She stood up from her desk and listened once more. She closed the diary and held it under her arm. A few seconds passed, and there was another clap of thunder followed by more rapid beats from downstairs. It sounded like someone was at the door, but she was unsure.
Perhaps Uncle Andrew left his house key inside?
She grabbed the menorah off her desk and walked out of her room, down the hallway, and downstairs to the foyer. She went to the front door and peered through its peephole. No one was there. Suddenly, there was another set of rapid beats, but this time, it was followed by a voice.
"Andrew," came a voice from the back door. "Andrew, are you home?!"
Virginia turned around and walked slowly to the back door, holding the menorah in front of her. She passed the staircase to the extended living room and entered the kitchen. Through the glass in the door, she saw a silhouette outline of someone standing outside. The figure raised its arm and began to bang its fist against the wooden part of the door.
"Andrew, please tell me you're home!" said the voice, somewhat desperate.
Virginia walked over to the door. "Who's there?"
"Wait? Virginia, is that you?" asked the voice.
Virginia was perplexed yet felt more secure in knowing it was someone she possibly knew. "Yes, it's me. Who are you?"
The voice seemed to be short of breath. "Y-you know me! I-I work for your uncle. We've met."
Virginia opened the door and saw the tall figure drenched to the bone and panting hard. Her eyes shot open. "Charles!"
Charles stood leaning with both hands against the doorframe, still panting hard, his clothes and tool belt soaked with rain. "Hey, Virginia! Your uncle said that—"
SLAM!
Charles was cut off short as the door was thrown shut in his face.
Virginia stood before the door with her hand fastened firmly around the knob, holding it shut.
It was him! It was really him!
There she remained in the kitchen, about out of breath herself now. She quickly ran into the nearest bathroom underneath the staircase. She set the menorah and the diary down on the sink and promptly looked herself over. She brushed her hair with her fingers.
Looks good.
She then breathed into her hand and smelt her breath. Uh, it's okay, but could use some work.
Quickly, she opened the bathroom drawer and pulled out a tube of toothpaste. Taking some on her finger, she violently brushed her front teeth. She rinsed her mouth with the water from the faucet and smelt her breath again.
Better! Much better!
She quickly straightened out her shirt and looked herself over once more.
Okay! Okay, go back out there to him!
She grabbed the menorah and returned to the back door. She stood there for a brief second, shook it off, and opened the door.
No one was there.
"Charles?" she called out.
"Over here," came Charles's voice.
Virginia looked to her left and saw Charles sitting on the patio recliner, smiling in a confused and unsure way.
"Is everything okay?" he asked.
"Yes!" responded Virginia. "Yes, everything is just fine. That was just…I was just…anyway!"
She shook her head. "Did you need something?"
"Uh…yes, I did."
He stood up and walked back to the door. "Your uncle told me he was going out to buy some supplies for the fence and a leak in the barn. Has he returned yet?"
Virginia held the menorah in between them, brightening both of their faces. "No. No, he hasn't returned yet."
"Well, my cell phone has no service out here. Would you mind if I borrowed your house phone?"
"Oh, huh…the power's out, and I don't know how to fix it."
"Does your uncle have a landline for emergency purposes?"
"Uh…I'm not sure. I just moved here the other day. I'm sorry."
"Oh, that's right. My bad. Just out of curiosity, you wouldn't happen to know where your breaker box is?"
Virginia stared at Charles confused, but she so badly wanted to give him an answer. "Uh…what's a breaker box?"
Charles smiled. "It's usually a black or grey box built inside the wall that holds all the breaker switches for the house. It's usually located underneath the stairs, in a laundry room, or sometimes a closet."
Virginia thought for a moment and then remembered that there was a small, greyish-looking box that looked like a cabinet inside the bathroom she was just in.
"I think it's in the bathroom," she finally replied.
Charles raised one brow. "That's a really unusual place to put it. Are you sure?"
"I think so. I remember seeing a small, greyish metal-looking door installed in the wall of our bathroom. It's in the downstairs bathroom, which is underneath the stairway."
Charles let out a little chuckle. "Ah, now it makes sense! There's a chance that we can fix this by simply flipping a switch or two. All you have to do is find the one that's tripped, switch it back, and then hope that's the answer."
Virginia froze. "Why don't you do it?"
Charles looked himself over. "Because I'm soaking wet, and I wouldn't want to trail water all over your uncle's wood floors."
"Oh, he won't mind!"
"You'll do just fine," he said, smiling at her. "There won't be a problem; nothing bad could possibly happen should you flip the wrong switch."