The Abomasum

Havenport Massachusetts, Chestnut St. 8:01 am

The renovation of the house on Chestnut had been going on for several weeks, unfortunately there were several additional permits that needed to be acquired before construction could continue. The house was a classic 1930s style home of red brick and pebbledash, with red clay tile roofs, heavy oak doors, and a clean cut simple design. Don Richards and his family had ancestral roots within the town which stretched back to the war of Northern aggression. After so many decades in the same surroundings the last of the Richards family line had decided to relocate in neighboring Ipswich township. The Richards family had owned the dwelling for 20 years prior to its recent renovation, but now they were determined to remodel the home and put it up for sale. They had plans of totally re-plumbing the house after a recent mishap, but now as it came close to selling the place it quickly became a necessity. That was when they discovered the first of four chambers beneath the house on Chestnut street.

The night had come on far too fast, too fast to even think about what they had discovered beneath the house, a discovery which Dan Richards could barely fathom, in fact he could hardly believe that he had lived here all these years without ever knowing about what lay beneath his own home. Luckily his daughter and son had been staying over their aunt's house as the construction was going on, for the section of the house where they were digging happen to lay between their room's. Dan hoped that he could keep the discovery from his children, and if all possible even his wife, though he doubted that this would be possible. These were the thoughts which went through Dan Richards mind as he lay in bed that night, he was alone for his wife was away on a business trip.

Jan was finally getting done with the business meeting the executives from Japan were very impressed with the numbers that the cell phone company was getting. She had been working as a linguist for the company for three years and was happy that she had finally gotten to where she could make some decent money doing what she loved to do. The down side to this business trip was that she had to leave the renovation of they're house in Massachusetts all on her husband. She hated doing that to him, believing that they should both share the load of such a tedious task,and they found that the deeper the renovators got the more they found wrong that desperately needed to be fixed. But they had to get this done in order to sell so they can move on to greener pastures, she looked at the time on the cell phone it would be late at home but maybe she could catch Don before he went to sleep. She really hated being away from him and the children but that happens when you working for steadily rising business, she dialed Don's cell phone hoping she wouldn't be waking him up.

Dan was still laying in bed when he heard his cell phone ring, he had been resting comfortably on the left side of the king-sized bed, the portion of which his wife, who happened to be a bit of a bed-hog; had alotted him each night. It was purely by habit that he happened to be laying in this same position when the phone went off, this enabled him to grab the phone on the nightstand without having to move very much. He hadn't been expecting his wife to call him at such a late hour so he was a bit surprised when she did, he had thought that the call was coming from one of his children when he picked the phone up initially, untill he saw his wife's cell number flashing across the bottom of the phone. Picking up the phone he answered, "Hey honey, is anything wrong."

"No, other than I miss you and the kids terribly; I should be home on time, the negotiations are going pretty well. I so sorry I left you with the house project; Hows that going by the way, not to much you can't handle I hope?", she said as she sat down on the bed in the hotel room. It was smaller then some of the rooms she had been in before but then again this was Japan and they love to cram stuff all into on small place. But she didn't mind too much she wasn't paying for the room after all, and it was still nice. "How are Suzie and Ryan?", she asked calling her daughter Suzie was something she had done since she was little. Even thought the young teenage girl had taken to calling herself Sue since she hit high school, and she tended to get embarrassed when her mother would call her by that pet name.

Dan remained in the same position he had been before his phone had rung, and it wasn't until his wife started to talk about the renovations to the house that he sat up in bed. Pausing for a second when his wife asked him about the house, he looked around the bedroom as he made up a lie about what was going on with the house. "The house? No...Um. No everything is fine here, the renovations are moving along quite well, the problems whatsoever." Dan had prided itself about be totally honest with his wife at all times and so to lie to her was something that he did not feel right about, but he only had his wife's and his children's well-being and happiness in mind. Frankly there wasn't much that Dan could say about what he had discovered that morning beneath his family's home, would they even believe him if he could put what he had witnessed into words. "The kids? They're fine, still over Jeanette's house. Actually Sue called today to say that everything was fine with her and Ryan. She also said that I should give you her love, and tell you not to worry." Dan was not comfortable with lying to his wife and he was thankful that they had gotten past that awkward portion of their phone call.

She recognized something odd in her husbands voice when he spoke about the house, but she knew that he would never lie to her about anything. "Well alright honey I should be home by tomorrow evening so you wont have to deal with all on you lonesome for much longer; I love you honey and I'll see you when I get back", she said as she made a kissing sound into the receiver of the the phone. "Sleep tight honey", she said and ended the call; she sighed and made her way into the bathroom; the odd toilet in the corner was a little unnerving she would never understand the Japanese affinity for toilets that looked like they should be on Star Trek. She undressed and turned on the shower, she stood in the shower for what seemed like forever. When she finally made it into bed she went straight to sleep.

