The Unseen Below

The university's vast campus was humming with life. Pupils rushed between lessons, the bustle of chatter blending with the odd chuckle. Underneath the surface of this intellectual paradise, however, was a secret gloom nobody thought possible.

That evening Emily Thompson, a third-year psychology student, left the library last. She had lost sense of time reading over research papers and textbooks as the exams loomed. She rushed across the empty quad, her feet resounding in the stillness. Long, twisting shadows created by the lampposts appeared to dance with their own life.

She felt strange as she got closer to her apartment. The flickering light in the basement window created odd, irregular glows into the night. Curious and a little scared, she resolved to look into it. After all, after 10 PM the basement was meant to be locked.

Emily shivered down her spine as she pulled open the heavy door leading to the basement steps. The hinges creaked. She dropped gently, the air becoming cooler with every stride. Above flickering fluorescent lights created lengthy shadows that twisted and changed with every stride.

At the bottom, the basement was a maze of maintenance hallways and storage spaces bursting with antiquated furniture, damaged machinery, and lost university antiques. The air smelled heavily of mildew and dust. Emily paused; her instincts urged her to turn back, but curiosity drove her on.

Her lights above started to fail one by one as she descended further into the basement, throwing her into a stifling blackness. Fumbling for her phone, she turned on the flashlight app. The little ray sliced across the darkness, lighting cobweb-covered nooks and rusty pipes.

She heard a deep, guttural growl suddenly that reverberated off the concrete walls. Emily stopped, heart thumping in her chest. She turned gradually, the beam of the flashlight shaking in her palm. Once again, the roar resounded along the little passageway, nearer this time.

At the brink of her light, she sensed motion in the darkness. Something lingered just out of view. The laser caught a glimpse of eyeballs shining a terrible yellow in the night. Emily retreated, her breath accelerated and her head whirled.

"Who's there?" asked Her voice quivering, she yelled out.

None of a reply Just the deep, threatening growl becoming louder, more forceful. Emily turned aside, her torch whirling over the walls in search of an escape. The thing drew nearer, and she could hear claws scratching on the concrete floor.

Desperate, she turned and sprinted, her feet resonating over the maze-like basement. Driven along, she could hear the beast behind her roaring and snarling. Her dread gave her strength, so she staggered over trash almost falling but pressed on.

At last she noticed a door ahead, the exit sign flickering just above it. She shot for it, shoving herself into the door and exploding into the chilly night air. Breath coming in harsh breaths, she slammed the door shut behind her.

Her thumping pulse was the only sound the motionless campus was making. Emily turned half-expecting the cellar door to burst open, the thing appearing to pull her back into the darkness. Still shuttered, however, the horror confined at least temporarily.

Her head whirling with what she had just gone through, she staggered back to her dorm. She felt she had to alert the others, tell someone about the beast prowling the cellar. However, would they believe her? Alternatively would they believe it was just stress and the mental strain of finals playing havoc?

That evening she laid in her bed and slumber escaped her. Haunted every thought was the recollection of those brilliant eyes and the sound of those terrible growls. She sensed something dreadful and sinister lurked in the shadows underneath the university's surface of academics and normality.

She was worried it wouldn't remain under cover for very long.