The beginning of a ladder is bolted against one of the small walls of the opening, riddled with rust and cobwebs. Izuku points his flashlight into the opening, finding only more of the ladder. He can't see the end of it...
He is about to go down, but a hand pushes his shoulder, making him back up. Kacchan glares at him from the other side, walking over to him.
"Me first Deku."
He doesn't get to say anything else because the flashlight is snatched from him, and the blonde gets down onto the ladder.
"Watch this shit."
He tucks the flashlight between his arm and chest and then slides down the ladder smoothly. Izuku laughs and rolls his eyes, despite how cool he thinks that was.
"Show off."
He hears a thud and looks down. There still isn't any light.
"Alright it's clear! Come down Deku!"
"Okay!"
He puts his shoes a couple of rungs down and starts to climb down. It takes him longer than Kacchan, but once his feet touch the ground, he's glad he made it. He looks up and jumps, a scream dying in his throat.
The blond has the flashlight pointed up towards his own face, which is torn open in half, a dark hole in the middle.
"Boo."
Izuku shoves him, taking the flashlight.
"Don't do that Kacchan, it's not funny!"
He doesn't seem to think so, because his face is put back together and he's laughing, the sound echoing.
"You're such a fucking baby!"
Izuku glares at him for a second before looking around. Izuku takes a deep breath and instantly regrets it. It doesn't smell much like dust down here, but it smells like when the fridge broke and his mom and him forgot about the meat in the freezer for a week.
Kacchans laughter has died down, and he goes over to him, grabbing his hand. Izuku grips it back, both of their hands sweaty.
"It smells like your house."
"Be quiet kacchan."
The two of them go the only way that's open. Forward. It feels more like a tunnel rather than a secret room. The flashlight lands on metal cells, with thick bars of metal, all separated with a foot or two of stone wall.
Izuku points his flashlight into one of the cells, finding nothing but scratch marks in the stone floor. That definitely isn't a good sign. They continue walking, looking in the cells as they pass, their footsteps echoing against the walls.
"You think this is where they sacrificed their victims?"
Izuku shivers.
"Probably. Under such a nice house too."
Kacchan shrugs.
"Not surprising. Those pictures were fucking creepy."
Izuku looks at him, incredulous.
"What? They weren't creepy! They all looked so happy."
Kacchan looks back at him, rolling his eyes.
"Deku, they were happy because they were killing people down here. Which means they were all probably fucking crazy."
Izuku can't picture such a happy family being the cause of the smell down here. If anything, they were probably victims of this cult!
"We can't make any assumptions Kacchan, for all we know they're victims too."
Even when they are so far away from the ladder, the flashlight still doesn't reach the end. He's somewhat relieved that Todoroki has one of those rich people flashlights.
"I can smell it. These bastards are pissed, and wouldn't you be too if you were sacrificed by these freaks?"
Izuku's stomach twists at the thought. He gives a passing glance at one of the cells just like many times before. Something jumps at him, only stopped by the bars. Its scream bounces erratically off of the walls, its arms reaching and twisting for him.
He yells, pushing away from it, bumping against Kacchans chest. It looks like a person, but it doesn't have a head. He doesn't know where the scream is coming from, but only that it feels like it's ringing in his ears.
"Kacchan!"
The blonde's other hand reaches out and just like before, the thing disappears, leaving only a black mark on the ground.
"Damnit, I couldn't see it. There are way too many down here."
Kacchan says something in a language Izuku can't understand before forcing him in the opposite direction.
"We've seen enough, let's get the fuck out of here before-"
A loud roar comes from behind the two of them, shaking the walls. Izuku does not need to turn around. He books it down the tunnel, screaming, Kacchan following him.
"Kacchan what is that?!"
"It's that stupid fucking dog!! Don't look at it!!"
"What?!"
Izuku looks back, his legs pumping back and forth, almost tripping over each other with how fast he's running. In the darkness at the end of the tunnel, a huge monster's beady eyes glow, looking at them. Its fur is matted, the same color as the dog in the picture.
It's huge, pushing against the ceiling and the walls around it, as if it's about to burst. It has arms and legs sticking out of its body, clawing and kicking. Whispers come from its body as it whines and roars.
"Such a good boy..."
"Are you hungry?"
"Have some food."
"Good boy."
"Eat up."
Kacchans face blocks his view of the monster, his free hand pushing his back.
"Kacchan that doesn't look like a dog!!"
"I told you not to fucking look!!"
Izuku sees the ladder but doesn't stop running. Hands come out from the cells, reaching and screaming and crying.
"Save us!"
"Don't leave us!"
"I dont wanna die!"
"Please!"
"Your soul!"
"Give me your soul!"
"Warm!"
"I need to be warm!"
Izuku feels one grab onto his jacket and pull him back. Before he can rip it away from him, kacchan is already pulling him away, his face torn in half again as he leans forward. The arm disappears in his mouth, the screaming getting louder.
Izuku keeps running and gets to the ladder. He looks back, Kacchan running after him. The dog is closer now, and a harsh gust of wind pushes Izuku's hair back. It brings the smell of rot right up to his nose.
"Go go!!"
Izuku climbs the ladder as fast as he can, abandoning the flashlight to go faster. Kacchan is right behind him, and Izuku doesn't even think when he launches himself on the ground.
"Keep going!!"
Kacchan snatches his shirt, pulling him up and running. Izuku stumbles for a second before running faster, the two of them bursting out of the front door. They don't even close it as they run into the grass, close to the tree line. The screaming is still loud, and the house is shaking with the force of it.
"Come back!"
"Your soul!"
"Come back!!"
"Please!"
"I need your soul!!"
The screams become jumbled and one of the pillars on the porch snaps. It's only a couple of seconds before more parts of the house start to break, windows shattering and wood cracking. Both him and Kacchan are on the grass, breathing heavily as the house is reduced to nothing but a pile of wood and stone.
The silence that follows after is welcomed, and Izuku finally feels the burning in his chest subside. He stares up at the sky, the moon shining down on them. He pants out,
"Kacchan."
The response sounds just as winded as he does.
"Deku."
"We- We could have died."
"Yeah."
They are quiet for a second, and Izuku looks at him. Kacchan looks back, red eyes bright and face covered in dust. Despite him catching his breath, his heart is still hammering in his chest. He grins, and laughs, his shoulders shaking.
"You should have seen your face!"
Kacchan grins back at him, before flicking his forehead.
"Shut the hell up! You looked like a fish!"
"When that hand grabbed me, I thought I was done for!"
"Shit, I did too!"
"You were totally right about the family being creepy! I'm never coming back to this forest again!"
The two of them laugh, adrenaline still running through their veins. When they calm down, Izuku notices that they are holding hands again. His cheeks warm up and he sees small crescent marks dug into the backs of their hands.
"Next time, pick somewhere with less extras crawling around, then we won't almost fucking die."
Izuku's attention is brought back to him, his eyes wide.
"N-Next time? You wanna go somewhere else... w-with me?"
Kacchan looks back at him.
"Did I fucking stutter?"
Izuku's heart speeds up and he grins brightly.
"There's this lake that people say is haunted!"
"With what, fucking ghost fish?"
"No! These things that pull you into the water! It's so much cooler than ghost fish!"
Kacchan lets out an annoyed groan, but there is still a hint of a smile on his face.
"Fine. We'll go to a haunted lake next time."