Sue sat in the living room of her eccentric aunt, who was currently out shopping. She refused to bring Sue with her. Something about 'annoying' and 'selfish'. She quite frankly didn't get the point. But she knew she was stuck here for now with her annoying older brother. She flipped through the channels, bored. Taking out her cell phone, she texted her father out of sheer boredom. Hey dad im bored.

Dan grabbed his cell phone once again, thinking that his wife had forgotten something and was calling him back, immediately after grabbing the phone he realized that it was actually a text message from his daughter, who he immediately called back. "Sweaty, its kinda late, if you're bored why don't you go to bed." Sensing that she did not want to hear this he switched topics, "Where is your brother." Dan leaned back against the bed board and awaited her reply.

Sue had to keep from snorting at such a suggestion. She was a teenager. She was meant to stay up late doing nothing at all. Or she figured annoying her dad for the rest of teh night could be fun. She still wasn't quite sure where her mom was, which made her said. And why did her parents always call her? Hadn't they heard of text messaging? It was like a computer almost, the mobile version of AIM.

She sighed as Don asked about her brother. All Sue could do was shrug, despite the fact they her father could not see her. "How should I know? I only ever see him when we're eating food. And Aunt Jeanette is out shopping for some reason. What mall or store is open this late anyways? I mean seriously, what's wrong with her? I love her and all, but she just doesn't make any sense." Not that any adult really ever made sense to the teenager.

Don's body tensed up when he heard his daughter tell them about their aunt, "Your telling me that aunt Jeanette left you there by yourself and went out at this time of night, you're only 16 what the hell are you doing there alone." Don quickly uncovered himself, swung his legs off of the bed and planted them on the floor, now sitting on the edge of the bed he resumed his questioning. "Are you saying your brother is not in the house, that he has gone out also? What the hell is going on over there! Okay I will be over there within the hour, you call your brother tell him to get his ass back to that house. I will be picking the two of you up, I'll deal with your aunt tomorrow." Don terminated the call without saying goodbye and then threw the phone onto the nightstand beside the bed, "dammit!" He exclaimed as he got up from the bed. Don was so annoyed that he didn't even get dressed, leaving the house in his traditional bedclothes consisting of slippers, pajama bottoms, and generic T-shirt. Don paused briefly as he passed the two bedrooms on the right side of the hallway which belonged to his children, though they could hardly be recognized as such, with most of their personal belongings removed and a 5 foot hole in the floor. The wall separating the two rooms had to be partially removed as the hole stretched from one room to the other. There was no electricity being supplied to the two rooms and so they were both cast in total darkness, the only source of illumination being the moonlight that was shining through the windows. The door to his son's room was completely shut, while his daughter's bedroom door was partially ajar. Don thought he had heard some weird noise coming from Sue's room, though he could not tell what the noise was. Ever since the renovations had began Don felt an overwhelming sense of fear whenever he entered his daughter's room, the room felt different somehow. There was something about the hole and although Don could not explain exactly what was bothering him, his sense of unease was real and palpable. Slowly turning away from the room Don made his way out of the house and into his car, moments later he was driving away.

Sue rolled her eyes, tossing her phone onto the couch next to her. She ignored her father's commands to call her brother, since she actually didn't know where he was. She walked back to the small room where she was staying, packing her duffel bag with all of her clothes and such. Why was he so freaked out? She was sixteen, she could stay here by herself for a bit. Heck, it wasn't like she was making out with some random college guy right now!

After packing her bag, she walked back out to the living room and set her bag down, picking up her phone and texting her brother to ask where he was. She then proceeded to go to the freezer and pick up a carton of ice cream and get a spoon.

It had apparently rained that night, which probably had occurred sometime after Don had gotten into bed, for he could not remember seeing or even hearing the rain in the hours before, though he had not noticed the rain until he was in his car driving to Jeanette's house. Although it was not raining at this moment the windshield of his car was being sprayed with water that came splattering up from the wheels of the car in front of him, as he drove down Main Street. After 20 or so minutes Don had arrived at Jeanette's house, pulling up into the driveway and stopping the car a mere 3 inches from the remote-controlled garage door. Don left the car running as he opened the driver's door and got out of the car, he then walked up to the front door and proceeded to knock.

Sue's dad was so old fashioned. Why didn't he just barge in? It wasn't like anybody other than herself was here! She opened the door, ice cream in hand. She ate a scoop and waved to her dad. "Hey, you're here. I'll get my stuff after I'm done eating. I forgot to mention that she didn't feed us either. she just kinda left and forgot about the food. But luckily, I found some ice cream." She knew Don wouldn't be happy, but she didn't care. She was quite content with her ice cream.

