The Housekeeper

Danica stared at the large house with a tinge of unease, 'This is going to take forever,' she thought to herself as she made her way up the rickety front step, her bucket full of cleaning supplies held firmly in her hands. She put the bucket down on the filthy front porch before ringing the doorbell anxiously. Slightly annoyed Danica waited a few moments before she tried the doorbell again to no avail. After two minutes more she attempted knocking and on the third knock, Danica was about to give up when an envelope fell through the mail slot. Kneeling she grabbed the slightly stained envelope and eagerly ripped it open to read it:

Dear Maid To Perfection Cleaner
We have gone away for the weekend,
Sorry about the short notice, but we have left the door unlocked for you. Thank you in advance.

-The Chance Family

Letting out a sigh of annoyance, Danica folded up the sheet of paper and placed it in the pocket of her cleaning apron before bending over to grab her crate of supplies and opening the door to quickly let herself inside. The air was stale and almost a bit rancid, which caused Danica to start to gag as she closed the front door behind her. The room had a stench that reminded Danica of a dead animal mixed with an entire carton of rotten eggs. 'Oh dear god,' she thought as she covered her face with her hand before attempting to embark further into the house.
The house itself was surprisingly tidy, Danica noted as she made her way through the front room, and after a while, even the putrid smell began to dissipate a bit, 'maybe this won't be so bad' she thought while trying to hide a mischievous grin. Quickly scanning the layout of the first floor Danica decided it would be best to start in the downstairs bathroom, as it tended to be the dirtiest room of the job in her experience. She quickly put her lengthy auburn hair in a tight updo and headed for the bathroom with her supplies in hand.
It wasn't long before Danica had all but forgotten about the smell that had greeted her at the front door, as she found herself elbow-deep in the Chance family's porcelain toilet. The water made a pleasant trickling sound as she rang out the sponge she had been using into the bucket of cleaning solution and water. While she worked Danica began humming a song her mother had sung to her long ago when she was growing up back in Norway, but it wasn't long before she was sure she had heard a sound down the hall and quickly stopped what she was doing.
The sponge fell into the bucket causing a bit of water to slosh out and spatter onto the floor as Danica stood up and walked to the doorway before cautiously leaning her head out and looking down the left of the hall, then slowly turning her head to the right of the hallway. She examined the quiet walkway for a few seconds before the same thumping sound she had previously heard caused her to flinch; she let out a small shriek before retreating into the bathroom and locking the door.
Glancing around the bathroom Danica grabbed a toothbrush that had been sitting on the counter next to the sink. She clenched the handle with the head of the brush facing away from her as if it were a knife as she tiptoed back to the bathroom doorway. Taking a deep breath and attempting to summon all of her courage, Danica stealthily opened the bathroom door and made her way down the hallway to where she had heard the noise.
Creeping down the hallway Danica came to the bend, quickly peeking her head around the corner she saw no signs of movement. As the maid was about to turn around and return to the bathroom she heard another thumping noise, turning around swiftly she hurried down the hallway. As she rounded the corner, her heart skipped a beat when she saw an enormous moving shadow on the floor emanating from one of the open bedrooms. Mustering up all the courage she could she rushed forward, toothbrush gripped in her hand so tight it caused her knuckles to whiten.
Danica inched her way towards the doorway and held her breath as she leaped over the threshold and into the room, unready to face whatever was inside. What met her gaze was not quite what she had expected though, the bedroom that stood before her was practically empty besides the furniture. She let out a sigh of relief as she shook her head dismissively, attempting to play the sounds off as her imagination.
Turning to leave the room and resume her cleaning duties in the bathroom Danica heard another clatter causing her to nearly jump out of her skin and drop the toothbrush. Quickly turning to face the direction of the noise she came face to face with an open closet door creaking as it lazily began to close. Every hair on Danica's arm stood on end as she grabbed the doorknob firmly and yanked the door open again; it swung open with a screech that suggested its hinges were in dire need of oil.
Within the darkness, Danica could see a pair of glowing emerald eyes staring back at her and after a moment the creature inside the closet let out a low hiss. Backing away slowly the terrified maid stifled a scream as whatever creature was lying in wait within the closet began darting around the closet. As she continued to inch away, Danica stepped on a stuffed animal that had been carelessly left on the ground, causing her to slip and fall to the hardwood floor with a thud.
She tried screaming but nothing would come out as she continued to slowly shuffle back towards the wall all the while whimpering. The eyes in the closet began to slowly come toward her as Danica tried to retreat to the wall reaching for her makeshift weapon before remembering that she had dropped it moments before. Scanning the ground around her, she spotted it laying on the floor across the room from where she stood cowering. Her eyes grew wide as she began to concoct a plan in her head. Trying to act on her feet, the maid bravely lunged at the toothbrush as the creature that had been hunting her from the closet leaped towards her. Letting out a shriek, Danica hit the ground, her eyes glued to the darkness within the closet, when suddenly from the void all Danica could make out was an enormous mass of black hair shooting toward her.
