Creep Book 1, Charlie-Charlie

CHAPTER 4

Chapter 4

Cooper left soon after dropping me off at home; I was exhausted. I dumped Nina's belongings on the bed then soaked in a long hot bubble bath. My skin tingled as the hot water seared off every inch of dirt, sweat and dust, until it turned rosy. I exhaled serenely, laying back; my face covered with the equally warm facecloth. I lost myself, behind the dark shroud; allowing my mind to wonder far and wide. Lord knows, I needed the release, if only for a minute and only a minute it was. For some reason the temperature in the room suddenly plummeted to well below zero. I opened my eyes; peering through the thin layer of cloth. The lights flashing irregularly; on then off, on then off.

It was almost hypnotic, in away; the aromatic lavender scent wafting along, the warm water, the crisp air, and the flashing lights, all merged into an engulfing sensory overload and although the vast drop in temperature and the erratic flashing lights should have worried, me it did not. It was as if I did not care; my inner voice dampened by the cheer tranquility I felt. For the first time since I had been back I felt at peace ... safe, something I should not have felt though. The reality was I was not safe, I was as far from safe as I could be and although I did not know it at the time I would soon discover just how far from safe I was.

My cell phone began to bellow as soon as I set my feet down on the tiled floor, the iciness not even an issue as I sprinted toward the bedroom Too my surprise when I picked up my phone, I could still hear ringing. I strained my ears following the sound to the plastic bag, in which Nina's belongings were; the one I brought from the hospital earlier.

"Hello?" I answered, yet only received static from the unknown number seconds, before the text came through, which read, "Wanna play?"

"Wanna play?" I frowned, "What the hell?"

"Listen here you idiotic miscreant, it's two in the bloody morning,

what kind of sick minded. Stop calling I'm not going to play your childish game and neither is my sister," My brain battled, as the lights first hissed then flickered and then went out altogether.

"OH FOR THE LOVE OF ... this too? What next, huh? What's going to go wrong next? I swear this place is cursed." I used Nina's cell phone screen to light my way, stomping toward the basement where the fuse box was.

"Locked? Are you kidding me? Really?" It felt as if everything that could go wrong at that very moment, did. I searched the top drawer agitatedly, "Where is that damn key?"

"My mom used to keep all the keys in this drawer, I'm sure of it. I'm finding everything except the damn key. Well a butter knife will just have to do." To my surprise when I again stood in front of the door about to reach for the doorknob, it popped open by itself, guiding me to the top of the concrete steps.

That alone should have sent up a red flag, complete with bellowing sirens and all. Yet my instincts still appeared dampened and instead of running the opposite direction as I should have I counted my blessings, continuing to light my way down the stairs.

I swept the beam across the room, watching the dust laden air swirl around the light; the stagnant aroma that followed was enough to turn ones stomach. I could not quite make up my mind what exactly the smell was. Mold maybe or mildew, perhaps even a combination of dead rat, and sewer gas. It had a tangy, earthy decomposing smell,

"Oh my, when last did they air this place?" I swallowed; it was larger than it seemed from the doorway. Near the ceiling against the opposing wall sat two narrow windows, no wider slits, the low natural light adding to the forlorn ambience.

The further I descended, it began to resemble a dungeon/bunker rather than a basement; cold and impersonal, with concrete as far as the eye could see. There seemed to be no circulation of air, which brought on a claustrophobic feeling.

Carefully, I traversed the narrow staircase, one hand firmly gripped around the cell phone, the other hovering above the wooden side-rail, my nose wrinkled as I squinted my eyes.

"Shoot, could it be any darker or spookier down here? I can't remember it ever being like this. Now where the hell is that damn fuse box?" I felt a cold chill run down the center of my spine, just as something swiftly shifted across the floor; inches in front of me.

"Holly ... what the hell was that?" The light jerked to the side, my heart pounding in my ears. If there was one thing I hated more than small town life it was all the critters and creatures, which came along with small town life.

"Why me, why now?" I winged feeling the air behind me shift slightly, before a hard shove left me toppling head first down the remaining steps; mother earth meeting me at the bottom with a loud thud. My head was hazy, my vision blurry to say the least. I lifted my head; my eyes moving toward the top of the staircase where a small silhouette stood in the doorway; the kitchen's light strengthening its dark contrast.

"Who ... why?" My words faltered, the shadow still staring. Was I right the first time when I heard something in Nina's room was there someone in there all this time? If so why would he or she want to hurt me?

"P-Please, I ..." No amount of pleading helped though, it just stood there like a statue, staring. I do not know how long I lay there before I gave into the overwhelming, dizzying darkness, but for those anxious few minutes I heard something, something, which made my skin crawl. I heard giggling; loud, rambunctious giggling, and when I say giggling I mean that of a child a very young child.