"Ice Cream for dinner huh?" Bill said disapprovingly. "Boy is your aunt going to get an hear full from me come morning." Bill said as he looked down at his daughter sitting on the couch, continuing his questioning he ask her, "Where is your brother? I told you to call him. Did you call him, or have you been sitting here all this time?" Bill's voice had become deeper and more demanding of his daughter. "Well, are your bags packed? If they are they we need to get going." With that Bill and his Daughter Sue left the house and got into the car, pulling out of the driveway they made for their own home. The conversation during the drive home was filled with the usual talk about the days events, school and the like. Bill had unleashed a barrage of questions for his daughter as a way to get around having to tell his daughter about his fears and the strange sounds coming from her room. 27 minutes later the car with Bill Richards in the drivers seat and his daughter Sue who was sitting in the back seat.

The darkness within Sue's room was being disrupted by an eerie iridescent light which was coming from the gigantic hole. From within the hole there came a most ungodly sound, a kind of slithering, sluggish hiss of unnerving morbidity. The unwholesome sound reverberated throughout the house, but then as the door knob of the front door started to turn the sound had ceased.

Immediately upon entering the house Don laid down some rules for his teenage daughter, "Sue you are going straight to bed, you'll have to sleep in the guest room, your room is not ready. When your brother gets here he will also be sleeping in the room. We'll have to get the old cot down from the attic for him to sleep on. I don't want either of you to go into the bedrooms, there are tools everywhere and the hole is deep, so stay out of the bedrooms." After ordering Sue to bed Don returned to his own bedroom.

Sue did her best to answer with the least amount of words possible as her father spoke in the car. After arriving home, she listened to his rules and nodded, not caring much. It wasn't like she wanted to sleep in her room right now. She'd probably fall through the hole in the floor and get stuck until morning. She sighed, wishing her brother was here. Where the heck was he? And where was Mom? She missed her.

Dragging her bag to the guest room, Sue sat down on the old bed and frowned. She texted her mom quickly, asking when she would be home. Then, she left the guest room and went to her room, peering in.

The only light was a few dim rays from the moon, shining in through the window. Sue hoped that the electricity would be back on soon and she would be able to leave the stupid, old house. She pushed the door open a bit more, then slipped in. Her furniture was pushed to the edges of the room. The hole sat quietly in the center of the room, an endless pit of darkness. Man, that was creepy!

She knelt down at the edge of it, looking down into it. How far down was it? she wondered.

From within the hole the unholy sound made it self known once again, this time however the horrible noise started off as a mere whisper, increasing in volume as it slithered its way up the walls of the cavernous pit toward Sue as she sat gazing into the pitch blackness. When the sound reached audible levels it switch from a sluggish hiss to a crude imitation of a human voice. The voice of Brian Richards.

Sue was speechless. Was Brian down there? But he had been there at their aunt's house earlier, before everybody abandoned her. "Brian?" she called down quietly, not wanting to wake her father. She leaned over further, expecting to see something in the dark. "Brian you idiot! You're going to be in huge trouble!" she hissed down, listening as the sound seemed to reverse itself and go from his voice to a tiny, unrecognizable sound. What the heck?

"Brian!" she nearly yelled, leaning a bit too far and toppling down into the darkness. She let out a petrified scream as she fell. When she landed, she let a soft "Oof!", then blacked out.

Jan Richards was asleep when she heard the buzz of her cell phone on the nightstand next to her bed. She sleepily reached over and grabbed the phone, she looked at it and noticed there was a text message. "Must be Suzie", said Jan into the dark empty room, her daughter was the only one that texted her. She read the message and it was like many that she got form her daughter. It had always broke Suzie's little heart when she was younger and Jan had to go on a long business trip, Jan thought in some way it still did even though she was sixteen. "I should be back home tomorrow evening baby don't worry ^_^; Luv U & miss U XOXO", she texted back. She sent the message and set the phone back on the side table.

