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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Whizbang Dustyboots" data-source="post: 9496542" data-attributes="member: 11760">My cell phone is dead and even before that, I've had no signal for hours. Where I am is only a guess; without GPS, I had to ask an old man a while back for directions but either he gave me bad ones or I misunderstood them.The rain is coming down so heavily, the wipers are almost useless as I thump along a muddy track, hoping to find a proper road soon.A figure darts out into my headlights and I spin the wheel frantically, tires spraying mud and suddenly the car goes over the edge and into a ditch.I pull myself out of the car and I limp out to check on the person I had to have hit.But there is no body.I remember the figure -- was it the old man from before? -- his arms upraised, as though trying to fend off the car, face contorted with fear.Shuddering, I head back to the car. I turn the key and the engine gives a choking shudder. I turn it again, and there's the sound of a fitful clicking and then the headlights begin to dim.There was a garage some 20 miles back. Maybe ...And then a light appears in the darkness -- someone has switched on an electric light in a house that had been invisible in the darkness and rain. There hasn't been another house for at least 15 miles. Some good luck at last.I flip my collar up and bundle myself up tightly, trying to stay dry and warm as I head toward the light, finding a long driveway in the brush. It's at least five minutes up the drive to the house and, hopefully, a phone.A flash of lightning illuminates the house. It's old and in serious disrepair. The light in the window flickers -- not an electrical light then, maybe an oil lamp or candles.Soaked through, I climb the steps to the front door, sheltered from the rain on the porch. No lights downstairs in the house. I duck back in the rain and look back at the upstairs light, but it's gone out. I check my watch -- five minutes to midnight.I sigh and prepare to knock. Just then, a light to the left, around the corner of the house. By its dim glow, I see also that there's a door knocker and a bell pull to the right of the door.((Rap the door with the knocker: Page 357))((Pull the cord: Page 275.))((Creep around the house to look at the light: Page 289))</blockquote>

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