I Dare You To Go Get It

He didn’t see it but he heard the crash behind him. He whipped around quick enough to see some of the glass fall out of the sill. 

There was a moment of quiet as the two teenagers looked onto the old dilapidated house. There weren’t any wild rumors circulating, it’d just been abandoned for years. Looking at the place gave them the creeps, but the empty lot next door was halfway between their houses, so they had to make due.

“Hey, I dare you to-” he started.

“I dare you to go get it.” she rattled off before he could finish.

“Heck.”

She’d got him. She’d said it first. He looked back to see her arms crossed and eyebrow raised. 

“Y’know if you could catch worth a-”

“I know, I know.” He shot her a grin before moving towards the front door. 

“Wait!” She stopped him. “You should at least take my light.” She tossed him a small flashlight and he slipped it into his pocket before pressing forward.

He jiggled the handle but it gave him nothing. He tried pushing with his shoulder.

“Put your back into it!” he heard from the side yard. 

The back door was no looser. He walked back around to the window they’d just shattered. Trying his best to knock out any of the remaining glass, he brushed a branch from the overgrown garden around the edges of the window.

“Now you’re just stalling!” she teased from a safe distance. 

“Do you want to go get it?” he called out, taking the silence that followed as his answer.

He hoisted himself up to the window, but felt a sharp sting as he brought his leg through. His feet hit the ground with a thud and he groaned. A thin line quickly became a ribbon of red as he started to bleed. It wasn’t deep but he already wanted to go home. 

It was dark inside the house. Dim, yellow light leaked in through windows full of newspaper. He stood in a spotlight created by the only open hole to the outside world. 

“Are you okay in there?” She called out, her usual teasing tone replaced by cautious concern.

“Yeah, I’m good.” He called back, summoning what bravado he could.

As he stepped out of the sunlight his eyes started to adjust. He could see why the front door felt so sturdy. There was some kind of a bar on the inside. As he got closer he could see more of them, the door was boarded up. He ran his hand along deep grooves that criss-crossed across them when he froze. He wasn’t alone in the house. There was something in the basement. 

He stood perfectly still, listening. It sounded like a dog, claws pacing across a concrete floor. The sound stopped. The only sound was the breeze rustling the curtains near the window. Just beneath them he saw the ball he’d been sent to retrieve. Shifting his weight carefully, he took a slow step back where he came from. The creak of the floorboard was ear-splitting in the silence of the house. 

The sound of the claws burst into action, and so did he. 

Nearing the light of the window, the floor under his foot gave way and for a moment he was weightless, then he felt his weight hard. The floor flew up around his chest and he clawed the boards in front of him.

The house was silent again. No claws, no creaks, just him and his struggle to pull himself back up. His leg felt warm. Puffs of hot, wet air wrapped around his bleeding shin. 

His friend called his name from outside, but he didn’t dare respond. He tried not to picture what must have been a huge, wild dog below him as he stretched his arm out towards the curtains of the window. The breeze shuffled them around just out of reach.

His fingers brushed them once. 

Twice. 

Finally, he got a handful. 

He took a bunch of the rotting velvet drapes and pulled. But so did the thing below, its teeth sinking into his bleeding leg.

He plummeted down and hit the concrete floor below him. If the upstairs was dark this was an abyss, the only light coming from the hole he just fell through. Whatever pulled him had let go so he crouched low and let his eyes adjust once again. He didn’t waste time crawling to the nearby stairs, bruised and bleeding. 

When he put his hand on the first step it went right through. 

Rotted. 

He looked up the stairs and saw the same. The door was too high to climb without them. That’s when he remembered he wasn’t alone. 

A heavy breathing and a putrid smell wafted from the far corner. A dark mass moved closer. It didn’t step into the light but it got close enough to see. He wished it was just a huge wild dog. 

It was huge alright, but fleshy and pink like a mole rat. Only, its wide eyes and teeth didn’t look like it ate plants. He scrambled and pressed his back to the corner behind him. The flashlight rolled out of his pocket. He snatched it up and pointed it.

It’s eyes blazed in the spotlight and the hulking beast reared up and made a noise halfway between a squeal and a roar. Then it charged. He dove away and heard it smack the wall hard. He kept moving and scanned the room. He spotted a hole in the basement wall and hurriedly limped towards it. 

The tunnels wound on in front of him, but he had to keep moving. He picked one and hurdled forward, horrible squealing echoing behind him. The corridors felt endless. Breathing harder and harder he dragged himself forward until his limp foot caught on something. He tumbled forward and the flashlight skidded ahead and into a sharp rock. 

Darkness.

He squinted. He waved his hand in front of him. Nothing. 

Nothing but him and the sounds from behind him. They were far too close for comfort. 

He picked himself up to his knees and twisted around. That’s when he saw it. 

A pinprick of light. 

He waved his hand in front of him to make sure he really saw it, but he did. He could’ve cried with joy if he’d had time but he sprung into motion, hurling his body towards the only shot he had. He kept dragging his leg along. Stumbling, tripping, pressing forward. 

The monster’s noises echoed in the tunnels behind him, closing in as he kept moving. It’d caught his scent now. The light widened and he could see green and blue. He broke out into a metal tube and he could hear the noise of cars ahead, but the sound of scratching behind him. 

As he did all he could to sprint, the thing’s hot, wet breath poured over him. He clenched his teeth and shoved both his legs down hard to throw himself forward.

He burst into the sunlight and tumbled down a steep embankment next to the highway. 

The creature roared again behind him. He splashed into the ditch below, hard. When he turned back towards the hole all he saw were the thing’s eyes shining back at him, slowly retreating into the darkness.

He dragged himself out of the water and sat, his gaze locked on the hole. He saw nothing, just utter darkness past the opening. He caught his breath and pushed himself to his feet. Siren’s blared on the highway above in the direction of the old house. He looked up for a minute and took in the sunlight, before hobbling back towards the noise.