Tilly’s Basement

Rachel was back in Tilly’s house again, to help clear out her belongings. It had been years since she had spent her childhood Summers here with her Aunt Tilly, and her orange cat, Nero. Memories flooded back to her so easily. But, her task here today was to clear out the basement.
She could hear her sisters, Grace, and Alice, upstairs moving furniture around and laughing and chatting as they did so. Now, carefully, she walked down the narrow stairs to take one last look around the basement. It was still the middle of the afternoon, so it was well lit.

A shard of sunlight shone brightly on something in the far corner, as she reached the bottom of the stairs. Walking towards it, she wondered what it was. She’d never noticed anything shiny in that, or any other, corner before. Moving a box, she saw what looked like an arched doorway with a door that fit more into medieval times than the modern era. But where did it lead? A broken broom handle was pushed through the silver door handles to keep it secure. But why?
And why had she never seen it before? Or been down this far before now, when she’d spent so many hours playing make believe down here during her summers here?

The air suddenly chilled, cooler than it usually was down here. She shivered, but decided the only thing to do was open it and see what was behind it. Probably a brick wall, knowing Tilly, who would have wanted to ‘pretty’ it up and add some mystery to it, where there was none.

Reaching out, she placed her hand on the door, but flinched and pulled back hard. It was red hot. The air around her remained cool but the door was at boiling point. It made no sense at all. What was going on? Looking around, she found an old spade. She picked it up and hit the broom handle so hard it echoes loudly. She knew her sisters wouldn’t hear, she was too far into this corner of the basement. The broom handle moved an inch. She tried again and again, until finally it flew out of its place and hit the floor with a loud “Clank”.

Placing the spade to one side, she took a deep breath and slowly reached out to push the door open. But doors opened simultaneously. Shimmering clouds appeared. A mist surrounded them – and her – then it was a little clearer. But the feeling of peace filled her and the basement. It was so serene. She wanted to step inside wherever this was to see where it led.

Hesitantly, she took a step forward – as the sense of peace faded. Clouds darkened. The air felt thicker, menacing and unfriendly. Before she could react, from every direction strange arms, hands and tentacles grabbed at her, pulling her in every direction. She tried to scream but no sound came out. Her heart pounded like it would jump out of her chest any moment. She tried to move, but her feet were frozen to the floor. She was trapped. And no one could help her.

A heavy red mist appeared in front of her, obscuring her view further. Then, a deep, menacing voice spoke from the void, “We’ve been waiting for you!”
“No!” She summoned unknown strength and pulled away from those still clutching at her. She slammed the door shut, quickly shoving the spade handle through the closed door handles, as a fine red mist escaped, but nothing else. She was safe. She was free. She needed to get out of here fast.

She ran to the steps and sat there awhile, waiting for her heart rate to return to normal. Nothing else escaped that door. Slowly, she stood up and almost ran upstairs.
As she slammed the door shut behind her, Alice’s voice startled her.
“Anything of interest down there?”
“No – No. Nothing at all.” Rachel replied.
“Help me with these boxes, Rach.” Alice handed her a box.
Rachel quickly followed her sister out to the car, far from the basement.