3 The Monster

(From Ella's Perspective)

Taking my backpack with me, I opened the bedroom door as quietly as I could. The sound was a bit clearer. I looked around to make sure that whoever was in this mansion was not near. The last thing I wanted to do was put myself in the path of a potential criminal and then become the next victim.

I pursed my lips and stepped cautiously towards the staircase. I raced down the stairs with light steps, hoping that the person was nowhere in range. I reached the living room, my heart hammering in my chest.

The sound seemed to be coming from somewhere near. My heart was screaming at me to get out of here as quickly as possible. But my head was saying that what if I checked where the sound was coming from. A huge part of me wanted to check the origin of the sound.

I chewed my upper lip, trying to figure out what to do. There was nothing wrong in checking out if there was truly a fireplace turned on. If I saw a person, I would quickly run away without making any sound.

I approached the room from where the sound was coming from. In my head, I was praying that I was not making a mistake trying to fill my curiosity. I turned the doorknob and opened the door.

I was wrong. It was not a just door. It was the door that led to the basement. All of the doors looked the same. That's why it got mixed up in my head.

Zoe's grandma once told us that basements were where monsters hid. As if there were such things as monsters in this world!

My heart was still telling me to go back. I did not listen, I never did. Not when my heart was telling me to cry my heart out hearing all those toxic words, not when I overheard Mom telling Owen that I was nothing more than a responsibility. My head kept me strong, saying that what the point of crying was.

The stairwell leading down the basement was dark as it was supposed to be. I hoped there were no spiders on the way. I took the steps very carefully. Hopefully, I did not make any sound. As I got down the last step, I found myself in front of a filthy room.

Just as a basement was supposed to be, it was full of unnecessary furniture, papers, and so on. But the shocking sight was a ray of reddish-golden light coming through somewhere. I did not move from my place. The sound was clear from here and I was sure that something was here which had something to do with the light. I tried to hear the sound of someone breathing, or at least, I wanted to sense if there was a person here. But I could hear nothing else than the disturbing rumbling noise and my shallow breathing.

I took a step forward and peered over the corner to see where the light was coming from. I might have expected a fireplace even though I knew no fireplace could make such a light. But what I saw was not at all what I expected or would ever expect.

There was no fireplace or no person. Everything appeared normal, except for a massive hole in the middle of the wall I was facing. A ray of reddish-golden eye blazing light was coming from inside the hole.

The hole was round, but not even. I could not see or guess what could be inside it. I did not remember reading about anything like this in science either. The sound was coming through the hole as if something was burning inside.

Before I knew what I was doing, I found myself taking steps towards it. I anticipated feeling some kind of heat emanating from the hole as I got closer, but instead, I felt a chill on my skin. There was one thing I was sure of; it was not a fireplace and nothing was burning inside.

"Should I touch it?" I pondered. Maybe I should, or maybe I should not. If I touched the hole, I would know what it was- good or bad. If I did not, I would never be able to find out. I decided on the first choice.

I extended my hand through the light inside the hole. The chill got mingled with a sense of warmth. There was something on the other side, a place or a vacant hidden room.

I brought out my hand and thought about going inside. I knew it was a stupid thing to do. But my curiosity was taking over me. I felt as if I needed to know what was on the other side of the hole. Besides, even if I got stuck there forever, I had nothing to lose. I was dying from inside living with my family anyways. It would not matter if my life ended because of my curiosity.

I held my breath, fisted my hands, and then took a deep breath. Then, very slowly, I slipped my right leg inside the hole. I felt a hard ground beneath my foot. Then, with another look at the basement, I went inside the hole.

It felt as if I was stuck in the mist. I could not see anything properly. I assumed it was all in my head. But when I rubbed my eyes, I discovered that the place was indeed hazy.

I remained where I was, afraid that if I took another step, I would fall into a hole that led to the center of the earth. The mist seemed to clear with each passing second. After over a minute, the fog had cleared and I could see where I was.

