My Dungeon's Keeper - Chapter 2 - Courage (Patreon)

Feet firmly planted on the closet’s threshold, I crouched down and fished out a broom which had fallen close to the door. Once it was firmly in my hands I maneuvered it over the suspicious passage, before slowly bringing it down to tap at the space. 

To my dismay, it passed right into the dark space.

“Alright, so I’m not halucinating. That’s both good, because I’m not going crazy, and deeply horrifying,” I muttered. “How did the entrance to a crypt appear in our closet? And where is Frizzy? Please don’t tell me she went down there…”

I took a step back, and considered slamming the door and waiting until Nicole got home before dealing with it. It was always better to have my responsible half around when dealing with things like property damage, and mysterious passages leading to who knows where; However, there was a chance that Frizzy had escaped down there, with my bacon, and if so the last thing I wanted to do was trap her down there.

“What to do?” I muttered, as I stood there, chewing on my bottom lip, and staring at the intruding masonry. I briefly considered going down to investigate, however the last time I went down into some strange old basement they had to call the fire department to get me out again. It wasn’t my proudest moment, and it wasn’t something I was eager to live through again. Especially if it happened in my own home; I’d never live it down.

On the other hand, if Frizzy got injured while exploring down there, and I didn’t find her in time, I’d never be able to live with myself.

In the end, I wasn’t the one to decide what to do. Kooky, who was apparently tired of waiting for me to decide, got up from her place at my feet, and started wandering towards the stairs.

“Oh no you don’t!” I screamed, lunging forward and grabbing her by the scruff of her neck. “I’m not loosing both of you down there!”

Kooky snarled, twisted her body like a fluid so she could sink her back claws into my arm just enough that she could turn and clamp on with her front claws too.

“Nice try, but I spent six years working at the animal shelter,” I growled at her. “You’re going to have to do better than that to force me to let go.”

I shook my arm, trying my best to dislodge her before finally giving up, and turning back towards the kitchen. Once I was over the threshold I let go of Kooky’s neck, and she begrudgingly retracted her claws from my arm, allowing the two of us to go our separate ways.

“What is wrong with you?” I asked, sliding the door closed behind me so Kooky couldn’t get back out again. “Why do you both want to go into the mysterious hole in the ground?” 

The mangy just stared daggers at me, before let out a low, grumbly growl.

“You’re right, it was a stupid question, you can’t help yourselves. Curiosity killed the cat, as they say,” I growled, before turning to glare at the cat. “You’re really forcing my hand here Kook. I can’t close the door, because that’ll trap Frizzy down in that cellar thing, and I can’t leave it open because I know that even if I trap you in here, you’ll find a way to pry the sliding door open in order to investigate. Once you get an idea in your head you’ll never give it up, especially now that I’ve stopped you from investigating.”

I sighed. “Ugh… I really wanted to avoid going anywhere near that hole, but if I want to keep you out then I’m going to have to retrieve Frizzy. At least once she’s out of there I can close the door and shove some furniture in front of it to prevent either of you from getting back in until Nicole gets home,” I paused. “You know the worst part about this? I can’t even get a clean pair of pants because I know you’ll scratch the shit out of the kitchen if I take that long.”

Kooky tilted her head to the side, and then as if the emphisize my words turned to the door and immediately started scratching at it.

“Ack! No, bad cat!” I hissed, grabbing for her, only for her to twist around and try to bite me in return. I shoved the cat away with my foot, receiving a few choice bites for my effort, but managed to slip through the sliding door and close it again before she slipped out. As soon as it was closed, the scratching started.

“Why can’t either of you give me a break,” I grumbled as I rushed back to the foyer. I kept one eye on the closet, giving the room a wide bearth, as I slipped past it and headed to the small laundry room just beyond it, at the back of the house. 

Thankfully it was my turn to do the laundry, which meant there was still a basket full sitting on the washing machine. Digging through it I managed to find a couple of somewhat acceptable pieces of clothing to throw on, and as I threw them on I could just faintly make out the sound of Kooky scratching at the kitchen door and grumbling through the thin wall between the two rooms; If I didn’t find Frizzy soon, and let her out, I’d have to refinish the back of that door. Again.

I stepped back into the entrance area, full of confidence, until I got a look at the stairs again and lost my nerve. Something about those old decrepit stairs scared me, and not just because they appeared out of nowhere; They just felt… unnatural. 

After a couple moments I shook myself off. 

“Like it or not, I need to go down there,” I muttered, taking a couple steps back. “However, no one said I had to go in unarmed.”

Skipping over to the front door I reached into the coat room and pulled out the baseball bat I kept sitting just inside the door. 

A couple years ago we had a slight problem with one of Nicole’s former girlfriends got violent, and smashed up the front of our house, before finally getting arrested. After that I had insisted on having something on hand which we could use to defend ourselves. I wanted a shotgun, and Nicole insisted that now that her former girlfriend had been arrested it wasn’t nessisary. We compromised, and I picked up my bat.

It had just been collecting dust for the better part of two years now, and finally it was going to have it’s day. 

I marched back to the closet, far more confident this time, took a deep breath, and stepped inside. 

Standing over the stairs I could feel a cold draft rising out of the darkness. “Frizzy, if you’re in there you better come out before I come in after you,” I shouted into the hole. She didn’t reply.

I groaned, doing my best to keep up my confidence as I took a couple steps downward. Thankfully we’d been storying a huge emergency flashlight in the cleaning closet, in case of emergencies, and the huge bulky thing hadn’t fallen too far down the stairs, so I was able to retrieve the thing without descending too far into the darkness. 

I clicked the button on the handle, and the huge blocky flashlight immediately burst to life, at least for a moment. After just a few seconds it started to flicker inconsistently, threatening to go out.

“Come on! Now is not the time to be acting temperamental,” I hissed, banging it gently against the wall. “I just worked up my nerve!”

Despite my pleading it continued to strobe, forcing me to consider whether I should retreat back up the stairs to look at it, or attempt to continue. Thankfully, I didn’t actually have to make a choice. 

While I was fiddling, I heard a faint whine down the stairs; One that was rapidly getting louder. I pointed the malfunctioning flashlight into the darkness just in time to catch a dark blur streaking towards me. 

Jumping back, and letting go of the flickering light source, I readied my bat just as Frizzy shot past me.

“Damnit cat! Are you trying to give me a heart attack?” I shouted, stomping up the stairs after her. “Where were you?”

Frizzy shot out of the closet, skidded across the hardwood until she finally slid into the far wall and came to a stop. Once she did, she immediately turned towards me and hissed.

“Don’t give me that! You’re the one that disappeared into that pit!” I hissed back, as I started following her out. However, before I got too far something else echoed out of the darkness, a highpitched echoing scream.

Raising my bat I slowly backed towards the door. However, before I even got halfway a small cat sized mass shot up the stairs. I blinked in suprise when I saw the bizarre creature, and that slight delay cost me. 

The creature didn’t even try to slow when it saw me, instead it hurdled itself off the floor and smashed me in the chest, throwing me backwards. 

As I slid across the floor to join Frizzy the strange half chicken-half lizard creature stood in the threshold and crowed in victory. The cat and I exchanged a quick glance. “I bet you regret your adventure now, don’t you,” I grumbled.