The Open Door (7 page)

Peering down into the basement from the top
of the staircase, Scott wondered if Whiskers would hear him, and
come out of hiding for more of his favorite dried cat food.

The sun had set, and the moon’s
light—extinguished by dark thick clouds—lent little light to the
already murky basement.

Grabbing a flashlight, Scott made his way
down the stairs, and into the abyss. Matching step for step, one
inch behind Scott, Cody followed, breathing heavily with his eyes
stretched wide open.

The beam from the flashlight cut through the
black. They could only see what the flashlight exposed, making the
search tense and lengthy. First they cleared the living room. The
light rolled over the bricks of the fireplace, exposing the
ash-covered interior.

Black shiny remains of what was once wood
still lay on the cold steel log support.

“Wait! What’s that?” Cody asked in a startled
tone.

Moving the beam to the right corner of the
crusted black slab of cement where Cody pointed—Scott could see
what looked like an odd shaped ball. Black as the place it rested,
the object sat motionless. They slowly approached with the light
fixed on it; Cody and Scott were unable to make out what it was
from just a few feet away. Moving in closer, the lifeless ball was
fully illuminated, unearthing its shiny, uneven, dirty black fur.
The light bounced off of something reflective that peered from
within the matted filament. Upon closer inspection, the reflection
came from a glazed over eyeball. Yellow, with a black vertical slit
down the middle, the eye stared back at them.

“Is, or was that one of your cats?” Cody
stuttered carefully.

“I don’t think so. I’ve owned many cats, but
Whiskers was the only one alive after I moved, and he had longer
grey colored hair with green eyes.”

They whipped their heads around
simultaneously as if on swivels. A scratching noise came from atop
the stairwell. Like a row of knitting needles slowly ripping
through a piece of thick fabric, the noise echoed down the
stairs.

“Probably just an animal in the garage trying
to come in from the cold,” Scott said, unconvinced.

Cody seemed unable to speak, so Scott nudged
his shoulder, and signaled that he was going to approach the
stairs.

Cody again followed closely as Scott
carefully planted one foot in front of another, trying not to make
a sound. Pressing his back against the wall while Cody waited
behind, Scott did his best to stay out of sight.

Waiting to turn the corner, fearing the light
would expose something at the top of the stairs; Scott took one
last deep breath, praying that whatever it was would be on the
other side of the door, in the garage.

He turned—the beam of light turned with him
as it sliced through the dead air. His eyes focused in on the
landing. Startled, Scott dropped the flashlight. A circle of light
bounced off of the walls and stairs until the flashlight settled at
his feet. The scratching had stopped, and silence fell upon the
house.

Scott could hear Cody breathing heavily
behind him as if he wanted to say something, but couldn’t. Scott
stood

frozen in place, waiting to hear footsteps
descend from the top of the stairs.

Suddenly, the flashlight shot up the stairs
until it reached the landing. Cody had lost patience and grabbed
the light. They both stared at a large, healthy cat, with long grey
hair, and green eyes.

“Whiskers?” Cody asked.

“Not possible,” Scott replied, with
uncertainty.

The cat sat perfectly still on the landing at
the top of the stairs, glaring at them with glowing green eyes.

Cody jumped and screamed, dropping the
flashlight, only this time, the light didn’t reflect off of the
walls, allowing them to see where it landed. Either the switch had
been bumped to the off position, or the light had broken. They
prayed it was only the switch.

In total blackness, they dropped to their
knees, frantically searching with shaky, unsteady hands.

“Why did you drop the light?”

“Something bumped the back of my leg!” Cody
replied.

“That’s not possible; the cat was still at
the top of the stairs”

“It was something else. I need to get out of
here!”

Cody was losing it, and Scott was terrified
at the thought of what shared the dark basement with them.

Running his hand along the floor, Scott felt
his pinky bump something hard, and then it rolled away.
The
flashlight!
Moving in the same direction, he was able to grip
the handle of the light. His thumb found the switch.
Thank
God!
The light still worked.

