I look up from the work unfocused. That noise played out it’s melody again, drawing my attention to it’s place in the basement. The sound consisted of a few taps and a vacuous slurping; it had driven me mad. Although my work only minorly suffered, I needed to find out what was making all the ruckus. I guessed it had to be a loose pipe dribbling into my dark basement. I could hire a plumber, or, as I decided, I could look at the problem myself. Maybe I would be able to fix it with some tape.

I lurched off of the desk and began towards the flashlight I knew I had. It was snuggled in a drawer along with various other pieces of mechanical junk and unsettled documents. I flicked it a few times, but I realized the light was out of batteries. Knowing it would take nearly 30 minutes to find a single battery in this cluttered mess, I thought to just use a match. The basement wasn’t thoroughly dark; I could get by with just a match.

I continued into the depths of the basement. I ignored the eerie feeling; Nothing had ever come from that feeling, so, again, I ignored it. The chillier air hit me like a bat. Basements are like that. Bumping into half-filled cardboard boxes, I made it to roughly the center of the room. Only outlines appeared in my vision; Enough to see, but not enough to determine the cause of the noise.

I waited in the silence, My breath catching on the dusty air.

Drip, drip, drip…. drip…

The leak seemed to have gotten quicker. I had to figure this out quicker. I shuffled through the forgotten items of floor, stepping on a few books. I made it to where I thought the pipe leaked just moments before. I cradled the box of matches careful not to drop it. The light only sparked the darkness for a moment. My tired eyes looked up. A pipe was illuminated…

Behind the pipe, hanging on the wall, was a creature of no origin. It’s skin was the color of organs, the color of blood. There was no skin. It multiple eyes gazed down on me, appearing as if the sockets barely held them.

I couldn’t believe what I saw. I couldn’t believe what was in my basement.

Just as the peak of the match began to die to only a faint glow, I saw more. Inside this horrendous clump of mangled flesh was a movement. Covered by only a thin layer of mucus, it squirmed. With the last remaining light my disturbed mind pieced together it was a rat. It’s skin hand melted off, and it’s muscles, veins, and bones twinged inside the aberrational horror.

My light died along with my endurance to gaze at the unholy sight.

A silent struggle fell on me as I crashed through the ruble on the floor. My mind was decomposing. A gargling rolled behind me. I could hardly keep my legs, tumbling over obstacles, from giving out to fear. I ran up the stairs. I wasn’t safe, or so I thought.

I spent the rest of the afternoon out of my house, trying to retrieve the nerve to secure the basement. It took me too many sleepless nights to check down there again. The anxiety of the trip almost stopped me. But, I went down again.

The only remnants of that, that thing was a red stain around the wall, and a red stained ring around a broken pipe. It was still alive and out there.