The Black House around the Corner by Seraph Wedd (books to read in a lifetime .txt) 📕

I ended up taking a nap. Sighing in relief, I ordered the men in blue to start unpacking the large number of boxes. Giving instructions here and there nonstop, we ended up finishing the job in less than 5 hours.

After offering them some makeshift sandwiches and fresh orange juice, they left the house. Being left alone, I felt unease creeping in. To dispel this unease, I decided to search around the house for any possible hiding place for that thing that ravaged the kitchen last night.

I first headed down the basement. I opened the door towards the basement placed right under the stairs to the second floor. The stairs are already pitch black as the time is already early evening.

I picked up a flashlight and turned it towards the stairs. I went down slowly, one step at a time. Not long after, I reached the bottom. Since the stagnant air of the basement causes some displeasure inside of me, I quickly scanned the whole basement without moving from the bottom of the stairs.

The basement is almost empty except for some empty wooden boxes of about 4 feet in dimensions stacked in one corner. Deciding that there is nothing weird and/or out of place here, I went upstairs.

I skipped scanning the first floor as I had already finished it when I was directing the helpers on where to put each item. I climbed the stairs to the second floor. There, I could see four doors. I skipped the first door, my room, and headed to the second. I opened the door and scanned the room.

It was completely empty. I checked the window of the said room and it was locked completely. This room is clean. I moved to the next room. This time, I noticed that the window isn’t locked. I immediately ran towards and locked the window.

BANG!

The door seems to have slammed shut with vigor. I was surprised by the loud sound that occurred. I thought my heart would stop. Pulling the flashlight from my waist pouch, I illuminated the room… Nothing worth mentioning. The cause was probably some strong gust of wind. I encouraged myself as such.

I opened the door and checked the passage to the left and to the right. Everything seems normal. I closed the door behind me and checked the last door. After I opened it, a small room with nothing but a stainless steel vertical ladder came into view. It probably leads to the attic.

Placing the flashlight hanging from my left hand, I carefully went up the ladder. The opening of the attic was quite large. Approximately 4 feet wide and 7 feet long. With my heart beating an eight-beat tune, I carefully, extremely carefully peeked my head on the attic.

Unfortunately, I can’t see anything. It was too dim to even recognize a silhouette. Slowly, I raised my left hand holding the flashlight. I flipped the switch on while on high alert. I pointed it around the attic… Which I immediately regretted.

 

Chapter 2: The Passage of Time

 I groaned as I slowly got up.

The surrounding’s too dark to even see my own hands. Panic, fear and confusion assaulted my still wary brain. Where am I? What am I doing here?

“… What the…?” I muttered unconsciously. As soon as I did, I sensed some movements within the surrounding darkness.

In a hurry, I felt around me, looking for anything that I can use to protect myself. Ignoring the throbbing pain in my head, I frantically searched for any form of salvation. When I reached about an arm’s length to my right, I touched a cylindrical object. Instinctively, I picked it up and flipped the switch.

The cylindrical object released a bright light that cleared the darkness in front of it. Without losing my initiative, I pointed it towards the area where I felt the movement before.

My trembling hands, covered in cold sweat, firmly held the flashlight. My blurry vision, affected by the sudden light, has yet to clear. Despite my foggy sight, I clearly determined that there’s nothing but an aluminum ladder to where I was pointing at.

I checked left and right, up and down, but it seems that there’s nothing here. Even knowing that there’s no danger, my loud beating heart is still running at full speed. The remains of the fluorescent tube that should be giving light to this room is lying scattered on the ground. In its midst, some sort of form could be seen.

It looks like a large chicken’s footprint. The shape of the foot is more similar to that of a man, except that it only has three toes. Oh how I regretted having read monster encyclopedias when I was a kid. Thanks to that, I am now shaking in fear.

I quickly headed to the hallway, turned on all the lights, went down the stairs and sat in the middle of the living room with a glass of water. Having calmed myself down, I remembered what happened.

When I climbed the attic, and was about to check it, the first thing that appeared in front of me is a pair of red eyes moving with extreme speed from left to right. A mice. However, I was surprised because of the weird tension that had been going on. The result, I slipped down the stairs and lost consciousness.

The back of my head was still throbbing with a dull pain. Probably, I fell pretty badly. But since there’s no dizziness of nausea, it may be not that severe. Just in case, I should have a doctor check it.