They both jumped to their feet. Scott quickly
scanned the area around for whatever it was that bumped into
Cody.

There was nothing in the area that he could
see, so they shot the light up to the top of the stairs. The grey
cat was no longer perched on the landing.

Scott quickly walked into the living room and
shined the light on the fireplace. The black lifeless feline corpse
was gone.

Loud footsteps quickly faded up the stairs.
Scott turned the light to where Cody was standing, but he was
gone.

“Cody! Come back!”

The door leading to the kitchen slammed, then
pounding footsteps raced across the ceiling above his head. Scott
followed up the stairs, and before he could reach the kitchen door,
he could hear the old screen door slam shut. Scott bolted through
the house, headed for the exit.

Upset that Cody had abandoned him, Scott
could feel rage overwhelm his feeling of fear.

He exploded out the front door, tearing the
screen door off of its hinges. Nearly unloading a violent
explicative onslaught of words that rarely escaped his mouth, Scott
was stopped by the site of a grown man sobbing, with his head
buried between his knees.

Now composed, he asked Cody if he was all
right.

“No, I’m not all right.” Cody labored to say.
“My heart is pounding out of my chest. I can’t breathe.”

“You’ll be okay. Let’s go back to the car and
rethink this whole thing.”

Sitting in the car, and contemplating what
their next move should be, Scott and Cody stared at the house with
mixed emotions.

They had gotten a late start on their road
trip, which placed them at the house at dusk—too late to start an
effective search.

The condition of the neighborhood was a shock
to both of them, especially Scott, who believed there would be
occupants still in the house. The vacant rotted lot where he once
lived did however make it easier for them to access; they didn’t
need permission to enter.

Another problem looked them in the eye—they
found themselves in the midst of unwelcome guests—guests that
although would normally seem harmless—startled them to the point
where reentering the house at night was not a viable option.

Concerns sprouted in Scott’s mind:
temperatures are likely too cold to stay in the car. We don’t
have enough gas to leave it running all night, so the car heater is
out of the question. If we opt to set up camp in the home, we take
the chance of running into more unwelcome surprises, and renting a
motel would chew up the funds set aside for fuel and food.

“What now?” Cody asked.

“Well . . . we either layer up with blankets
and clothing and sleep in the car—or we set up camp in my room like
originally planned. I have a propane heater, sleeping bags, and
pillows, so it would be much warmer and more comfortable.”

“It’s not safe in there!”

“It’s just a couple of cats. You’re letting
my past experiences and the dark freak you out. A couple of cats
were able to access the house and make it their home—they probably
eat the mice.”

“Sure . . . a cat that just happens to look
identical to your cat, Whiskers, and who also scratches at the top
of the stairwell just like Whiskers. That doesn’t scare you, even a
little?”

“It was a little weird, but a twenty
something year old cat wouldn’t look that healthy—the cat in the
house is no more than five years, so again, it’s impossible.”

“We’re here to try and recreate a scenario so
you can record a horse head from hell, and you think a Whiskers
homecoming is impossible?”

“It’s different. The head is something from
the spiritual realm, the cat is a physical thing—not the same.”

“The curtains! They just moved! Cody
screamed, pointing at the front window.

Scott looked at the window, but the curtains
remained perfectly still.

“You’re seeing things, calm down.”

“No! They moved! Keep watching!” Cody
insisted.

Watching, waiting, for what seemed like
several minutes— the curtains finally fluttered.

“See? I’m right! There’s something
there!”

“Yep, you’re right. It’s a cat. That’s all
that’s inside—cats.”

“Whoa!” Cody screamed again, causing Scott’s
ears to ring.

Whiskers, or a cat that looked like Whiskers,
jumped up and landed on the ledge inside the main window. Staring
at them with its intense green eyes, it almost seemed inviting.

“It’s probably lonely and in need of food,
that’s all.” Scott said, annoyed.

