I married a single mom with two daughters – a week later, the girls invited me to visit their DAD in the basement.
I married Claire, a wonderful woman and single mom to two beautiful girls, Emma (😎 and Lily (6).
In our first week living together, I noticed the girls whispering and glancing at the basement door. One evening, Emma asked me, “Do you ever wonder what’s in the basement?” She said it so seriously that I laughed nervously and asked why. She just smiled and walked away.
The next morning, Lily dropped her spoon and said, sing-song, “Daddy hates loud noises.” I froze. Claire had only ever said their dad was “gone.”
On Friday, Claire went to work while I stayed home with the girls, who were sick. Around midday, Emma came up to me with Lily close behind.
“Do you want to visit Daddy?” she asked.
“What?” I stammered.
“In the basement,” Emma said, her voice flat. Lily held her stuffed bunny tightly and nodded.
I tried to laugh it off. “There’s no one down there, sweetie.”
Emma didn’t smile. “He’s waiting.”
They turned and started walking toward the basement door. Against every rational thought, I followed them, heart pounding. Emma slowly opened the door. The creak echoed through the quiet house. The basement was pitch black.
“Girls, this isn’t funny,” I said, my voice trembling.
Lily looked up. “He doesn’t like when people laugh at him.”
Emma started walking down the stairs. I grabbed my phone and turned on the flashlight.
“Claire said your dad was gone,” I reminded them.
Emma paused on the steps. “He went away… but then he came back. Mommy told us not to tell you yet.”
“Tell me what?” I asked.
They didn’t answer.
We reached the bottom. The cold hit me first — damp, musty air that felt like it hadn’t moved in years. I swept the flashlight across the room. Dust. Boxes. A cracked old rocking chair. And then—
A figure.
In the far corner.
Not moving.
I grabbed the girls, but they didn’t flinch.
“Say hi to Daddy,” Emma whispered.
The figure stood up slowly. Tall. Thin. Silent.
“Claire said he’d like you,” Lily whispered. “But only if you behave.”
I turned to run — but the basement door shut above us.
And locked.