Lady in the Basement

Imagine. Imagine being a child who’s favorite thing to do everyday was watch scary movies. From Halloween to Friday the 13th, anything that involved seeing teenagers get slashed for their sins during a party or vacation. Well that was me. Standing at a measly 4 foot 10 weighing in at about 95 pounds, nerdy, honey bun eating, Horror movie enthusiast, Jason Montgomery. For a child I had the wildest imagination which would later come to haunt me. This is my story.

“Jason! Go get the clothes out of the dryer, they been sitting in there since yesterday” yelled my mom from her bedroom. She always yelled no matter where she was in the house, I think she just liked to hear herself.

“But mom its Saturday, can it wait” I replied half awake.

“Boy don’t make me tell you twice”

“Yes ma’am”. I figured I’d just get up and do it since it was Saturday and the new Halloween movie had just came out and mom swore she’d take me to go see it.

“Why mama always yelling, she gonna wake up half the neighborhood” my sister said standing at my door. Now Cynthia was my older sister. Tall, brown skinned, country girl who always snuck out at night but I never told on her cause we was tight like vicegrips.

“Yeah who are you tellin” I replied. Wiping the crust from my eyes, I somehow hopped out of bed, threw on my green power ranger house slippers and headed towards the laundry room...which was located in the basement. For a kid who loved everything scary I was never happy to go into the basement. I once saw on a tv show that a boy around my age went missing in his basement. He was down there playing with his dog and just vanished. Apparently it was all a lie so his parents could get some attention but still it had me afraid. The basement steps creaked with each step I took. 

“Errr, errrrr”. They sounded like a persons stomach who hasn’t ate in weeks.

“Why did I agree to do this” I said in my head. Eventually I reached the bottom of the steps where I reached for the light switch on the wall. Once the light erased the darkness, I sprinted towards the dryer. Opening it I realized that there were no clothes in it.

“Mom there aren’t any clothes in the dryer” I yelled up the steps.

“Of course not dummy” smirked my sister from the top of the steps. At that moment I realized what had just happened.My trickster of a sister lied to my mom about clothes being in the dryer to get me to go into the basement. Before I could get a word out or even run upstairs my sister slammed the door, locking me in the basement. Shortly after the door slammed the power went out. Our neighborhood had frequent power outages but they didn’t last long. In that moment I let out the loudest scream, which sounded like a little girl on a Ferris wheel.

“MOM! MOM! CYNTHIA LOCKED ME IN THE BASEMENT” I screamed. No answer.

“MOM!” I yelled once again. Apparently at this time my mom was outside talking to Ms. Kirvan next door about who’s man was sleeping around with whoever. I was alone, in the dark, in the basement. Well so I thought.

A few minutes had gone by since the power went out. I stopped screaming for my mom once I accepted the inevitable. The pitch black dark surrounded me. I couldn’t even see my fragile hands anymore.

“When mama gets back I’m gonna get Cynthia good, I swear” I told myself as I sat on the top steps. She always pranked me when mama wasn’t around, she was a sly devil to say the least. As I sat waiting for the power to come back on I saw something move at the bottom of the steps. Now granted it’s pitch black and I can’t even see my hands but I saw something move. I was certain of it.

“Get it together Jason, your mind is just playing tricks on you” I said quietly trying to gain some confidence. A few moments later it happened again only this time it scraped against the bottom of the steps as if it was crawling.

“Creeesseeeeeeeek” is the sound I heard. I tried to make sense of what was happening but I couldn’t move nor speak. 

“Clack clack clack”. The sound was unbearable to the point I balled up my sweaty fists and banged against the wall.

“BOOOOOM! BANG BANG” rattled the wall.

And then it got quiet. The type of quiet I only witnessed once during a movie me a Cynthia saw called Titanic when the movie theatre watched the main character drift off into the deep cold blue sea. A stared down the steps waiting for the power to come back on. And then I saw it. The grainy old face of a woman clear as day but in the darkness. It stared at me as if I was the intruder. I closed my eyes. 

“This isn’t real, this isn’t real” I whispered to myself. Any ounce of bravery that I did have was long gone. I wanted to pee myself I was so afraid. I could feel whatever this thing was get closer and closer until I felt it’s steamy hot breath push against my skin. It was directly in front of me and I could not open my eyes. I could feel it’s staring hair rustle against my small cheekbones. It’s stench smelled like moth balls and spoiled milk. I wanted to see what was in front of me. I wanted to overcome this fear of being afraid and alone in the dark. So I opened my eyes and what I saw haunts me until this day.

It was Cynthia. This figure in the darkness was my older sister clear as day but an older more depressed and aged Cynthia. I can tell by the bags under her eyes that it looked like she had been awake for years. The aged figure in front of me stared in my eyes and said only one word.

“Jaaaaaaaa-sss-on” she croaked.

I screamed. It must have been God up above because after I screamed the power came back on and my mom opened the basement door.

“Jason, Jason! What’s goin on, how did you get down there” she yelled frantically.

“It was Cynthia mom she’s right..she was right there” I said realizing that the figure was no longer in front of me.

“Cynthia? Your sister is in her room, boy quit playing with me and go wash yourself up, you smell like piss”. I stared down the basement steps as my mom walked back to her room. I couldn’t stop thinking of the lady I saw. It was my sister or so I thought. Til this day I look at my sister with this weird sense of mystery. How could she have been in the basement with me and in her room at the same time. Was it all in my head or was it real. Imagine.