My name is Oscar, I am 28, I live with my mum and brother. My brother, Billy, is 23 and What I am about to tell you still gets to me. It occurred 20 years ago and involves Billy and the basement of our previous house. One day, my mum, randomly started to spend time in our basement when we got home after school. I never knew why. And to be honest me and Billy didn’t want to know! It was always dark and in order to turn on the light, you would have to go down the dark steps to switch on the light and we were not brave enough to do that, plus, we were always told not to go down there!
One afternoon, during the weekend, my mum came out of the basement as the home phone was ringing, the basements light was still on and me and Billy looked at each other and grinned. You know what that means, when you are not supposed to do something and you and your close one look at each other and the grin you both give is an agreement to do what is not supposed to be done. Me and Billy quietly went downstairs, and it was a complete mess! There were so many bin bags, all filled and tied up and I was so confused. I decided to open one of the bags and could see a lot of rubbish, from card, paper, and a lot of dust! There was also a Broom which then made me realise that my mum must be cleaning out the basement, but why?
I then noticed a box, and I was so eager to open it. I would have been eager now to be honest, but before I decided to open it, I wanted Billy to be here with me, to get his attention and show him what his big brother had just found, and at his young age I was sure he was going to be excited. But… this is when it starts to get weird. As I had turned around trying to get his attention, Billy, was faced towards one of the corners and just looking up. I started calling him but not too loudly, I didn’t want our mum to find out we were down here. I didn’t get a response, he was still, face towards the corner and just looking up.
I was a kid myself and was terrified with Billy’s behaviour. I so wanted to run up the stairs as Billy’s was giving me the creeps. I managed to compose myself and slowly started to walk towards him. I was not too far behind him and…I could hear him whispering. He was whispering to himself, I could not make out what Billy was saying…..I ran up the stairs with tears of confusion in my eyes, into the bedroom. Before I could even scream to get my mums attention, my heart, sank. My mum was still on the phone…but…Billy was also in the room, playing on his Gameboy.
My mum got off the phone and asked what had happened, I was not focused on my mum or her questions, I was frozen, eyes fixed on Billy, thinking how on Earth he was up here when he was just downstairs. My mum noticed I had been down the basement; she closed the door and told me not to go down there again. I had so much built up inside me, I wanted to cry, I wanted to shout and let my mum know what had just happened, but I kept it in, and we just continued with our day. It was now 2am, everyone was in their room, fast asleep, but I just couldn’t. All I kept thinking about, how Billy was in 2 places at once? I also wanted to know what was inside the box and being a young boy who didn’t know better, I decided to go down there and check.
I slowly went down the stairs, everything looked okay, apart from the mess. I went over to the box and opened it; it was filled with cut up card and paper. I realised my mum made a birthday banner from it as it spelt “Happy Birthday Billy”, the box and the bin bags started to make sense, and why my mum was spending time down the basement during the last few weeks, she was clearing the basement so she could host a birthday party for billy, it made sense to me, the basement is quite spacious and seemed like a good place for a family party I told myself, I was still confused on how Billy was in 2 places at once, but I don’t know, was I just seeing things I told myself. I put the lid back on top of the box, took a big deep breath and was ready to go back upstairs into my room. As I turned around,
My brother, Billy was in front of me. “What are you doing here?” I asked. “Mum is going to kill us if she finds us down here”. I didn’t get a response; Billy, was just staring at me. I then started to think about what happened before, how Billy was in 2 places at once. I must be turning mad; I must be seeing things I told myself. “We’re going upstairs right now, there’s nothing down here”, I said. I was ready to take his hand and go upstairs, but…..I couldn’t feel him. I couldn’t feel Billy’s hand. The lights then started flickering, it kept on going on and off every 2 seconds! And Every time they would turn on, the smile on Billy’s face kept getting wider and creepier. I ran, I ran so fast up the stairs and before I could open the door,
I hear, “Billy, I want Billy”. I turn back….and see something I can’t describe, even until this day. It was a dark figure, like the dark riders from Lord of the rings. They were just standing at the bottom of the stairs…holding Billy. I froze, this thing then started to run up the stairs, towards me. I closed my eyes and started screaming and hoping that this was just a bad dream. “Oscar, what the hell are you doing here!?, How many times have I told you that you shouldn’t be here”! It was my mum’s voice, I open my eyes, turn around and see my mum, looking like she was about to turn into She Hulk, whilst holding Billy who is crying. I turn back and there was nothing there.
I was speechless and motionless and whilst being in this state, my mum took my hand, took me into my room and told me to go to sleep. Fast forward 2 weeks, nothing weird has happened and today, is Billy’s Birthday! The day was going so great! t was just me, Billy and my mum, playing in the garden, playing board games and opening up presents. Billy was so happy to see that he got the new Pokémon game for his Gameboy and gave my mum a big hug. He then looked at me, ran towards me and hugged me. Whilst we were hugging, he whispered, “Thank you Oscar”, and before I could say, “it’s okay, anything for my baby brother”, he says, “I want Billy”, in that old, evil voice I heard 2 weeks ago!
I pushed him away, forcefully, without thinking, and Billy falls over and starts crying. “What is wrong with, you have been so weird lately and you are ruining Billy’s big day! Sort yourself out as we have guests over this evening, and it will be in the basement”. My mum shouted. “Erm, The basement, mum, do we have to go down into the basement”, I asked nervously. “Yes, now listen, Billy and Oscar, I have been in the basement after school for the last few weeks as I have been planning to have a family gathering down there and have cake for Billy’s birthday, so this evening, your uncle, Aunty and cousins are coming, and we will be spending time down in the basement”. After hearing this, Billy starts jumping up and down, in excitement, whilst I, start dreading of the idea.
It’s 8pm and the doorbell rings, it’s my family. They came and we all greeted, they all gave Billy presents and wished him a Happy birthday. My uncle then looked at me and said, “Hey Oscar, you look like you’ve seen a monster, are you okay?”, “No, no, I’m just tired as I didn’t sleep well last night because of the excitement for Billy’s birthday” I said, but wanting to say, “Yes, yes I have, and I don’t want to go down the basement”!
My mum was catching up with her brother and sister-in-law, whilst me, Billy and 2 of my cousins were in my room, playing the new Pokémon game on Billy’s Gameboy. We were having a great time, trying to catch this stubborn Pikachu, who didn’t want to go into the poke ball, until my mum opened my door and told us all to come down into the basement to have cake and take pictures. Billy and my 2 cousins jumped up and down in excitement and ran out of room, whilst I was walking, slowly and terrified, thinking the worst.
We were all now in the basement, there was a table with a cake and a chair, set for Billy. Billy sat on the chair, and we all stood in front of him, singing happy birthday. Whilst we were all singing and having a great time, I see something, something coming up, behind Billy, like how a person slowly gets up from the sitting on the floor, I noticed this thing, looked exactly like the dark figure I saw before. This thing looked like it was about to grab Billy, Until, I closed my eyes and shouted, “leave my brother alone!” I open my eyes and Billy is just starting at me and there was nothing behind him. I look around and my family are all quiet, shocked, confused, and worried.
I then collapse onto the floor and end up waking up hours later, My family had left, and my mum and Billy were in the other room, sleeping.
20 years later and nothing weird has happened since, me and Billy have grown up and we, along with my mum have moved into a bigger house as Billy needed his own room. Everything has been okay since I woke up in my room all those years ago. I don’t understand what I saw, I don’t understand what I heard, and I don’t understand what I experienced but, I am so glad it’s over. I wanted to share this with you all to let it off my chest.