Chapter 1 - The Shapeless

If I had already done all the work, paid an editor and so forth, I wouldn't be publishing these chapters here(obviously) so don't expect much.

Sirens wailed, cutting through the thick, humid air. A fire truck, its lights flashing blue, roared past Alex's car, narrowly missing his rear bumper, splashing murky water up his side window and door. 

 A cold sweat broke out on his brow as he gripped the steering wheel tighter and an epithet readied itself on his lips, sending all sorts of remarks at the other driver and some at himself for being so absentminded.. 

*

The sky was a menacing canvas of dark, swirling clouds. The distant rumble of thunder echoed, a harbinger of the worst yet to come. A sense of dread washed over him as he came up on the hospital's five story building. The green, tall structure with its large parking areas seemed like a lighthouse looming over a turbulent ocean washed shoreline. 

He thought of Shelly, her brave face and unwavering dedication. She was probably out there, somewhere in the storm, risking her life to save others.

Out of habit, he'd taken a side street going by the hospital's back where the ambulance vans parked, ready to go at a moment's notice.

 Alex scanned the parking space through the murky water stained window, hoping that one of the three vans still parked was Shelly's. 

  A pang of fear shot through him when he saw that her van with the slightly faded markings on its side was already gone. 

 What if something happened to her? What if she wouldn't come home?

He thought that two years together, he would have been used to it, his wife always where someone was hurt or nearing the clutches of death.. But it never got easier, especially when she worked the night shifts. Of course, she had the driver and Michelle there to help in case something went wrong, but Alex couldn't crush that forlorn emotion in his guts.. 

***

The black car he'd been trailing took a right turn, to the street leading toward the school. As the rain slowed, and he verified the road was clear, Alex sped up, the sooner he'd get to the studio the sooner he'd get out of the rain and the uncertainties of poor visibility conditions and slippery roads. 

Turning the radio onto the town’s local channel, he waited for the news as commercials played in quick succession. 

The storm continues ravaging the area, in the past eight hours alone over twenty people had been struck by lightning on their way to or from work, several more have been electrocuted through faucets and showers in their homes. The highway between Maple Grove and Old Town is blocked by fallen trees and power poles, those traveling between the towns will have to go around to Riverton and set off from there. 

We'd like to remind our listeners not to go out unless it's absolutely necessary and to observe all safety measures set by the authorities for cases of extreme weather conditions. 

Authorities say this is the worst electrical storm in the country in the last fifty years, possibly longer. 

The small town, Riverton reported five cases of lightning striking into buildings, setting them ablaze, with the storm showing no sign of dissipating. When firemen responded to an emergency at Riverton's daycare, lightning struck one of the firefighters. The man was rushed to the hospital here, in Maple Grove as Riverton's clinic can't handle the increasing number of injured. 

***

Alex's thoughts surged with fear for his beloved Shelly. She never seemed to think about her own safety when someone else was in need.. Right then, that worried him more than anything. Forget about mentally deranged patients, the storm proved more dangerous. 

The rain began to fall anew, a gentle drizzle, quickly turning into a torrential downpour, within moments, once more heavy and relentless. The windshield wipers struggled to keep up, smearing the glass with streaks of water. Alex's vision blurred, and his mind raced with worst-case scenarios. 

He came to from his thoughts when the news ended, going to commercial again and the signal suddenly disappearing into a low, distorted buzzing noise.. 

Alex reached for the tuner.. 

Blinding purple flashes of lightning illuminated the road. A deafening clap of thunder followed, shaking the car. Alex slammed on the brakes, reflexively jerking the wheel to the left while the car slid along the slippery road another few feet. His heart pounding. A large chunk of asphalt had been ripped and flung from the road, narrowly missing his car, rolling and thumping about toward the sidewalk, in its wake a handful of fragments clattered off his windshield.

"What the hell was that?!" he called out, still, his voice barely audible over the storm's irritated growling.

Heart racing and breaths coming in quick short bursts, Alex needed a moment before realizing he was still pressing down against the brakes as though his life depended on it. 

***

The black masses overhead spewed mad, crimson red sparks in every which direction, illuminating the otherwise darkened street in a succession of brief flashes. Alex's heart pounded madly, his breath stolen and thoughts blank.. His long hair moist with sweat, the radio buzzing and shrieking, spewing indistinct, bizarre noises, yet his gray eyes scanned the stretch of road some ten steps in front of his car.. Gaze frozen on the large dark form which remained obscured by an impenetrable cloud of darkness. His headlights failed to peel away the veil and reveal who or what was standing in the smoldering crater left behind the lightning strike.. 

*

It was there, Alex saw it through the rain-streaked windshield, he knew he did, the silhouette.. And the next minute, as the strange, obscure apparition lifted its right arm, pointing at him with a taloned index finger… it vanished just as abruptly as it had materialized through the lightning bolt, just moments before. 

Author's Note

Chapter 1, draft 1. I'll be working away at it as time and motivation allows. As I've stated above, if this were a finished product, I would not publish it here.
It amuses me to no end, when people come to one of these writing sites, expecting to find commercial grade literature 🤣
That's like going into a music store when someone is trying out a guitar before deciding to buy it or not, and expecting them to play you a whole concert with drums and base and everything. 🤣 It's not happening, sorry.