★ＨＡＵＮＴＥＤ ＭＡＮＳＩＯＮ★

★42

After finishing the upstairs, they moved on to the lower floors. Eventually, they found a narrow door tucked behind the kitchen pantry. It led to a steep set of stairs descending into darkness.

"No way," Amber said, stopping at the top. "There's always something bad in the basement."

Tayla rolled her eyes but felt a small flicker of unease. "We've gotta check it. Just to make sure there aren't any raccoons or something."

Jaxon flipped on his flashlight. "If anything jumps out at us, I'm blaming you."

They carefully descended into the basement, the air growing colder and mustier with each step. At the bottom, they found a large, open space filled with old furniture, rusty tools, and boxes of random junk. A cracked window let in just enough light to cast eerie shadows.

Tayla kicked aside a broken chair, shining her flashlight around. "Nothing dangerous. Just... weird."

Amber poked through a pile of dusty books, sneezing when a cloud of dust hit her. "This stuff must be ancient."

Jaxon inspected an old tool bench, finding a rusted saw and a collection of nails. They could probably use some of this stuff to fix up the house.

After a thorough search, they confirmed the basement was safe—just full of junk and forgotten memories. They climbed back upstairs, relieved to be out of the cold, dark space.