Cellar Dweller's (1)
Cellar Dweller's By Robert E. Tadlock Introduction Are we truly scared by what we know and understand? Sometimes just knowing what is out there and where it came from can take the realism from the horror itself. But what if something was out there and its existence could not be explained. What if there was something out there that the existence of which was so evil and terrifying, it had no explanation. This is about a large house, which is surrounded by a large iron fence. The ground is covered with weeds and tall grass. The house stands on a quiet street in a quiet town. It hasn't been lived in for as long as the oldest resident of the town can remember. The mere sight of the house is responsible for it's own loneliness. Boards on the porch are loose and creak in the wind. Passing baseballs, which still sit where they landed, has broken most of the windows. The paint is old and gray from years of sun and weather abuse. The upstairs windows are covered with large curtains, which flap in the wind, confirming the mystery of what lurks inside. The house is an eerie sight, but nothing compares to the unspeakable horror that lives in the lower levels. Often shadows can be seen through cracks in the wood. Sounds can be heard from different parts of the house, sounds that would make your hair stand on end. For as long as can be remembered, no living person has entered this house. But, for this small town that was about to change. Part One As the thunder cracks and the rains fall in a small town, everyone is inside escaping the storm. The thunder can be heard for miles as it echoes through the night. The lightning flashes through the sky, exposing deserted streets and abandoned front yards. In a dark alley, a homeless man lies in his wooden box trying to stay dry. Suddenly a gust of wind rushes through a cut out window covered with plastic. The wind proves to be too much for old wood and rusty nails, as the house blows apart. Now exposed to the elements, the homeless man runs to seek shelter. He runs from the alley, into the streets, and starts searching for a place to stay till the storm passes. As he runs down a lonely street, he notices a large house with an iron gate. Remembering the towns� people talking about the house he hesitates, but as the rains increase and the thunder continues the man decides to take his chances inside the house to escape the storm. Once inside, he shuts the door and shakes off excess rain from his clothing. He looks the house over and quickly notices an old lantern sitting on a dusty table. He takes the lighter from his pocket, blows the dust off the old lantern best he can, and begins to light it. As it lights, his attention is immediately turned to a blood stained cat that rushes by and escapes out an open framed window. With his heart pounding, he quickly gets a hold of himself. � Stupid cat," he says as he begins to explore his new shelter. As he walks the house, he notices the walls and doorways are covered with cobwebs. The floor creaks under his feet, as he finds an open door leading downstairs to the cellar. He slowly descends. At the bottom of the steps, a large box sits in a corner. Hoping to find dry clothes or a blanket to keep him warm, he starts looking. Suddenly he hears a deep growl coming from a three by three opening in the wall. � Is someone there?� he asks as he starts to tremble. The sound continues, as he slowly makes his way to the hole. Shaking uncontrollably, he lifts his lantern to inspect the opening. Suddenly a figure darts from the hole and knocks the light from his hand. It crashes to the dirt cellar floor as it goes out, leaving nothing but the sound of the man screaming as he's pulled through. In the darkness, his screams are drowned out by the sound of his bones crushing. He lets out one final scream, before all goes quiet. The next day, the sun is shining, the storm has passed and the residents begin to awaken in the small town of Oaksdale, Mississippi. In the house of Tim and Ann Freeman, the smells of bacon frying and coffee brewing fill the kitchen. Upstairs, their son Tommy lays fast asleep. His room is like any other young boy�s room, with pictures of his favorite sports stars taped to the beige colored walls. On a corner desk, is a small computer he hardly uses other than talking to an occasional friend or two on the internet. Next to the computer, sits a twenty five-inch TV and his collection of video games. His closet is a cluttered assortment of GI. Joe�s, matchbox cars, and of course a pile of dirty laundry. His bedroom door slowly opens and Rufus, a large tan and black German Shepard slowly makes his way towards Tommy�s bed. Tommy slowly awakens to Rufus licking his face. " I'm up...I'm up," he says, as he pushes the dog away. Lifting himself from the bed, he rubs his eyes and stares out the window. Outside his window, birds are chirping and land in a nest in a tree in the front yard. Beyond the tree he sees the old house, the iron gate almost surrounding it, and then remembers the stories he has heard about it being haunted. His head is quickly filled with fear and excitement, as he gazes at the abandoned house. He sits there motionless as if frozen by its mystery. Suddenly he jumps, as he is startled by his mother�s voice calling him