Short Stories

Secrets

 The door, the tattered wallpaper, and the crumbling brick. It near begged her to enter. An old door that was locked for years had just swung open while she walked by. The girl was bringing empty cardboard boxes to her room to pack her stuff. She couldn't understand why the door had just opened, but curiosity drew her to it. Peering through the doorway, dim, flickering, lights revealed the dark stairs leading to an unknown room. The question burned within her. What was down the steps?

Fear was silenced by curiosity as the girl travelled towards the steps. The girl's name was Abigail. She was an 18 year old living in the house she's grown up in with her father. For the longest time, Abigail couldn't remember the door ever being unlocked. She could remember her father constantly telling her to never enter, but she could not resist the temptation. Abigail stepped onto the first step and the stairs groaned with protest beneath her. The settled dust kicked up and flooded her nostrils and a wretched, old, smell poisoned the room. It was clear that no one had been down there for awhile. Her feet touched the second step and the third. Chills ran down her back and goosebumps travelled her arms. Aside from the creaking wood, the space was silent. Fear and doubt began to grow as Abigail began to think about turning back. Before she had the moment to question it, the house shook a little and a loud slam filled the silence. The lights flickered off for a moment and Abigail's breathing quickened, her chest tightened, and a cold sweat formed upon her forehead. Anxiety took over her thoughts and images of bad things were persistent in making the situation worse. When the lights came back on, Abigail circled herself on the stairs, looking for what could have made that slamming sound. Her head rushed and her body shook. Her feet froze to the staircase when she saw that the door was shut. Abigail gripped the doorknob and tried to open the door. The knob turned slowly, but when she tried to push the door open, it wouldn't budge. She tried again, this time with more force. "Maybe the door was just stuck.", she tried reasoning. The door refused to budge. After coming to a realization that the door wasn't going to open, Abigail decided to continue to descend the steps. As she neared the bottom of the stairs, a sickening feeling filled the pit of her stomach. Something felt disturbing or out of place within the room. At the bottom of the steps, Abigail turned the corner to be greeted by what seemed to be a normal basement; carpeted floors, drywall finish, fluorescent lights. Something still didn't feel right about the room though.

Abigail peered around the room for anything that seemed out of place. On the back wall there was a couch with a fridge next to it and a coffee table in front of it. On the opposite wall was a large T.V. with a stand underneath. Within the cabinets of the stand, there were movies and games. On top was a console and cable box. On the right wall, there was a canopy bed with white lace and a sky blue bed set and at the end of the bed there was a large chest. In the far left corner was an open door leading to a small bathroom. There was also a dresser and a few shelving units against the wall. The shelves were barren except for a single large box filled with unknown contents. Abigail grabbed the box and carried it to the couch before sitting down and opening it. Inside there were toys, pictures, and other random things. Abigail sifted through the items, pulling out a small stuffed bunny, a pacifier, and a baby blanket. She placed them off to the side and grabbed a stack of pictures from the box. They looked to be pictures of her and they seemed to be from when she was an infant to the age of 5. Abigail placed the pictures to the side after looking at all of them and went to grab another stack. As she reached for more photos, Abigail noticed a few news clippings at the bottom of the box. Curious, she picked them up to read what they said:

Girl Goes Missing at Age 5: Father Refuses to Give Up Looking

A girl by the name of Abigail Kari was kidnapped months ago after walking home from the bus stop on the corner of Sherman and Beechwood. There are no witnesses, but the father refuses to lose hope...