Don broke out of a sound sleep by the sound of the scream, popping up into a full sitting position he listened further, "Did I just hear someone scream, or was it a dream" Don thought to himself. After a second or two it came to him -THE HOLE. Within a matter of a seconds after the realization that someone, possibly his daughter, had fallen into the immense hole, Don had jumped out of bed and came running into Sue's room. "Sue! where are you baby, are you hurt? Talk to me sweetie, please answer" No response came. Don immediately run to the edge of the hole and called down into it, "Sue! Are you down there?" After he once again failed to receive an answer from his daughter he left the bedroom and ran into the kitchen, looking under the sink Don grabbed the flashlight. Once back in Sue's room he knelt beside the hole and then shined the flashlight down into the darkness. It was far too deep for the light to reach all the way down to the floor of the pit, at best it could illuminate only about 50 feet, or less. Frantically looking around him Don saw a rope that one of the construction workers had brought, the rope was of good quality, strong and thick, and hopefully long enough to reach to the point where the digging had stopped. Don then tied one end of the rope to a 4 foot steel spike and then he drove it into the ground near the edge of the hole, until it was about 3 feet into the earth, this was as deep as he could get it manually. Grabbing a nearby sledge hammer Don pounded the spike into the ground even further, the spike was now sticking about 5 feet into the ground, he then tossed the rope into the pit. Don braced himself against the wall of the hole with his feet and then like a mountain climber he lowered himself down into the dark hole. When Don was about 6 six into the hole he looked up and saw his son Brian standing over the hole, looking down at Don with an odd expression. Don stopped climbing and watched his son, Brian suddenly produced an Axe from behind his back and to Don's horror he began to chop at the rope, on his very first swing Brian had managed to cut the rope. An expression of confusion and fear flashed across Don's face as he fell backward into the hole, with a loud thud he hit the bottom. Brian dropped the Axe and walked away.

Thankfully, Don had managed not to land on the unconscious Sue. She woke up slowly, her head aching. Her phone was chiming uncontrollably. She pulled it out with some effort and looked, seeing bits and pieces of her mom's text. The phone's battery then died and shut off. She moaned loudly, sitting up and looking around. She couldn't see anything!

"Dad," she said weakly, her voice raspy. "Dad?"

Luckily Don had managed to turn his body before he hit the ground, for he would have surely been killed if he had landed flat on his back upon the hard floor of the pit, his right arm and leg and fortunately broken his fall; absorbing most of the impact. Don Richards now lay on his side on the bottom of the cold and dank pit only a few feet away from where his daughter had landed moments before. Don had no idea how long he had been out when he heard his daughter call to him the first time, being in a semiconscious state Don could not tell if his daughter's call was real or simply a figment of a jumbled and battered mind. Sue's second cry of concern had snapped Don into full consciousness and soon the stark reality of their present situation crept into his thoughts. Rolling over from his side and onto his back Don opened his eyes and called to Sue, "Baby, are you all right." Sue was clearly still weak from the trauma of falling into such a scary, dark hole, taking Sue's strained nod as an affirmation of her present well-being Don tried his best to sit up so that he could get a sense of his surroundings and any means of possible escape. The one thing which immediately came to his mind was the rope that he had initially used the lower himself down into the pit, but upon seeing what her father had in mind Sue informed him that even when the rope was a single piece it had barely been long enough to reach the floor of the pit. With the failure of this first attempt to escape the dark cavern Don started to look around for anything else that they could use to liberate themselves from this musty earthen prison. After several minutes of searching Don had come up empty handed, clearly there was nothing in the hole that he could use to help them escape the hole -Don cursed the construction workers for digging so deep into the earth beneath the floorboards of his daughter's bedroom. It was very dark in the hole and Don was without a lighter or even a book of matches, without such tools to illuminate the darkness the only option was to use one's hands and feel the walls for any signs of an exit. Before making this latest attempt to escape Don administered to his daughter who was still laying on the cold ground.

"Mom's coming home soon, isn't she? She'll find us, or the idiot construction workers will," Sue said, trying to cheer up both her father and herself. She stood up weakly, leaning against the wall of the deep hole. The cool earth would have normally felt good to the teen, but right now she was freezing. "I fell down here after Brian was talking to me. How did you get down here?" she asked, oblivious to the fact that Brian wasn't down here. She just figured he was being stupid and remaining silent since it was him who had caused her to fall.

She listened as her dad explained trying to climb down on the rope he had previously been using to try and figure out how to get up. When he mentioned Brian cutting the rope, she shook her head. He hadn't been up there, he was trapped down here like the rest of them. "Dad, where is Brian?" Sue asked, terrified at what his answer would be. He wasn't at her aunt's house, he possibly in the house, or possibly down here, or who knows where.

Don knew it was his responsibility as a father to reassure his daughter that everything would be just fine, that no harm will come to her and that she is safe as long as he is around, for his one and only concern was her protection. "Look, everything is going to be fine, okay. No one is going to hurt you as well as I am here. Your brother? I'm sure he's safe and sound at your aunt's house. That couldn't have been him up there, maybe I was just seeing things, it was pretty dark up there. One thing is for sure, there is definitely someone up there and that's why it would probably be a bad idea to of climbed up there." As Don was trying to calm his daughter's concerns he was feeling the walls around him with his hands, searching for any point of egress. That's when he found it. On the opposite side of the pit where they were standing there was a hole in the rock wall. It had almost gone unnoticed due to its position, which was at the base of the wall. Luckily Don had attempted to kick at the wall in frustration. Turning to his daughter Don informed her about the small hole in the wall and that it just might be the way out to them both, "Honey! Over here." Sue on other hand was not so sure as the thought of leaving one confined space for an even smaller and tighter confined space somehow seemed an unwise thing to do. She certainly was not going to remain here by herself so she followed him as they crawled through the small passageway.

