Thomas arrived at the house, an eager look on his face. After sleeping in college dorms for two years and then bunking with a friend in an apartment, it was good to finally have a place to himself. He'd found the house for rent online, and since the rent was so low, he decided it would be a good starting house.
The house was a short single-story building with a small porch in the front that had an old couch swing. The porch itself was made of white painted wood, contrasting the unpainted copper-red of the brick house it was attached to. Off to the right were what appeared to be cellar doors, beside which stood a little shack with something small and pink stuck to the left door.
He grabbed the boxes from his car, one by one taking them into the house and putting them in whatever rooms looked right for the contents of each box. Bathroom things in the bathroom, bedroom things in the bedroom, and a few extra things in the living room so that it didn't feel quite so empty.
After unpacking, Thomas remembered that a previous resident had told him of the landlord's rather peculiar habit of leaving random sticky notes all over the house, usually while the resident was out. Mostly the notes were just tips on whatever subject they were stuck to, however, the note that gave Thomas these recollections appeared to have a couple of general house instructions. They read as follows:
1: Take care of the house, keep it clean. I check every week.
2: Never, under ANY circumstances, go into the cellar.
He nodded to himself and tossed the piece of paper in the trash. He was already a clean person and he couldn't think of any reasons to go into the cellar, although he did find it odd for the landlord to specify such a restriction.
In the following hours, Thomas took a shower, found his box of DVDs, and made some dinner. He then sat down to watch his small collection of movies.
He finished The Shining and took a break to wash his dishes. He was almost done washing when he heard a faint creaking noise, then shortly after, a loud bang. He immediately stopped and walked into the living room to see what was going on, only to see that nothing out of the ordinary had occurred, and looking down the hall to the bedroom didn't render any additional information. Hesitantly, he returned to the dishes.
After he finished washing the dishes, he walked into the living room, turned off the TV and DVD player, and went into the bedroom. He then closed the curtains, got undressed, turned off the light, and went to bed.
Throughout the night, Thomas's dreams contained horrific images of being locked and abandoned in a cellar, trapped and in danger, left to wander endless liminal spaces before somehow ending back at the start. He didn't sleep well that night.
YOU ARE READING
The Dark Depths: The Cellar
رعبA college graduate, this Thomas boy. A brand new house he's made his toy. The landlord is a strange old fart. A shame he doesn't play the part. Listen closely to your dreams. The Cellar isn't what it seems. Book One of the Dark Depths Trilogy.
