Board Thread:Writer's Workshop/@comment-17793895-20170526204832

The Basement Dweller by Rebecca Trimmer

When I was a little girl, I lived in an old two-story home. Built around the time of the Civil War, the house creeped me out. The previous owner was in poor health. As a result, he had to live in the kitchen where he later died. I always thought the house was haunted, so I was afraid to be in the kitchen by myself. One Friday night, I was up late watching scary movies. It was after midnight, and I wanted a snack. I did not want to go into the kitchen by myself, but in the end hunger won out. I ventured downstairs being as quiet as I could so I would not wake up my parents. As I turned the corner, I froze.

In the kitchen was this small gray...thing with glowing eyes! I could not make out what it was because I was wearing my backup glasses. Earlier, in school today, a bully snatched off my good glasses and stepped on them. I'm...not very popular. Anyway, I cautiously went into the kitchen for a closer look, but it had disappeared! The next day I told Dad the whole story and he was puzzled.

“You could not tell what it was?” he said.

“The only thing I could make out was that it appeared to be gray, the size of a cat, and had glowing yellow eyes,” I replied.

“Sounds like a possum. I'll set up a trap,” Dad said.

The rest of the weekend was quiet. Dad took me to Columbus where I got a new pair of glasses and a book. Days later, I was finishing homework in the kitchen when I received stunning news. We were moving to another town! When asked why, Dad, who teaches High School History, only said, “....I received better job offers.” Dad looked pale. He was obviously withholding information. Something was clearly bothering him, but being 10 years old at the time I did not ask anymore questions. I was sick of the teasing at school, so I accepted the answer. I excused myself to go read, when I remembered I left my book in my bookbag. As I reached the doorway, I overheard Dad talking to Mom. That's when I learned the real reason we were moving.

“Saturday night, at 3A.M. I heard noises in the kitchen. I went to investigate. The kitchen was in ruins. Trash and food thrown everywhere. I baited the possum with fresh toast. I left the screen door open and hid behind the counter with a bat in hand with the intention of chasing it out. Unfortunately, a raccoon came in. Just as I was about to chase it out, I heard scratching sounds from behind the basement door. The raccoon and I both froze. The door opened and out crawled this grayish...thing! It was the size of a cat, with a sickly skeletal body, long skinny arms with spindly fingers that ended in sharp claws. It had no hair, no nose, just yellow glowing eyes and a mouth full of teeth that resembled stained icicles. The creature spotted the raccoon and pounced. The poor raccoon barely had time to scream before the creature ripped out its throat. The creature than tore into the raccoon lower torso. Blood and intestines stained the floor. I could not watch anymore and charged at it with the bat, but the creature was too fast and ran out the door. After I locked up all the doors, it took me hours to check the basement, board up the window it got into, and clean up all the blood and body parts. I threw the dead raccoon in the trash can in the garage. I do not know what the hell that thing was, all I know is that it can open doors. After a long pause, Mom piped up, “Can't we get locks on our doors and put bars on the windows?”

“Honey,” Dad said, “three neighborhood dogs have disappeared this weekend, and it's too fast for me too shoot at. It's not safe here. Anyway, I was telling the truth when I said I got a better job offer.”



Stunned I forgot all about my book. I didn't know what to believe. I have heard about this creature on the internet. It is called a rake, but I thought that it was just a story! That thing could have killed me! I refused to be in the kitchen by myself the incident. That night, trash night, I got up to go to the bathroom. The bathroom was next to my room, so I was not afraid. I walked by my window and heard the trashcans topple over. I looked outside and almost screamed. By the trashcans were 5 beings. Three of them, the size of cats, were tearing apart the dead raccoon. The other two were at least eight feet tall and one of them was nursing.  