to breakfast. "Coming mom", he shouts as he takes one last look. Then he gets dressed and runs down stairs to eat. He sits at the table to enjoy his favorite breakfast of bacon, eggs, and toast and overhears his parents talking about the new neighbors who moved in beside the old house. As Ann takes a pie out of the oven, she wonders where they came from, and they talk of going over to introduce themselves to the new neighbors after breakfast. They hear Rufus barking from the yard, and after several attempts to quiet the dog, go out to look. They walk out to a nice green lawn with an old rusted swing that sits beside a small bird feeder. As they approach the barking dog, they see him standing excitedly over the same cat the homeless man had seen. The cat is lying in a pool of its own blood and missing an ear. Through the left side of its body are deep wounds that appear to be claw marks. Ann looks down at the cat and quickly turns her head, as she feels sick. �Whatever could have done that?� she asked in a troubled voice. � Could have been about anything � explained Tim. � I�ll inform the police after breakfast�. He then covers the cat with an old wooden crate lying in the grass, then they all returned to the kitchen. After breakfast the police were notified, and the Freeman�s go visit the new neighbors. Tommy�s mother grabbed the pie she had made earlier and they all proceeded across the street. The new neighbors introduce themselves as Dave and Paula Brown. They had one son named Billy. After a warm welcome and a piece of Ann�s pie, the grown ups went into the living room, while Tommy went out to play with his new friend. As the grown ups talked, Dave asked Tommy�s parents if they had heard the screaming from the abandoned house last night. He said it sounded like someone was in trouble, but before he could get to the window it stopped. Tim told them that they had not and told them about the dead cat in the yard. He also tells them about other animals that have been reported missing, never to be seen again. "I'm not sure what happened last night," Tim explained. " But I'm sure there's a simple explanation." Satisfied with that, all the parents continued to talk. Outside the boys played for hours, throwing ball and running in the yard. They soon find themselves becoming good friends. But, as the sun slowly starts to settle for the night, a figure begins to move in the old house. The cellar stairs begin to creak, as a true hideous form makes its way upstairs. As if searching for something, the form walks through the house. It heads for the window overlooking Billy�s back yard. As the form notices the boys playing in the yard, it becomes excited. With night slowly approaching, the form slowly makes its way to the door. It stares at the two boys with a glaring interest. It waits until the yard is almost pitch black and slowly opens the door. A large clawed hand can be seen, as the form slowly pulls itself through the doorway. Unaware of the lurking danger, the two friends keep playing. Ever so closer, the form makes its way to the wooden fence that separates the houses and the boys from certain death. As the form gets to the fence, it continues to focus its eyes on the boys. Just then the boys ball hits the fence in front of it. Its heart pumps with rage as the boys race to retrieve it. Now just a few feet from the beast, Billy�s back door opens. "Boys come on; it�s too dark to be out their," yells Billy�s mom. The form, just out of reach of the boys, is distracted just long enough for Tommy to pick up the ball and run back "Coming Mrs. Brown, Tommy said as the boys headed to the door. Safely inside, the parents say there good-byes and Tommy and his parents return home. Back home, Tommy throws on his pajamas, gets a kiss from his parents and is off to bed as the house goes black for the night. With most people now asleep, two young men walk down the street. They pass Billy�s front yard and stop at the abandoned house. The men stand there staring at the house as they finish their last two beers. " Are you ready? ", Greg says as he opens the iron gate. "I don't know about this," James says and shakes at the mere sight of the house. "C�mon it will be fun," he says as he swings the gate open. The two men slowly walk through the gate and up to the front door. As they start to walk inside the house, the form hears the men outside and disappears back down to the cellar. Greg opens the door to an eerie creak, as they walk in. �Let�s look around, � he says, as James stays close behind. "Do you think it's true what they say about this house?" he asks. " Hell no, they just say that to scare us," Greg replies". "Well it's working," James admits as they continue through. They walk through to an open cellar door and look down to darkness. Greg grabs his flashlight and begins to walk down the steps. Hesitant at first, James follows. When the two men reach the bottom of the cellar, they start exploring. " This is creepy," James says as he follows the light around the room. Greg finally agrees with his friend, as he notices a large opening in the wall. As they walk over to the hole, the two men discover a narrow passageway leading in. Greg leads of course, as the men walk down the narrow passage into an opening. As Greg shines the flashlight