MY FLASHLIGHT CUT through the darkness like a knife. Specks of dust floated around wildly in the beam, disturbed by the sudden change in pressure as wind roared across the open cellar door. The first wooden step creaked under my weight as I descended, and for a second I worried it might break through, but it held. I took another step, shining the light ahead of myself and reaching my left hand to the side, running it along the cold, concrete wall for balance.
"Do you see anything?" Jeremey whispered from behind me.
"I can't tell. Looks like there is a hall or something at the bottom. I need to get farther down to see anything past that."
I continued, Jeremey following behind me. The combination of the wind against the house and the groaning of the steps made the whole staircase echo and scream. We were descending into the throat of some enormous snake. Any second its tongue would slink out, grab us by our ankles, and yank our bodies into its hungry belly.
The smell of damp, rotting wood and mildew grew more and more oppressive the deeper we went. I wasn't sure if it was just my imagination or not, but the air seemed to grow warmer as well, like we were approaching some distant, radiant sun.
Finally, I reached a step where I was far enough down that I could make out what was at the end of the short hall at the bottom—an open doorway, and metal rods glowing dully in the beam of light. But before I could examine the scene any further, something grabbed me by the shoulder. I choked back a scream, nearly dropping the flashlight.
"Don't just stop on the stairs like that," Jeremey whispered from behind me. "I almost ran into you."
"Sorry," I whispered back, trying to calm my nerves. My legs shook, weak beneath my body. I took a few heavy breaths as my heart raced in my chest.
"You going to keep going?"
"Hold on." I pointed the flashlight at the doorway. "Do you see that?"
Jeremey nudged my arm lightly, and I scooted to the side so he could stand on the same step. "What is it?" he asked, taking a second step down to get a bit closer. "Are those... bars?"
He continued on, but my feet froze in place, preventing me from moving any farther. My stomach dropped like I was going over the first hill on a rollercoaster, nausea clawing its way into my throat.
Jeremey turned to face me once he had reached the bottom. "Come on," he beckoned.
I swallowed, trying to flush the nausea from my system. Finally, my legs agreed to work again, and I continued down to the bottom of the stairs. At the end of the short corridor, an open doorway led to the main basement. Jeremey stood in front of it, his right hand still gripping the bat, and his left hand around one of the long metal rods that sealed off the space.
"Jesus," he whispered under his breath.
I walked up along side him, shining my light in.
"It's blocked off," Jeremey said lowly. "Why block it off? If you wanted to lock someone in—" He paused mid sentence. "The door to the cellar was already locked from the outside. There'd be no way for a person to break out." He paused again. "Why put up the bars?"
I didn't want to think about an answer.
Instead, I stared into the basement. It looked the same as it had the previous night. Dusty boxes covered the floor and filled the shelves. The table with a few small hand tools stood abandoned in the center of the room. The crate sat in the corner, open and empty like a gutted animal waiting to be stuffed. As I scanned the light over the space, I realized the basement went on farther than I had thought. There was a second room around the corner by the main set of stairs, but from our vantage point, I couldn't see into it.
"Hello," Jeremey called into the void.
"Shh," I automatically hushed him, feeling like disturbing the space with any noise above a whisper might somehow cause it to all come crumbling down, burying us alive inside.
"You said there was someone in here." Jeremey faced me. I accidentally shone the flashlight in his eyes, and he put his hand up to cover them.
"Maybe she's hiding," I suggested. "Around the corner."
Jeremey turned back to the basement. "Hey, you can come out. We aren't going to hurt you. We just want to help you get out of here."
Something moved in the beam of light like a rat or a snake slithering across the floor. I jumped back, my eyes automatically snapping shut. When I opened them again, it was gone. Nothing. The basement was still. Just my eyes playing tricks on me.
"Hello," Jeremey tried one last time. "Are you sure you saw a hand down here..." Jeremey grabbed me by the arm suddenly, dropping the bat to his feet. "Fuck!" he hissed as it clanked on the cement floor, the noise reverberating through the entire basement.
"What?" My heart pounded against my rib cage. Dogs barked in the distance.
They'd heard us.
"Fuck, look." Jeremey pointed just past the stairs, ignoring the sounds of the dogs as they drew closer. He bent down to pick up the bat as I slowly shifted the light in the direction he was pointing. I nearly dropped it when I saw it—a woman's face, peering through the handrail of the staircase.
Her eyes glowed white in the light.
In one swift movement, the young woman crept out from behind the stairs, approaching the caged-off doorway. She hugged a tattered blanket around her body, and her eyes were as wide as saucers. I fought the urge to step back behind Jeremey and hide. But then, when I saw her face illuminated in the beam of my light, a strange warmth coursed through my body.
She was beautiful.
But also... she was familiar.
She was the girl from my dream.
"You need to be quiet!" she said, her voice thick with an accent I couldn't place. "He'll be back soon. The dogs—" she paused as a distant howl pierced the air. "You have to get out of here now. If he knows you've seen me..."
"No, we need to get you out of here first," Jeremey said. "Maybe we can cut these bars. Harper, get the bolt cutters out of the backpack."
I didn't move for a second. I was too distracted watching the girl. She winced in pain, and a blue vein throbbed on her forehead. Her skin was so pale. Sickly.
"Are you hurt?" I asked her.
"We can talk later!" Jeremey shouted. "Pass me the flashlight and get the bolt cutters!"
As I was handing Jeremey the light, a sound more terrifying than even the dogs echoed through the night—a truck pulling into the driveway.
"Get out of here!" the girl whisper-shouted. "It's him! He's back!"
"We'll come back for you," Jeremey said. "We'll bring the cops."
"No! No, he'll kill me. Please, no cops."
"Fine, just the two of us," Jeremey agreed. "No cops. But we'll be back. I promise."
As Jeremey returned the flashlight to me, it shone into my eyes. I squinted. And then when I reopened them, they met the eyes of the girl. Her ice-blue eyes stretched wide. I was about to look over my shoulder, thinking maybe the dogs were at the top of the stairs, but then I realized she wasn't looking behind me. She was looking at me.
She recognized me.
Before I could say anything to her, the echo of a door creaking open somewhere within the house broke the silence. The girl spun around, retreating back to the adjoining room to hide.
"We've got to get out of here!" Jeremey grabbed me by the arm, pulling me toward the stairs.
The first few steps blurred into one, my feet tangling together and a haze clouding my mind. The next few steps I took on my hands and knees, unsure exactly how I had fallen and unable to see in the dark. A hand grabbed me by the arm, pulling me to my feet.
My head cleared as I stood up, but then, my heart slammed against my chest when my vision finally returned. There, perched at the top of the stairs, were the two dogs, growling and snarling in the beam of my flashlight.