The Blur

Chapter 4

After the men had washed the dishes they made way to the family portrait. They lifted up the picture and took out the keys and passed them to Ethane.
"I... Remember these. My Grandfather always wore them on his belt-look."
Ethane pushed the photograph back to its original position and pointed to the keys on the elderly man's waist. Lifting the photograph back up he looked at the keys in the light admitted by the flashlight.
"I think... They go to the cellar. It's where my grandfather kept the caucuses of the Hiisi. I remember sneaking down there one night... My grandmother found me, she rushed me out and kept it a secret from my family. I think they found out though. They from then on didn't trust her and wouldn't let her be alone with me unless she was tutoring me in the music room."
Caz looked back at the lever.
"If that's true... Then this lever will lead us to the cellar, and down there, will be the remains of the Hiisi. E, you said they didn't die naturally, does that mean that they're still going to be, you know... Whole?"
Ethane looked down into the corner of his eye at Nugget who stayed close to Ethane.
"Honestly, I'm not entirely sure. There is only one way to find out though..."
Sam nodded his head.
"Ready?"
Ethane and Caz exhaled deeply and then nodded.
"Ready."
They spoke in unison. With that, Sam pulled the lever, to which the portrait, opened outward and the ground leveled down to a cascading set of stairs. The men pivoted around to see the stairs transcend into the blinding darkness.
"How far do you think it goes?"
Catechized Sam. Caz leaned forward, and after swallowing hard he gave his best estimate.
"Around 10 feet at least."
Sam nodded in agreement then looked to Ethane for his estimate, but Ethane was on the other side of the painting. He brushed his fingers along her jawline.
"This is her... I remember. Mother... I remember you." Caz smiled to Sam as Sam got Ethane to look into the abyss.
"Ready to go E?"
Ethane nodded, and with that, the three men started walking into the cellar. Caz leads the way with the flashlight in hand, Sam close behind, and Ethane the following suit. The putrid air started to grow more and more pungent as they descended.
"Ugh. Gross. There's definitely something dead down here!"
Sam made a mask over his nose and mouth with his hand, put off by the smell of the dead Hiisi. They made it to the bottom and looked around.
"No offense E. But your folks were into some pretty creepy stuff. The taxidermy. The Hiisi... And this looks more like a torture chamber than a cellar."
Ethane nodded his head in agreement.
"That was all Grandpa's doing. He was certainly an interesting man."
Ethane spoke as he flipped through a journal of sorts.
"It looks like Grandad kept a journal of the Hiisi. He even drew out their anatomy... Which means the Hiisi is probably cut up... This is so odd. Why would he do this? I get killing them to protect your family, but this seems to be so much deeper."
Ethane kept reading and flipping through his Grandad's journal using candlelight as Sam and Caz looked around.
"Sam... Did you see that?"
"See what?"
Caz spoke with a quiver in his voice.
"I swear I saw something move over there."
Sam sighed.
"Where Caz? You're probably just imagining things."
"Over there!"
Caz took Sam's hand with the flashlight and pointed it in the direction of the sighting. Both of the men stopped breathing. Ethane kept reading ahead.
"Oh... Hey guys, we should be careful, I don't think they're exactly dead, and it seems that they're sensitive to li-"
Ethane froze as he turned around to see his friends shining the flashlight in the face of a Hiisi. It stood up towering over them nearly touching the ceiling of over ten feet. It's glowing red eyes loomed above them as it bore into their soul. It let out an ear-piercing shriek, waking the other two that were in the cellar. Next to the hooves were human remains. The men backed up and ran up the staircase quickly shoving the lever in to shut the way to the cellar. The Hiisi kept banging against the cell bars. Panting the men looked at one another.
"T-they're ALIVE?! WHAT THE HELL?!"
Caz exasperated as Sam pointed to the window. The men looked to the wall of windows to see a pair of red glowing eyes. It let out a deeper screech of terror, and the men ran up the stairs into the study, with Nugget following behind.
"WHAT THE HELL WAS YOUR FAMILY DOING E?!"
Caz screamed in full distress.
"I-I don't remember. The Hiisi, it knows we're here now. There must be more here on them. My granddad was obsessed. I have his journal from the cellar, I'll go through this, you guys can look through the books here. I mean, there has to be something right?"
Sam nodded as he lit candles to save battery on the flashlight.
"We'll be okay. Let's just stick together."
With that, the men started reading the books for any indication that they might survive