1D, 5sos, Youtubers, The Vamps, & NHC Preferences and Imagines :)

The Basement

A/N: I read this in a Facebook Page, and I fell in love with it. So, this chapter was inspired by it. Hope y'all appreciate it.

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Ashton remembered seeing the house for the first time. He was seven. His young parents had just bought their first home. He remembered that he used to hate living in the cramped, dingy apartment they previously lived in, and opened the door to their new home with wide eyed wonder. It blew his young mind how spacious that house was. He went upstairs to scope out his new bedroom. He was so excited to have his own room and he didn't have to share with his infant brother.

On his grand tour of his new home, he finally made it to the basement. The basement was nothing like the rest of the house. The upstairs was elegant and classy while the basement was cold, metallic, and sterile. The ceiling covered in ancient pipes winding in grotesque angles. The floor was covered in rough cement. He recalls taking a look at the stairs for the first time and being immediately struck with how odd they were.

The stairs were surrounded in drywall which clashed with the rest of the basement. One particular section of the wall was colored differently than the rest. It stood out like a sore thumb. He inched closer to it and felt the texture of it. It felt very strange. He then knocked on it. A hollow sound pervaded the empty air of the basement. Something about that sound immediately put Ashton into ill at ease. He walked up the stairs as he could hear the same hollow sound echo in the emptiness of the basement.

As Ashton and his family settled in their new home, he began to feel comfortable with his surroundings. The house began to feel familiar. Everywhere, that is, except the basement. It always puts him off, and he avoided it as much as he could. His loving father and mother doted over him and his little brother. His life was perfect.

Then it began.

He would hear errant noises. When he pointed it out to his parents, they told him that the old standby that the house was settling in. One night in particular, indicated that something wasn't right. He snuck downstairs to the kitchen for a late night snack. As he closed the refrigerator, he heard a tapping sound cut through the silence of the night. He craned his head to see if he could pinpoint where the sound was coming from. Dread began to wash over him as he realized that the sound was coming from the basement. He inched his way toward the basement door. He opened it to see the blackness of the depths below.

His ears perked up. There it was again. The hollow tapping sound. The same sound he heard the last time he went to the basement. He turned on the lights to go downstairs and investigate. The tapping sound continued as he took his first step. Fear overtook him. He ran back to his room and hid under the covers until morning came.

He remembers walking down the stairs. Being the first one up and about, he ran to the living room to play Nintendo. On his way, he passed by the basement door. It was shut. Though he was in a state of near panic when he ran from it the previous night, he distinctly remembers leaving the door open and not turning off the lights. He thought that maybe his mother or father went down for some reason, so he lost himself in playing Super Mario Bros. 3.

Later, he mentioned the incident to his parents, and they assured him that what he heard was the sound of hot water heater clicking in the night. He knew better, but welcomed the logical explanation.

A month after they moved in, Ashton's mother asked him to run downstairs and grab a load of socks, because their washer and dryer were located at their basement. He reluctantly told her he would. It was the middle of the day and enough time had passed to dull the fear he felt a week prior.

He turned on the light, ran downstairs, hearing the hollow sound echo with his footsteps. A cold sweat started to form on him. He made his way to the dryer and grabbed a basket. He pulled the socks out hastily and shoved them into the basket. After he shut the door of the dryer, he surveyed his surroundings. The stillness of the basement was so eerie. The he heard it. The faint, but audible whisper.