The Cellar

Creepy cellar indeed, Emma thought as she crept down the stairs in to the shadows at the bottom of the staircase. She yanked the chain dangling from the lone light fixture and braced herself as shadows danced from the swinging light.

Well that's not much better. How the hell did we play down here as kids? She mused. Emma looked around, half wanting to see what the cellar was like, half wanting to reassure herself that nothing would jump out and get her.

The cellar was nothing out of the ordinary. A large metal washtub lined the far wall. Next to that was a washing machine and dryer. An ironing board was set up, with an outdated electric iron sitting atop it.

Emma shook her head, wondering how crazy Aunt Maude had to be to actually stand down here and iron clothes. She scrunched up her nose at the thought, and the somewhat faint smell of mildew.

No wonder James cried when we turned the light off on him when we were kids. I'd piss my pants if the light went out now, Emma thought, glancing at the light bulb, suddenly afraid that fate had read her mind and would choose now to mess with her.

When the light remained on, Emma bravely ventured forth. The cellar was broken into four segments, large open rooms with no doors. Emma's exploration didn't turn up anything exciting or worthwhile. Mostly there were just shelves with boxes of old clothes or random things like unused board games and old toys.

Emma was about to leave when she noticed a heavy metal door, almost hidden in the wall by the washer and dryer. She had almost missed the outline in the shadows of the low light. Emma approached it and saw no handle or way to open it.

Well that's not creepy or anything, She thought to herself. What the hell is back there?

She felt around looking for a hidden clasp or some sort of release to open the door. part of her was curious and saw it as a puzzle, part of her felt suddenly uneasy and a bit afraid that she might actually succeed at getting the door open.

Lost in her search to get the door open, she almost didn't notice the tickle on her leg. Emma looked down in time to see a rather large centipede crawling up her inner thigh, towards the hem of her skirt.

Emma shrieked out a blood curdling scream and swatted at her thighs repeatedly. Practically running in place and slapping her thighs as she tried to get the terrifying insect off of her, she yelled "Oh hell no!" and bolted up the stairs.