I'm gonna die, I'm gonna die, I'm gonna die, was all that Sue could think about. She followed her dad quickly, though she wasn't exactly sure this was the best idea. What if they got trapped in here too? And who the heck was in their house? What if they hurt her mom? She pushed the thought out of her mind and continued crawling, feeling claustrophobic. When she was sure the walls would crush her or the ceiling would collapse, they seemed to have emerged into another room. Maybe this old house wasn't so boring after all, but nonetheless creepy. "Please tell me I'm imagining things," she mumbled, feeling the walls in search of anything other than dirt or rocks.

Rocks and dirt from the ceiling of the small tunnel rained down upon Don Richards and his daughter Sue as they slowly crawled down the vertical and tight space, eventually exiting through the portal-like hole at the end. After several minutes of crawling they eventually wound up in a much larger cavern than the one they had been in previously, though the present cavern was almost totally devoid of light. Don and Sue immediately began to feel the walls in an attempt to find another entryway to escape through. What Don and Sue did not realize was that it was now daylight outside, nor did they realize that the cavern that they were presently stuck in was in fact several feet from the back of the house. The small tunnel that they crawled through had taken them deeper and farther away from their home. The current cavern was even stranger than the last, for it was perfectly round and the walls were covered with a layer of slimy, stinking fungus. The putrid and odorous slime slowly trickled from the walls and onto Don and Sue's hands and forearms.

Sue screamed as the fungus soon covered her hands and arms- not to mention her jeans since she had oblivious rubbed her hands on them at first. "Oh gross," she screeched, desperately trying to shake the goo off of her. It was to no avail though, as it continued to stick to her. It felt like a mix of bug repellant and and sun screen sticking to her, something she had never liked before. "What the heck is this stuff?" she said, closing her eyes as if it made any sort of a difference. She was terrified at the thought of being trapped even deeper underground with a mysterious substance covering her body.

"Baby, you must try to keep calm. Everything will be alright I promise you. Now. Please help me find a way out of here." Don consoles his daughter before resuming his search for an exit. Don suddenly feels cold, looking down at his feet he realizes that he is standing in a foot of water, his daughter also notice this a few seconds later, both of them were confused and understandably concerned. Would they drown in this dark horrible pit, or could they free themselves, these were the questions that they were now asking themselves. The water in the immediate area was completely still, neither of them had dared to move, fearing that the water might be even deeper near the center of the cavern. The water toward the center of the pit was suddenly disturbed by something that was attempting to rise out of the water.

"We're in a freaking hole in the ground, everything is not alright!" she cried, annoyed by her Dad's somewhat positivity. it was then that she noticed the water as well. At least it wasn't rising, so they shouldn't drown unless they were knocked out or something. But then it became certain that something was lurking in the water towards the center of this little 'room'. There was a gurgling and slurping noise, obviously a struggle but something would burst from the surface in a few moments. Neither of them would know what until it was too late.

Sue was painfully aware of the water lapping at her legs as small waves formed. Her jeans were sticking to her legs now. Looking down, she bent down and dipped a finger in the water, then stood back up. Strangely enough, she stuck her finger in her mouth to taste it. she spit it right back out, coughing a bit. "Dad, it's blood," she wailed, horrified.

Don could not believe what his daughter had just told him about the water, closing his eyes he prayed that it was just the blood of an animal, he immediately opened his eyes upon the realization that even that possibility would have been of little comfort, had it been true, which it was not. Don and Sue were now transfix on the area of water in front of them as small ripples started to form on the surface. Suddenly they witnessed a pale, bald head rise from the opaque liquid, followed by the neck, shoulders and finally the torso of an extremely thin figure. The gossamer and emaciated being stood facing away from Don and his daughter, who had stepped back against the wall of the cavern as they watched the birth of the thing before them.

Sue backed up against the cavern wall, gripping it for dear life, as if the figure might suck her up by just looking at her. "Dad!" she hissed, as if the thing might eat her if she spoke too loudly. "What the heck is that thing?" She closed her eyes, not wanting to look at the pallor thing.

Don was just as scared and confused as his daughter, he too had backed up against the wall in fear and amazement at what he was seeing in front of him, in his astonishment he could not even speak. His mind was wholly incapable of comprehending the creature's form and therefore there was no way to describe the thing before him, he simply could not conjure up the words. The creature made no attempt to harm Don and his daughter and its posture seemed nonthreatening. The most frightening aspect of this 'thing' oddly enough was not its thin, skeletal-like frame, but the fact that this creature possessed an intellect and had acquired, either by assimilation or physiological evolution, the faculties of rational thought and speech. Without advancing or gesturing the being before them began to communicate, it possessed a rather queer mode of speech, sluggish and broken. "Wat ar yuw d'in in awr domame, yuw ar no welchume heer." The creature sputtered forth.

