Go exploring

Leanne decided against using the lift again. For all she knew she'd end up on a floor with the creepy clown on the other side. That left her with just one option and she liked that only slightly more.

Hesitantly she stepped out of the lift and checked both ways. There was no sign of life and no way to indicate any danger either way. There were slightly less doors to the left, which potentially meant less people, so she chose that way to start with. Using the cold, stone walls for support she trod carefully along the passage, listening closely for any sound. After a few minutes she heard a loud cry.

Leanne stopped. Frozen to the spot. She listened for the noise but there was only silence. Had she imagined it? She was so edgy right now it was possible. Her mind starting to play tricks on her after everything that had happened. She continued walking, stepping as quietly as she could. Then it was there again and this time she definitely heard it. It was closer too, which meant she was going towards whatever was making that horrible noise. She turned around, deciding to try the other direction. Even the lift was looking like a better idea right about now. But then she heard voices in front of her. Someone was coming her way and she had **** but to keep going towards that terrible howl.

Everything in her body was telling her to go back. Surely getting caught by whoever was coming towards her would be better than meeting the cause of that horrible noise. But she pressed onwards. While she was alone there was still a chance to escape.

Leanne jumped every time she heard it now. The closer she stepped, the more tense she became. The corridor turned a corner and she still hadn't seen an way out of the basement. There were a couple of heavy looking steel doors but none of them seemed to indicate an exit, even if she could have opened them. She just hoped that the thing making the horrible noise was trapped behind one of those doors too and not waiting for her up ahead. She peered around the corner to check if it was clear.

There was no sign of life and with a deep breath Leanne continued. She wished she was wearing something a little more appropriate. She was feeling a little over exposed in her current outfit. Hopefully that wouldn't be an issue but it would have helped her mental state at this point.

As she got nearer to the cries she started to hear another sound too. A metallic scraping sound. Whatever it was it didn't sound good. Her fear was sky high at this point and then she saw it. Her heart skipped a beat. Was that it? Just ahead she could see a staircase leading up. That had to be the way out of here, or at least back up to the main part of the building. She hurried towards it, moving her heels as fast as she could walk in them. The anguished cries now no longer a concern. Her only focus was climbing those stairs.

She reached the bottom of the stairs and stopped dead still. Her entire body was tingling with fear. Leanne suddenly realised she was opposite the doorway to whatever was making that horrific noise. The bellowing and that metallic scraping sound. But this doorway wasn't blocked by a big metal door, it was entirely open.

She wondered why whatever it was hadn't come out. Maybe someone was being tortured down there and couldn't escape. But the noise was too terrible to be human. She tried to turn her mind away from the horrors of whatever was down there and refocus on the stairs ahead of her. She turned back and prepared to climb, hoping freedom was just moments away. She took one step and immediately heard voices. Not from behind her this time but in front. There was someone coming down the stairs.

What could she do? There was someone behind her too. If she tried to run in either direction they'd catch her. She'd never make it back to the lift without being seen. She looked at the doorway to her right. That thought wasn't one she wanted to even consider. But would she rather be caught than meet whatever was making those screams? She had to do something and be quick about it.