around the room, he notices a strong smell. " Man what did you do, shit yourself," he jokes his friend. But before James could reply, a noise in the corner attracts his attention. As Greg shines the light at the corner, both men scream in fear. The light shines momentarily at a large pair of sharp fangs, connected to a most powerful bite. Large hands swing at the two men, slashing them like a rampaging beast. Blood splatters everywhere, as the two men have no chance against the beast�s power. As he tries to escape, Greg feels a tremendous pain across his shoulders. He screams in pain, as he is slashed open to expose the vertebras in his back. James looks in horror as his friend falls to the ground. The beast stares at the cowering man, as James stands frozen. With a quick swipe of its powerful hand, the beast opens up James throat leaving the man gurgling in his own blood. The beast gives out a triumphant roar as James legs shake one last time before becoming motionless on the ground. The beast dives on the man, burying it's fangs around the mans face, as if to taste his last breath. With a loud crunch, James jaw explodes in the beast�s mouth, as it feeds on the two men until no meat is left on their bones. And then all turns deadly quiet. Part Two The new day begins with a knock on the door. Tommy's dad opens the door to find the police standing on the porch. " You must be here about the cat," his dad said. The police agreed as Tommy's dad took them to the back yard where the cat laid. The officer stares at the cat and covers his nose as the heat from the sun starts to rot the body. In a desperate attempt before he gets sick, he places the small corpse in a property bag. �We'll take it over to the lab. Maybe they can figure out what did this� the officer said as they made there way back to the car. "I'd be interested in hearing what you find out," Tim said as they continued walking. The officer explained to Tommy's dad, that it might take a while considering they are also investigating the disappearance of two men from last night. The police got back in the car and was on their way as Tommy's dad went back to the house. Inside the house, the sounds of hurried footsteps could be heard, as Tommy ran down the steps and passed his dad. "What's the hurry?" his dad asked. " I'm going over to Billy's," he yelled back, as the door shut behind him. Tim walked into the living room and sat down in his favorite recliner. He starts reading the paper, when his wife walks in. " I'm going to the market to pick up a few things for tomorrow night," she said. "Tomorrow?" Tim replied puzzled. "Oh yeah Halloween," he remembered as he goes for his wallet. �Pick up a pumpkin and extra candy", he said as he handed her some cash. She acknowledged him with a kiss on the cheek and left him to his reading. Tommy ran across the street as fast as his legs could carry him. He was so excited that tomorrow would finally be Halloween. Billy's mom answered the door, as Tommy knocked impatiently. " Hi Mrs. Brown," Tommy said as he rushed past her. "Hi Tommy, he's in his room," she said as she shook her head and smiled at the boy�s enthusiasm. Tommy ran upstairs to find Billy already in his room preparing his costume. "Hey, Billy," he said as he entered the room. " Look Tommy, my mom gave me a sheet for each of us," he answered back. Tommy smiled and showed his appreciation as he sat down next to his friend. He then grabbed a pair of scissors and started cutting. Both boys cut out eyes so they could see and surrounded them with black marker to make them stand out. After that, they sewed the edges together and cut out armholes that took about another hour. Then they slipped them on and admired their work in the mirror. Happy with there work, they placed the transformed sheets on Billy's bed and ran out of the room to play. About 3:00 that evening, the phone rang at the police station. Sgt. Conners, an officer of the town for 11 years, picked it up to find the lab on the other end. The lab tech. told him that the slash marks, found on the cat, were not from anything she could recognize. �Those gashes came from something very powerful and large� she explained. �Do you think it might have been a bear?� asked the Sgt.. �I thought about that, but I fear a bears claws just can�t make cuts so clean. I�ll run more tests and let you know what I find� she explained. The Sgt. thanked her for the results and hung up the phone. As the officer in charge of the investigation entered the office, He could tell by the Sgt.�s face that something was wrong. "What's up," the officer asked. " Looks like we got a real mystery on our hands," the Sgt. replied as he explained the conversation with the lab. "Sounds like something from a movie," the officer said. "Yeah, but I hope this movie has a happy ending," the Sgt. admitted sitting back in his chair. They discussed the two men reported missing and the homeless man that was added to the list earlier that morning. They both agreed that with Halloween coming up, they should put extra officers out in the streets for tomorrow night. " Let's just hope we get to the bottom of this before the kids start trick or treating," the Sgt. said with concern. The officer agreed and left the office to continue his day.
Copyright © 2003 Robert E Tadlock |