Shorts

The Plastic House

Author Note: (This dream is a reoccurring dream...i've had it ever since i was very little, maybe since i was 5. I just remember that the first time i had it i woke up with the worst anxiety attack ever. But as i get older the dream changes. I'll do brackets near areas that have changed and in the brackets i'll write the changes because the story will be done about the very first time i had it)

I walk up the front porch to the door. My skin is tingling with apprehension. Everything looks slightly blue because the clouds are covering the sun. Everything looks...scarier. I twist the silver door knob and let myself in. The smell of fresh drywall and paint hits my face and i cough in my elbow. The floor is littered with tarps and plastic sheeting. I go down a long hallway towards the living room. Plastic sheeting hangs off the ceiling in the hallway, here and there, i have to push it aside and every time i expect to see someone jump out.
But no one does. 
I'm absolutely alone.
I enter the living room. The windows are boarded up so it's bleak and cold. I make my way to the corner where the air vent is. I lay down on my stomach and put my ear to the vent. I can hear a muffled voice far below. It sounds like whoever is down there is saying nonsense. Maybe they need help? 
I put my mouth to the metal and as loud as i can, yell "Hello?!"
Before i can get the whole word out a loud male scream vibrated up from the depths. The scream was something that i had never heard before...i've heard my father yell, i've heard my step brother scream in pain when he broke his foot, i mean i even heard my little brother screaming when he had cracked his head open....but this scream was something else entirely. 
It was the scream of someone who was about to die.
Bloodcurdling scream. 
My heart was hammering in my chest and i felt tears coming down my face "Sir!!! Are you hurt?!"
His scream didnt die away like someone losing his breath either. It didnt waver. It continued. I was about to ask again in a louder yell, but another scream joined the man's. And then another, and another....and another. It sounded like a thousand people screaming bloody murder. The vent started to shake and i quickly got to my knees and backed away.
My eyes were wide with terror.
What was this? How could that many screams be coming from the basement? I knew how big the basement was, but it wasnt big enough to hold that many people. Was this place haunted? Was someone playing a prank on me? Why on earth did i feel the need to go to the basement? Stupid people investigate!!! I should run out of the house! I should have ran out the moment the first man started yelling!
But i found myself shuffling to the kitchen. I knew there was a door beside the pantry that led down to the basement. When i entered the kitchen i got a big wiff of rotted food and rat feces. I coughed into my elbow again and pushed forward. As i neared the basement door i could still hear the screams coming from the vent in the living room.
Why couldnt i hear the screams coming from the basement door? The sound was for sure coming from the basement. I should definitely hear something. I reached out and touched the dirty door. The moment my fingers touched the door, the screams cut off. 
It was silent once more.
The only thing i could hear was the pounding of my heart and the rush of blood in my ears. What was i thinking?
I opened the door. I inched down the wooden stairs with my hands clenching around the railing. I could see the faint yellow light of a single bulb in the center of the room, casting its light over a huge heater or boiler. It looked threatening. Once my feet touched the concrete floor i got a shiver up my spine.
"Whoever is down here needs to come out" I say in a clear voice "The joke is over! The police are coming!"
No reply. 
I keep glancing at the metal monster in the corner. It doesnt look like its been used in years. I inch towards it with fear in my heart. I shouldnt be afraid of a damn heater. Its not going to eat me! Angry at myself i stomp the rest of the way up to it and kick the grate on it.
CLANG!
The grate falls right off. I stare at it. Crap! I'm going to get in trouble if my Grandpa sees this. I pick it up and try to put it back on but i literally broke the rusty screws. As i put the grate down i notice that i dont see a bottom inside of the heater. I peer into it and feel something telling me i need to leave right now.
"Hello?" i call down into the heater.
  I expected nothing, but instead a loud echo comes back to me....several echoes.  
[I dont utter a word, knowing that whenever i do, the screams start up. Instead i pick up a brick that was lying beside the heater and toss inside. I can hear it clanking, the echo telling me it is still making its way down. It keeps echoing and i begin to feel my heart rate going up. It sounds like its a mile below!!]
 Which means there is no bottom...that it goes far beneath the basement. My eyes widen with realization. Were....were there people underneath the house?!
Thats when the screams started up again.
[In the past they were extremely loud, louder than what it was upstairs near the vent. But when the brick went down to wherever, it caused the screams to not just be screams. I could hear people screaming for help. For redemption. For forgiveness. For God to help them]
 Louder and more tortured. My skin began to crawl and i backed away.
[The heater burst into flames and the screams grew louder]
I spin around on my heel and go to fly up the stairs, but i stop dead in my tracks. There is a large man behind me. He's completely black. He stands beside the stairs threateningly...but i feel like he is giving me a warning...that if i come back, i'll regret it. I get the hint and rush up the stairs and look over my shoulder. He hasnt moved, but it seems he's looking up at me. I rush out of the house.
[In the past he stayed near the stairs, an ominous threat. But after i turned 13 he began to move from his spot. Recently, he began to chase me. I clamored up the stairs and stumble a few times, hes only a few feet behind me, reaching for me. I would get up the stairs and slam the door shut in his face and fly out of the house. He gets closer and closer every time.]