The storm hit at midnight.
Daniel woke to the sound of thunder shaking the windows, rain lashing against the glass like it was trying to get in. The power flickered once, twice—then died with a groan.
Darkness swallowed the apartment whole.
He fumbled for his phone, the screen's sudden brightness searing his retinas. No service. No Wi-Fi. Just the time glaring back at him: 12:37 AM.
A thump from the guest room. Then Luke's voice, tight with panic: "Daniel?"
"I'm here," he called back, grabbing the flashlight from the junk drawer (Lila had insisted they keep one there—"You never know!").
Luke appeared in the doorway, his face pale in the beam's glow. "Power's out."
"Observant," Daniel deadpanned.
Luke rolled his eyes, but his shoulders relaxed slightly. "You got candles?"
"Yeah. Somewhere."
They lit them together, the flickering light casting long shadows on the walls. It reminded Daniel of the blackout they'd had two years ago, when Lila had made them play board games by candlelight and cheat outrageously just to make Luke laugh.
Now, the silence between them was heavy.
Luke poked at his phone. "Still no signal."
Daniel's stomach dropped. His voicemails—the ones he'd just saved, the ones that were now trapped in the cloud somewhere, inaccessible.
What if the storm wiped them out? What if—
"Hey." Luke nudged his foot with his own. "It's backed up, remember?"
Daniel swallowed. "Right."
Luke studied him for a moment, then grabbed the deck of cards from the shelf. "Go fish?"
It was such a childish offer. Such a Lila move.
Daniel's lips twitched. "You're gonna regret that. I cheat."
Luke dealt the cards. "Yeah, well. So do I."
And for the first time in months, the dark didn't feel quite so suffocating.