I was in the middle of a dense forest, with nothing to see but trees, darkness, and the moon shining brightly in the sky. I looked behind me to the place from where I came here. But there was nothing there but a huge yellow meranti tree.

There was no hole, no light, nothing at all. It seemed as if I appeared out of thin air. I gasped and looked around, panicking. Not even in my weirdest thoughts, I expected something like this to happen.

As I was thinking of what to do, from somewhere I heard the growls of some kind of monstrous animal. I had never heard anything like this, not even in the videos that I had watched on YouTube.

I knew I needed to get out of this place. I should not have come inside the hole to see what was inside. It was a mistake. And now I was paying the price for my insatiable curiosity.

I did not even have a phone. Mom and Owen thought that I was not worthy of getting a phone. Even though Linda was two years younger than me, she had a phone. It was a usual thing in my family. Linda was always worthy of everything, whereas I was the one who had no right over anything.

Aside from the terrifying growls, I could now hear the rustling of leaves from animals running nearby. There ought to have been more animals, a lot more animals. I wiped the sweat from my forehead with the sleeve of my baggy shirt.

I did not even know how to climb trees. I had no idea what to do. I sat on the ground, leaning against a meranti tree, gripping my backpack as tightly as I could to my chest.

The growls became louder, and the rustling of the leaves became faster. I had nothing to do. If the animals smelled me and came here, I was going to die for sure. Even if I ran, I would never be able to get away.

Mom, Owen, and Linda were surely going to be happy to hear that I was missing. I wanted to get away from my family, but surely not in a place like this.

The air felt thick and heavy. It was as if the air was hard to inhale. I closed my eyes, trying to cope with the panic.

The thoughts of not being able to get out of this place kept coming to my mind like nightmares. I had a feeling that no matter what happened there was no way I would be able to get back to the place I was.

How could a hole just emerge from a place and then disappear all of a sudden? I could not find any valid explanation for it. All my life, I thought that science could explain everything, that there was nothing in this world that could exist without a scientific explanation.

But then what was the hole? What could possibly explain such a strange thing?

I heard another growl. But it was different than the ones I heard before. This growl was deep, cold, and had the power to send shivers up and down the spine. I was certain that this animal was huge and ferocious and also dangerous looking.

I clutched my backpack even tightly and brought my knees to my chest. I heard the loud growl again. That was not the worst thing. The way the growl sounded, I was sure that the animal was close, very close.

I tried to remain as quiet as possible. Even the sound of my breathing made me nervous; what if the animal could hear it? My heart was thumping in my chest, sending dread arrows through my veins.

Suddenly I heard the footsteps of something coming this way. I held my breath and kept my gaze fixed on the opening between the trees ahead of me. The sound was coming from that way.

I could hear animals racing behind me. They were at least ten in number. I peered behind the tree I was leaning against, wondering whether they were here to eat me. But I could not see anyone. It seemed as if the animals were running away. The sound of their uncombined footsteps filled my ears. I was glad that they were going away. I had no idea what I would do if I came across a wild animal.

The animals could have been wolves. I heard wolves ran in packs, which meant they did not wander off alone much. Usually, they stayed together and fought together as a pack.

I was so preoccupied with the sounds behind me that I completely forgot the fact that I had heard something approaching from ahead of me. I felt a warm breath on my neck as my head was turned.

The animal was here, right here. I did not know what to do. I could not think straight. My mind seemed to leave me forever.

I turned around, as slowly as I could. The warm breath of the animal fell on my face. But the animal was not something I expected to see. Or perhaps I should not call it an animal. I did not know what to think of it, or what to say. I did not know if I was supposed to scream. My voice seemed to get lost. I seemed to forget how to breathe as well.

It was huge, much bigger than a full-grown lion. The moonlight fell on its face, allowing me to properly see its towering frightening stature. It was not an animal. No one would call it an animal. It was a monster.