It Was a Dark and Stormy Night-Halloween Serial Chapter Three

It Was a Dark and Stormy Night—Halloween Serial Chapter Three

By Margaret Daley

“Norman?” The word squeaked out of Ellie’s mouth as she thought of the movie Psycho. Norman Bates? She gripped the handle of the door, prepared to jump from the moving car if need be.

“JT Norman. I’m new in town and late for the party. And you are?”

“Ellie Autumn. I’ve lived here all my life and late for the party.”

As he slowed the sports car, a garage door on the side of the house lifted. The headlights and a dim overhead light illuminated the dark shadows. JT pulled inside and turned off the engine. The sound of the garage door closing filled the quiet. Ellie glanced back and watched it trap her inside with a man in a faintly lit, cavernous garage.

A streak of lightning struck some place nearby, immediately followed by a loud clash of thunder. It shook the air. Ellie gasped, swinging around to look at the man only two feet from her. His dark, dark eyes drilled into her with an intensity that stole her breath.

“You okay?” he asked in a rich, smooth voice.

“I don’t like thunderstorms. Sleepy Holler seems to be a magnet for them. I’d planned to leave…” Her words faded into the silence as the headlights clicked off and the garage went totally dark. Her candy-corn gel nails dug into the door handle. “What just happened?” She fumbled in her handbag on the floor by her feet for one of her black Louboutin stilettos to use as a weapon if this man tried—

He opened his car door, and a bright light flooded the interior. “It seems that the electricity went off.”

When he reached toward her, she shrank back as much as she could, finally grasping the stiletto.

He gestured toward the glove box. “There’s a flashlight in there. We’ll need it to see.” His compelling gaze locked with hers. “Unless you prefer sitting out here in the dark until the electricity is restored.”