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She took another deep breath.

No, she told herself. There is an explanation; there must be.

Reception was poor, they were on their way.

The seconds ticked by, adding up into minutes. There was something wrong.

She was sure of it.

She sat on the couch, looking out of the front window at the wooded driveway. When they arrived she would see the lights of their cars through the trees.

For the moment, though, there was nothing but looming shadows and a deathly, ominous quiet.

Thirty minutes later the panic had taken over. They should be here by now; there was nothing she could think of that would have delayed them this much. Packing a bag, getting gas, getting food and water: none took this long. Moreover, there was no reason for Ryan, Otis and Sally to have ignored her repeated messages, or for their phones to be switched off.

Especially not in these circumstances. Ryan would know that she would want to be able to contact him, and he would make sure she could.

Which meant something had gone wrong.

And that meant they were not coming.

She was here alone.

Should she leave? Find a hotel? When Ryan resolved whatever was holding him up he could call her, but at least in the interim she’d be safe. No one would know where she was.

Yes – that was what she would do. Get out of here and find a place to stay.

Mary was about to grab her car keys when, through the trees, she saw the lights of a car. They flickered through the branches, growing stronger as the car approached. A moment later she heard the sound of an engine, followed by tyres crunching on the gravel road. They were here. The panic receded. Of course nothing had happened; it had just taken them a while to pack up and get moving.

The car approached, a dark silhouette behind the blazing headlamps. She had noticed in recent years that car headlamps had become much brighter. As they approached they were dazzling; it made driving at night more difficult than when she had started to drive, although that could also be the result of her deteriorating eyesight.

It turned into the driveway and pulled up next to hers.

She waited for the engine to shut off, doors to open, Ryan to appear, or, if it was Otis and Sally, the kids to spill out, and the lights to go dark.

Nothing happened.

The lights blazed into the window, almost blinding her. They were all she could see; everything else was invisible next to them.

What was he doing? Why was the driver shining the headlights into the house?

A minute passed, then another. She called out Ryan’s name, then Otis’s and Sally’s, but there was no reply.

And then the noise of the engine stopped, and the headlights went out. Finally.

Moments later, the table lamp next to her went out. She reached out and flicked the switch to turn it back on.

Nothing happened.

The lamp stayed dark. The bulb must have gone, at the most inconvenient time.

Unless there was no power at all.

Unless someone had made sure there was no power.

She pushed the thought away, but then, to check, she looked at the TV. The red standby light – which she was sure she had seen earlier – was not there.

So there was no electricity at all. She held her breath, listening for footsteps, but hearing only her heart thudding as the panic rose, tightening her chest.