Out of the Darkness

129

The rickety stairs seemed to lead down into nothingness. "This has to be it," I whispered, shining my light into the darkness. "Right?" No one answered me. "Let's find out," Ash replied, speaking for the first time in what seemed like forever. None of us moved, not wanting to be the one who took that first step down into the unknown. I sighed, resigned to my fate, and stepped out onto the top step. It groaned under my weight, the board slightly bending. "Be careful. I'm not sure it's safe," I said, then grabbed the splintered railing that was on the wall, to steady myself. We started slowly, each board groaning just as much as the last. I could hear Sam and Ash's heavy breaths behind me, laced with fear. I knew it was, because it felt like fear was literally seeping out of my pores. I wiped my forehead with the back of my arm, surprised when it came back wet. I hadn't noticed the heat, too focused on making sure that I didn't fall down these stairs to my death, but now I did. The further we went, the hotter it got. The damp, sticky air seemed to flood my lungs, making it hard to breath. It was like we were wading through the fear soaked air, to get to...well, I didn't know. With the beam from my flashlight, I only saw more steps and empty, black darkness. After what seemed like forever, Sam broke the silence. "Do these ever end?" he whispered. His voice seemed intrusive in the silence that we had gotten accustomed too. "They have too, right?" I replied, in my own whispered tone. "They have to lead somewhere." I knew that we were going the right way. I just wasn't sure if the right way lead to freedom or death. We trudged on, the groaning boards playing a sort of musical tone, as we each kept stepping forward to whatever our fate would be. "Something isn't right here," Ash whispered. Something caught my eye, just as he spoke. "Wait!" I exclaimed, my voice louder than before, cracking the silence like a gun shot. I saw it. The floor, a dusty, gray concrete, just a little further down. "The bottom. We're almost there!" My steps sped up, the boards under my feet groaning worse in protest. "Colby, wait up!" Sam replied, his voice still hushed. I didn't reply, or listen. I needed to be done with these stairs. To be on the ground, closer to our destination, whatever that was. When my feet finally hit the concrete, I wanted to yell, to dance, in joy. It felt like we had accomplished some sort of feat, a challenge, and it was finally finished. I turned back to see Ash and then Sam, stepping off onto the concrete. Dust flew up dancing in the beams of our lights, as their feet connected with it. We all looked around then, taking in our surroundings. The walls were the same boring, gray concrete, with chips and scrapes in them. It seemed almost symbolic to me. A reference to life, to humanity. To how we all go through turmoil, and every day life, letting it leave it's scars. But we stay solid. We stay standing. I had no clue why that came into my head over a concrete wall, but there it was. I cleared my throat, the dust starting to get to me, and turned to see the rest of the place. My light didn't seem to let me see too much further, maybe 20 feet in front of me. I saw boxes, piled on top of one another, nothing really special about them. I turned in the opposite direction, and saw... "Is that a coffin?" I asked, my voice turning into a squeak. "Where?" Sam asked, coming up beside me, and peering into the darkness. "Right there," I replied, taking a few steps closer, so that my light would illuminate it a little more. The now familiar chills that I had been getting, started up my back again, causing my body to shiver hard. I knew that it was a coffin, but really hoped that it wasn't. That my mind was playing tricks on me, or that I was hallucinating. Could you hallucinate inside the dream world? Or the demon realm? We all stepped closer, slowly, until we were only a few feet away from the ominous object. "Yep, definitely a coffin," Sam whispered. The blindingly white surface didn't have a speck of dust on it, leaving it the cleanest thing in this basement. "Should we open it?" I asked, turning to see what Ash thought of the idea. He was staring so intently at it, that I had to nudge him to get his attention. "Huh, what?" he said, shaking his head, like he was coming out of a daze. "Should we open it?" I asked again. He took my flashlight and shone it towards the walls that were closest to us. I saw chains hanging down, like you see prisoners attached too in movies that were set in the past. There was also a fire poker leaning against the pale gray wall, next to the set of chains. He walked over to it, without saying a word to Sam or I. We watched as he reached to the top of the chains, where there were connected to the wall, running his fingers over the iron clasp. "These are loose," he whispered. "Okaaaayy?" I replied, looking at Sam. He looked just as confused as I was. "I think that we should get whatever weapons that we can find, just like in the fair nightmare. Before we even think of touching that coffin." "Oops," Sam whispered. I glanced down and saw his hand resting on top of it. All of a sudden, a thundering noise from above us started, like an entire army was running above our heads. Dust flew up and around us, making it even harder for our lights to see anything at all. "Help me!" Ash yelled, yanking on the chains. Sam and I ran over to the wall and started yanking on the same chain that Ash had in his hands. I was yanking so hard, it felt like the muscles in my shoulder was ripping apart with each hard pull. The resistance that the we felt disappeared suddenly, and we all flew backwards. I fell hard, directly on my ass, then felt something hit me in the stomach, stealing my breath. "OOF," I gasped out. "Shit, sorry," Sam replied. He jumped up, having landed on a much softer surface than I did, and held his hand out to me.