Dungeon in the closet (Patreon)

So, I haven't been able to sleep properly since it's the middle of the afternoon, so my only semi lucid brain decided it wanted to write this. I don't really know where the idea came from, and I don't plan on expanding the idea (unless a lot of people beg me for it) it's just a strange little stand alone story about someone in a modern condo who suddenly finds a dungeon in their closet one day.

Figured it would be better to give in and write this, then write a half-assed, badly scuffed chapter that I'd have to rewrite later for my regular stories.

Yeah... tired brain has funky ideas. Hope you enjoy.

“Sarah! What happened? Why is the house in this state? And what is that thing pinned to the door in the kitchen?”

I jolted to full wakefulness by the sudden, unexpected interrogation and tried to push myself into a sitting position on the couch, but after the day I’d just had it turned out to be a lot harder than I expected.

“Oh, hey Nicole… Your home early…” I muttered, hugging my abdomen to try in order to alleviate the pain. 

“No I’m not, it’s already six thirty!” she exclaimed as she crossed the room, her shoes crunching as she stepped on the glass shards that were scattered everywhere. “Are you okay? You’re covered in bruises. Did someone break in?” she asked before crouching down in front of me and gently prodding my cheek.

“Tssssss…. Please don’t do that, I’m sore enough as it is,” I hissed jerking my head back. “And no, no one broke in, something broke out of the basement.”

Nicole stared at me for a minute, a concerned look on her face. “You must have hit your head a lot harder than I thought. We don’t have a basement.”

“See… I would have said the exact same thing if you’d asked me this morning, but it appears that one developed sometime between dinner time and the time I usually get the cats their breakfast,” I said. “I was a little concerned that Frizzy didn’t show up to eat, like she usually does, so I went looking for her and I found a staircase instead of a broom closet.”

“Uh-huh. And how did things go from finding a hole in our closet to our entire condo being trashed?” Nicole asked.

“Well, you see, I considered closing the closet up and calling the condo board, or the city council, since it looked like someone had dug into our house, but before I could I heard Frizzy hissing at something down there,” I explained.

“Please don’t tell me that you crawled into a strange, dark hole, without knowing what was down there,” Nicole sighed.

“Well, first of all I didn’t crawl anywhere. There’s a proper staircase that leads downwards; It may be made of stone bricks, but it’s still staircase. And second of all, of course I did! Frizzy was down there!” I said, defensively. “It’s not like I went down there unprepared; I grabbed a broom as I went by!” 

“Sarah…” Nicole muttered, leaning back and shaking her head. 

“Kitties come first!” I declared defiantly.

“No, your personal safety should always come first,” she sighed. “Look at the shape you’re in!”

“I admit… I regret my choice now,” I replied cautiously. “However, considering that the stairs weren’t there yesterday I figured all that I’d find was a dirt tunnel, maybe a small room at the most, I didn’t expect to find a full labyrinth down there.”

“What?!?” Nicole exclaimed, jumping to her feet. 

“That’s what I said! At least, it’s what I said after wandering around down there for a few minutes,” I said. “It’s not just a dirt tunnel either, it’s made out of rough stones, and there were lit torches littered around. It was weird. Thankfully I didn’t have to go too far in, because Frizzy came bolting down the hallway, sprinting towards the exit.”

“Well, that’s good…” Nicole started.

“Unfortunately,” I declared, raising my voice to interrupt her before she could say anything too hopeful, “she was being trailed by a pack of lizard chicken things. As soon as I saw them I realized that I MAY have been in over my head, and I decided the best thing I could do was make a tactical retreat; Which is to say I ran my ass off, sprinted back up the stairs and tried to slammed the door on those crazy things!”

“I take it the door didn’t quite hold, since there’s a ‘lizard chicken’ as you call them, pinned to the dining room wall,” Nicole said.

“They smashed into the door before I could close it properly, throwing me back, and flooding into the kitchen before I could slam it shut. I grabbed the closest thing I could reach, which happened to be the broom, and just started swinging,” I explained. “After that, everything’s a blur. I know I smashed a few, and whenever they managed to sneak past my swing they headbutted me in the legs and abdomen; About halfway through the fight my broom snapped, so I used the broken handle to impale one of them, and then I grabbed a nearby frying pan…” I shook my head. “I’m not quite sure how long we fought, but I know I sent one flying through the front window, and when I did the others immediately made a run for it. That’s why there’s glass everywhere… That couldn’t have been more than fifteen minutes ago, because I just laid down before you arrived.”

“Well… I’d be lying if I said none of that matters, but I’m more worried about you than I am about a bunch of strange animals running around the neighbourhood,” Nicole said quietly. “You look terrible. We really should get you to a doctor!”

“Shouldn’t we call someone first? You know… the police, the condo board, or some variety of exterminator?” I asked.

“I think you may be a little woozy after that fight,” Nicole said as she gently grabbed my hands and pulled me to my feet. “I somehow doubt that exterminators deal with… whatever that is,” she said before gesturing towards the kitchen.

“Animal control then,” I replied.

“I’ll call the authorities,” Nicole assured me. “Considering the state of the condo, and the fact that the front window is busted, I wouldn’t be surprised if someone had already reported an incident.”

“I hope so, those little imps were vicious,” I muttered, throwing an arm around her shoulder. “Wait! What about Frizzy! We can’t leave her here, not with a broken window for her to escape out of, and that… catacomb-dungeon thing downstairs!”

“I’ll get her AFTER we get you outside. I know you said those… things ran away, but who knows what else is down in that hole. We should probably get out of here while we can,” Nicole replied sternly. “You can barely stand right now, I’m not going to risk your life while I chase after the cats.”

“So you’re going to run around in here by yourself?” I asked.

“It’s what you would do, isn’t it?” she grumbled. “I wish you’d think about your own well being occasionally, instead of just worrying about everyone else. Don’t worry, I’ll check on the closet and if nothing is coming, close it and block it off while I search for the cats; However, if anything creeps up before I get there, we’ll have to leave the cats until help arrives.”

“But…” I started, before getting a stern look from my partner. “Fine… I’m sure they’ll be okay for a little while anyways. They’re survivors.”

“They’re lazy house cats,” she snorted as she dragged me towards the front door. “But they’re still cats, and they’ll be able to outrun danger better than you or I could. If they make a run for it, and go out the front window we’ll find them later.”

I nodded numbly. I really wanted to stay behind, and find the fuzzy babies, but I was in no state to argue, so I let her half pull, half carry me towards the door. As Nicole pulled open the door I took a moment to glance back into our condo, back towards the mysterious stairway and the labyrinth beyond.

“How did a dungeon appear in our closet anyways?” I muttered.

“We’ll figure that out later,” Nicole replied, pulling me through the door. “For now, move!”