Sue's mouth hung open in shock as the creature spoke, telling them that they were not welcome. Why not? This room, tunnel, cavern, or whatever it was was under their house. So didn't it belong to them as well? "I-i-i-it's o-our h-house, n-not yo-urs," she managed to stuttered out. She looked over at her dad, worried that he would faint. Or that she would. Looking back at the figure, she waited for some sort of reply.

"Yowr howce tweht'ti, owr hoom mwore" the creature responded. The creature then pointed to the small hole in the cavern wall which Don and his daughter had use to gain entrance into what appeared to be the creature's home. Upon this gesture the small hole immediately began to close itself up, the same slime which had covered the walls of the last chamber started to trickle down the wall in thick clumps and sealing the entrance way. The creature pulled something out from behind its back and presented it to Don's daughter, "Yuw taak et, espain auwl." the creature commented as it tossed a squarish object at Sue's feet, gazing down at it Sue realized that it was actually a book with no title upon its, a simple black book with no outstanding features except the rusted latch which kept the tome tightly sealed shut. Before sinking back down into the murky black water the creature stated the books title, "Et cauwd Necronomicon."

Sue looked down at the plain, black book, picking it up as the creature spoke again, then disappeared into the water. She looked at the back of the book, but found that it was also blank. The light down here was too dim to read the book, but the thought of what could be in it still made her shudder. She looked over tat her father as she opened to the first page of the book.

Don walked over to his daughter and joined in on her reprehension and wonderment at what had been bestowed upon them. Don knew nothing of such matter and he had never heard of any book entitled 'Necronomicon' though he found himself macabrely fascinated with discovering what its pages had to tell. The light within this chamber was hardly sufficiant for the task, luckily for them another passageway had opened on the opposite side of the pit, they had no idea how this was achieved and at that point they didn't care. Crawling their way through yet another slimy tunnel they made their way to another cavern, as before this particular chamber was even stranger then the others. "Oh my god Sue, a light! This must be the way out." Don shouted with great enthusiasm. Little did they know, the light within this third chamber was not sunlight but an eerie, phosphorescence. Coming out of the small tunnel Don and Sue were confronted with the most disturbing thing that they had come across, something which made the gossamer thing from the water seem normal. The walls were covered with glowing bubbles resembling amphibian-like eyes, which popped in and out of existence, while leaving a slimy residue. The thoughts that flashed through the minds of Don and his daughter as they viewed the hideous spectacle before them was highly unusual, they did not panic or ran back into the tunnel in fear. The first thing that came their mind was that this would be a good place to see what was written within the Necronomicon.

"Finally, a place to read and see," Sue mumbled. She had carried the black book through the tunnel. Wiping her hands on her pants, she opened the book back up to the first page while being careful not to lean too close to the walls of this room. It was time to figure out what everything here was. She looked at her Dad as she scanned over the first page.

Necronomicon page: 768

Don went over to his daughter and together they opened the ominous book and began to read from it, "The domain of the underdwellers is vast, deep and perilous. The denizens of this deep and dark world of cruel, harsh and bloodthirsty, in ancient times they were worshiped by Neanderthal man as demigods. The Abomasum is where you will find the entryway to the festering and moss shrouded domain of Tha'lium, the home of this ancient race. On the fifth day of Nimar it was customary to offer sacrifice to the underdwellers, the ones who hold the unseen and unfathomable evil at bay behind the great dimensional gate. Eventually man no longer fed the demigods, all sacrifice had ceased, but the time has come to once again offer sacrifice. The countless eons of sleep is coming to an end, once more the ancient evil beyond lies festering at the gate, the proper sacrifice must be made, a single life; young and feminine.

Sue nearly fainted reading from the book. She turned a sickly pale as she read the last line. A human sacrifice? More specifically, a human sacrifice with categories that she fit into all too well. She looked up at Don, horrified. He, he wouldn't give her to these creatures... would he? "What are we supposed to do?" she asked in a weak, strained voice.

Don was physically shaken and disgusted by what he had just read, he immediately dropped the accursed tome and grabbed hi daughter, holding her tight and promising her that she would come to no harm. He would die for his daughter without a second of indecision. Suddenly, as Don held his daughter close to him there came the strangest sound. Don looked down at hi daughter to see if she too could hear the sound, it seemed to Don that the sound was a whisper from a familiar voice.

Sue buried herself in her father's arms, still terrified. She did not hear the whispering voice that Don did. Her heart was pounding in her chest, blocking everything else out. It felt as if she might explode. She looked up at her dad, coming close to tears.

