Audrey sighed as the gray clouds overhead suddenly turned an angry black and began to let loose with hard-falling rain that splattered violently onto the windshield of Nathan's old truck.
"Figures," she said matter-of-factly. "And here I was having a good hair day."
Nathan smiled beside her but it quickly faded as he saw something strange up ahead through the blur of water before them.
They'd been approaching Nausett Beach after getting reports from some of the locals of bizarre electrical activity along the shoreline. Two people had already been electrocuted further down north, along the outskirts of town, but here seemed to be the next logical place of attack if the pattern stayed on course.
Audrey could see the beautiful white sand before they even pulled up and parked. It contrasted noticeably against the dark sky and a cluster of small caves formed against the eastern side of the beach; the growing waves crashing angrily against them.
Nathan parked the truck and he and Audrey got out, her hair instantly whipping crazily around her face with the force of the wind. She pulled up the hood of her raincoat, as did Nathan, and the two of the without even saying a word, simultaneously headed toward the small group of caves.
A crackle of lightning flashed brilliantly through the sky, seeming for a moment to light up the entire world, only to be followed by a bellow of thunder just before they reached the treacherous entrance.
Slippery rocks pelted with rain and covered in saltwater and seaweed led the way to the dark entrances and Audrey almost fell twice with her non-skid dress shoes that she cursed under her breath. Nathan had led the way, shouting back once over his shoulder through the whipping wind and crashing waves, "Be careful! Its slippery!"
Since this was well after she'd already slipped twice she just gave him a sarcastic look and just concentrated where she stepped next.
After what seemed like a torturous four minutes, they reached a small dune of sand in the front of one of the caves and Audrey breathed a sigh of relief just grateful to be off those terrible rocks. She pulled her flashlight and gun (just in case she always told herself) from her pants and looked at Nathan, nodding her head toward the cave. He responded with a similar nod and retrieved his own weapon and light from within his raincoat.
This time Audrey led the way and she stepped gingerly through the pitch blackness of the cave, letting the glowing light of her flashlight search every inch of the place before each step further in she took.
"Maybe these caves are just…caves," she said quietly so that Nathan could hear.
"Or maybe this is exactly where someone or something is hiding, just waiting to electrocute its next victim," he said in return. "We'd be remiss not to look."
"I know, I know, " she responded tiredly.
Truth be told, Audrey didn't much care for the dark. She never had and doubted she ever would. Not that she would ever let anyone know that, of course.
"I can see the back of the cave," she said moving forward a few steps. "It doesn't look-"
A strangled sound rose from Audrey's throat and the light of her flashlight went out with a boof.
"Parker?" Nathan called, running ahead now through the sandy dark.
He could see Audrey lying motionless on the ground, ten feet ahead. He moved to kneel beside her when his flashlight went out too. Boof.
He was half kneeling in the sand with his gun raised. It was utterly hopeless to see anything at all but somehow keeping his gun raised made him feel a bit more secure.
He could feel Audrey's body beside him and gently nudged her with his knee. "Parker?" he whispered, the fear evident in his voice.
She didn't respond automatically so he groped around finding her hand and sighed at the steady beat of her pulse. She began to stir and he held onto her fingers, partly because he didn't want to lose her in the dark and partly because he was loving the newfound sensation of her skin against his.
"Nathan?" she croaked and he could feel her sitting up. "What the hell happened?"
She used his grip on her as leverage and slowly the two of the rose to a standing position.
"No clue. I saw your light go out and rushed ahead. You were lying unconscious on the ground when I reached you and my light went out too."
"Coincidence?" she said, almost a joke to herself.
"Doubtful," he responded, feeling disappointed as she let her fingers slip away from her and began clicking on the on/off switch of her flashlight.
"I thought I saw something just before the lights went out but I couldn't really get a good look at it."
"Doesn't matter now. We should retrace out steps back to the entrance of the cave before whatever you saw comes back."
"Agreed," she said hurriedly. Nathan could hear the concern in her voice and reveled internally when she touched his shoulder gingerly from behind and said "All right partner; lead the way."
Even though it was darker than black, Nathan closed his eyes for a moment. How he longed to tell her what was happening to him. What he could feel through her, what her touch had awoken in him. These were not things to be discussed lightly and he wasn't even sure he wanted to tell her. He wasn't sure how she would react.
Nathan walked slowly, turned back the way they came. He headed as straight as he could but always kept his gun held out in front of him, also just in case.
Soon, dim light started to appear and they could again see the rain and waves before them. Both of them sighed and smiled at each other. Audrey clicked her flashlight on once more and to both their surprise it actually worked.
"Huh," she said." Well that's weird."
A noise came from somewhere behind them, deep in the cave. A humming noise that was rapidly growing louder and more intense with each second.
"What the f-" Audrey started as both of them squinted into the darkness.
Nathan reacted a second faster than Audrey his eyes widening as he threw himself in front of her, wrapping his body around her as a burst of massive electricity shot out of the cave and plunged itself onto his back.
Nathan screamed as the pain coursed through his body, jolting and electrifying every nerve, muscle and bone. He had been touching Audrey when it had zapped him and for one strange, ethereal moment he almost was welcoming to the feeling, the horrible feeling as the smell of burnt flesh soon filled the air.
He thought he heard Audrey scream and for a moment everything went black. When his eyes partially focused again he could see Audrey kneeling over him, tears or maybe it was rain he thought was streaking her face.
She was saying something, his name perhaps, but he couldn't really hear anything over the loud hum echoing in his ears.
He reached up a blackened hand and stroked her hair and cheek.
"I love the way you feel," he whispered just before his eyes closed completely.
"Nathan!" Audrey screamed as she felt his pulse slowing.
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