Chaos in the Basement

Chapter 5

"Danny, are you okay?" It was Mr. Spencer. 

Danny sat there paralyzed for a second, not at all expecting it to be him. She couldn't find the words to speak until he asked, "Do you need help? Do you need a ride?" 

Against all better judgement, Danny got up and walked to the passenger side of the car getting inside. "Do you need a ride home?" He asked.

She shook her head no. "I cant really go back there right now," she said. She felt like crying, but mostly she just really wanted to sleep. 

"I can take you to my house, if you want." 

She agreed, even though everything in her was telling her to not to. She realized she really didn't know Mr. Spencer. She's known him since she can remember, she knows he went to Grant high school, that he is a very years older than her parents and his full name was Louis Spencer but other than that not much came to mind. She wasn't even sure where he lived and in such a small town, everyone knew where everyone lived. Through the whole car ride Danny was preparing herself that he could indeed kill her and probably get away with it because they were driving into the woods. Danny didn't question it, she didn't even say anything the whole ride out of fear and tiredness. Finally, they drove up to small little house hidden in the woods. 

He parked in the driveway and said. "I'll get your bag." 

Danny observed the outside of the house, she couldn't tell much since it was so dark. They stepped inside and flipped the living room light on. 

Shoot, she thought to herself. She surveyed all the animals on the walls, Louis didn't seem like a hunter, more like a taxidermist which made matters worse. 

"You can have my room," he said.

"Oh, no, it's alright. I can take the couch." Danny was so tired that even the floor sounded nice. 

He tried to convince her just to take his room but she insisted that the couch was perfectly fine. He pulled out a bed from the couch and started to put sheets on it. Danny went to the bathroom and started getting ready for bed. When she came out, Mr. Spencer had the bed ready. 

"Thank you, Mr. Spencer. I really appreciate it," Danny felt blank. 

"Please, call me Louis. It's no problem, Danny." He smiled. It seemed like he was going to say something else but he didn't, just said goodnight and went to his room. 

She immediately fell asleep, until she heard Shannon's voice. Danny sat up and found her sitting at the edge of the bed. 

"What are you doing here, Danny?" she asked. She was visibly disappointed. 

"I didn't know what else to do," Danny replied. 

"I never liked him," Shannon said, shaking her head. 

"Well, you're not here are you," Danny snapped. Realizing what she said she immediately start to apologize. "I'm sorry, Shannon." 

"No, you're right. If I was here, you'd be staying with me." Her expression grew sad. 

"Shannon?"

"Yeah?"

"Don't go. Will you lay with me?"

"Sure." Shannon came up the bed and laid next to Danny, putting her arms around her and they both fell asleep. 

Danny had another night of hard sleep thanks to the dream. When she awoke she was confused at first as to where she was but then remembered that she had come home with Ms. Spencer, or Louis, as he told her to call him. To her relief, he left a note saying that he wouldn't be back till the evening because of work but to make herself at home. 

Danny took a shower and found some food to make breakfast. It was weird to be in his house, not just the animals all over the walls but the fact that Louis was pretty much a stranger. How long she was going to stay here, she wasn't sure but she knew she couldn't stay here with Louis. Word would get out and it would just be gossip, something she wanted to avoid all together. 

Danny made sure to clean up after herself. Remade the bed and washed her dishes, making sure not to leave a trace of herself. Pondered where she could go. She didn't want to face her father, although she wondered if her father would even remember what happened. Her mother would definitely remind him of what happened just in spite of Danny. She lost track of time because all of a sudden Louis was coming into the door. 

"Hi Danny! How was your day today?" He asked happily. 

"It was good, thank you again for letting me stay," she felt caught off guard. 

"You're more than welcome. Please stay as long as you like." Something in his voice felt eager. Danny brushed it off. "I'll make dinner tonight." 

Danny agreed but everything felt so off to her, she felt anxious to where she felt like being sick. He began to make dinner after a while, following a recipe he had on his laptop. Danny sat at the kitchen table, trying to do English homework. She watched Louis for a while, he was very careful with each measurement of ingredients. He had taken off his glasses which made a huge difference in his appearance. Louis could considered an attractive man if you just saw him passing by, but something about his personality always felt off. He was another person who everyone gossiped about being single. Forbid anyone ever be single and happy, there must be something wrong with them instead was pretty much how everyone thought. Plenty of woman found Louis attractive but he never seemed interested in them. 

When dinner was ready they sat together and ate. She asked him about the schooling of becoming a pharmacist, trying to find out more about him. 

"Did you leave Grant to go to college?" she asked. 

"I did," he said. "I left to go to Arizona. Quite different than here."

"And you came back to Grant." 

"I love it here."

Danny nodded and took another bit of food. "Do you plan to go to college?" he asked.

"I do. I've been looking at different places, even schools in different countries." 

"Wow," he said, he was genuinely shocked. "You really want to leave that bad?" 

"Well, I just want to experience something I guess." Danny was downplaying her feelings. She desperately wanted to leave and forget everything about Grant.