What's under the rug?

Sarah folded back the rug, revealing a trap door. Not something she expected to find in her Aunt's house, and she wondered what was down there. She couldn't help herself, and slowly pulled open the heavy door, revealing the steep stairs going down. She slowly climbed down, going backwards like she was climbing a ladder, until she reached the bottom. It was dark, too dark to see, but just as she was considering giving up, light flared from torches on the wall. Actual torches. She supposed there was a motion detector that lit them or something, but what was more important was what she could see in their light.