Thumping, ticking, creeking, it's all the damn same to me. I haven't been able to sleep for hours thanks to those house noises. I hate the noise of the house settling, the ticking of my old grandfather clock, the thumping coming from the basement. Hm, the basement? When did that appear in the menagerie of sounds that plague tonight? But what do I know, right? I grab my flashlight and head down the hall, thumping all the way, throwing any form of potential stealth to the wind as I open the door to the basement and clomp down the stairs at a all too leisurely pace. I wave the light around me to see nothing, so I turn around and start going back upstairs. I hear feet thumping lightly on the ground, in a very skittish manner. I turn around in such a panic that I don't realize in time that my foot slipped off the edge of the open wall stairs. I hit the cement basement with a hard thunk. As adrenaline from the sudden fall makes its short burst through my body, I point the light all around me. A child of some sort peers from behind some boxes. "Uhm- are you alright, kid?" I call out stupidly from where I'm still laying from the fall. Theres a small groan and click from the figure. Whatever that thing- that abomination is, I know now isn't a human. My wobbly and sore legs seemingly move on their own as I stand and sprint like a bat out of hell up the stairs. As I look behind me to close the door, that same figure is crawling up the stairs right on my heels. I slam and lock the door. Panting, I throw the deadlock closed and never, I mean never, touch that door ever again. Even these days, I still hear the thumps from the basement, but now I know to never go down at night again.