Blackened Spiral Down Read Free Page B

dripping sound. He shined his light to the floor to see what condition it was in when suddenly there was a dull creak, then the splintering of wood, and he began to fall through the floor into the dank basement below. Instinctively, he closed his eyes, and the last thing he remembered was how embarrassed he would be to have to call his boss to tell him what happened.
     
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    Across the street at 1313 E. Cypress Street, Duane Lanham watched the large man with the flashlight walk down the driveway to the back yard of the house. Duane had been staying at 1313 for the past three months, making himself a bed from an old mattress and some clothes he got from a local shelter. He managed to keep himself fed by standing in line every Tuesday and Thursday at the food pantry, taking whatever canned goods he could scrounge up. He had been homeless for the last five years since he lost his job at the glass factory.  His drinking had spiraled out of control – putting him out on the street. Now he resorted to hand-outs to eat and a rat-infested old house that no one wanted for a place to sleep. Things couldn't get much lower. He avoided looking in mirrors these days, because seeing his graying hair, scraggly beard and gaunt face made him look 20 years older than he was.
    From his second floor window, he wondered if the big man would make it out of 1312 alive. He knew all too well that something evil lived there, something in the blackness of the crawlspace.
     
     
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    Dan wasn't sure if he was dreaming. He remembered hearing the creaking and the splintering sounds, but now he found himself in complete darkness in a damp environment. He must have hit the back of his head hard when he fell, because there was a huge bump there. He carefully felt around for his flashlight or backpack, but neither was there. The cell phone he kept in his back pocket was smashed. He tried to turn it on, but nothing happened. It felt like the screen was shattered. Dan deliberately slowed down his breathing to try and not panic. He had enough emergency action training at Firestone over the years to teach him that freaking out was not the answer in an emergency. He did wonder how long he had been at the house, since it was company policy for field people to call in every hour for safety reasons. Maybe someone would be along to see if he was okay?
    He tried to sit up and assess if he had broken any bones in the fall. Aside from a sharp pain in his lower back, Dan didn't think he broke anything. Looking above, he could see a large opening in the floor above, which must have been how he ended up where he was now. He must be in the basement.
    Just then, he heard a loud noise coming from the space in front of him. His eyes were slowly adjusting to the darkness, but he still couldn't make out anything. Whatever it was, it was not a mouse or rat. It sounded much larger. Maybe it was a raccoon or opossum? Then it sounded again, and it was definitely bigger than that. His heart began to thump in his chest and despite his measured breathing, he felt panic begin to set in. Whatever this thing in the darkness was, it was moving toward him slowly, as if sizing him up. Dan could hear a low growl that was barely audible but seemed to surround him from all sides! The house felt like it shook slightly.
    Then he heard rustling and movement from every direction - scraping sounds on the concrete floor and rustling in the garbage. He thought he heard heavy breathing! Before he could do anything, frozen in fear, Dan felt cold and clammy hands grabbing him from all sides. He flailed and kicked, but it was no use. The hands were getting a hold of him and dragging him across the floor toward the large mass before him. He didn't realize it, but he was being pulled toward the crawlspace that was beneath the original section of the house. Inside that dirt floor space was a dark shadow with eyes that glowed. It had an insatiable appetite, and now it was salivating at its next meal,