Don held his daughter as they both shook with fright. Feeling as there was no way out of this dismal hole they simply stayed in one spot and prayed for deliverance. That is when they noticed that another small passageway had opened up in the wall. Since there was no way to get back into the previous chamber they were left with no choice but to enter this latest tunnel. Heaven knows what they will find in the next cramped space, all they could be sure of was that this newest tunnel lead to the fourth chamber - The Abomasum.

You don't have a choice. Suck it up and keep going. Dad won't kill you. Sue's mind was buzzing with anxiety and what nightmarish things could be inside the last room. Of course, she had no idea it was the fourth and last room, the Abomasum. "L-let's go," she stuttered, still clutching the horrible book. "You can go first." Never would she crawl first into the unknown. She'd let her dad do that instead. She waited for him to start crawling through the tunnel, then followed after him.

Don knew that he and his daughter had only one choice, they had to enter the newly formed entranceway which had appeared in the wall of this hideous chamber of glowing, staring and aluminous eyes. Don and Sue were relieved that this latest tunnel was devoid of such horrid features. At the midpoint of the tunnel Don and Sue abruptly stopped their movements as he noticed the strange glowing whiteness shining into the tunnel from the chamber ahead, "What the hell is that." Don called out. Knowing that they had no other option but to continue Don and his daughter started to crawl again toward what they were told would be the last and final chamber that they would come across. The fact that the forth chamber was known as the Abomasum now seemed quite ironic to both of them. Here they were picturing a ghastly and slimy chamber of horrors, covered in dangling, dripping and bloody entrials suspended from the ceiling and splashing upon the floor of the cavern. They instead found themselves standing in a room with glowing white walls and with no distinguishing marks.

"It's.... not the inside of an intestine," Sue commented, looking around the fourth room. It was almost pretty.... That is, if the voice in the back of her head wasn't telling her that she was possibly trapped here, under her house, until she and her father slowly starved to death. It wasn't the most pleasant thought she'd ever had. "So now what?" she asked to no one in general. She was actually more of speaking to the room itself, as if it might come to life or be harboring another figure.

Don and his daughter were now standing in the center of the room with glowing white walls and were huddled together as they shivered from the intense cold of this particular chamber. Without a clue as to their next move a father and his daughter preceded to search through the pages of the Necronomicon, opening to find an answer or at least an idea as to how they might proceed.

Necronomicon, Page# 804

"Ye who have entered the abomasum must present a sacrifice to honor the underdwellers, they would have kept the Great old ones at bay for countless millennia. Recite the passage and immediately present the sacrifice their after. Break the covenant and thou shall be cast out of this portal."

Don had no intention of offering his daughter as a sacrifice, nor did he relish the idea of paying any kind of honor to those who had imprisoned his daughter and himself in this ghastly, hellish earthen maze. Frustrated he shouted, "I refuse all." His disregard for the ritual and his disrespect to the underdwellers brought about the violent shaking of the White room. Don dropped the Necronomicon upon the floor and grabbed his daughter, holding her close as they whispered their final goodbyes. Closing their eyes tightly they waited for their utter destruction. The two of them were amazed when upon opening their eyes they found themselves standing in the living room of their house. Although they were confused, they were also happy that the ordeal was over and that they were home safely.

Sue looked around, amazed that she was well... above ground. And in a normal room. Not dead. It was truly the best feeling she'd ever had, and she happily hugged her dad for once since her childhood. "We're alive!" she cried.

Don held his daughter close as he slowly began to sense a prescene within the room, now huging his duaghter to the point of being denied oxygen he saw two indiviguals walk out from the darkness of the hallway. It was his wife and son. "Oh, Im sorry hunny." He said as he loosened his grip on his daughter's small frame. "Babe. Im so glad to see you."

Sue looked at her dad in disbelief. He was acting as if everything was just fine, as if they hadn't just spent hours or days underground. She then looked at her brother. "Weren't you at Aunt J's house? When did you come home? Why didn't you text me back?" she asked, then realized she had probably forgotten her phone down in one of the chambers. She looked at her mom then and ran and hugged her. She had always missed her when she'd gone on long trips.

"Everything is alright my dear, do not fret." Her mother answered in an eerie and ominous tone. Don who had also been wondering as to his wife and son's answer to Sue's questions looked up from starring at Brian. "Honey, step away from her!" Don spoke in a loud tone. Father and daughter now stood across from mother and son in a defensive posture. "Your not mt wife, and your not my son." Don said with a trembling voice. The 'thing' posing as Don's son spoke out, "Your son? He did not stay at his aunt's house. He came here directly after and looked in the hole. He was taken then and within that place he remains. You did not see him, for he has already passed beyond the Abomasum. He is ours now. Forever shall he keep vigil upon the gate behind which lay the unthinkable ones." Don could barely keep his mind sane upon hearing this, "Why? He yelled. The 'thing' smiled, "We must replenish our numbers every few thousand years, it is customary to take those in close proximity, this would be you and your family." Don held his daughter tight.

