The Stairs Beyond The Basement
"Those were some foul ghosts, they came in here last night." Debbie said. Motels are magnets for them because so many people come and go through.
"We're all a little tired, it was an exhausting trip, we're gonna have to get home and see what's up." I said after we had all realized that we might have some relatives staying with us. It felt odd, liked mixed feelings.
Debbie looked through the papers, looked up from the table and finally asked me why I look into those dark places like that. I was confused even more why she'd ask me that. I have this gift. But I always thought that everyone had it. It made me feel alone. Because of what I see. Because of what I can do.
I had no answer, I never intend to seek them out. I just want to light up the place so we can live and have a home that is mapped and never lose our way going through all the rooms. The knowledge I sought. But I hated the task of finding anything in shadow. I wanted to help any prisoners of the darkness. So I never let the darkness kill me. I was always two steps ahead.
I paused. There was an open door to the basement.
"You shouldn't feel alone." Debbie reassured me.
But "I do feel alone sometimes. Often."
We were a normally dysfunctional group of people having done amazing feats of survival. Of this day-to-day life and still can't find the stairs to the basement. How long have we lived here, anyway? A month? Two? I'm lost because I'm fighting something bigger than the system of stairs here, I don't know.
I must turn in, the hour is unknown. I can't see it from here. If I walk toward the sound of the clock, I could reach the dining room where it was located, if I keep going on through this hallway.
I had tried to see the clock-face. It seemed to be half past seven now. It can't be that early still, it was eleven forty-five the last time I checked and that was at least an hour ago. This hallway is horribly dark.
"Look! Look! There's that guy!" Rachel screamed as we saw a shadowy man head down the stairs in our basement. Rachel was in the living room area of the basement and she startled me.
I ran after the entity with an intense willpower. I saw the figure disappear into the deep, downward stairwell. I paused. The unknown was no longer a factor and I knew I was in the other realm.
I stood by the basement door that led down the dark, cement stairs. There was very little light coming from the basement room though, when I strained to look further. Then I wondered at the structure I was surveying.
This house's basement has another basement! How could that be? Giving no more thought to it I went down the stairs. I hated this. Everything was so dark but outside light still barely lit the room. So dull and depressed. The paint was peeling. The other basement had to be pitch black. The scent of concrete was strong and earthy, so a flat floor still prevailed below.
The light shrank smaller and smaller as I followed the thin shadow. As it faded into nothingness, the light too completely disappeared. I proceeded. Catching the last trail of the escaped ghost, I gave chase, now the stairs turned into rough slabs of stone, with no solid edges and they seemed to be crumbling under the mounting dust and soil from far beneath the stairs. I choked but I could still smell the cement from up away. The stairs had stopped and ended, and now there was just some tunneled passageway that became so boxed and cramped that it was a struggle just to make any attempt at going through. But it lead to somewhere even further down. If only a few inches down, to a single box or chest containing something antique. I could see even in the dark that tools would be needed.
Time to turn back. It was so dark, so deep. I thought; What the hell is beyond this point? How could we have lived here for a week or was it a month and not even notice this stupid basement? I don't wanna know what's in the next passage! I stood for a moment.
One day I'll shake these foundations with a word or with fire from the sun. I could embody flames and walk like a spark on a fuse. It will be so pronounced that this place will be given to the light. I could attach the vibrations of the earth itself to my footsteps and open the gates of the arch of heaven to see into this place.
With that I fled back up the stairs. Suddenly the coldest touch of vapor rushed up against my spine and blew through my hair. I stopped. I uttered the same thought towards the void around me. My heart was beating so fast as I leapt up and headed for the dining room.
Okay, it's four o'clock in the morning. I guess I'll try to go back to sleep.
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