CHAPTER EIGHTEEN.

[ xviii. cascading darkness ]

     CALUM SENSED A dark and evil presence hit him in the face once he opened the door. The hairs on his arms and neck stood as tall as a tree. The cold draft suddenly made him shiver, and it was particularly cold outside either. A voice in the back of his mind warned him. It started to yell at him to "run", to get away from the house as far away as possible. His eyes traced back and forth into the pitch black darkness that was called a basement.

Melina's palms started to sweat. Her eyes were glued onto the darkness that was exposed to the two of them. She wanted to shut her eyes desperately to get away from the darkness she felt was calling her name. But then closing her eyes would only lead her into more darkness. Not to mention Melina was petrified of the dark.

     Her earliest memory of her fear was when she managed to find one of her father's books. At the time, she didn't quite understand what "horror" was. She didn't know it was terrifying and gruesome. That it managed to go into your mind and twist the ways you see life. You'd see if more horrifyingly after witnessing "horror". Melina ended up reading the whole entire book without telling her parents.

     Ever since, she had been afraid of the dark. Imagining the stereotypical monsters underneath her bed or even a murderous serial killer waiting to lunge at her. A zombie hiding in her closet waiting to eat her and tear her flesh by flesh. Or maybe there was even a decaying body hidden underneath her floorboard as a warning. Whatever the irrational "maybe" was, she was still petrified of the dark.

     Her widened eyes imagined a deceased body lunging at her from the darkness. Killing her instantly. Or even slowly.

     Melina started to hyperventilate, gasping for the much needed air. Calum looked behind him to see the gasping coming from Melina. His heart fell down to his stomach as he instantly ran up the steps to get to her. He knew what to do since he'd been around her many times when she would have a panic attack.

     The blonde felt as if everything was closing in on her, even though she was outside. Her body shaking and her eyes shedding tears. Calum stood in front of her and licked his lips uncomfortably. "You're okay," he whispered gently, staring at her face that was covered in tears. "You're okay. Just breathe."

     Her chest slowly started to rise as she did what he told. She counted to five mentally and her chest fell for five more seconds. Melina felt her arms starting to relax and they fell down to her side. Calum let out a relaxed sigh as he watched her body calm down.

     After ten more seconds of Melina just breathing, she slowly opened her eyes. When she saw him staring at her, she was instantly reminded of all the times he'd help her calm down. The times she'd frantically call him sobbing in the dead of the night. Resulting in him coming through her window to try and help her. It made her realize how much she missed it, how much she missed him. "I'm sorry," she croaked out before quickly wiping her cheeks.

     Calum shook his head, "you're fine, Mindy." The nickname "Mindy" was given to him after their first grade teacher accidentally called her Mindy instead of Melina. The Lawson girl's breath hitched when he spoke her nickname. He heard it and suddenly regretted saying anything. "Sorry, I shouldn't have said that . . ."

     Melina sniffled and bit her bottom lip. "It's quite alright, Calum. Don't worry," she said as she cracked a small smile. He felt his lips tug ever so slightly, but instantly remembered about the problem in front of them. He looked over and remembered the basement door being opened. Remembering it was there job to save everyone inside.

     "Are you ready or do you need more time to calm down?" Calum asked concerned as he turned to look back at her. She sniffled once again and took a deep breath.

     "I think I'm alright," she chuckled and looked over at the cascading darkness. Her small grin fell quickly after getting another good look at what they're facing. Calum waited a moment before stepping back down the steps. He heard the stepping of Melina follow him. The Davis boy felt proud of her, feeling a light and airy feeling in his stomach.

Melina was face to face with darkness as she stepped off the last step onto the concrete flooring. "What's the plan?" She questioned softly. Her head turned and looked over at the boy who was by her side.

"We both go in there and find the door that opens up to the upstairs of the house. Then we get them all in the basement and find our way back to . . . here," Calum explained, his voice getting softer and softer as he explained.

"How are we supposed to navigate through the darkness?" Melina asked questionably, her fingers twitching as she stared at the darkness.

