The Basement 

It was a rainy day, the sky was dusty and gray. Mira was sitting by the window watching the rain. The living room was dark and quiet, only the lightning time after time illuminated the room. Mira’s parents were not in the house, they were out of the city for two weeks. Mira stood up and opened the lights, then the TV. She took her phone on the kitchen table and called Briana to come over. She felt alone because it was the first time she was staying by herself for two weeks. She put her phone in her pocket than she tied up her light brown hair. Mira walked through the kitchen to make two toasts for her and Briana. Afterward, she put the snacks and the toasts on the wooden coffee table in front of the TV. The doorbell rang: it was Briana. She opened the door. Briana had a big dark blue raincoat. She was soaking wet, she smiled at Mira and said “Hello”. Mira smiled back and invited her inside.

“Thank you so much for coming, Briana,” said Mira bashfully. 

Briana took the cheese toast and sat on the sofa just in front of the TV and started to eat her toast. Mira put a movie on and sat next to Briana. 

“My parents left the city for a meeting.” 

“Don’t worry. We can hang out together.” 

They watched a comedy movie while eating snacks. After the movie, Briana wanted to play some board games. The board games were in the basement so they went out to the garden and walked toward the basement door at the edge of the garden.  Mira unlocked the door on the floor. Iron stairs lead to the basement. She switched on the lights, as they both hurried down the stairs. Mira looked around as if trying to remember the place where she put the board games “It’s been a long time since I came here,” she murmured. While she was looking for the board games, Briana asked: “Why are these blankets and pillows here?” 

Mira said that her mother had put it there but, she did not know either. The blankets and pillows acted like a mattress. Next to it, there were plenty of water bottles on the floor. Mira first looked at the bottles and then Briana, and she asked in disbelief.

“What are those?” 

“It is weird, right? One of the water bottles is almost finished.”

They took the games and went upstairs and locked the door. Mira opened the fridge, took two bottles of weiss beer and they started playing the board game. It was almost the end of the game when they heard the loud door closing sound. It came from the garden. Briana suddenly stood up and cried out, “What was that sound?” Mira rushed to the garden and saw the cat that was on the basement door. 

“There is a cat, but it is impossible for a little cat to open this door!” 

She took the little cat in her arms and put it away. Briana opened the basement cover and it was unlocked. They got inside, everything was the same, the blankets, the pillows, and the bottles. Mira locked the door and said that it was the cat. They went inside, and Briana stayed with her for the night. After some hours, they fell asleep in the living room. 

The next morning, Mira woke up first. She cleaned the kitchen and the coffee table. It was almost 12 o’clock. They got ready and went outside. They had volleyball practice, so they walked to the gym. After one hour of practice, they went out of the center. Across the road, there was a man staring at Mira and Briana. He was disguised in a gray hat with the emblem of an old sports brand and blue jeans. He looked so creepy, he didn’t seem to even blink. He shouted, “It did not have to be like that!” Mira was scared and confused. It didn’t make any sense. 

“Do you know him?” Briana whispered. 

“No! I think he is just drunk.” Mira said. 

He was gone. They went running immediately to Mira’s house. They got in the house and Mira locked the cover and the garden door. After that, Briana and Mira went to the kitchen to eat something. Mira opened the fridge but there was nothing to eat. 

“I need to go to the market, there is nothing to eat.”

“Okay, I am coming with you,” Briana said.

“You can stay. The market is two minutes away from here.” 

Mira took her jacket and backpack and left the house. It was almost 4:30 pm, the streets were filled with people going home from work. Mira walked quickly to the market. It was crowded and loud. She bought a packet of pasta and tomato sauce. While she was walking toward the till, she looked left, and the guy she saw earlier was there. The same guy in front of the gym center was there, staring at her with the same gray cap. She ran immediately to the till. The guy followed her, smiling and said:

“It did not have to be like that!”

“What are you talking about? Who are you?” Mira shouted, fearfully.

The guy was gone, so she returned to her house. Mira looked so scared and anxious, her hands were shaking and her head continuously turned back and forth from paranoia. Briana asked if she was alright, but Mira did not say anything about the guy! She put the bags in the kitchen and went to the bathroom and washed her face. She had lots of questions in her head: “Who is this guy? Is he just a mad man? Or does he know where I live?” No matter what happened, she decided not to tell anyone and solve this problem by herself. She went to the kitchen to eat pasta. She was smiling and pretending nothing happened. Briana left after supper because her family did not allow her to stay one more day.

 After she left, Mira tidied up the kitchen. She went to the living room to take a nap. Bang! Mira jumped from where she was laying. She checked the time; it was 3 am. Then she heard some voices and footsteps from the garden. There was someone in the backyard. She walked to the garden and saw the opened basement cover. She walked there shaking, looking down to the basement. It was all dark. She switched on the light and went downstairs. It smelled horrible like a rotten body of a dead animal. There was someone lying in the bed but she could only see its head. She got closer and opened the dark blue blanket. AAAH! she screamed when she saw Briana’s dull, dead and gray face.

She was in shock and didn’t know what to do. So she started to cry, closed the blanket back and ran to the exit. The door was locked, she freaked out. Mira ran immediately to the room to find another key. She opened the room door and she was shocked again. There were a bunch of men’s clothes, plastic plates with food leftovers on it and on the table she saw the “gray cap”. She could not believe it, she remembered the guy in the market. Her body was shaking as it was freezing cold. Then suddenly, she heard the words “It did not have to be like that, Mira!!” She was about to faint, cautiously, she hid into the big wardrobe. He was here and she could hear his footsteps, in every step, his creepy face with a cunning smile and Briana’s face came to her mind. She was angry at herself because she didn’t report or didn’t tell anyone about this guy. He was getting closer, AAAH!! but it was too late.