My parents always stressed that the basement was locked off for a reason that always seemed to change. First it was for renovations, second it was for water damage, and most recently it was for an infestation of some kind but they wouldn’t tell me of what. I just know they started acted strangely over it…

At this point, I started to lose sleep over this — I was dying to know the real reason why they kept it off limits. Maybe the basement had some kind of surprise inside for my sixteenth birthday or it was a project of theirs. If that’s the case though, why had it been off limits for the past two or three years? It just didn’t sit right with me at all… I mentally told myself fuck it and to risk it, see what was down there, you know? I’m almost sixteen, surely it wouldn’t hurt to look into it and do some snooping right?

Well, I finally decided to do it tonight. I grabbed my flashlight and snuck out of bed the moment it hit midnight. I slowly moved through the house, making little to no noise the whole time as I got closer to the basement door. I stopped for a moment, staring at it as it loomed over me in the darkness. With a huff, I steeled myself and opened it. I slowly went down the old wooden stairs, trying not to make a noise that could wake up my parents — I didn’t want them knowing I came down here afterall. A chill ran up my spine when my foot touched the cold, damp concrete floor of the basement. Maybe they weren’t lying after all, I thought. At first, I thought about going back upstairs but I stopped myself the moment I saw a light flickering in a room in the basement. I couldn’t exactly quell my curiosity, you know? I came this far, might as well keep looking!

I slowly moved towards the room with the light, peering into it when I got close. I don’t know what I expected to see but that… That definitely wasn’t it. I saw two people, bound up, sobbing together. They looked beaten and bloodied, their bodies borderline broken almost beyond recognition. I stood there in complete shock, staring at them in disbelief. A few moments passed before it clicked in my mind…

These were my parents. Then… Who was upstairs? Who have I been living with for the past two to three years? They looked and acted just like mom and dad…

They looked up at me, a plea shining in their eyes. Begging for freedom, release from the torture. They even whispered that I run before they check, before I’m found out and treated just like them. But I just stood there in shock. In fear. Unable to act or move.

Until I heard the door slam shut and lock at the top of the stairs.