Afraid of Basements

Hush, hush, hush.

Silence all around.

That is the sound in my head. The silence all around is deafening. It is so quiet it is like a screaming in my head. It is pounding in my skull, rupturing my thoughts. I cannot think, nor feel. It hurts to move, even to blink my eyes. I want to die, but my will to be alive is too strong. I feel nothing. I want to cry, scream, and feel something, anything. There is a hollowness.

I run through the empty hallways. This is my home, but it is wrong. It is a house, that I know well. I have been here before. I have lived here for the majority of my life. However, it is wrong. I cannot tell what is wrong, but it is wrong. I try to flee. I try to run from this place, this place that causes so much pain, yet none at all. I try leave this place, but I always end up in the same place.

Fear courses through me. I am burdened by foreboding, and yet I am so frightened that I am not scared, at all. I do not understand. I am dying, yet am more conscious than ever possible. I am in so much pain, yet have so much repose. I am in a whirlwind of turmoil, yet feel perfect peace. I cannot focus on anything. I am empty.

It is empty. That is what is wrong. With the house. It is empty. Everywhere I turn, there is no one. I scream. I call out my mother’s name. No reply. I call out again, still no reply. Tears stream down my face. I call out, again and again. I yell for someone, anyone. There is no one.

Everywhere I turn there is only one door. I have never seen the door. I have lived in this house for my entire life, and I have walked down this hallway everyday of the life I have lived in this house, and I have never seen this door.

I open the door. There are stairs, two sets. One leading up, and the other down. Every since I was little I had a fear of basements. When I was young, I saw something in my basement. Something dark, daunting, and unusual. It tried to kill me. No one believed me. At first my answer was simple. I knew I would go upstairs, since the very beginning. Every since that incident, I swore I would never go into a basement.

I trudged up the stairs to the next floor. I knew when got to the top, something was wrong. Something heavy was pressing on my chest. I couldn’t breath.

“There is no danger”

That is the first sound I have heard, since in what it seems forever. I call out for the sound again, trying to find where it is coming from.

“Hello!” I call, “Where are you?”

“Come find me”

The voice sounds strong and demanding. Scary.

“Where are you!” I shout trying to come off more demanding, but instead I just sound like a scared child.

“Come find me. There is no danger.”

It’s coming from the basement. Even though I am scared I run down there without hesitation.

“Hello!” I call running down the stairs to find him. If there is another human on this earth I will find them.

“Hello!” I call again. As I get to the second flight of stairs I am hesitant. I have not been to a basement since I saw the man. I am done letting my fear control me. I run down the stairs.

As I near the bottom I see another door. I open it without a thought. There he is. Standing there. He has a face like something you would see in only the scariest of horror films. He has a smile like an evil Cheshire cat. His hands have long thin fingers, dipped in dark, red liquid. There is a scent in the air, putrid, like something I cannot think of now.

But the scariest thing about him were his eyes. They were hollow sockets of death. They were familiar. I knew this man. I saw him everyday.

“Hello, dear.”

I try to scream, but no sound comes out. Dread covers me. I turn around and run up the stairs. I run up the second flight, and turn the corner. The smell is here too. I look in the other direction, and there was my family. I run up to them screaming. They do not respond. I run up to them and shake them.

“Answer me!” I shout. I look in there eyes. Nothing.

I scream.

“What’s the matter, dear?”

My head spins. I turn around. He is there. I start to cry. He comes up to me, my family  in the background. He starts to speak, but I can’t understand anything he is saying. As he lays a finger on me. I scream. My whole body shakes. I am dying. My head hits the ground. As my eyes close I know the scent. Death.

I wake up, a scream leaving my lips. My mother runs up to and says something, but I am too relieved to care. I run up to her, throwing my arms around her. I kiss her. I tell her I love her. I run out and run up to my father. As I turn the corner to the kitchen I run into a door. An unfamiliar door, yet so familiar. I let out a scream. My father looks at me strangely.

“Where does this door lead to?” I ask.

“We have lived in this house seventeen years and you don’t know where this door leads?” says my father shaking his head. “It leads to the attic and the basement.”

I open it and a scent lingers in the air. I run to the attic. It is so familiar. I heave a sigh. I’m just being stupid. As I turn my head I hear,

“You silly little girl.” It is the very last thing I hear.

Hush, Hush, Hush.

Silence all around.