Second Chances {ACM}

Chapter 39

Emily's POV

"I'm telling you, Taylor. There's something in the basement." I insisted as I crept closer to the basement door.

"Emily, you're imagining things." She told me through the phone.

"I'm not imagining anything, I can hear scratching!" I replied. "Now use your violent streak for a good cause and come over and kill whatever's down there!" I shrieked.

"No way, Emily. I'm not even close to your place. Call me and let me know how you did!" She said cheerfully before hanging up.

"Tay- Ugh!" I exclaimed before setting my phone down.

I grabbed the closest thing to me, which was the broom. "Alright, baby, you and I are on a mission."

I slowly started descending the basement steps. "Sure, let's let the pregnant girl go see what's down here. It's okay if she dies. The girls are always the dead ones in the movies! With my luck, there's a serial killer down here ready to take a swing at me with his hatchet. I'll miss you, life." I mumbled to myself.

Now, stupid me, I realized I hadn't turned the light on at the top of the steps and I was already at the bottom. In the dark. By myself.

"Oh, are you kidding me?" I whispered angrily.

"Emily?" I heard Austin call from upstairs. "Emily!"

Oh, shit, I thought he wasn't home. Well, awesome, he was! No sarcasm intended. I gladly ran back up to the top of the steps and opened the door, coming out into the hallway.

"I'm right here, Austin."

He whipped around. "There you are! I've been looking all over for you." He stared at the broom in my hand in confusion. "What were you doing?"

"I heard a noise in the basement so I was going to go down and see what it was." I said. "I called Taylor to come kill whatever it was, but she said no."

"And you have the broom because..." Austin trailed off.

"It was my, uh, weapon." I muttered. "In case there was a serial killer down there!"

He was trying to hold back a smile as he walked over, failing miserably. He took the broom from me. "What were you going to do, sweep him to death?"

"Hey, it could have worked! It just would have taken a while." I protested lamely.

"Yeah, ten years." He told me. "Why wouldn't you come get me?"

"I thought you weren't home!" I exclaimed. "Otherwise you know I so would have."

"How did you not know I was home? I was upstairs sleeping! My sleep patterns are still out of whack from my trip to Texas so I'm trying to catch up on sleep." He explained.

"Cool story bro, now go kill that thingm" I said, hiding behind him and nudging him towards the steps.

"You were probably imagining things, Ems." Austin sighed, but flipped the light on anyways on the wall.

"That's what Taylor said. I'm not crazy, Austin, I heard something!" I exclaimed as I looked down the stairs nervously.

"I didn't say you were."

"You were thinking it." I shot back.

He rolled his eyes. "Stay here and let me go down and check it out." He said as he took a step towards the open door.

"No way, I'm coming."

"You just said-"

"I know what I said! I'm still coming!" I heard the scratching noise again and grabbed the back of Austin's favorite yellow shirt.