“But I don’t wanna go down there!”
“James, quit being ridiculous! It’s just the basement.”
“It creeps me out.”
“Don’t be such a baby Jameson. Go down and turn off the lights! Quick before Mom and Dad get home.”
“Why can’t Evan do it? Or you?”
“Evan is five James, he can barely climb stairs when the lights are on, let alone in the dark.”
“And you?”
“I just don’t want to. Go on, get it done and then you can watch the television.”
The trip down the stairs was one James would never forget. One filled with anxiety and fear. Where his hands would tighten on the railing when he thought he heard something, when the shadows seemed to grow and shrink like they were breathing. Like they were alive.
Shadows hid things from the human eye better than anything, the vague darkness that morphs a solid image into mists and blurred lines. It hid the cobwebs of dead spiders and traps made from forgotten toys. On the outside, it as just a basement.
When James was five years old, they moved house. His older brother Keith was just ten years old and their little brother Evan was on the way. Their small, single floored house wasn’t going to be big enough for a family of five. James was confident in his old home. In his room with walls painted blue and shiny stars stuck to the walls and roof, reflected sun gathered from the day time. It was like his own world of toys and wonder. Their yard was big enough for a single swing, where Keith would push James back and forth.
Then they moved.
The house changed, it became bigger, with a main floor, an upstairs and the basement. At first the basement wasn’t so bad. Mo one could leave James alone for too long so he was never really alone. Until the day Mom and Dad left to go shopping and Keith, in all of his ten year old glory, was left in charge of James.
It was going well, the lights were bright and cast reflections off the window up at the top of the wall. It was nighttime outside, crickets would be heard beyond the closed glass, and Keith was watching his the television, a program that James had long forgotten about.
Then the doorbell rang, Keith ran upstairs, giggling to himself. And he shut the light off.
The darkness was sudden, enveloping and terrifying to a five-year-old. The blindness that followed it and the silence. The crickets became blaring noises, loud in the quiet. The footsteps from upstairs were creaking and eerie. James could hear Keith laughing with his new friends, talking about something that was probably trivial.
James could hear his own breathing, loud to his ears. In his five-year-old mind, the darkness had never been scarier.
He stood up on wobbly feet, careful to walk around the pile of LEGO’s he had previously been playing with. His hand touched something soft and he jumped away screaming. Scrambling back, James felt his back touch a wall and he breathed heavily. He looked around, his head whipping back and forth and cobwebs caught onto his face.
He screamed again, hand flying to his face in a desperate attempt to get the disgusting, dusty substance off of him. Tears welled up in his eyes and leaked down his chubby cheeks as he cried out loudly.
His neck tingled, his ear peaked at the sound he swore was someone else’s breathing. The cold grip on his ankles and slimy breath on his neck. He cried louder, screaming shrilly at the top of his lungs, hoping Keith would hear him.
Sheer terror took over and he sprinted for the stairs, hands out in front of him to feel his way as fast as he could, feeling the walls until his fingers felt the light switch and he switched it up.
Ever since that day, James had been known for his fear of the dark. It was the source of his pain, the source of his brother’s teasing and most of all, his hesitation to ever set foot into the basement again without anyone behind him.
It was a solid reason.
James walked down the stairs, observing how the basement had changed, yet, hadn’t. It was still dank, and filled with cobwebs and the shadows were still eerie. But now there were skateboards under the stairs, the backroom filled with stacked board games and boxes of old toys that they were keeping for Evan. It smelled slightly like laundry detergents and mold, like any basement would.
He saw the shadows move, he saw them move when he did, chasing him from behind, and disappearing when he looked for them. He heard the wind howling outside and the rain hitting the roof. He could see the water leaking through the cracks in the walls, dripping down onto the floor in a small puddle of stagnant water. There carpet felt slimy under his toes and he was shaking his head.
“It’s only my imagination.”
The howling wind outside seemed louder down here, seemed stronger and colder. He swore he could see his breath and the moment his toes left the carpet, he shivered. He thought he heard skittering in a corner and turned around faster than he thought possible. He felt it go over his bare foot and he gave a small shriek, jumping back onto the last stair.
“Dude, you alright down there?” Keith was calling down to him, humor filling his voice.
James looked in the direction the thing went to, and saw a mouse. A single, small brown mouse with a little twitchy nose and a tail. He shook his head, reminding himself to tell his parents that they had mice.
The light switch was on the other side of the room, not too far away in any other situation. Just ten steps, three breaths even. There were toys scattered everywhere, video game consoles hooked up to the television, the game flickering darkly on the screen, waiting to be turned off. He strolled over, feel the hairs on his neck prick up as he reached past the dusty cords and switched the television off. He let a breath out, a tingling, almost electronic shock feeling, rushed down the back of his neck as he turned to the light switch and readied himself to make his way to the stairs once again.
He breathed in and the light was off.
The darkness was startling. So sudden and so black that James shook. His feet began to move forwards and his hands were out in front of him, ready to catch him if he tripped. His leg brushed a chair and he flinched, his hand touched a dusty box and he jumped. It was terrifying.
He heard it too, everything became louder and scarier. The scuttling of the mice turned into giant rats, the howling wind turned into a demanded predator, the cold concrete floor turned icy, making his feet freeze.
He tripped. Falling seemed to take both forever and just one second. He knew the ground was coming, but couldn’t tell where it was until he was on it, flat on his stomach with the air knocked out of him.
His knees ached and his arms stung from where he caught himself. Lightning struck outside and illuminated the room for just a second. But it didn’t make it better. The sudden light made shadow appear, dancing across the walls and floors in a threatening manner, calling him into their dangerous depths, despite him knowing what they would do.
Maybe it was his imagination when he felt breath on his neck, or slimy fingers wiggling their way up his leg. He scrambled up, unable to breathe and he sprinted for the stair blindly. There was a hiss and a flash of lightning again, the shadows were following him. His toe stubbed the first stair and he stumbled to his knees, hitting the edge and wincing at the pain.
Despite this, he got up, feeling the wall with his right hand to guide him up the dark stairs. His heart was pounding in his ear, blood rushing and anxiety coursed through him like something he had never felt before. A fear that was renewed. He couldn’t run up the stairs, he would trip and fall backwards into the awaiting darkness. The light from under the door was welcoming, though he didn’t look behind him. There were whispered at his ears, hairs tickling his neck. His fingers were shaking and his knees wanted to collapse. Tears teased him at the edges of his eyes and he wondered when the endless stairs would reach their finish.
His hand touched the door, the doorknob just under his hand as he twisted.
Attempted to, anyway.
Laughter came from the other side of the door, laughter James knew too well. Suddenly frantic, James tried to open the door again, pushing and pulling it, rattling it in its frame in an attempt to get it open.
“Keith! Unlock the door!”
Keith continued to laugh, though he turned the key in the lock and quickly ran from the doorway. James wretched the door open, heart pounding so fast he felt sick. He breathed a breath of relief and made to step out.
It grabbed him. Grabbed him by his ankle. Black, slimy claws gripping him in an iron tight grip. His eyes went wide and his heart went wild. He tried to step forwards but it pulled him back.
His scream was heard through the house, unforgettable, as the monster in the darkness got him. It got him, dragged him down the stairs into the shadows, where he was never seen again.
