JULIAN GONZALEZ354Please respect copyright.PENANA52XTDj8zRB
This guy sucks.354Please respect copyright.PENANAUm6VS9A0Jj
He’s ashamed of his own dad. And that basement? Yeah, something was definitely fishy about it—and I mean literally. Even from the second floor, where Davis’s room was, I could smell… whatever it was. Something old. Something that wanted to stay hidden.354Please respect copyright.PENANAP7l6PTfVbk
For a scientist’s kid, his room was weirdly plain. Walls white enough to blind you. No posters, no LED lights, no trophies, not even a pair of dirty socks. Just drawers, cabinets, a TV, a Switch, and five... yeah, five different backpacks.354Please respect copyright.PENANADfFJ2CJ594
How many schools does this guy go to?354Please respect copyright.PENANAuRYg0SqQEU
Everyone was chattering about nonsense except Cassedy, who had gone into psycho-analysis mode, staring holes into Davis’s head.354Please respect copyright.PENANAE7fo4RKJX3
I was just standing there, bored outta my mind.354Please respect copyright.PENANAgWGjevfc85
“Hey, Dave. What you got five bags for?” I asked.354Please respect copyright.PENANA0h9TkdhdRm
“Clothes,” he replied, not even looking up.354Please respect copyright.PENANA5QpWWnoLuX
I squinted. “How much clothes do you have?”354Please respect copyright.PENANACGIgzBLuVX
“Not much. Just enough to fill the bags.”354Please respect copyright.PENANAZQgf8ek5JE
“Then what are the drawers for?”354Please respect copyright.PENANAmc3IhJvUtB
He shrugged, avoiding eye contact. “Just random ‘nerd’ stuff you wouldn’t be interested in.”354Please respect copyright.PENANAdczyYHVoqJ
He finally noticed Cassedy staring. He turned sharply. “Eyeyey! Watch the children, not me!”354Please respect copyright.PENANAEuHOA4pknF
Dang, this guy gets uncomfortable fast. I mean, I get it. If someone stared at me like that, I’d probably be in jail for beating the stalker to death. 354Please respect copyright.PENANAo6jnbwVKXd
“Eyo, Cass, what are you? Obsessed with this guy?” I asked, smirking.354Please respect copyright.PENANAx1PwJxdlXV
Cassedy turned toward me so fast I thought her neck was gonna snap off.354Please respect copyright.PENANA3Zo5UPZn3X
“NO!” she shouted.354Please respect copyright.PENANAMe6Km1LfsK
Davis turned away, muttering something under his breath like he was regretting every life decision he ever made.354Please respect copyright.PENANAN7mxF8DNNH
“Hey! Is there gonna be a fight? I bet the money I don’t have that Julian wins!” Adan cheered.354Please respect copyright.PENANAeqOCV0FQ5M
Davis stood up slowly. “There’s no fight.” He pointed directly at me. “Don’t be dumb.”354Please respect copyright.PENANAlHSgf05r0Y
That annoyed me. “The only dumb one will be you after I bash your brains against the wall, frickin' Dave!”354Please respect copyright.PENANAZFwUhlgHvR
He shook his head like I wasn’t even worth the effort, grabbed his Switch, and sat back down.354Please respect copyright.PENANAi53SXlUm3q
“Who wants to play Smash?”354Please respect copyright.PENANAA0paQPcVL7
Everyone joined. Even Cassedy.354Please respect copyright.PENANA5Ck17y1zq8
Me? I flopped on the floor, yanked one of Davis’s bags over, and used it as a pillow. I drifted off to sleep.354Please respect copyright.PENANAyZNWmX2UfU
----354Please respect copyright.PENANA9g4oFFaXXO
I stood in black nothingness.354Please respect copyright.PENANA1eJ5u5ripZ
No floor. No ceiling. Just floating.354Please respect copyright.PENANA3dQqtPinM2
A square formed ahead of me… then vanished.354Please respect copyright.PENANA8e1Zj7HctQ
In its place: flashes. Images. Hooded people. Blurry. Warped. Like they were being scrambled on purpose.354Please respect copyright.PENANAAdnQyCmIQF