"Using a flashlight." He held the flashlight he had brought into the air. Calum dropped his hand back down. He didn't want to turn the light on. He didn't want to expose his eyes to whatever may be lying in the basement.

"I've read a couple horror novels in my day. They don't end well," Melina whispered and bit her bottom lip. Calum nodded softly.

"I know you have." He held his arm up and clicked the flashlight on without hesitation. When he did, all he saw was nothing besides a wet, concrete floor that was slightly colored with red liquid and walls. "You sure you're ready?" Calum asked nervously.

"Are you?" Melina whispered back and looked up at him. He shook his head, but stepped inside the basement. Melina did so as well.

The sounds they could only hear was the sounds of water droplets hitting the concrete. Occurring every five seconds since Melina counted it. Calum kept the flashlight ahead of him, not daring to shine it anywhere else. The smell of the basement was murky and old. Mixed in with the smell of spoiled milk that had been left in the container for two weeks after expiring.

The whole room smelled like death. It didn't smell like hospital death, but it smelled like haunted death. It made both of the teenagers' skin crawl. It felt dirty, like it had not been clean for centuries. Mold and mildew crew on the ground and walls, making its way above them.

     "How are we supposed to find the door?" Melina whispered quietly, afraid someone may hear her. Calum knew he wanted him to shine the light on more areas, but he was afraid. Afraid he what may see what's been lurking in the darkness. Afraid of what may come from the darkness.

     Calum gulped down his nervousness and decided to shine the light to the left of the two. When he did scared him internally and externally.

     He saw a body hanging from the ceiling by rusted chains. A body covered in crimson. The body holding the same face the two instantly recognized. The girl's hair was messed up and mangled. However, from her waist down was completely gone.

     Organs hung down from her remaining body. Blood dripping down slowly, which was what the two have been hearing. The girl's jaw was obviously broken and her nose as well. Blood escaped her nose and mouth. Her eyes bloodshot, as if she's been awake all night.

     Everything was soaked with the blood of Delancy St. Claire. The remains of her shirt, her face, her skin, and where her waist was sliced off like butter. Her insides dangled from the gigantic wound. Her body started to shake and struggle to get herself out of the chains. The light from Calum's flashlight landed on her body.

     Delancy let out a blood-curdling scream that went through both of their ears and out the other. The scream was loud, making Calum and Melina jump. Melina followed the popular girl and screamed out of fear. Her eyes landed on the door than led them into this mess. "We need to go!" Melina yelled as she ran through the murky water that covered the basement floor.

     Before Melina could run out, the door slammed with all of it's force in her face. The loud sound of he door slamming made her yelp. She pounded her fist on the metal door out of straight panic. She turned and faced Calum, who's face was white as a ghost. "Where do we go now?!" Calum asked loudly, shaking.

     "I-I don't know!" Melina responded with an anxious stutter. She looked around the darkness and let out a sob. "I-I'll look around!" Before Calum could have a chance to disapprove of her statement, she ran off. His flashlight allowed him to watch her run around a corner into a hallway.

     "Melina, no stop!" Calum pleaded to the tops of his lungs. His mind was racing as fast as a sprinter in the Olympics. He couldn't wrap his mind around the fact he witnessed the most popular girl in school dangling from the ceiling missing her legs. He remembered the small crush he used to have on her,
till she purposely broke his pencil after accidentally dropping it. Maybe it was karma, but karma wouldn't be that cruel. "Melina!"

     He followed her around the corner and flashed his light down the hallway. "We need to get out of here, Calum!" He heard her yell as he watched her figure turn the corner.

     "This shit happens in horror movies!" Calum called out as he ran after her. He prayed Melina would be okay by the time he'd catch up to her. He didn't know why she would be so stupid, since she's very intelligent. "You can't run off!" He turned the corner she turned and frantically shined his flashlight around his surroundings. Unable to see Melina anywhere.

     Melina Lawson turned the corner and turned her head everywhere to find the door connected to some steps. "Come on, come on. Think," she whispered under her breath as she started to walk down another hallway she turned.