Danica missed the toothbrush and rolled over screaming. The terrified maid suddenly huddled into the fetal position as she sobbed uncontrollably on the floor awaiting her inevitable death, praying only that it would be fast. When nothing happened Danica slowly gathered the courage to look up at her stalker, trying to sneak a peak the maid looked up and quickly winced as she saw sudden movement right in front of her tear-soaked face. Suddenly something began to rub up against her as she cautiously attempted another quick peek.
All the air escaped from her lungs at once as she realized the Chance family's pet cat had been the creature that had been hunting her. She let out a small uneasy laugh as she realized how silly she must have looked being as terrified as she had been. As she regained her nerves the fluffy black cat nuzzled up to her, she ran her hand along its back slowly as the cat began to purr. Danica chuckled to herself again as she gradually began to get on her feet, still shaky from her near mental breakdown.
Still reeling from her recent fright, Danica stumbled with her hand against the wall to stabilize herself as she made her way down the hallway, shaking her head in disappointment and beating herself up mentally as she went. After a few minutes, the shock began to subside, and she slowly made her way back to the bathroom to finish the job she had started before her freak encounter. Her heart still racing and her body trembling as she sat in front of the bathtub, Danica grabbed the still-damp sponge from the blue-tiled floor, swishing it around in the bucket of cleaning solution before starting to scrub the ornate bathtub.
It wasn't long before Danica had finished scrubbing the bathroom and had moved on to the bedrooms that were down the same hall where she had first received her fright earlier. She paused while standing in the center of the lavish hallway, 'just a damn cat' she thought as she began walking, her trusty bucket of soapy water in hand.
Stepping over the cat that had scared her before, Danica slowly put her hand on the cold handle to the child's bedroom door so she could continue her cleaning spree, as in her experience children's bedrooms often were the second dirtiest room on the job. Still standing at the door of the child's bedroom Danica began to take in the decor; the door was solid oak with a small metal sign nailed to it. The sign had the name Christopher written in big cartoony letters next to the face of a very unfriendly and creepy-looking clown. Trying to shake off the sense of dread the caricature of the clown had seemed to instill in her, Danica turned the cold metal handle delicately. The door opened with a small creak as the maid peered beyond the small opening she had made the doorway and into the vacant room. To her welcomed surprise, the room was spotless, leaving her thinking that she just might finish this job quickly, suggesting the rest of the house was anything like this child's bedroom.
The clock in the hall suddenly let out two loud chimes, startling Danica and causing her to jump before letting out a nervous chuckle at how infantile and frightened she had been all day. Shaking the thought from her head the exhausted maid crossed the threshold into the child's bedroom. Picking up where she left off, Danica started to hum again as she picked up the few toys that had been scattered on the floor before quickly dressing the bed. After the formalities of cleaning the room were done, Danica gave the floor a quick vacuum before determining it was probably a good time for a smoke break. Hurrying to the front room she fumbled through her apron pocket before pulling out a pack of cigarettes and slyly retrieving one from the pack. Sticking the cigarette in her mouth, she flung the pack back into her apron pocket and grabbed a pack of matches.
Birds chirped in the trees above as Danica made her way out onto the house's large front deck, she dragged the matchstick along the striker as the sulphur-coated end exploded into flames and Danica's nostrils were met with the familiar and comforting stinging sensation that came with a freshly struck match. She sighed in relief as she raised the flame to her cigarette and took a long deep drag before shaking the match out and throwing it down onto the dirt road. The embers at the tip of the cigarette let off a glow visible even in the midday sun, as she took another deep drag. The world began to reel a bit, but the maid quickly put her hand out to brace herself against the outer frame of the deck to try and steady herself before finally deciding it was probably a better idea to sit down on the stairs. It wasn't long before Danica was done with her smoke and had tossed the cigarette butt onto the dirt road, smothering it with her foot before heading back inside the house.
As Danica stood back in the front entryway of the house a sudden sense of déjà vu overcame her as she ran her fingers through her hair trying to clear the sudden feeling of impending dread. Opening the large front door and crossing over the threshold into the house, the putrid odour once again assaulted her nose and caused her to begin to gag uncontrollably as she tried to stay on her feet. Danica had entirely forgotten about the smell while she had been distracted by her cleaning duties, but now that the home had sat baking in the hot summer sun all day, she found the scent to be infinitely worse. Danica heaved again as she turned around and swung the front door open running out into the daylight clutching her stomach as she took long deep breaths, savoring the clean air.
