Synopsis: A mere trip to the basement can lead to one's demise... Be wary of what lies down there waiting to attack... (Written 2004)

There’s Something in the Basement

I could hear my heart thumping in my chest as I descended the dark stairway. My only source of light was a pocket flashlight, which only provided me with a narrow stream of light to illuminate the stairs. Said stairs were silent beneath my feet, but the dull dripping of water from a leaky pipe could be heard somewhere off in a dark portion of the basement below. I could also hear a low, threatening growl from somewhere in the darkness and it was most certainly overpowering the sound of the leaky pipe. Why there was a low, threatening growl, I couldn't be sure and wasn't all too certain that I wanted to find out, either…

When I reached the bottom, I scanned the basement the best I could in the darkness with caution reigning in my actions and eyes. I saw nothing, and double-checked just to be safe. Again, nothing. But, a sudden loud crash from within another room in the basement caught my attention.

I looked frantically towards the door, which lead to the room where the loud noise had come from. It was slightly ajar, but when I examined it a bit more closely, it appeared to have large claw marks where the brass door handle should have been. The wood splintered out from the deep gashes in the door and a small portion of the door’s edge was missing. I thought maybe I couldn’t see that well in the darkness. Eyes playing tricks, yah know? However it was harder to convince myself of this than I thought it would be. The fear was just too present.

I slowly walked closer to the door, forcing my feet to move and heard more odd noises from within that were undeniably loud. I had never been afraid of going into my basement alone before, but now I was scared out of my mind. Limited ability to see and inexplicable noises could do that to you.

I brushed a spider-web out of the way almost frantically, while I normally would have done it out of annoyance. I had to force myself to continue on because while I was afraid, I was sure I had to discover what this strange noise was.

I felt a droplet of water from the dripping pipe I had heard earlier and I whipped it off my face with haste as if it was acidic and going to burn my skin. Of course, it wasn't. But one really doesn't think of that in a panic.

I heard something, or someone, else to my right. I halted instantaneously and shone the beam of my light, shaking as it was, towards the direction of the noise. I only saw the blur of what appeared to be a mere child, but I couldn’t be sure at that time due to how swiftly they moved. The figure dashed into the room quickly as I began to approach the now swinging door once again, following in suit though at a much slower pace.

The path to the door seemed to extend drastically with each heavy step I took and it was suddenly too quiet for comfort considering the noises that had been penetrating the darkness previously. Finally, I reached the door, and I grabbed the edge of it and opened it slowly. Of course it creaked due to its age and it not having been opened frequently enough. Before, there was no reason for any of my family to go in there.

I stuck my head in the room before stepping in to make sure it was safe. I saw nothing at the moment, and entered with the same caution I’d been carrying with me all the while. I searched the room for source of the noise or the figure I had seen before, only to find a child sitting in the middle of the room. Had it been there a moment ago? I thought not.

It was a little girl, who appeared to be no older than four if I was judging correctly. She was just sitting there in her little pink dress, giggling evilly, her little braided pigtails swishing through the air as she did so. There was nothing really sinister about her except for that laugh, for even her expression seemed innocent enough. That laugh was doing a swell job of sending shivers down my spine as I wondered what she could possibly be laughing at in such a fashion.

From behind me, I felt a warm breath at the small of my back and the hairs on the back of my neck stood up as I stiffened. I was petrified at that moment and I hadn’t a clue as to what I should do. What could possibly be behind me? My mind drew a blank and I ended up slowly turning to look at whatever was behind me. My limbs almost gave out as my legs allowed me to pivot. The same growl that I’d heard previously met my ears as I turned and I suddenly wanted to stop and run to a corner to hide, but it was like something had taken possession of my legs. I couldn't stop.

I briefly saw the form of a snarling black panther with my widened eyes before its entire body weight upon me drew forth a darkness even thicker than that in the basement. I didn’t even have a chance to scream…

End...