     "You can't run off!" She heard Calum yell after her. Melina chose not to respond. She knew how much Calum did for her, so she wanted to show her gratitude. She wanted to find the door that held their safety. She needed to prove to him that she was still as good as she used to be; good enough for him.

     As she was walking, she felt something wet drop onto her her head. She hesitantly raised her hand up and felt something sticky that landed upon her hair. She lowered her hand and examined her fingers, wrinkling her nose in disgust. She couldn't quite see it, but it looked red. Melina's breathing started to intensify as her curiosity wanted for her to look up.

     Slowly, she tilted her head back and looked up towards the dark ceiling. She couldn't quite see, but she swear she saw a figure. A figure on the ceiling that made the voice in her mind tell her to "run". "Calum!" Melina yelled desperately as her feet took off.

     Calum Davis heard Melina yell his name, sending him to panic. "Melina!" He yelled and took off running. "Melina?!"

     "Help!" Melina sobbed loudly. She couldn't see what was ahead of her since it was dark. It resulted in her crashing into a wall and falling to the ground. She landed on the damp floor and gagged. Her whole body ached after running into the wall, making her wanna stay on the floor. Instead, she raised up and rubbed her head. "Calum?"

     Melina squinted and saw a figure walking up to her. She let out a relieved sigh, convinced it was Calum. "I shouldn't have ran off I'm sorry," she mentioned as she tried to get off the ground. The figure didn't say anything back, which irked her.

     "Melina?! Where are you?!" Melina's heart fell immediately when she heard Calum's actual voice far away from her. The figure inched closer and closer to her, making her scared. She wanted to move, but was too scared to. She wanted to fight her way out of it, but she didn't know how. She wanted to call for help, but her throat closed completely up.

     The figure leaned down and grabbed her neck. Melina was face to face with the figure, seeing who (or what) it was. A girl about her age with a darkened face. Her chocolate brown eyes holding the horror and fear she witnessed when she was still alive. Her curly hair that was once in two braids, but then one since the ribbon came undone.

     The girl's hands wrapped around Melina's neck forcefully; not wanting to let go. Melina tried to pull the hands off her neck, but struggled to do so. Her gasping for air was so loud, Calum heard it. "Melina!" She was unable to say it back due to the circumstance.

     The dark-skinned girl's nails turned inward and started to press down into Melina's neck. Sharp pains went from her neck to her head. Her lungs burned for air, needing oxygen quickly. The blonde tried to pry the hands off, kicking and flailing her legs chaotically. Just as Melina almost had the hands off, the girl's sharpened nails managed to pierce her skin deep enough to hit her jugular.

     Calum kept hearing the gasping and started to freak. He turned the corner and saw Melina lying in the corner. He shined his flashlight and saw blood covering her neck and her eyes rolled into the back of her head. "Melina, no!" He screamed loudly and ran up to her. He knelt down beside her. He reached to touch her face, but didn't want to hurt her.

     Calum felt tears form in his eyes as he saw her condition. He watched as the blood pulsed from her neck, covering her jacket and her shirt. "No, no, no, no, no," he trembled and cupped her face. He shakily felt for a pulse, praying to a God that she'd be okay.

     He felt no pulse.

     Loud sobs coming from Calum filled the atmosphere. One thing about Melina and Calum's relationship was that it was tricky. They were best friends, ending up being lovers. They both found out they had crushes on each other, which resulted in Melina asking him out. They went on dates, hanging out at school; all the normal things teenage lovers do.

     When Calum's brother died, he became distant. He couldn't handle a relationship with the mental state he was in and broke up with her. She completely understood and decided not to give him any hell about it. They chose to stay away from each other so they both could have time to heal.

     Those romantic feelings never died like Melina did. He had just got her back and he couldn't lose her. He lost her once and just lost her again. Except this time, it was permanent.

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I HAVE WRITERS BLOCK SO IM SORRY. I SPENT TWO HOURS WRITING THIS SHIT SO YALL BETTER SHOW IT LOVE. IM HUNGRY NOW IMMA EAT. THIS IS UNEDITED.