walking that far." She left out anything about defending herself.

"Catherine,"
"No, Mom. We're staying here. We've got enough water for a few days, anyway… maybe they'll be able to put together an emergency task force or…something…for water and food and stuff." Catherine patted her shoulder, and then kissed her forehead. "We'll be fine, Mom, trust me." She climbed off the bed and headed for the door. "You get some rest."

Catherine crossed the hallway to her room, shedding her pajamas and pulling on jeans and a knit shirt and tying up running shoes. She pulled her hair into a ponytail and headed downstairs, stopping to pick up her phone before opening the front door.

Mr. Garland from across the street saw her first, and waved, surprisingly cheerfully, at her. "What do you think of this, huh?" He seemed almost excited as he crossed the road to meet her at the edge of their lawn. "Nothing's working. It's like…the apocalypse or something."

Catherine chuckled weakly. "From what I've seen in the movies, the apocalypse never ends well."

Mr. Garland seemed a bit subdued at that remark, but he still had a sparkle in his eyes. "What do you suppose caused it? I mean, PLANES fell out of the sky last night." He lowered his voice conspiratorially. "I bet the government has something to do with it. You know they're always trying to find ways to get us more reliant on them."

Catherine chuckled, trying to make her voice light. "Maybe so."

Mr. Garland flapped his hand at her as he went over to converse with Tracy Donovan from next door. Catherine moved into the street, making a slight exclamation of agreement with neighbors expressing their shock and worry. Everyone had varying opinions of what happened, but it was generally acknowledged that everyone believed the power would be back on within 24 hours. The knot of worry in her stomach grew as she approached the end of their street, and looked down the normally busy crossroad, which was now lined with dead cars. She was sure at this point; no one anywhere had any idea just how widespread this was. If Ben was correct, the whole world was dark; and it was never coming back on. And that meant it wouldn't take long for the panic to start.