Findng the doorway PART 1

As with most things in life, timing was everything, and boy did I pick the wrong time to walk into Tony’s house. It wasn’t the fight that was waging between him and his wife, it wasn’t the drunk friend who had stayed so far past his welcome, it wasn’t even the crying step-daughter running through the house like her hair was on fire or the screaming infant in my friends arms. All that was the immediate auditory assault I walked into, but nothing in that domestic unrest could of prepared me for what was about to happen.

I headed through the kitchen with the only happy member of the family, the two year old German Shepard, at my heals. I smiled at both the husband and wife and then stole the screaming infant from my friend and headed back into the kitchen. The eight pound ball of lungs was clenching her fists and shaking with all the anger her tiny body could muster, but after a quick move to my shoulder and a few gentle pats on the back she emitted a rather impressive round of burps and quickly forgot her troubles.

A monstrous crash from downstairs ended the arguments and both father and mother came rushing into the kitchen to see what had happened. They immediately looked at me and I just shrugged my shoulders and nodded towards the basement door.

“That fucking girl is going to get such a beating.” Tony mumbled as he ripped the door open and headed down the stairs. I immediately noticed the lights where off down there and knew that the teenage girl wasn’t the cause of the noise.

“Chris?” Tony yelled up the stairs, something very close to terror on his voice. “Chris, get the fuck down here now.”

I looked over at his wife and we exchange puzzled glances while I handed her the now quiet baby and rushed down into the basement.

Tony was standing a couple feet from the stairs looking across the room at something. I followed his gaze and felt all the blood drain out of my face; this was just fucking impossible.

The basement door was ripped off its hinges and knocked twenty five feet into the backyard. I could wax poetic about the splintered wood and twisted hinges but there is no point. There was nothing poetic or artistic in the violence that caused the damage. Tony and I stood there looking at the gaping maw like a couple of idiots, a knot of fear expanding in our stomachs and twisting up our insides with icy hands.

“Your step daughter didn’t do that.” I finally managed to say. Speaking had broken the paralysis that overcame me and I was able to head closer to inspect the damage.

“No shit.” Tony was suddenly at my side, his eyes foggy like he was seeing all this in a nightmare. “But what did?”

I had no answer, and that didn’t matter. Before I could even open my mouth for a non-reply a scream from upstairs got both of us running to the main floor.

“Someone just walked into the nursery.” April said as we rushed into the living room. She was holding the baby protectively in both hands and staring at the steps. “I was about to walk up when I saw someone move through the hallway and into the baby’s room.”

“Where is your daughter?” I asked her while Tony put a hand around her shoulders and hugged her close.

“I’m right here Uncle Chris.” The thirteen year old was sitting on the floor between the couch and the wall, her knees pulled up to her chin and arms wrapped around her. “I heard something in my closet and ran out here to get mommy to come in and check it out, but she was already telling about someone upstairs.”

Her mother and stepfather mirrored the fear on the girls face. I am sure I looked just as scared.

Tony and I headed up the steps and paused just before reaching the landing. We could plainly hear someone walking around in the room, and neither one of us was in a rush to see what was in there.

“On three.” I whispered. “One, two, three!”

there is much more of this story to come. Check bck here daily for updates.

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