Title: Every Night is Another Story

Summary: Just a random plot that came up in a dream one night. Not quite sure where this one will go yet; just wanted to get this 'teaser' up to see what you guys thought. Hopefully, I'll be able to work on an outline tomorrow. It's not really 'M' yet, but it will go there.

Note: This chapter is kind of a trip. At least, at 12:05 AM and after a full day of work, it's kind of a trip. You guys can decide for yourself

Chapter 1: Fireflies

The light from the small candle illuminated a dim path in the apartment for the occupant to make her way to the kitchen to dig out a flashlight from her tool drawer. "Come on, I know you're in here." She grumbled.

The occasional blackout during New York City summers had turned into near-constant rolling blackouts when temperatures reached 90 degrees or over, but it had actually rained that day - and rained hard. In celebration, she'd thrown open all of her windows, unplugged all the fans and turned off the air conditioner in her apartment.

"Ah ha!" Grabbing the black Maglite from the drawer, she flipped it on in enough time to grab her cell phone as it started to ring. "Hey you!" She said excitedly. "What's up?" She started scanning the floor for the book she dropped when the power went out. "Here? Not a whole lot. The stupid power is out again. And it rained today!"

She grinned as she spied the red, white, and black book cover on the floor, and was careful not to hit her head as she bent down to reach it. "I was reading; finally got a day off from work." She said, using the flashlight to find her page again. "I won't lie to you. I'm reading it again. But, I should probably walk around though and light some more candles in case the power doesn't come on for a while. Text you later?" She asked. "Okay. Bye."

While she'd been in the drawer for the flashlight, she'd seen a lighter stick, and in short order, she'd lit the candles around the living room and returned to her book. Light from the candles reflected off all the mirrors and glass in the room, giving off nearly enough for her to turn off the flashlight.

*****

She woke on the couch a few hours later to the late night news, blinking sleep out of her eyes and trying to focus on her watch. "Oh boy." She said to herself, trying to find a bookmark. "I need to head to bed if I have any hope of waking up tomorrow morning."

Shuffling through the halls of her apartment, she arrived at her closet and started rummaging around for pajamas and what she would wear to work the next day. What she didn't expect was the arm. It appeared from the closet and pulled her under before she could blink, think, or even scream.

So, it's pretty much just a teaser. Fair warning now, chapters on this one may be a little slow in coming. My fiancee is coming home from Kuwait and we've got to work on wedding plans, I'm moving to be closer to him, and then there's looking for a new job. Thanks, and reviews of any kind are always appreciated!