Friends and Family
When this all started I thought about ending my life but I didn’t quite have the nerve. If you really think about it it takes a lot of courage to kill yourself, more, I’m afraid, than I have.
I know what happened wasn’t really my fault. I reason with myself constantly that what happened to Jim and Theresa was an accident, a horrible accident that I was only a bystander to. I’ll tell you the whole story but I have to make it fast; I fear my time is limited. I know the basement won’t hold them much longer, there are simply too many of them.
It really began when I was just a kid. My cousin Eddie was like a best friend to me. I remember how I cried at his funeral. He was only sixteen. His mother, my Aunt Paula, blamed me for his death. She never did like me though.
My Uncle Leo was worse than my aunt. I heard when he found her dead from a heart attack he didn’t so much as shed a tear. Then he cashed in her life insurance, which put him high on the list of suspects.
I know I’m getting carried away again. The sounds are getting louder and I can smell them now. The stench is filling the house like a disease.
Detective Mollar was a nice guy. He was always very understanding and courteous with me, probably because he knew I was an orphan… twice. God, how I miss Mom and Dad; car accidents are so frightening, aren’t they?
Detective Mollar admitted to me that he suspected my Uncle Leo but was unable to prove it. He vowed that he would find the truth and not rest until he did.
I liked him. He was honest and hard working. I haven’t visited his grave yet but I’ve meant to, I really have.
The door going to the basement is holding for now but shows signs of breaking. I can hear the wood begin to splinter from the pressure on it.
I know what you’re thinking. You’re thinking that I killed them. Well, believe me, I did not kill anybody. I’ve never killed anything in my life.
Those things in the basement are the ones responsible. Hell, I don’t even know how many of them are down there. Don’t care to find out, either.
They got my girlfriend Sarah, they got my boss Mr. Sholt, I think they even got my dog Mickey. They seem to be able to transcend our material plane somehow and phase themselves in and out of our dimension. Why they can’t break the seal of my basement I don’t know, nor do I care as long as they can’t get out. But even that security is in jeopardy now.
I knew the door wouldn’t last! My time has finally come!
Mickey! Come here, boy. What’s that in your mouth, fella? Oh, it’s your tongue. Looks kinda strange all shriveled up like that.
Eddie! How’d you get here? I thought you were up in Kensal Cemetery. I hardly recognized you, being more bones than skin.
Detective Mollar! It’s good to see you again, even though you’re missing most of your skull.
Mom? Is it really you? God, how I missed you, and you too, Dad.
Sarah! It’s really you! You look… uh… great, even without most of your face. So that’s what brains really look like.
I can’t believe it, this is great! You’re all back, even Jim and Theresa.
Hey… wait a minute. Why are all of you looking at me like that? Hey, slow down, will ya? Why are you guys coming at me like that? What’s the matter?
Mom? Dad?
