R/Nosleep (Get Spooked)

There Was A Man Living In Our Basement...

By: u/KinceP1

I'm sorry for the length, but I'm laying in bed and just have to get this out of my head and into writing, so I'll just try and type it out how it happened.

An hour ago I was talking to my friend Mike and my cousin Emily. Mike had come from out of town to visit and we spent the evening catching up. It had been quite a while since our last visit, so the three of us were up late shooting the shit and swapping stories. Emily and Mike had bundled up on the couch in the living room of our apartment, while I sat across from them in the squeaky, tired recliner I've hauled from my last three places. We had been talking for so long that the day had turned to night and we hadn't bothered turning the lights on, so we now sat in the dim glow of the streetlamps below.

The three of us, since the day we all met, loved sharing spooky stories and positing the things we could never manage to explain. It was around 2200 and Mike had just finished reminding me of the strange things he noticed in my childhood home whenever he visited. Strange noises at night, footsteps while everyone was asleep, the usual 'haunted house' stuff. Creepy, yet innocent and easily explained away.

Emily had stayed there for some time a couple years ago, before we moved into our first apartment together, and attested to the overall bad feeling the house gave off - especially when she was alone. She actually surprised me by how emotional she was while remembering it all. She's from another country and moved in with me and my family on a visitor's visa, which meant she couldn't work without a permit. Everyone else in the house, however, would be out of the house most of the day working which left Emily by herself. She explained to me how isolated and oppressed she'd feel when she was alone there, even though she would normally revel in the times she had to herself. There was something about that old house that made her feel differently.

After some time, Emily calmed down and we continued discussing the strange things that went on when she was alone. It seemed to be cathartic for her, albeit a bit distressing having to recall everything. She at least knew that she wasn't alone in noticing things, Mike and I could basically guess all the weird things she experienced since they happened to us too.

I grew up with it all, so I casually explained away most things that were brought up, or they didn't really bother me at all. To add to the discussion, I brought up the man who lived in our basement for a while. Mike and Emily both sat, stone-faced staring back at me. I could see Mike was a bit shocked, it looked like his eyes were watering but it was too dark to tell. Then he quietly spoke up,

"What are you talking about, Will?"

I got that it was a weird thing to say, but it didn't feel that weird to me. So I explained myself.

"Sometime after my parents had separated, my dad, sister, and I moved into this old house with his new wife and my three new step-siblings, I was probably about seven at that point. The main floor and upstairs were in decent shape, but the basement was all bare - just concrete foundations and plywood. It was the quintessential 'damp, creepy basement,' and because of that we didn't use it for much except for laundry. The only decent room fitted with a door was shared by my two older step-sisters next to the bottom of the stairs.

The rest of the giant L-shaped space was sectioned out by large doorways and would remain untouched until years later, but we used it for storage in the meantime. I didn't start going down there until my dad hooked up a computer for me to play games on. It was tucked away in the corner of the larger, open room behind the stairs. It was the only spot with an outlet, the rest of the electrical wouldn't be finished for another few years. I'd spend hours down there by myself, absorbed in Doom and Diablo II, totally forgetting where I was. Completely hidden amongst the piles of boxes, junk, and workout equipment - it was a bit cold, but it was my space and I would never be bothered by my siblings."