Marcus: Sarah, take Lily and get out of the house right now!
Sarah: I'm not leaving you here, Marcus!
Marcus: THE HANDLE IS TURNING FROM THE INSIDE, SARAH! MOVE!
Sarah: Lily, run to the front yard! NOW!
Lily scrambled toward the front entrance, crying hysterically as she pulled open the front door. Sarah stood her ground beside Marcus, her chest heaving as she gripped his arm with terrified strength.
Marcus: Why would someone be locked inside a vault built by your father eight years ago?!
Sarah: He didn't build it to keep people OUT, Marcus... he built it to lock something IN!
Marcus: What are you talking about?! What did your father do?!
Sarah: Before his arrest, he was working for a defense contractor! He was paranoid! He kept saying the government was tracking his biological research!
Marcus: Biological research?! He was an accountant!
Sarah: That was his cover! He was laundering offshore funds for private labs in Eastern Europe!
Marcus: Jesus Christ, Sarah! You brought us to buy this exact house on auction!
Sarah: I searched his old estate records! This property was listed under a shell corporation! I thought I was reclaiming our family inheritance to pay off our mortgage!
Marcus: You lied to me about how we got the money for the down payment?!
Sarah: I was trying to save our family from bankruptcy! I didn't know there was a bunker under the floorboards!
The steel turn-wheel completed its rotation with a loud, echoey click. The air in the living room suddenly grew ice cold, carrying the sickening smell of damp earth, rust, and decay.
Marcus: Get behind me!
The heavy steel door creaked open an inch. A dark gap appeared in the wall, revealing utter pitch blackness inside the narrow shaft beyond.
Sarah: Don't look inside, Marcus! Please!
Marcus: Stay back.
Marcus pulled his phone from his pocket, switched on the bright LED flashlight, and aimed the beam directly into the dark slit. The light reflected off damp concrete steps leading down into an underground bunker that extended far beneath their suburban backyard.
Marcus: There's a staircase going down... deep under the foundation.
Sarah: Marcus, lock it! Push the door closed!
Marcus: Look at the lock mechanism, Sarah. It's electronic. The battery backup must have finally died tonight, releasing the magnetic latch!
Sarah: That means whatever was sealed inside... isn't locked anymore.
Suddenly, a pale, emaciated human hand reached out from the dark interior of the door frame. Its skin was gray and filthy, with jagged, broken fingernails. The fingers slammed onto the edge of the steel door frame, gripping the metal tightly.
Sarah: AHHHHHH! NO! NO! NO!
Marcus: WHAT THE HELL IS THAT?!
Voice from the dark: Help... please... help us...
Marcus: WHO ARE YOU?! DON'T MOVE OR I'LL HIT YOU WITH THIS HAMMER!
Voice from the dark: Don't... don't lock it again... we've been down here... so long...
Marcus stared in pure horror as a second hand appeared beside the first. Two distinct voices were crying out from the darkness beneath their home.
Leave a Comment