"What could be more unthinkable than this?" Sue cried. She clung to her father tightly, looking at creatures disguised as her mother and brother. So Brian was... dead then? One of these things? What did that mean for them? could she and her father outrun these things and get away from the house? Why hadn't they sold it before? Everything seemed so unbelievable, so terrifying. She could only hope that this was some sort of twisted dream.

More words of warning slithered out of the 'things' mouth, "You no longer need the book. Relinquish the Necronomicon, this you must do. Its secrets are not for you." Tucking the tome behind his back Don replied, "The Necro what?" A reply which the 'thing' did not appreciate, "Do not fool with me mortal." Expressing his defiance further Don replied, "Oh I am not fooling. I had a chance to study the book a little further and learned some interesting things, facts which I'm sure you rather I not know. I may have spend a few days underground, but I still know about the rising morning sun. If I am not mistaken, your ability to command us breaks with the coming of dawn." Looking out the bedroom window Don added, "And here comes that sunlight now. We shall have ample time before the night comes to vacate the premises, but your time is not so limitless." The two beastly, crooked mockeries of Don and Sue's loved ones trembled in fear of the coming day, suddenly with inhuman speed the two monstrosities dived into the hole. "Well, I think its all over now baby. Before we leave I want to study the Necronomicon more closely. There must be some way to release your brother and to find mom." Don said softly as he tried to comfort his daughter.

"Do you really think that's such a good idea dad? What if it just makes them angrier or we don't get out of here in time?" Sue asked, unable to hide the worry in her voice.

"Well Baby Ill leave it up to you. would we stay and try to save your mother, or should we try to make a run for it?" Don asked his daughter. Just then the creature which they had encountered within the second chamber came climbing out of the great hole and confronted Don and Sue." Do you want to save your kin?" The 'thing' asked."For if you do, all you have to do is return the book to me. You see I am not an underdweller, I led you astray so that you might fear them and so that you would not return the book to them. You see, I have stolen the tome from them, hoping to disturb and provoke the unimaginable ones. So, you may free your brother my dear Sue. And you may be reunited with your wife, if you will just return the book to me. Don didn't know what to do, should he trust this creature?What made it different from the others that had impersonated his wife and son. Could it be trusted?Feeling as though he had no alternative to the creatures suggestion Don handed over the Necronomicon, and hoped that the creature would fulfill its promise to him and his daughter."Thank you father."

Sue watched quietly as the creature had come back, speaking of some kind of bargain. She wasn't sure it wa sthe best idea, but she guessed she had no say in things considering her dad had just given the thing the book. "So...? My brother and my mom?" she asked, wondering how they could possibly save Brian and find her mom. Oh, how she missed her mother! She wouldn't believe this if they ever found her. Or maybe this was just a bad dream? Sue sure hoped it was, because otherwise life was turning into a nightmare.

The 'Thing' looked up at Don and his daughter after being handed the Necronomicon and with a sinister smile upon its bleached white, plain face and spoke in its slithering moist voice. "I have kept my vow to you. I am your son, mother is waiting for you in the next room. But be warned, you may not leave the confines of this house. In fact it is now impossible for you to leave here, as you and your daughter are no longer a part of the world without." Don didn't understand what the creature (now revealed to be his son) was saying to him. With a mounting sense of dread Don released his daughter and ran to the front door, opening it he attempted to walk beyond the threshold, only to be stopped by an invisible barrier. Don turned to face his daughter.

Sue watched in horror as the creature disappeared and her father couldn't escape. Well, they were doomed now. "What are we gonna do?" she asked, sitting down with her back against the wall in defeat. They only had until darkness before who knows what would happen to them. And she couldn't get out of her own house, which ruled out the mall and friends.

Coming to grips with the fact that there was no way out of the present situation Don Richards pressed both hands against the invisible Shield which covered the entire dwelling, putting his head down he breathed in deeply and then exhaled, he had now come to terms with the fact that there was no escape. Sue turned to look at her father as Don began to shake uncontrollably, he spoke at that point but sue could not make out anything that he was saying, his words were becoming more and more intelligible as he began to hiss forth his comments. The odd sounds that her father was making immediately reminded her of the pale thing which claims to be her brother, but before she could fully digest that which was playing out before her, Don turned to her. Her father had become one of the underdweller, his skin was now bleach-pale and his face was without lines of expression. Now totally mortified by her father's sudden transformation Sue stepped backward and before she knew it she was falling back into the hellish, cavernous and slime soaked pit. Her neck snapped.