The Basement

           

It was a cold and rainy September night when Sarah first started to notice the noises coming from her basement. At first, they were subtle, like little creaks and moans she could pass off as the house settling or the slight rustle of the door in its frame she convinced herself was a draft, but as the night wore on it became apparent that whatever was going on down there was far from the natural sounds one expects from an old house. Sometime around midnight, Sarah was sitting slumped on her small sofa, downing a cheap bottle of two-dollar wine and watching old Friends re-runs online when she heard a strange meow-like sound coming from somewhere in the kitchen. Thinking it was her old tabby arrogantly demanding to be fed again she tipsily stumbled in to the dimly lit kitchen, fully prepared to scold the old tom, only to be met with a completely empty room and a full cat bowl. Shrugging to herself she turned around, ready to lose herself in the 90s sitcom again, only to hear the strange noise once more. Whipping around, her eyes roved frantically across the empty kitchen coming to a final rest on the slightly ajar basement door. The same basement door she actively remembered shutting and locking up hours earlier. Taking a deep breath, Sarah struggled to come up with an explanation as to how the door was now unlocked and open. Maybe she had unlocked it earlier and just forgot? Or maybe she just had too much to drink and was now needlessly psyching herself out? Either way, Sarah was going to re-lock the door, settle back into her sofa and continue to watch mindless television. Taking a couple of brave steps forward, Sarah rushed to shut the door and properly lock it. But just as she was about to shift the lock back into place she heard the meow yet again, definitely coming from somewhere down in the basement. She didn't want to do it. She really, really didn't want to do it. In fact, Sarah was already planning ways she could burn down the house and have the insurance cover it. The only problem was, she was concerned her stupid cat may be trapped down there. So, unfortunately, she was going to have to do it, she was going to have to go down into her deep basement in the dead of night. Resolving herself to this tragic turn of events and taking one last yearning glace at her sofa and chardonnay, Sarah mentally put on her big girl panties and prepared herself to go down there. Rushing about the kitchen, before she lost the nerve, she grabbed her phone and a worn steak knife and crept cautiously forward. Using her left foot, Sarah gently nudged the basement door wide open and stared mournfully down at the steps that twisted into the pitch black. Due to the poor design of the house, and Sarah's dismay, the switch that lit the lone lightbulb in the crypt was located at the base of the stairs. So, whoever entered the dark tomb would have to fumble down and around in the dark until they reached the switch. Thanking every deity that she knew for the miracle of modern technology Sarah tapped the flashlight icon on her phone and lit the way. Taking her first steps forward onto the creaky stairs, she breathed in the cold musty air of the room and noted darkly that the whole thing reminded her of being in a mausoleum. So down she went, step after step, breath after labored breath. Were there always this many stairs? How deep was this basement and what could possibly be waiting for her at the bottom? So caught up was she with her mental musings that she didn't notice the abrupt stop of the stairs and leveling of the floor. With a sharp cry and twisting of limbs Sarah fell forward and knocked herself out on the cold concrete floor.

Pain. Pain and a sense of foreboding was what greeted Sarah when she slowly came back into consciousness. Groaning she sat up and rubbed her tender head. For a few blissful seconds, she had forgotten where she was, but the dismal reality of the situation came rushing back to her when she noticed she was sitting on the cold, dark ground of the basement. Suddenly lurching forward, she desperately started to search for her iPhone and knife. They must have slipped her grasp while she was falling and were now probably sitting somewhere close but out of reach. Stifling a shuddering sob, Sarah willed herself not to cry. She was going to find her cat, she was going to leave the basement, she was going to finish Friends and most importantly she was not going to be eaten alive by a basement monster because they didn't exist. With this mantra in mind, Sarah shakily stood up, brushed herself off and grasped around in the darkness searching for the switch to the basement light. With a click, and a loud cry of happiness, Sarah was finally able to flood the basement in a dim glow of light. Yet somehow, this only made the basement look worse as the lone lightbulb cast the far corners of the room in suspicious shadows. Sighing, Sarah began to search the room but the only thing she found was her shattered iPhone and the will to leave her cat behind. Scrambling to leave the room and forcing herself to ignore the fact that she also came down here with a now missing knife, Sarah tried to flee the basement. But just as she reached the base of the stairs, the light started to flicker and give out, yet again casting Sarah in complete and utter darkness. However, that was not the worst part of the situation, not even close, because just as the lights went out Sarah heard the above basement door close with a deafening crash with the soft click of the lock sliding into place following soon thereafter. Sarah stood there, frozen with fear as her mind raced at a thousand miles per hour but her inner turmoil soon came to a screeching halt with the sound of the strange noise echoing throughout the room, only louder and closer. Whirling around in the darkness Sarah tried to pinpoint exactly where the sound was coming from but couldn't hear anything over the sound of blood rushing through her ears and heart thumping in her chest. " Please" she cried out in a strangled voice "please don't hurt me" but was only met with a resounding silence. Outright bawling now, she began to scramble backwards up the stairs, still pleading with whoever or whatever was tormenting her. Halfway up the twisting staircase, something grabbed a fistful of Sarah's hair yanking her forcibly back down into the darkness. Screeching and blindly clawing at the air Sarah thrashed about, her mind possessed by the single-minded impulse to survive. Her screaming was further exacerbated when she felt the cool sting of the knife perceiving her sternum again and again. Dragging her limp body across the ground, incomprehensible moans spilling from her lips, Sarah's final moments were spent in sheer panic and confusion, but with the final slash of the blade her agony came to a quick end. In the silence that soon followed the only sound that could be heard was the clattering of the knife to the ground.

Up above in the living room, a small tabby cat lay curled up in the in the heat of a recently vacated seat, blissfully snoozing away, unaware of the horrors that had recently befallen his unfortunate owner far beneath him.