The rain fell like a waterfall outside. The elegant dinner party had come to a sudden end. The electric lights kicked back on after the brief power outage. The power went out after every lightning strike. The guests looked in awe at the empty chair stained with blood.

“He’s dead, Jim,” Teddy said, feeling for a pulse on the corpse. He was no doctor, but he'd served as a medic back in the war.

“Okay, do not panic. Let’s phone the police and get this sorted out.” James Winter made an attempt to settle the small dinner party.

“The line’s dead from the storm,” The Butler reminded him.

“Quite right. The important part is to remain calm,” Mr. Winter said.

“Calm? A man’s dead!” Ralph Summers exclaimed.

“Listen,” Teddy Fall paused. “Never mind. I don’t hear anything.”

“Why are you such an idiot?” Ralph asked.

“Why are you hurtful?”

What had started out as a small gathering of old friends had turned to murder. These four men were old army buddies that had decided it had been way too long, so they organized a party. David Spring had been shot. The three army friends were the only ones in the room when the act occurred. The phones were down, and help was not to come. James Winter, the one of the group who was independently wealthy, lived in the mansion. But now he had a body on his hands.

“What are we going to do now, Captain?” Teddy asked James.

“Well…” A loud cracking sound of lightning struck their eardrums as the lights went out… Bang! There went the butler.

“Damn, that was the prime suspect,” Teddy said.

“How do you figure?”

“It is always the butler that is guilty in these types of stories. But now he’s dead… unless he killed himself?” he trailed off. “The perfect crime. He can’t go to jail if he’s dead.”

“He’s a victim, you moron,” Ralph said.

“Or…” Teddy started.

“Shut up.” Ralph did not let him finish.

“Men, we have a problem here,” James said. He thought about it and wondered if he should tell his guests the secret he was hiding.

“What secret?” Ralph demanded answers.

“Secret? No one here has a secret.” Winter dodged the question. As it was sure, his guests had no clue he was hiding anything.

“No, there is something you are hiding,” Ralph said.

“You’re crazy,” Winter shrugged off the question.

“See? The narrator is saying something different.” Ralph pointed out.

“What are you talking about?” Winter said with a smile because his guests were too stupid to understand that he was hiding information.

“Okay, I cannot pretend like I did not hear that,” Ralph said.

“Ralph, calm down,” Winter said to hide the fact that his mansion is only three miles away from an insane asylum where a patient escaped.

“What!?” Ralph spit out his tea.

“Ralph! You can’t listen to the narrator, that’s cheating,” Teddy reminded Ralph with a jab to the elbow.

“But there is an escaped madman on the loose,” Ralph said.

“Listen, fine. There is an asylum near here. And yes, one of the patients got out. Happy now?” Winter said.

“I’m leaving,” Ralph said.

“How? The roads are shut down due to flood warnings,” Teddy added.

“We can’t just sit here. Let’s look for this mad man. So more people do not get hurt,” Ralph proposed.

“Or we split up and get picked off one by one by the psycho killer.” Teddy offered an alternative.

“Both plans are valid,” Winter thought, “Are weapons allowed?”

“Yes let’s take the pistols.” Ralph went to the wall and took the working pistols off the wall. They were currently being used as decorations at the moment, but the bullets were in the drawer ready for use. “And these lanterns are perfect, so we can see even if the lights go out,” Ralph said holding up lanterns he found and matches to light them with.

“And your plan?” Winter pointed at Teddy.

“How about we go solo and turn out all the lights. That way the killer cannot see us. Also, the killer could be afraid of the dark so boom, double whammy. And absolutely no weapons.” Teddy adapted his plan.

“I like it,” Winter nodded his head.

“Are you nuts?” Ralph said.

“No, we are humans,” Winter answered.

“What do we look like, cashews?” Teddy said. Winter and Teddy laughed at his joke. But the three split to find the mad man.

Teddy went to the back porch…

The rain came down just as heavy as before. It had not rained like this since the war. I thought back to the mud filled battles that ended in so much death. The mud stuck to your clothes and never came off. A constant reminder of that battle in the rain... mud. Some things never leave your memory. Being a medic, I had a target painted on my back. That damned red cross! Painted across our backs and on our arms. The medics dropped like flies. My cross was covered by mud. The porch was a somber simple wood structure. A roof that the water ran off so it was good for smoking. The cigarette found its place between my lips. The match went out as fast as I could light it. Damn. I cupped my hands to hide the match from the wind. Second strike success! The white paper takes to the flame and lights. The sweet tobacco filled my lungs. I couldn’t let them know I'd started smoking again. We promised we'd quit together. But I needed this for the stress. The war had not left me. It haunted me like a bad dream. Except for the fact that it was real. The smoke left my mouth and disappeared into the night. What the hell? There was something out there. My head went under my extended coat to provide a makeshift hood. My foot found its place in the mud, reminding me of the nightmare. Constantly looking over your shoulder. No one wants to get shot. But out in the yard was a shovel in the ground next to a tree. An ax was resting beside the shovel. Someone was digging. The hole was shallow, and the dirt was washed away with the rain, to reveal a human hand. Crouching down, I knew I needed a closer look. It became clear that this was the escaped patient. Standing up and looking at the grave, I realized my cigarette was ruined, along with my shoes. The shovel needed to stay there. Everyone deserves a burial. A thunderous sound. The ground exploded with a nearby lightning strike. What happened to that ax? That was the last thought I had. Walking back to the house. I stumbled into the back room near the porch and collapsed. The door was left open, and the water from the rain came into the house. The other two men came to my resting place.

“He’s dead Jim,” Ralph said looking at the ax sticking out of Teddy’s back. James Winter and Ralph Summers looked at one other. The old army buddies looked worried, just as the lights went out…

Bang.