Chapter Three: The Basement
Maya watched Elias disappear down the hallway.
She leaned closer to Andrea, whispering, “We need to leave. Now.”
Andrea frowned. “But we just got here—”
“Something’s wrong. That noise wasn’t pipes. And he knew I was near the basement even though he was in the kitchen.”
Andrea opened her mouth to argue, but then stopped. Her eyes flicked toward the dark hallway.
“What if you’re right?” she whispered.
“We go. Quietly. Now.”
They rose slowly, careful not to make the couch creak. Maya’s fingers closed around Andrea’s wrist, guiding her toward the door. But before they could reach it—
Click.
The lights went out.
The house plunged into blackness. The fire in the living room still glowed faintly, casting flickering shadows across the walls.
Andrea gasped. “Did he—?”
Maya pulled out her phone. No signal. No Wi-Fi. Just 5% battery.59Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0t6wJEvHTo
She turned on the flashlight, its beam cutting through the dark.
Footsteps. Heavy. Slow. Coming back up from the basement.
Maya grabbed Andrea’s hand again and bolted for the kitchen. There had to be another way out.
They burst through the swinging door and froze.
The back door was chained shut.
Maya’s light scanned the room. Knives on a magnetic strip. A sink full of spotless dishes. And a strange smell. Like bleach.
A door creaked behind them.
“Looking for something?” Elias’s voice slithered in like a whisper.
They spun around. He was there in the doorway, a flashlight in one hand, something metallic in the other. A wrench—or was it something else?
“I was hoping you’d stay longer,” he said. “Most people don’t. Not once they start snooping.”
“Why?” Maya asked, her voice low and shaking.
He tilted his head. “Because people are... disappointing. They ruin things. But I thought you might be different. I almost believed you wouldn’t look behind the door.”
Andrea stepped forward. “You’re insane.”
Elias smiled. “That’s what they always say.”
Suddenly, Maya grabbed a heavy skillet from the counter and hurled it at him. It hit his arm, and he stumbled back.
“RUN!” she screamed.
They darted past him and down the hallway. The front door—still open from when they entered. Rain pelted their faces as they ran into the night, soaked and shivering.
But Elias was fast.
He chased them through the yard, the flashlight beam bouncing wildly behind them. Andrea slipped in the mud, but Maya pulled her up. They tore down the street, barefoot and breathless, until they saw headlights in the distance.
A car.59Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeuSJbFL9J6
Maya waved desperately. The vehicle stopped—an old station wagon. The driver opened the window, a woman with sharp eyes and a phone in her hand.
“You girls okay?”
“He’s trying to kill us!” Andrea gasped.
The woman didn’t hesitate. “Get in.”
They piled into the back, and the driver peeled away just as Elias reached the street, standing there alone in the rain, watching them vanish.
Later That Night…
The police arrived at Elias’s house within the hour.
The basement door was forced open.
What they found was worse than either girl imagined: old newspapers with missing women’s faces circled in red, phones stripped of their SIM cards, and a hidden freezer containing—well, they stopped reporting the details after that.
Elias was gone.
The house stood empty.
To Be Continued...59Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCvuznlR5Qu
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