A Prompted Story by /u/prompted-writing


You choose not to go down the dark unlit basement in the middle of the night with only a flashlight.

(reddit link)


"911, what is the nature of your emergency?"

"Hi, listen, I'm, well, I'm not sure if this is really an emergency. It's, uhh --"

"Would you like me to connect you to police, fire or ambulance?"

"No, it's none of those. There's this creepy house at the end of my block and it's been deserted for years. When we were kids we'd always dare each other to go peek in the window or touch the wall or whatever. Only, tonight I was walking my dog and swear I saw lights coming from it. I know I shouldn't have come over, but --"

"Police, fire or ambulance, sir?"

"What? Oh, I guess police, probably."

"One moment, please."

Trevor edged towards the open basement doors. They were wooden doors, two of them, flecks of white paint covering rotting timber, set at an angle at the side of the dilapidated house. Until tonight he'd only ever seen them closed. Now, they lay open to either side of a steep stone staircase. He quickly stepped away from them as his phone came back to life.

"Darlington police department. How can I help you?"

"Yeah, this is Trevor Lambert, sorry, it's my dog, except maybe it's something else, I'm not sure, I don't know what's down there but it feels weird and I'm just really freaked out right now."

"Okay, slow down. Has someone been hurt?"

"No. Well, maybe, look there's this house. I'm on Pine St. West Darlington. Hang on, just give me a second, okay."

"Take your time buddy, just catch your breath. When you're ready. Just let me know, has a crime been committed?"

Trevor clasped the cell phone between his hands, crouched down and pressed his hands tight between his thighs. He tried to catch his breath, but focusing on it just made his breathing more panicked. He squeezed his eyes shut. Nothing's happened. Nothing's wrong. Just talk to the police officer and tell him where you are.

Something deep in Trevor's mind, something primal and unconscious, recognised that he could no longer see the basement doors, recognised his vulnerability, and wrested control from his foolish rational mind. His eyes flew open and he leapt backwards. He fell on his butt but kept moving, scrambling backwards on all fours, refusing to look away from the dark, descending doorway but refusing to be near it.

Even after he was on the other side of the street it took a full minute before he could talk again. The man on the phone had waited.

"I'm sorry, I don't know what I'm doing. I'm panicked. I'm running away from literally nothing. There's this old house. It's always been abandoned but tonight I saw these lights so I came to check it out. My dog went into the basement and hasn't come out. There were these weird sounds, but they weren't sounds, they were more like feelings, and I was going to go down there with the flashlight on my phone and look for him, but I just couldn't do it, and I started to freak out and I called 911, and literally nothing has happened but it just feels so wrong, it feels like an emergency but it's not an emergency and, god, am I going crazy? Is there something wrong with my head?"

"Alright, it's okay. Just relax now buddy. You said Pine St., right? I already have a car heading to you, they'll be there in just a few minutes. You just stay there, don't do anything rash, alright?"

"Yeah, yeah, okay, I'm okay. The cops are coming. I'm okay."

His breath steadying, Trevor willed himself to move back towards the old house.

"Sampson? Sampson, are you in there boy?"

He had meant to call out, but his words came as a whisper. Too quiet for Sampson to hear him. That terrified part of him was sure something else down there might hear him too.

"Wait, I see something. Sampson? Is that you boy? Get out here! Listen, I see him. I'm so sorry, I think this was just a panic attack or something. I'll go see a doctor tomorrow, I've never had a panic attack before. I'm sorry to have wasted your time. Sampson! Come here boy! What are you doing?"

"That's fine sir. We'll still send the car to make sure you're alright. Just stay where you are."

"What the hell is that!? ARRGHHH! Oh god! ARGGHH!! It burns! It's burning me! Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!"

"Sir!? Sir!? What's happening? Sir, please stay calm."

"LEOOS...MIAN...TRIAH...VELOH"

"Hey! You! Help me! Get this stuff off me! Fuck, it hurts! Please help me!"

"MIAN...TRIAOH...YELOS...TRIA"

"ARGH! Fuck!"

"Sir! Sir, I'm sending help---Code five. All units in vicinity of West Darlington respond to violent altercation on Pine St. Unit 31, do you have a visual?"

"MIAN...TRIAH...VELOH..TSA"

"Sir? Are you still there?"

"Dispatch, this is 31, approaching scene. I have one party on the ground, looks to be covered in some kind of tar. He's stopped moving. Medical required. Tall suspect descended into a basement. Initiating pursuit, backup requested. Sam, you flank, I'll follow."

"Copy 31."

"Hey! Put your hands where I can see them! Get back here! Stop! Argh, what the fuck is this shit! ARGH! ARGH!!"

BAM. BAM.

"All units, code eight, shot fired, officer in danger. 42 Pine St, West Darlington. Repeat, code eight, 42 Pine St."

"Sam, Sam help me! It fucking burns Sam! ARRGHHHH!"

"Jesus Liam, it's fucking coming for me!"

"Sam, run! Fuck! Sam!"

The recording stopped and all eyes turned to the Colonel giving the presentation.

"At that point incident command was assumed by the regional tactical response team, followed by the federal special operations centre three hours and seventeen minutes later and then our own operations teams took over at 0437 the following morning. All records from those groups were included in the briefing package you received."

"Thank you, Colonel. I'll now ask Brigadier-General Henson to brief us on the current situation."

"Thank you, General. Over the preceding 67 hours the hostile entity has spread in an approximately 430km radius from Darlington. It moves quickly over land and reproduces by rapidly digesting mammalian targets. We have not witnessed any evidence of movement by water or air. It is unaffected by any kinetic weaponry we have deployed and has resisted temperatures up to 4,000 degrees Kelvin. None of the chemical or explosive weaponry deployed against it has been able to effectively contain it. However, it does seem sensitive to bright light. It travels exclusively at night. During the day or when confronted with bright electric lights, it retreats underground if it is able. When subjected to bright light that it cannot escape from, it seems to first dissolve into a dilute liquid and then evaporate, leaving no remains. While this would seem to suggest an obvious set of counter-measures, the entity is now so widespread with so many places to hide, eliminating it entirely will pose a substantive challenge."

"It's a shame that guy, Trevor, didn't go down into the basement with his flashlight and nip this in the bud, eh?"

"Yes, sir."

"Continue please, Brigadier-General."

"Let us turn now to Mission Little Duckling, which will focus on the "tall" individual, who was only ever witnessed at the initial site and seemed to be chanting..."