Sighing in relief, I checked the current time. It was now past nine. I passed out for over 3 hours. Feeling tired for no reason, I headed out of the living room and into the kitchen, looking for anything light to eat, before deciding to go to my room.

I brought the remaining sandwiches from this afternoon, and a cup of coffee, to my room. I sat in front of the desk with mountains of documents. I ate slowly while scanning the files one at a time.

When the documents are finally sorted and arranged neatly, the food was already gone. Even the time reached past midnight. Noticing the scenery outside the window, it was currently raining. I didn’t notice it. Streak of lightning could be seen from afar.

Then, a particularly near flash of light appeared. At the moment the light vanished, the illumination inside the room turned dim, then died out after a second. A blackout, it seems. Unlike within the city, they don’t have emergency generators here. The only source of light remaining is my tablet and the occasional streak of lightning.

I tried looking for the flashlight, but then remembered that I left it at the sofa in the living room. If I knew that a blackout will occur, I will surely bring it with me. Picking up my tablet phone, I went out of the room.

With the dim light from the phone that barely reaches the floor, I carefully walked down the stairs. My heartbeat was the only sound I can hear in the extremely quiet surroundings. Being nervous, I missed one step at the stairs and broke my balance. Luckily, I managed to grab hold of the handrail.

“Ahh, shit…”

However, my lucks seems to be just that. Since I used my right hand holding the tablet to support myself, I ended up letting it slip off my hands. It fell off the stairs and landed in front of the basement door with a crash. I prayed that it didn’t break.

I blindly made my way towards the sofa relying only on my memory. After a couple of minutes, I managed to reach my destination. Looking around the sofa, I quickly found the flashlight and turned it on. The reliable amount of light that was released calmed the almost freaking out me.

I ran towards the basement door and picked up the tablet. Examining it, the LCD seems to be cracked. Luckily, that was the extent of the damage. The data can still be saved. I sighed in relief.

As the flashlight was pointed towards the basement’s door, I noticed that it wasn’t closed properly. I pushed it close and locked it. As I turned around, I heard a very familiar sound. It was a creaking sound common to wooden stairs. It was the sound of something coming up from the basement.

Curiosity was welling up from the depth of my soul. However, my fear won over my instincts. I ran as fast as I can, sometimes slipping due to the hurry, towards the only room that I can say that is safe. My own room. Due to panic, the supposed to be half-a-minute trip took twice as long.

After I reached my room, I closed the door shut, slammed all the additional locks and chain locks, and even barred the door with my bed. After doing all these, my anxiety was finally lifted. Still, the deep rooted fear was yet to disappear. I don’t know why but something tells me that what I was doing was completely useless.

After placing the flashlight atop the desk, facing the door, silence dominated the surroundings. Only the sound of my labored breathing, the wildly beating heart, and the rain drizzling on the roof could be heard. I don’t know how long that silence lasted. After a long while, I heard the same familiar sound of something climbing up the stairs. I can feel the weight behind the steps from the sound it produced alone.

Frankly, I was scared as hell then. Hearing the sound coming closer, I can’t help but pray that it would go away. Contrary to my wishes, the sound stopped just in front of my door. A few seconds of silence, it felt like the calm before the storm.

BANG! BABABABANG!!!

The door was fiercely knocked. I was about to piss my pants there. The whole bed shook as the banging continued. The chain locks were uprooted together with their screws. Even the door itself slowly showed cracks forming.

In a last ditch effort, with my trembling hands, I pushed back against the bed. My eyes wandering around the room for any route of escape. Only the window is available. Jumping off from the second floor wouldn’t probably lead to death unless I landed head first. Still, with the wet surrounding, I doubt that I wouldn’t slip and slam my head. A broken leg would also surely ensue.

… That moment, I remembered, I had asked the helpers to install grills on the windows… Talk about bad timing. My only escape route is blocked due to my own fear. With this, I can only bet in a do or die situation. I let go of the bed, and jumped into cover.

I forgot the flashlight again… Damn. The moment I thought this, the door finally gave in and the debris were sent flying towards the room. I head the flashlight rolling on the floor. I could even hear the bed being pushed until it slammed to the desk. Even the location I am in slightly shook.

I held my knees and calmed my shaking body. I gritted my teeth to prevent it from giving off clattering sounds. The heavy footsteps were going around the room. Surely, it was looking for me. Goosebumps rose all over my skin