Shadows

I was once afraid of the dark, afraid of the dark in basements in particular. The source of this fear was unknown to me until ten years ago, when events forced me to face what had been haunting me my entire life and I was finally ready to face them.

It was a typical spring evening, far cooler than it had been before the daylight faded. The air was clean and fresh. Loneliness was courting me so I invited my friends over for dinner. Several weren't able to make it, as often occurs with my friends, but two sounded just as bored and lonely as I was. First was Terry, an old classmate of mine that was less successful in using his education than I was for wealth, then there was LeAnn, we met just after university and, after a brief fling, decided that neither of us were lifelong material.

They were to join me around 8 in the evening, eager to pilfer my cellars. Even waiting for long found friends stirred up anxiety in my breast so I occupied my mind, wandering about my rather considerable 3 floor house and preparing the meal and refreshments. My compatriots arrived only a few minutes late and joined in the food and libations with me. We laughed, we drank, we told old stories both true, and not so true, and we let go of ourselves well into the night.

At last they decided to retire back to their abodes but I still felt far away from the call of sleep. So, still rather drunk and emboldened by the wine, I decided to set foot once more in the basement that had always made me wary and unsettled. The stairs nearly caught me several times on my descent, until at last the final step stole my footing and sent me quickly down to the cold surface. The stillness hung in the air until my desperate laughter chased it away.

Rising to my feet, my trousers now displayed a crude layer of dust and grime and my dear flashlight meant for the dark corners had rolled just to the edge of the shadows.My wine-blind hands staggered as they reached for the comforting metal beacon, until at last my foolish fingers found purchase. I would be lying if I said this didn’t bring a cry of joy from my throat.

After exploring the unknown realms of my house for several moments, the lights began to flicker with a chilling uncertainty. Then, with an arresting crash outside of my house, they went dark altogether. The sudden absence of all light and vision sent a chill through me that, were it a normal evening adventure, would have sent me scrambling for the stairs. However, my intoxicated state helped me to shake off any wisdom on my part. My hunt for nothing in the dark of the basement continued. After more whimsical stumbling around and adding more dust to my trousers, the flashlight cast its precious beam on a dark, wooden door, nestled far back in a corner of my basement that I didn’t even know existed. It didn't appear to belong to my house, and as though it was from another era. Despite being a heavy wood, its grains were charred black and I could have sworn smelt lightly of soot and ash. And yet, to look at it would tell you that it was still as sturdy as the day it was built. Perhaps it was left in the house from before the renovation, missed by mistake or some other forgotten reason. The door seemed to soak up the light from my flashlight, almost as though it was hiding in the dark and my light could not overcome the trick. Leaning closer, I noticed a small carving, words marked out in a hastily and panicked script. They read: “Beware the shadows” and for a moment, my common sense almost spoke above the wine. Dismissing it with another thought, assuring myself that it was just the result of a child's overactive imagination, left here by some previous young explorer.

Overconfident feet carried me even closer and I placed my fingertips on the cracked wood, drawing them down towards the handle. My arm violently retracted from the shock of how cold it was, as though water might freeze in an instant if it were to touch the metal. The fear began to gnaw its way back into my soul and wasn't abating as quickly this time. Something pulled me back towards the door, beckoning my hand once more towards the handle, the mysterious force compelled me to twist the handle and throw the door wide. To my surprise, all I saw was the brickwork of my basement wall behind it. A chuckle crawled out of my mouth, breaking the tension and bringing to awareness just how late it was and how foolish I had been. My bed awaited my tired mind.

Without shutting the door, my feet turned me around and began the shuffle back towards the stairs. As I turned, a presence bolted past me beyond the illumination of my flashlight. Felt more than seen, something made itself known down here in the shadows. My eyes darted to where they thought the figure was and beheld nothing. The atmosphere had changed in the room unmistakably and the fear at last took root within me and I did my best to stagger frantically out and head to the stairs as quickly as I could manage. Somehow, my own walls became a maze to me, each passage leading to an unknown wall or new passage, as though the layout of the rooms themselves had changed. A noise like a raspy chuckle rang through my ears.

Telling myself that it was just the house settling, I pushed myself to just keep plodding forward, thinking I would find the stairway eventually. After what felt like hours, my mind at last began to shake the fog of the wine. But as focus grew, so did fear. Each rounded corner carried with it a glimpse of a figure withdrawing just ahead of me. Something with dark skin or clothing that seemed to absorb the glow of the flashlight, much like the door. It must have only been the shadows, I kept telling myself, or just my tired and anxious mind making up stories. But I could not fully shake the feeling that I was no longer alone.

To great relief, I found myself in the room I knew was just before the stairs. Comfort swelled quickly in my belly when a breath fell across my shoulder. My footsteps stopped dead and it felt as though my heart had done the same. Without any thought, my body twisted around to see whatever was there. To my deep horror, there was nothing. Not even the beam from my flashlight carried beyond an inch or two.

Less than half a foot from my face, a ragged and gleeful whisper broke the void: “I see you.”

With all the violence I could muster, the flashlight was flung from my hand at the whisper. My legs bolted away and my face impacted pathetically into the door. My fingers desperately clawed at the handle but it would not turn, locking me in with this monster! Giving myself as much room as I felt safe in, my body threw itself with all the force it had, forcing the wood to creak and bend but not nearly enough.

The voice spoke again, “Won't you join me for a meal?”

It then laughed with such a dour tone that my legs went weak.

“What's wrong? Afraid of the dark?”

Trying my best to gather myself and my strength, I made one more desperate assault against the door. This time the frame splintered apart and the portal to refuge was opened for me. A warm glow of sunlight warmed the bottom of the stairway, promising protection and informing me just how long I had been down here. Without hesitation, my arms and legs scrambled up the stairs. Then, either tripping or with something snagging the back of my trouser leg, my feet faltered and forced me hard on my face. Something in my spirit called me to turn back towards the door, the shadows offered only stillness. I didn’t dare breathe.

The voice spoke once more, filled with pure hatred and an understanding beyond my entire life, “We are the Shadowed Ones. And we will find you once the sun sets once more.” Two glowing eyes without pupils broke out of the darkness at me from the shattered doorway, and a grin of bone white teeth formed below the eyes. Fear pushed me up the stairs with no other thought than survival. As my feet slapped loudly on the wood, a slash of something clawed across the back of my leg and tore through the fabric and flesh. Whatever it was didn’t follow me past the light and I fled my home, never once returning. I still refuse to go into any house with a basement.