The room in my basement

Sophie and her brother Ethan never really got along. They were a Year apart and we’re constantly bickering. Ethan was 13 and Sophie was 14. They shared everything, including friend. There latest argument was about who’s fault it was they had to move. mom and dad didn’t say much, just that things weren’t working out and they were moving to San Diego. Sure San Diego was sunny and nice but from Minnesota to california....it was so far. Without much of a choice the kids packed there things and uprooted to sunny California. Ethan, a big fan of the water loved living on the beach. He was the best at the school surf simulator and couldn’t wait to try the real waves.

Sophie on the other hand hated everything. She was afraid of big bodies of water, she hated living one block from the beach. She hated the new house, she hated the new school, it was on the beach and she hated her new neighbors. The girl next door was Sophie‘s age and she had dark black hair and wore black clothing. Sophie couldn’t admit it but she was afraid of her. Sophie sometimes saw her examining dead birds and she often dig holes in her backyard. Sophie had some good ideas about what she buried. Anyway it Was a Friday afternoon, Sophie was mad. Mad at her mother.

“Mom why? At least let me go out then!”

“what and make Raven Stay with Your brother? How fair is that?” Mom was only half listening as she chopped The vegetables for tonight’s stew.

“you can’t just invite her over without asking me!”

“Soph I’m sorry,really. Her mother was in a pinch and needed a bed for her” mom looked up from the cutting board and gave Sophie a serious look.

she rolled her eyes angrily.

“Shes in your room, go on and be nice.”

“Mom-“

“I said Go Sophie”

she threw her backpack into the chair and headed upstairs. Before going to her room she stopped in to check on Ethan. He was once again on his iPad. He was obsessed with technology.

“Hey E“

keeping his eyes on his iPad he nodded hello at her.

“The weird girl from next door, she’s spending the night.

“Good luck” Ethan muttered.

“now get out”

“whatever” Sophie said, heading to her room. Raven sat on the floor, writing in a black sketchbook. She scribbled furiously and hid the book when Sophie came In.

“Uh. Hey Raven”

she looked up, stone Expression on her face. “Hello Sophie. I hope your day is going swell”

”Uh...ya it’s good. How are You?”

“Unhappy“ she said, in a flat voice.

“how come?”

“You live in a haunted house. And although I like horror the vibe of this house is messing with my...inner soul.

Sophie scoffed and dropped onto her bed. “As if”

“seriously. There’s a story that a little boy went missing. He used to live here. His name was Ryan garret ”

“so? He was probably kidnapped Trust me. our house is fine. In fact it’s so fine it’s actually boring“

raven glared at her. “Sure”

the girls did there own things until just before dinner time. Sophie watched endless amounts of youtube while Raven stared off into space. Around 5:45 mom called Sophie downstairs. She was putting buns in the toaster.

Mom Asked Sophie to go get the Rubbermaid container of plates they hadn't unpacked.

Sophie was annoyed. As she usually was.

“Where are they?”

“Dad shoved them in the crawl space. And watch your additude”

“Ew. Why?”

mom sighed with annoyance.

“I. Don’t. Know. Go get them”

”k” Sophie, who was scared of the basement nervously headed downstairs. The crawl space was dark and gross. Sophie took a deep nervous breath and crawled in. Afraid of spiders, the bin was far back and while looking for it she pressed on the wall. One push and it opened. It opened into a secret passage. “Woah!” She said, climbing into the passage. There was little light but it was a wide passage. At least three people could crawl side by side. Sophie crawled a little bit in but stopped when the wall slammed shut. It slammed as if someone pushed it.

“No no no!” She turned too fast and smashed her knee on the rock wall. Pain shot up and down her leg, as she had to put pressure on it to crawl. Sophie was panicking as hurried to the wall. Her heart was pounding and swear dripped down her forehead. she pulled at the wall but it was stuck. The rock wall was sharp and as she gripped it with her fingernail, blood formed on the tips of her fingers. It really hurt. She didn’t have her phone And she knew nobody was going to be able to hear her. Sophie was claustrophobic and her anxiety level was rising.

she was stuck In the passage. The dark, cold passage. With spiders. And probably rats and bugs and maybe even bats.

“HELP. SOMONE HELP ME” all the fear took over and she started screaming and bawling her eyes out. She pounded on the wall until her hands throbbed with pain. She leaned on the door and cried. After awhile she stopped for long enough to hear noises. Sophie continued crawling until she came to a small room. The walls were stone, like the passage. The floor was cement. It took her eyes a minute to adjust before seeing a... a boy. A very small boy sitting in the corner. He was curled in a ball, leaning on the wall. The walls of the room were lined With shelves. Cans of fruit and and bottles of water were on the shelves. The boy was dirty and Malnourished. He looked maybe 4 or 5. Sophie was glad she could finally stand up. She stretched her legs and slowly approached the boy. Sophie crouched down to face him.

“Uh hi”

”hi”

“what’s your name?”

“Ryan Garret”

“oh my god. Do you know that everyone is looking for you?”

“I figured so. I’ve been down here a long long time”

“how old are you?”

“I’m nine”

“you‘r So small!”

“ you try living on peaches and water”

“Sorry. We need to find a way out of here”

“not possible“

“Huh? What do you mean?“

“Once you come in, there’s no getting out”

missing persons report

Sophie Cray.

14.

DOB-08/30/2005

last seen October 3rd 2019.