“It’s hungry all right. It’s staring at me
like a giant bowl of Kibbles and Bits!”

“A fifteen to twenty pound cat is going to
eat you?” He said, laughing hysterically. Scott needed a good laugh
and Cody had just reminded him why he decided to bring him
along.

They had both had dozed off, and Scott was
the first to wake from the bitter cold. Looking at the time on his
cell phone, he was shocked to see that it was already midnight.

Scott glanced over at the main window of the
house. His eyesight was still slightly blurred, so it took a moment
to focus. The cat was gone.

“Wake up!” He said, as he nudged Cody’s
shoulder.

Half awake, Cody attempted to respond, “Wha .
. . Hmmm? Tired—Go away.”

“Seriously, we need to do something. It’s
freezing out here.”

A sound erupted from Cody’s direction that
resembled an underwater explosion.

“That should warm you up!” Cody said,
laughing hysterically to the point where he had tears building up
in his eyes.

“That’s rancid! Just for that, you’re
sleeping outside . . . alone!”

His reply only added fuel to the fire that
originally ignited his laughter. Cody’s laugh quickly turned into a
wheezing sound, which soon led to Cody coughing and gagging as he
tried to catch his breath.

“I’m sorry man. That nut mix I ate earlier
had a profound impact on my gaseous state.” Cody replied as he
continued to chuckle, like some evil clown tormenting a child.

Cody would sometimes say things that didn’t
necessarily make sense, but would have a twisted ring to it. He
would do this to elicit a response from his victim, and the more
agitated and serious the victim became; the funnier Cody thought it
was. Most of the time—and tonight being one of those times—Cody
would be the only one laughing.

“Alright man! Let’s do this like Thelma and
Louise. We’ll grab our stuff, and run for the house holding hands!”
Cody chuckled, again trying to amuse himself.

“Seriously? You want to go for it?”

“Yeah. It’s too cold out here. If we stick to
the upstairs, and barricade the bedroom door once inside, we’ll be
fine till morning.”

Cody actually displayed some semblance of
sincerity, so Scott took him seriously.

“Who needs a barricade? Eat more nut mix, and
there won’t be a cat within ten miles of here by sunrise.”

“That’s right brother! And if any of them
should mess with us, I’ll just light a match, and boom! I’ll take
‘em all out!”

“Unless the cats have lost their sense of
smell, that won’t be necessary. It’s good to have a plan-B
though.”

Although pretentious and immature, their
conversation put both Cody and Scott at ease. All of a sudden, the
fear was gone. At least most of it was.

A gnarled limb tapped at his window as if
begging to be let in from the howling winds and cold. It was just
how Scott remembered it.

His sleeping bag was placed in the same area
where his bed used to be, while Cody rolled out his bag by the
closet, which was to the right and at the foot of where Scott chose
to rest.

Cody wedged wood chips under the inside of
the door, which he had found outside. He believed it would make the
door more difficult to open. He also placed their luggage against
the door; it weighed no more than forty pounds, but it made him
feel safer. Scott on the other hand, relied on twenty years of
martial arts training and a .45 auto that he kept by his side. He
also brought a-hundred rounds of ammo and two extra thirteen-round
magazines just in case.

Feeling somewhat warm and secure in their
heavy down bags, they finally began to doze off at approximately
1:15 A.M. It had been a long road trip and a stressful evening, so
regardless of the less than desirable conditions; they both had no
trouble falling asleep.

The sound of something sliding across the
floor woke Scott. He turned his head to try and make out what it
was. There was nothing, no movement, no shapes lurking in the
shadows, just Cody snoring away the night.

Still half asleep and having a hard time
focusing, he continued to search for something that could have made
the sound.
The zipper on Cody’s sleeping bag, as he dragged his
feet?
He thought. Possibly, but Scott wasn’t convinced.

Continuing his scan of the room, the luggage
by the door caught his eye. It didn’t look like it had been moved,
and the door was still closed shut.