There was a scratching at the basement door. I could hear it over the rain lapping like a heavy sea if nuts and bolts against the window. If I edged closer, I could hear something hard and sharp being slowly dragged down the back of the locked door...
My bedroom was right next to the rotting wooden steps that led down to the noise. They creaked as I crept silently towards the door. Spiders of all sizes scurried over the wrought iron bolts that held it together and as I reached out my hand, I felt a wave of apprehension wash over me. It snaked around my bones like ribbon and propelled my fingers to the key waiting in the lock.
"What are you doing?" I muttered to myself. My instincts begged me to back away from the door and go back to bed like a good little girl. No, I had to overrule myself, I had to find out the source of the noise.
Not sure whether to be nervous or enthralled, I twisted the key and took my first wary step into the darkness. Shadows danced across the unknown; I stepped in further to investigate. I was no longer shackled back by fear though insecurity still lingered around me in an aura of negative emotions.
My mother would have told me I was being silly. Father would have said it was some sort of nocturnal animal. But I knew. I had always known the house was full of ghosts. That was why I had to come. I had to find out what was down there, ghost or not.
The door slammed behind me. I whirled around to see who had closed it but instead I lost my footing and tumbled to the floor. The concrete slabs were icy, colder than I had imagined. I I blinked to see a solid black figure, crouched on the floor. Their eyes were empty voids of white and a mouth full of razor sharp daggers smiled widely. It was focused on me. My terrified eyes blinked again as I stumbled backwards towards the wall and...
It was gone.
My back slammed into a solid object, its identity invisible in the pitch blackness. Now all the emotions I could ever feel drained away - all except one. Terror. Pure terror. One long skeletal hand emerged slowly from the darkness, curling - growing almost - around my throat. It had tricked me, used my human emotions and curiosity against me. The hand tightened, each one of the bones piercing through my flesh. No matter how much I writhed and struggled it tightened and tightened still until -
The last thing I saw was streak of my blood against the concrete as it dragged me into death...
