“One more story,” Rachel begs. “Pleeeeeaaase.”

“I don’t think so, munchkin,” I reply with genuine remorse. I glance at my watch, “It’s already way past your bedtime.”

“I won’t tell if you won’t,” she entices, giggling.

“Nice try,” I say while getting up to put my copy of Beauty and the Beast back in my bag. I turn to face her and see her pouting with her arms crossed across her chest. “Don’t give me that look,” I say to her with false sternness. She giggles and I sit back down on the bed to tuck her into her pale pink sheets. Once I’m finished I stand up and head towards the door, grabbing my bag along the way.

“Goodnight,” Rachel calls from her bed.

“Goodnight, Rachel,” I reply and turn out the lights.

“Hey, Miss Elle?” she says as I’m about to close the door. I pause to listen to her.

“Yes?”

“You don’t have to worry about monsters under the bed, Daddy keeps them locked up in the basement.”

“What the hell?” I think to myself. I open my mouth to ask her what she’s talking about but she’s already snoring softly. “She’s probably just joking with me.”

I make my way back down the wooden stairs and into the living room. I plop onto the couch and immediately sink into the cushions. “It should be a sin for a couch to be this comfortable,” I think to myself. I reach for the remote on the coffee table and turn on the television and check my phone for notifications. Afterwards, I grab a throw blanket from under the coffee table in front of me and lay down. I stare into the fireplace below the TV and the crackling of the flames enchants me. I close my eyes, exhausted. “I’ll just rest for a few minutes…”

I jerk awake at the loud thumping coming from somewhere in the house. I pat around the couch in search of my phone, finding it between the cushions on my right side. I check the time. 11:30 pm. “That’s weird, Rachel’s parents should’ve been back by now.” I stand up, tossing the blanket onto the couch and stretch. Suddenly, I hear the same sound that woke me in the first place.

THUMP. THUMP. THUMP.

I wrinkle my brow in confusion and head in the direction it’s coming from. I walk on silent footfalls to the kitchen and pause to listen for the mysterious noise again.

THUMP. THUMP.

I make my way across the wooden floors to the hallway that is lit by a single, uncovered light bulb. I don’t see any doors on the hall, save the door at the end of the hallway that’s made of oak. Just looking at it makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand up.

THUMP. THUMP.

Every instinct in my body tells me to run. I shouldn’t be here. I need to take my things and go. However, my feet move me forward, straight towards the door. My heart thrums inside my chest.

Thu-thump. Thu-thump.

The banging from the behind the door is now in sync with the erratic beating of my heart. My eyes scan the walls around me. Unlike the rest of the house, these walls are void of any family portraits. The hallway seems to grow darker as I make my way to the door. My breathing grows heavier and I begin to sweat. A scent I can’t place burns my nostrils. I cover my nose with my t-shirt as I reach towards the door handle and place my hand on it, only to yank it back swiftly. I sucked in air through my teeth and cradle my hand to my chest. I examine my hand carefully, it’s bright red and has already begun to blister. I curse underneath my breath and unzip my hoodie. I proceed to wrap the hoodie around my injured hand and I reach for the door handle once more. The cloth singes when it comes into contact with the door handle, but I am still able to open it. What I find inside is horrifying.

It is almost as if I have opened the door to hell itself. The entire room is engulfed in sweltering heat as fires burn in various areas of the room. The walls, floor, and ceiling are made of solid concrete. I step forward across the threshold to get a better look. I see empty chains bolted to the wall and there is no furniture in sight. I make my way down the concrete steps, descending into the furnace of a room. The fires seem to be kept under control by metal grates that are nailed to the fire pits containing the flames. The scent is more recognizable now and it seeps through my shirt and fills my nose. I begin to choke. That’s when I am finally able to place the scent.

Burning flesh.

My eyes begin to water as I continue further into the room, now searching for the source of the smell. I turn the corner and am horrified by the scene my eyes find.

There are human beings chained to the walls, completely naked and burns covering their bodies. Many don’t seem to be breathing while the others lay silently on the ground.

“Oh. My. God.” I think to myself as my uninjured hand flies to cover my mouth in shock.

THUMP. THUMP. THUMP.

I whip my head around to see a boy who looks to be in his mid-twenties. He’s banging his chains against the floor. His eyes are closed and his head is resting against the wall behind him. I rush over to him and see that his eyes aren’t closed at all, he has no eyes. They’ve been plucked out of his head. All I can do is stare in shock and horror. Dried blood coats his cheeks and it almost looks like tears. I kneel before him and reach out to touch his hand. He jerks away from me and lets out a silent scream. He’s mouthing words, but I can’t understand him. That’s when I realized that none of them have spoken.

“Can- can you speak?” I say tripping over my words. None of them respond but they all turn their attention to me, their empty eye sockets seem to be peering into my soul. I shake my head in shock and turn around to leave. To call the police. To do something. But I walk straight into a large chest and that’s when I finally scream. A hand quickly clamps over my mouth to quiet me.

“Shhh,” the man says. “We don’t want to wake Rachel now do we, Miss Elle?”

I look up to find the face of Rachel’s father staring down at me menacingly. My eyes widen in shock just as I see his hand moving towards me out of the corner of my eye. Then everything goes black.

I wake up with a pounding headache. My throat burns and I can’t see anything. I try to scream but nothing comes out. I try to stand but my wrists are encircled in burning metal.

“You shouldn’t go snooping around, Elle.” I can feel his breath on my face and I flinch. I turn my face away from him but he grabs my chin firmly and yanks my head to face him. “You need to learn from your mistakes. I’m sure sometime in here will do you some good.” He says, sounding absolutely sinister. “You see, I keep them in here because they do bad things. I lock them up and make sure they can never hurt anyone again. They’re monsters. The world doesn’t need them. The world doesn’t need their voices. The world doesn’t need them to see what’s going on around them.” He lets go of my chin and I can feel his presence shifting away from me. “Now you’ve made a mistake. You’ve done a bad thing. So you’re a monster too.” I hear his footsteps walking away and I thrash against my chains desperately.

NO!! I think to myself. You can’t leave me here. You’re the monster. I don’t deserve this! Somebody help me! I mouth these words as much as I can, as if that will make my vocal chords return so I can call out. I pull on my chains and I feel my hand brush against something on the floor. I continue to feel around the floor, trying to figure out what it is. I grab it. It’s soft and the surface is distorted. Then I feel fingers. I throw the hand away from me and start gagging. I want to cry but I physically can’t. I silently cry out in agony and let out a voiceless sob. My skin burns and I hear nothing but the crackling flames all around me. Then I hear voices.
“Daddy, when will Miss Elle play with me again?” Rachel’s voice asks innocently. I sob once more, this time for the young girl herself.

“Oh, she’s a bad babysitter. I don’t think you’ll see her for a long time.” Her father responds with a sickeningly sweet tone.

“Oh,” Rachel says, clearly disappointed. “Okay.”

“Run along now, go play with your dolls.” I hear small, running footsteps over my head as I slump down in defeat.