One figure stood clearer than the rest—a half-cybernetic guy with a glowing red eye.354Please respect copyright.PENANASoF6vQKz2y
He turned. Glaring right at me.354Please respect copyright.PENANAe6kw2HEmn9
Then a giant, robotic beast stepped out from behind him.354Please respect copyright.PENANAh8MjvqJfKm
From the darkness, a voice whispered.354Please respect copyright.PENANAqyfYHr5XnD
“Don’t.”354Please respect copyright.PENANAcbs13u2UbJ
That was it. Just don’t.354Please respect copyright.PENANA5LG6kCkOhT
I wanted to ask “Don’t what?” but my mouth wouldn’t move.354Please respect copyright.PENANAdHOit4vKnT
Everything warped again—sucked toward a new image. The basement door.354Please respect copyright.PENANAiJ3tl0SXIo
The smell hit me like a train.354Please respect copyright.PENANAbZCiBC2j4j
Not fishy anymore. Worse.354Please respect copyright.PENANAZYuD7JiADj
Like some dude who hadn’t bathed in a decade rolled in a dumpster full of rotting sushi. Times ten.354Please respect copyright.PENANAacuO1m2jxw
“Don’t.”354Please respect copyright.PENANAHIDAxUzek0
My hand reached for the doorknob. My fingers twisted. The voice begged again.354Please respect copyright.PENANAjj6MaxKieX
“Don’t.”354Please respect copyright.PENANAq8VvBAjrQH
I pulled. The door creaked open.354Please respect copyright.PENANACt9Z0PSVaJ
I wasn’t looking into the basement. I was looking down at the house itself—like the basement floated in the sky. And then everything below…354Please respect copyright.PENANAsKGG51aCuG
…turned black.354Please respect copyright.PENANAmrACf426o6
“Don’t.”354Please respect copyright.PENANAnreasBeExC
I fell.354Please respect copyright.PENANAfXrJxHcieT
----354Please respect copyright.PENANAMVFQ6GJSSK
“Dang,” I muttered, sitting up groggily. “That was dark.”354Please respect copyright.PENANAT63rSDA11K
Everyone was sitting around, talking about Davis’s dad—except Davis, who was just nodding occasionally and trying to change the subject.354Please respect copyright.PENANAynihEuq8K9
He cleared his throat. “Anyone want lunch?”354Please respect copyright.PENANAgCEd9xSjfV
Everyone nodded.354Please respect copyright.PENANAQKcl8gNpMp
“Eyeyey! Let’s go in the basement!” I said, stretching.354Please respect copyright.PENANAwwT47qPb02
“No,” Davis snapped. “How many times do I have to tell you?”354Please respect copyright.PENANAFq2A9zKiym
“Not enough.”354Please respect copyright.PENANAcStP7TgRVA
“No.”354Please respect copyright.PENANAvezRNxi6Kp
“Why? You got a dead body in there or something?”354Please respect copyright.PENANAZUN6q7cQGe
“No!” Davis looked around, visibly confused and tense. “My dad will get mad.”354Please respect copyright.PENANAYEKtP3nQ7i
“Where is he?”354Please respect copyright.PENANAItvD69p5dm
“He’s asleep.”354Please respect copyright.PENANAbpML6wybpB
Cassedy stepped in, finally. “Julian, we should respect the rules, okay?”354Please respect copyright.PENANAsDIvelJcDd
The twins tugged on her sleeves. “I wanna see what’s inside!”354Please respect copyright.PENANAPkwOqYcUCX
Adan shrugged like he wasn’t the reason we were about to get grounded by a rogue scientist. “What if… since the doc’s off duty, we just peek? Look around, don’t touch anything. Then bounce.”354Please respect copyright.PENANAoSvWSpJStb
Davis sighed. Big sigh. Like the kind of sigh that carries trauma.354Please respect copyright.PENANArL9UoIGJ9i
“Fine,” he muttered. “No touching anything.”354Please respect copyright.PENANA2TleCupzmE
“Well…” I started, already smiling.354Please respect copyright.PENANAbZZiIQbxrE
He looked at me with a stare that could crack glass. His voice was low.354Please respect copyright.PENANA51e76Or39K
“Don’t.”354Please respect copyright.PENANADgcQ7DvoU8