The person at the other end of the line continued speaking but was absolutely no help whatsoever. Slamming the phone’s End button as hard as he could, Tanner dropped the device on the counter and ran his hand through his hair.
“How in the hell does anyone tolerate this damn building?” he shouted into the air. Yes, he knew he sounded like a crazy person, but if it wasn’t one problem then it was another. His pipes had burst, mice ran around rampant, and now the damn electricity was out.
The guy said it was most likely a breaker, that too many circuits were being used now that the heating was back on. They couldn’t come in until the next day. Of course they couldn’t. And it was going to be a major expense, another one, to update the wiring of the building and bring the electrical boxes up to code.
Why did he give a flying whatever? He should just let the tenants live in darkness. Then maybe they’d take a hint at long last and finally leave so he could hire that bulldozer to come in. At this point, he would sit on the ball while it smashed through the walls. The injuries to his body would be worth it — he’d be feeling the damn building crumble beneath his feet.
“Tanner?”
Stopping his pacing, he shined his light over toward his front door, where Kyla was standing, shifting on her feet and looking nervous.
“What?” he growled, and when she flinched, he felt immediately ashamed of himself. “I’m sorry, Kyla. I’m just frustrated.”
“It’s okay,” she told him as she stepped inside. “I knocked, but I don’t think you heard, so I tried the knob and it was open and…” She was fighting to control her voice. “It’s just that the dark sort of freaks me out.”
“What? It’s the same place, just a little…darker. And anyway, you have a flashlight, too.” He moved toward her now, until they were standing right there together, facing each other.
“I know that logically, Tanner, but it doesn’t help much. I don’t like not being able to see who or what is around — me except for in this stupid, narrow beam of light.”
“In this damn place, who knows what that might be?” he said without thinking, and he felt the shudder pass through her body. “Sorry,” he said again, and this time he was mumbling.
“No. It’s true. Bad things can happen in the dark,” she said, edging a couple of inches closer. She was practically pressed against him now.
His bad mood quickly deflated. How could he be angry when her warm body was next to his?
“I know the breaker box is in the basement, Tanner. I…uh…just don’t want to go down there by myself. I mean, someone else might be thinking the same thing, but then again, everyone might be thinking everyone else is going to go down there.” That rush of words was almost amusing.
“Breaker box? Do you even know what to do with one?”
“I’m not some simpering female that doesn’t even know how to flip a switch up and down,” she snapped.
Tanner had to smile. “Okay, that was an asinine question. Why don’t we go check it out and see if we can do anything about this darkness?” He held out his arm.
It took her a few moments — she was obviously still irritated with him — but her fear of the dark outweighed her irritation, and she finally gave in. They left his apartment and made their way toward the service door that led to the basement.
“Where in the hell is security? Shouldn’t they be the ones doing this?” Tanner asked as they opened the door and faced a set of stairs that he didn’t trust to hold their weight.
“I don’t think this is in their job description. Besides, one of the guards, the one that works mostly nights, kind of gives me the creeps.”
Tanner stopped moving and turned toward her. Their flashlights were shining downward, though, and he couldn’t see her face. Talk about frustrating.
But he tried to sound calm. “How so?” he asked.
“I don’t know. He just seems…oh, I’m being stupid. I’m sure there’s nothing at all wrong with him. I just get the creeps around him. No reason,” she said quietly, obviously focused on the staircase in front of her.
“Let me know if anything weird happens.” Was it all in her head? That wasn’t unlikely, but still, people usually got a feeling, whether good or bad, for a reason.
“I’m sure it’s nothing. Are we both stalling on going down these steps, or is it my imagination?” she asked with a nervous laugh.
“Fine. You caught me. I think I would just about rather do anything other than go down these stairs. Isn’t this how all good horror movies start or end, and aren’t the people watching the flicks the ones shouting at the television, telling the characters to turn around and run like hell?”
Kyla’s body shook, and he was worried for a moment before she erupted in a big laugh. “I cannot believe you just said that, Tanner. You sound just like a frightened little girl right now,” she managed to gasp out between bursts of laughter.
“Hey. I’m a damn superhero. I’m going into the basement, aren’t I?” he said a bit indignantly.
“Yes, you’re my rock, big boy,” she told him, and then she moved forward, leaving him no choice but to accompany her down the stairs.
Tanner was terrified that if so much as a bug rushed across him, he would end up screaming just like that little girl she’d just mentioned. If he did that, he’d never be able to face this woman again. And dammit, he wanted sex and he wanted it soon, so the bugs had better stay far away from him.
Of course the stairs creaked as the two made their way down them, and he heard scratching from some unknown place down in the dark basement — of course. But there was no way he was frightened. He was just worried about her. After all, she was pressed beside him and he couldn’t help but feel the tremors racking her body. He didn’t think the shaking now had anything to do with mirth. The creepiness of the basement was freaking her out.
“If you want to wait up top, I can deal with this.” He enjoyed having her cling to his side, but he had to make the suggestion.
“No way am I waiting up there all by myself. I know how this works. It’s always the girl who gets killed first.”
Her serious tone broke the last of Tanner’s tension. How could he be nervous when she was so dead set on imagining the two of them in a horror movie. Yeah, he’d been the one to mention it first, but she was the one acting it out now. He began to chuckle and then he outright laughed, the sound echoing off the walls of the dingy basement.