Beneath Night's Shadow

Prolouge

Stuck.

Trapped.

And worse, alone. Well not completly. I hear their footsteps. My heart is racing. She's coming.  I stumble across the narrow flight, searching for a room.  A safe room.  My mind flies into hyperdrive, and I rattle every single doorknob with trembling fingers.  I'm panicking by the time the soft taps of daintily shuffled highheels reach the stairs.  I freeze, one hand on the door leading to the basement.  If I go down there, I will be trapped, but also safe.  Fear sinks its icy teeth into my chest, and I nearly choke on my own breath.

I can hear the floorboards creak, and I know I have no choice.  My cold fingers rattle the knob of the door, testing it.  It turns, unlocked and willing.  This makes me nearly double over in relief.  I force my socked feet to be silent, and thrust myself down the unbalanced staircase.  The basement is dark and, other than for storeing junk, is unused.  Pipes that have long rusted leak all over the concrete floor, making it slippery.  The only upside of my situation was there are plenty of hiding space to come along.  I am so panicked, I rush around the dank room, searching for place to run to. 

Are there any windows?  A back door?  Is this place completely underground?  I almost shriek with frustration and fear.  My eyes are streaming by the time I see the door. 

Actually, it was more of a tiny dumbwaiter-type door, but definately an option.  I can hear everything going on upstairs.  Footsteps.  Rattling.  Chanting.

Screaming.

I heav open the little door.  It happened to be hidden right behind a giant box marked "Christmas Decorations".  Perfect.

All I can see beyond the small frame was pitch-black nothingness.  A strong breeze blew out of the narrow hole, knocking me in the face.  It smells like...dust, mold, and...decay.  Like and animal crawed in here and died.

Crawling on my hands and knees, I scoot slowly into the darkness.  My palms support me, and land on something other than concrete.  Something soft.  I crawl all the way into the room, closing the little door behind me.  The chill is stronger now, pressing on me from all angles.  I suddenly wish that I had brought a match or a flashlight with me.   It--is--so--dark!

The floor under me feels like carpet, spongey and rough.  I stay near the door, trying to hear what is going on upstairs.  My palms are clammy, and I soon am hyperventilating.  The chanting continues, rising and falling, like a demented poem.  Like my pounding heart.

The screaming stops with an abrupt halt, freezing the remaining breath I had been able to snatch.  More footsteps.

A door opens, and I hear the footsteps decending, quietly.  A clatter of heels strike the concrete, and I can make out the sounds of boxes being thrown and glass breaking.  Something hisses a loud, inhuman snarl, and I know I'm about to die.  Turning the doorhandle, slowly, I creak it open a knotch.  Just enough to see.

The room is torn apart, everything ripped open and thrown about.  I can't see her...or the other two...but that doesn't mean a thing.  Trying to steady my breathing, I crack the door a little further.  Trying to see.

Suddenly, my neck tingles, and the lights go out.  I almost slam the door back shut, giving myself away.  There's a click, and a rattling noise right near my ear.  I shoot up, hands flying to the doorknob again.  It opens, just a crack, and a slither of light reaches my face.  I freeze at the smell of rotting corpse.

The hand is locked tightly on the other side of the door handle, and I can see how gross and green it had become.  The very air in my lungs turns to lead, and I can't remember how to move them.  Stifling a scream, I look into the horrible face of the tiny child.  She is chanting...or you could say singing...a lullaby. 

"Go to sleep, go to sleep.  Go to sleep little baby.."

The door slams shut.