Living a Nightmare

THE BASEMENT

Now we are standing in a tiny little hallway, just big enough for the three of us to fit in. In front of us is a staircase leading down into the darkness, to the basement.

"How do we get the light on in here then?" Cedric looks at me.

"The light switch is at the end of the stairs to your right. One reason why I have only been down there once before and that was when I first moved in, to get rid of all the stuff that belonged to the previous owner," I explain.

"Okay, let's go then," Jay takes out a torch and carefully makes his way down the stairs. As soon as he reaches the last step he flicks the switch and the light comes on, revealing a normal basement filled with lots of old things, some that have not even been touched for ages, others only touched a few weeks ago by me. Cedric and I decide to follow.

"Everything looks completely fine to me down here," I say, wanting to go back up.

"Hold on, we are not done just yet. There might be some clues down here that can help us find a way to get rid of the ghost that is haunting your house," Jay stops me before I have a chance to even reach the first step of the stairs.

"Yeah, pretty sure you will find plenty of clues down here in this rubbish dump."

"Don't give up so easily," Jay replies and starts looking around the room, Cedric following his lead.

"What is all of this stuff anyway?" Cedric looks at me with a curious twinkle in his eye.

"I don't really know, to be quite honest. They were in the house when I first moved in. I mean, I went through some of those boxes before I put them in here, but there were just old books and newspapers, nothing special really, so I stopped looking. And I also felt uncomfortable going through them, like I was invading someone's privacy, you know," I admit.

"Oh right, so they belonged to the people who lived in this house before you then."

"I think so, but I don't know. You see, when I bought the house, the owner had moved back to Germany. Apart from these things in the boxes, the house has been empty for years. But they could have also belonged to previous owners before the man who is now living in Germany...," I explain.

"Why would anyone want to buy a house in the middle of nowhere that has been uninhabited for years? That is exactly how every horror film starts, isn't it?" Cedric mocks, "Did they forget to put up a sign saying Beware, haunted house?" Cedric is now bursting with laughter.

Jay, on the other hand, is too busy trying to find out something about the ghost that haunts this house to notice anything else around him.

"Just so you know, I was looking for a place I to myself, away from society and noise," I exclaim, somewhat annoyed at the way Cedric is making fun of all of this.

"Why would you want to get away from civilisation?" Jay now stops looking through old boxes and looks me straight in the eye. "Do you not like the company of others?" he looks kind of sad.

"No, it's not that... It's just... All right, okay. I am an artist. I like to paint landscapes and nature. Also, I can concentrate best when there is no noise around me or anything else that might interfere with my concentration and creativity. So I thought, where better to go than somewhere just outside the city," I look at them both, trying to see if they understand what I am trying to say.

"You're an artist?" Cedric and Jay reply in union. "That makes sense," Cedric thinks out loud.