Bolting to her car Danica began frantically searching for a few supplies. Within minutes, she had gathered what she needed and was ready to reenter the house, for what she hoped would be the last time. Donning a mask and gloves the maid opened the door gradually before slipping into the house. Briefly pulling the mask away from her nose, she attempted to follow the odour by only taking in quick breaths. Still, after a few seconds, she was confronted by the unavoidable gag reflex she had recently become so well acquainted with. Placing the mask back over her nose, Danica began smiling under the cloth face covering, because many years ago she had read somewhere in a magazine, that doing so would prevent the urge to vomit. Unfortunately like so many ill-informed readers, she quickly learnt that was just another urban legend, and after a few moments of smiling like a lunatic, she finally lost the war and threw up all over the front entryway.
She spent the next five minutes cleaning up her vomit before attempting to once again collect herself. After a short break leaning against the wall, Danica decided she would need to try again as she didn't see any other way of locating the source of the disgusting odour. Uncovering her nose once again she winced as the foul scent began to grow in intensity as she followed it, the smell led her out of the front room and down the hall into the kitchen where she had to fight back another bout of retching. Placing her hand on the solid wood kitchen table and sitting on one of the chairs, Danica waited for her head to stop spinning.
After a few moments Danica's head cleared and she surveyed the room around her as she had not been in the kitchen yet. Her eyes stopped when she noticed a small door that she hadn't noticed at first. The maid approached the door that, although it appeared to be very similar to the other doors in the home, felt very different somehow, almost as if it had been emanating an evil aura. She found herself compelled towards the small door and before she could stop herself she was pressing her ear against it. At first, she heard nothing, but after continuing to listen for a few more seconds she suddenly thought she could make out a soft clicking noise just on the other side.
Pulling the door open with a small grunt, Danica was suddenly met with a blast of putrid and musty air causing her to reel over clutching her stomach "No more!"' she screamed as she tried getting to her feet again. The intrepid maid was convinced that the smell had to be coming from just beyond the door, so plugging her nose through the mask, she turned on the small flashlight she brought from her car before courageously heading into the darkness beyond the small doorway.
Cobwebs garnished the handrails that lead down the rickety wooden stairs, Danica cringed as her hand brushed over them in an attempt to guide herself down the pitch-black stairwell. It wasn't long before she found herself completely immersed in the darkness, the dim dollar store flashlight barely enough to guide her. Danica started to make her way deeper into the basement when her foot made contact with something squishy, recoiling as she jiggled her foot she hoped to get whatever she had stepped in off of her shoe. letting out a disgruntled sigh, she slowly shined the flashlight on the stairs at her feet, what met her gaze almost made her scream as she covered her mouth in shock, collecting in a pool at her feet a bright crimson liquid she was almost positive was blood.
Quickly kneeling on the stairwell beside the fluid Danica brushed the tip of her finger through the substance, she began pressing the viscous liquid between her fingers a few times before discovering that it was not blood but had been fresh red paint. Standing up she examined the room she now found herself in, her eyes somewhat acclimated to the darkness. In the distance, Danica could just barely make out a very welcomed sight, strung from the ceiling she could see a small light bulb and hanging from it a long pull string. 'Thank god' she thought to herself as she made her way towards the godsend that was the lightbulb, but after taking only three steps Danica stepped on something firm that let off a wet crunching sound beneath her foot.
Danica heard a snapping noise as whatever was under her foot gave way. Trying her best not to think about what she may have stepped in, she hurried toward the lightbulb. Grabbing the cord firmly in her hand she gave the pull string a quick tug and found herself bedazzled as blinding light flooded the once pitch-black room. Danica rubbed her eyes and blinked a few times until the stars and splotches that had taken up most of her vision had dissipated
Finally able to see again, Danica scanned the now-illuminated room, her jaw-dropping as her eyes landed on something horrendous. The flashlight she had been holding fell from her now limp hand as she backed away from where she had been standing. Written on the wall, in what she assumed to be the same red paint she had found earlier, were the words, 'You Should Have Taken A Sick Day.' Danica began backing away in fright, but before she had taken a few steps backwards she found herself plunging to the floor.
Letting out a small yelp Danica found herself falling into something frail and squishy. Looking down at where she had fallen, the maid began to shriek. On the floor a few feet away gaping back at her was the mummified head that looked to have once belonged to a male corpse. Danica bolted upright and looked at the ground beneath her, she let out another shrill scream as she saw on the floor beneath her sat a severely shrivelled corpse with a perfect Danica-shaped crater in its chest cavity. Covering her mouth as she started running for the stairs the house cleaner came across another corpse and began gagging uncontrollably again. The body in front of her appeared to be that of a woman due to the small bits of female clothes that remained draped over the mummified body, the corpse had been tied to a chair and its face seemed to be petrified in an eternal scream.
