I pulled my Mustang into Uncle Bryant\u2019s drive. Or rather, my own drive since he willed it to me, and probate was finally settled. Fishing the house keys from my pocket, I opened the front door. Strange being here alone. \u201cHello,\u201d I cried to make things seem more normal, as I walked around the one-story home. I had often visited, as my parents lived only a few blocks away. I recalled their many date nights when I stayed with my bachelor uncle. We\u2019d play cards and watch action videos. He had even taught me how to cook. Even though the place had a little dust from long disuse, it was neat and appealing. I glanced at the basement door leading to the only part of the house that was still a mystery. I once asked why the door was locked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThat\u2019s where I keep the treasure\u2026 and the bodies,\u201d he teased, snarling and glaring at me. I remember the look even now. I laughed because I hoped it was a joke, but shivered a little inside. It\u2019s my house now, and maybe there is some treasure.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n At the top of the stairs, I flipped the light switch. I was not that surprised that below the dusty steps, the subterranean room stretched out the whole size of the house. I walked around the uncluttered room, glancing at tools on shelves and hanging above the thick wooden workbench. To my left stood a gas furnace connected to ducts that serviced the entire house. Behind that, a tankless water heater shared a stainless-steel flue with the heater.<\/p>\n\n\n\n On the opposite wall was a heavy-duty iron-clad door. Is this where his hidden treasure rests? <\/em>My smile turned to a grimace. If the treasure was real, maybe the bodies were real, too. <\/em>For a moment, I stood like a statue, weighing my two choices\u2014open the door or leave it a mystery. Hell with it. <\/em>I pulled keyrings from my pocket; first, the one with my car and apartment keys, then the other. A large brass key, stamped with “Master Lock,” appeared. It slid easily into the large padlock. I turned it and removed the device from the hasp.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cHere goes nothing,\u201d I said aloud, to push back the dead silence that was beginning to freak me out. I opened the door a few inches. The sweet-smelling air gave me courage. It didn\u2019t smell like a crypt or even the slaughterhouse I once visited with a friend to ask his dad something. I opened the door on well-oiled hinges. No light switches. No torches or candelabras like in a Frankenstein movie or The Phantom of the Opera. <\/em>Only a single black flashlight hung on the wall. I lifted the heavy cylinder from the rusty hook to test it. I adjusted the narrow, super-bright beam to a broader search light.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Tunnel, which I gave a formal name, seemed to go on forever. Didn\u2019t the neighboring houses have basements, too? <\/em>I walked a few feet, then checked behind me to be certain the door was still there. After doing this several times, I chided myself for being such a chicken. I\u2019ve done scarier things before. Just do it. <\/em>After many more steps in which I refused to check behind me, I heard a noise further down the tunnel. Barely audible at first, the screechy, scratchy, clicking sounds rose as I adjusted my lens to a narrow beam. Monsters. Small toothy creatures running toward me, crawling over each other, sometimes murderously so, like wild dogs in a frenzy. There were thousands.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I turned and ran for my life. Standing to fight would mean certain, painful death. The voices and clattering footsteps amplified, but I was too afraid to turn to look as I pumped my legs faster.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I had enough sense to know that once I got through the door, I needed to close it. At last, it appeared in my bouncing beam. The voices behind me grew louder. A cloyingly sweet odor began to fill my nostrils as the sensation of warmth assaulted the back of my sweating neck and arms. I jumped through the open doorway, turned to see a crowd of monsters just a few yards away, and slammed my body against the rust-stained iron. Panting, I held one hand against my aching side.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Many creatures thudded against the door. The sound of fighting, screaming, wailing, and feeding followed. The door had latched when I closed it, but I kept my weight against it until I heard the audible click of the padlock.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I stood there silently for several minutes until the shaking stopped and the horrible vision I had witnessed began to fade. I\u2019ll probably have nightmares the rest of my life. <\/em>Why hadn\u2019t my uncle prepared me for this? Why hadn\u2019t he called the authorities? No one would believe him, anyway. It\u2019d just invite curiosity. <\/em>Pitying my future heirs, I thought to extend the basement wall inward by a foot or so to cover the door. No one would know it was there or suspect what horrors lay behind it. I considered again who I should report the incident. No one. Countless numbers of these creatures may now be camped out behind the door. It must never be opened again.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I pulled my Mustang into Uncle Bryant\u2019s drive. Or rather, my own drive since he willed it to me, and probate was finally settled. Fishing the house keys from my pocket, I opened the front door. Strange being here alone. … Continue reading