Chapter 3: Into the Dark

The grandfather clock in the hallway struck two in the morning.

The entire mansion was completely silent.

Clara slowly unlocked the master suite door and slipped into the hallway.

She crept past Richard’s bedroom, praying he was completely passed out from the bourbon.

She made her way back down to the iron basement door.

Her hands shook violently as she slid the stolen master key into the heavy brass padlock.

It clicked open with a sickeningly loud snap.

Clara held her breath, waiting for Richard to come running down the stairs.

Nothing happened.

She pushed the heavy iron door open, revealing a steep, terrifying flight of concrete stairs.

She flicked on her small penlight and descended into the freezing darkness.

The air down here smelled like damp earth and rotting wood.

At the bottom of the stairs, there was a long hallway lined with dusty wine racks.

At the very end of the hall was a thick wooden door with a sliding metal slot.

Clara ran to the door and peered through the tiny metal grate.

A small boy, no older than six, was huddled on a dirty mattress in the corner.

He was wearing an oversized t-shirt, shivering violently in the freezing air.

“Hey,” Clara whispered gently.

The boy flinched, pulling his knees tightly to his chest.

“Are you Leo?” Clara asked.

The boy slowly looked up, his big blue eyes wide with absolute terror.

He looked exactly like the old man dying in the bed upstairs.

“Are you the new monster?” Leo asked, his voice trembling.

Clara felt a sharp, agonizing pain in her chest.

“No, sweetie,” Clara promised, tears blurring her vision.

“I am a nurse, and I am going to get you out of here.”

Clara grabbed the heavy iron bolt on the door and pulled it back with all her strength.

The door creaked open.

Leo didn’t move an inch.

He was too terrified to even step off the mattress.

Clara walked into the dark room and knelt slowly on the freezing concrete floor.

“It’s okay, Leo,” she whispered, holding out her hand.

“Your grandpa asked me to come find you.”

Leo’s eyes widened in pure shock.

“Grandpa is alive?” Leo asked, his lower lip trembling.

“Uncle Richard told me Grandpa went to the sky.”

“Uncle Richard is a very bad liar,” Clara said firmly.

She wrapped her warm cardigan around the shivering little boy.

She picked him up, holding his fragile body tightly against her chest.

He weighed practically nothing.

Clara turned to carry him out of the terrible cell.

Suddenly, the harsh fluorescent lights of the basement violently flickered on.

Clara froze in her tracks.

Standing at the bottom of the concrete stairs was Richard.

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