Danica began to weep as she turned away from the horrible sight only to have her eyes assaulted by yet another mummified corpse at the foot of the stairs. Her sobs rose to incoherent wails as she realized the body at the bottom of the staircase was that of a young child, and suddenly it all started to become clear to Danica, the corpses she had discovered had to be the bodies of the Chance family she had been hired to work for. Danica's wails were cut off without warning by the sudden slamming of the cellar door above startling her, causing the maid to jump halfway out of her skin as her hands instinctively flew up to her face to stifle any screams as the room fell silent.
Just as Danica was about to calm down and pass off the door closing to a breeze, she heard footsteps at the top of the stairs. Frozen in terror she scoured the room for anywhere she could hide, as the footsteps continued to approach her the maid's gaze fell on a small window that had been painted over with black paint. Quickly turning on her feet she found herself sprinting towards the little window as she began to stack some nearby boxes in a desperate attempt to escape whatever was coming down the stairs. Danica quickly clambered up the small mountain of junk she had created as she reached her hands out towards the tiny window's metal latch. The cold metal latch jiggled as Danica let out a small grunt of frustration; the footsteps were now louder and more hurried when out of the corner of her vision she could just see the shadow of something descending the basement staircase.
Danica's heartbeat started to quicken as she fumbled with the window latch before finally getting it open, she quickly leaped and grabbed onto the undersized ledge as the small pile of clutter gave way and crumbled beneath her. The footsteps seemed to hesitate for a split second before continuing as whatever was descending the stairs started to move faster. Danica began to crawl out the window, her small frame barely fitting, when she suddenly heard a primal growling from behind her. While attempting to squirm her way out of the window as fast as she could, the thing that had been chasing her suddenly grabbed onto her leg and began to pull her back in.
Danica screamed while kicking her free leg as hard as she possibly could, as she hit her pursuer it caused the pursuer to let out a guttural howl of pain and loosen their grip just a bit. Taking her opportunity Danica ripped her leg from her assailant's grasp before struggling as hard as she could to get free of the window. The attacker let out another growl as it tried to clamber up to the window in pursuit. pushing one last time she found herself tumbling out the window onto the Chance family's backyard. Without a moment of hesitation, the young woman was on her feet and dashing headlong toward her car.
Once safely inside the confines of her vehicle, Danica locked the doors and jammed the key into the ignition, as the engine turned over she took a second to steal a glance towards the ramshackle house and saw the front door swing open, hitting the siding with an audible 'BANG'. Letting out a small shriek, Danica slammed her foot on the gas and peeled out of the driveway. The panicked woman drove faster than she ever had before, her mind racing at a million miles an hour. Gripping the steering wheel in fear she blew past a stop sign as she attempted to put as much distance between her and the house as she could.
After fifteen minutes of non-stop driving and several miles, Danica pulled over before quickly trying to fish her cell phone out of her car's glove compartment and attempting to call the police. Ten minutes later and the maid was standing next to a police cruiser shaking like a leaf and telling an officer everything that had happened. The officer stood beside her attentively, well writing down everything she said word for word, "So you're saying that there were three bodies in the basement of the house?" he asked her in a tone Danica assumed he had reserved for damsels in distress, but all she could do was nod like a lunatic as her whole body trembled.
The officer grabbed his radio and began to speak into it; "Hey Dispatch, has unit two twenty-one arrived at the residence yet?" The line remained silent for a few seconds before a female voice responded, "Yes Officer, they say they have located the three bodies as well as the paint on the wall, just like the victim said, but no sign of any intr-." The dispatcher on the other end of the radio paused for a second before continuing, "wait a minute they say they just found a large crawlspace, and it looks as if someone might have been living down here judging by the sleeping bag and half-eaten food they found." The dispatcher on the other end of the radio finished with a tinge of disgust in her voice.
The male officer in front of Danica gave her a very concerned look as over the radio the officer at the house spoke, "One second, they think they have found another body," the female dispatcher hesitated once again before finishing, a tinge of dread in her voice, "Oh lord, they say they have identified the remains as officer Horwell's body." Just then Danica began to smell a very familiar scent, the same vile odour that had assaulted her at the Chance family's house. Danica looked up at the officer who had gone strangely silent as her eyes stopped on his badge, 'Officer Horwell' it read. The creature that had been masquerading as the police officer in front of her began shedding the skin it had been using as a disguise, as it emerged it smiled revealing rows upon rows of razor-sharp teeth coated in blood.
Danica turned to flee but the stench became too overpowering and all she could do was keel over and begin to vomit. As she knelt over on the dirt road at the side of the abandoned highway, she heard footsteps in the gravel behind her, followed by the familiar guttural growling she had heard before. Without even a second to turn and face her assailant, Danica felt a sharp slicing pain in her back as everything began fading to black

The End