R/Nosleep (Get Spooked)

It's Time To Pay Our HOA Dues (Suburbia Part 6)

By u/firesidechats451

Tonight, we paid our dues.

We never know when we'll be called to pay. I think the surprise is part of the process. You have to be prepared to give at a moment's notice.

When evening fell, I made Frances go home. She didn't want to. Her selflessness will get her killed—or worse. Everyone has to make their own way on Dues Night. She knows that.

I made her go. We argued. She was afraid to leave me alone, especially after what happened with Greg. I told her to leave. I said some awful things. I don't want to write them here.

Watching her crestfallen face as I closed the door broke my heart. I wanted to apologize and invite her in, let her hold me until the morning. But I didn't let myself. I reminded myself that she's just as damned as I am—she wouldn't be here otherwise. None of us know each other's sins, but we sense their presence like a cloud passing over the sun.

The black cloak and white mask hung in the back of my closet. I felt light as I put them on, as if I were above myself, watching the night unfold.

I made my way down to the basement. It's unfinished, and rarely used except for laundry and storage. But I make sure the north wall is always clear.

The air was damp, heavy with every breath, like drowning in slow motion. I wanted to fidget, my fingers itched to flex and twitch, but I couldn't tear my eyes away from the concrete wall.

At five minutes to midnight, the blocks began to creak.

The mortar groaned as the wall separated, blocks shuffling apart to reveal darkness.

Taking one last breath in the open air, I stepped through. The wall ground like shoes against gravel as it closed behind me, leaving me in pure blackness.

I shut my eyes, overwhelmed. Reaching out with my left hand, I found the rough wall. Using it as a guide, I began to walk.

It's hard to track time in the darkness. It felt like I walked for hours, but I know it can't be more than a minute before the glow of firelight emerged in the distance. Eventually, I stepped into a huge cavern.

Torches lit the walls, the scent of soot mixing with mildew. In the flickering light, other cloaked figures appeared around the perimeter, each stepping from their own passage. All wore a white mask, making it impossible to guess who was who. Two spaces remained noticeably empty.

Strange symbols were carved into the stone floor, and though I couldn't fathom what they meant, a pattern was clear. They spiraled inward, like a nautilus shell, to the center of the cavern where the dim firelight failed to reach.

When the last white-masked citizen took their place, an echoing, impossibly loud voice issued from that central void.

"Blessed brothers and sisters! The time has come to pay your dues!"

All around the circle, figures dropped to their knees. I followed, the cold stone already making my knees ache.

"You are all sinners! And yet you come here for a blessing. You come here to be cleansed!"

We bowed out heads and clasped out hands as the familiar words washed over us. Across the cavern floor, the symbols began to glow red.

"The Almighty has forsaken you!" In the growing red light, I could make out thirteen figures at the cavern's center, all clothed in black, their faces hidden by crimson masks. "You are barred from the comfort of Heaven! But we can save you!"

A gust of winter-cold wind blew through the cavern, extinguishing the torches. The symbols grew brighter until everything was bathed in a hellish glow.

"Through your suffering, you are made clean! Through your trials, you may yet prove yourself worthy to enter the Afterlife!"

The crimson-masked figures began to rise, the red symbols crawling up their legs and settling on their chests, growing so bright it was impossible to look.

"Offer up your suffering! Only through pain can you obtain redemption and enter Heaven!"

I came to upside-down. My hair dangled in a curtain around my face and the seatbelt cut into my chest. The windshield was shattered, but my headlights still worked, illuminating the SUV in front of me. A thick tree branch impaled its back window.

Through the ringing in my ears, I could make out a woman's voice. Sobbing, the words warped by shock and despair.

"My babies! My babies, no, no, no . . ."

My vision blurred, then focused, drifting over the wreckage, settling on a side window untouched by the carnage. Four white stick figures on a black background: a mother, a father . . .

. . . and a little boy and girl.

The vision faded as the red light dimmed. The thirteen figures still hung in the air, the symbols burning on their chests like a brand.

"Go," said the voice, quieter, but just as commanding. "Remember. Repent. Suffer."

One by one, we got to our feet. The walk back to my house was hard, the sobs ripping through me so violently that I had to pause to catch my breath.

Greg asked why I thought I deserved to be in Blessed. It's because I'm damned. Everyone here is.

And there's only one way to pay our dues.

*

It was early morning when I finally made it back to my basement. I took off my mask, gasping for air as though I'd been holding my breath. My face hurt from crying and my nose was stuffed up.

And I still had to work the next morning.

With a sigh, I started up the basement steps, wondering if I should call out and knowing that I wouldn't.

I was so preoccupied that I didn't even notice someone was in my kitchen until she spoke.

"Sheila."

I started and turned to find Frances sitting at my kitchen table. She looked tired, but her expression was set in familiar determination. It took a moment for my brain to make sense of what I was seeing.

"What are you doing in my house?" I asked.

Frances leaned forward, her voice soft, but her dark eyes boring into mine.

"We need to talk."