CHAPTER 2 – THE BASEMENT THAT SHOULD NEVER HAVE BEEN OPENED
Emily couldn't move.
The hooded figure had vanished.
Only the Labrador remained, staring silently at the abandoned farmhouse as the wind howled through the broken windows.
"Your brother has been waiting."
The words echoed inside her head.
Waiting?
Impossible.
Her brother, Noah, had disappeared seven years ago.
The police searched for months.
Volunteers combed every inch of Blackwood Forest.
Nothing.
Everyone eventually accepted the painful truth.
Everyone...
Except Emily.
The Labrador suddenly barked once and ran toward the farmhouse.
"Wait!"
She chased after it, forcing open the rusty gate with a loud screech.
The front door swung open before she even touched it.
A freezing draft rushed out.
Inside, the house looked frozen in time.
Dust covered every piece of furniture.
Family photographs still hung crooked on faded wallpaper.
A grandfather clock ticked...
Despite having no pendulum.
Tick...
Tick...
Tick...
Emily swallowed hard.
"This place should be empty..."
The Labrador scratched furiously at a loose wooden floorboard.
Curious, Emily knelt down.
With trembling hands, she pulled it aside.
Underneath was a tiny metal key.
Old.
Covered in rust.
Attached to it was a faded tag.
Basement.
"There wasn't a basement on the town's property records..." she whispered.
Just then—
BANG!
The front door slammed shut by itself.
Emily screamed and spun around.
No one was there.
Only silence.
Then came another sound.
Footsteps.
Slow.
Heavy.
Above her.
She pointed her flashlight toward the ceiling.
Nothing.
The footsteps stopped.
Then...
They started again.
This time...
Below her.
Emily's heart nearly stopped.
She looked at the Labrador.
The dog wasn't frightened anymore.
Instead, it calmly walked toward an old bookshelf and nudged it with its nose.
The entire bookshelf shifted.
Behind it...
A narrow staircase descended into complete darkness.
Cold air poured upward.
It smelled like damp earth...
And something much worse.
Rotting flowers.
Emily gripped the tiny key.
"I've come this far."
She switched on her flashlight and stepped down one creaking stair after another.
The deeper she went, the colder it became.
The walls changed from wood to stone.
Someone had carved hundreds of names into the bricks.
Every name had a date beside it.
Every date marked the day that person disappeared from Blackwood.
Emily's breath caught.
Near the bottom...
She found one final name.
Freshly carved.
NOAH CARTER
Disappeared:
Seven years ago.
Her knees nearly gave way.
"No..."
Then she noticed something impossible.
Underneath the name...
Someone had carved another line only hours earlier.
Emily Carter — Tonight.
The flashlight slipped from her hand.
It hit the floor.
The beam spun wildly across the basement...
And stopped.
A man was standing only a few feet away.
His face hidden in the darkness.
He smiled.
Then spoke in a calm voice Emily hadn't heard in seven years.
"Little sister..."
May you like
"I knew you'd come."
To Be Continued...
