Short story about watching TV one minute and waking up in a basement the next. |
As I opened my eyes, I found myself staring at a man’s face. I jumped up off the dirt floor. I was standing in the middle of a wooden staircase without any steps. Also, it wasn’t just one but two bodies with me. Both seemed dead. I rubbed the back of my head. It was throbbing and my clothes, for some reason, were damp. I stood there and did a flashback in my mind. CSI was on the TV. I heard scratching at the door. There was a dog but its collar said cat with a number. While I stood in my doorway, I grabbed my mobile and dialed the number. Someone answered and asked me if I found their dog. I said “yes” and … pretty much that’s all I remember. I examined the dark room. There was a heater that must have been broken because I could smell fuel fumes. There were no windows. I figured I had to be in someone’s basement. I looked at the top of the stairless case and saw a door, but it was shut. I looked at the bodies around my feet. Their faces seemed familiar but I couldn’t quite place them. One was an older woman; the other, a young man in what looked like his early thirties. Before I could investigate my surroundings further, I heard a creaking over my head. The creaking seemed to be heading straight for the stairs. I heard the sound of a deadbolt unlocking and a wave of grey light fanned into the basement. A large man, at least 6’, stood in the doorway. “What the hell are you doing alive?” he barked at me. I couldn’t speak. I stood there staring at the huge silhouette. “You don’t recognize me, do you?” I noted sarcasm in his query. I shook my head. “Well,“ he said, “let me refresh your memory.” He took out a cigarette and lit it up. “Ten years ago, you served on a jury and convicted me of involuntary manslaughter, a crime I didn’t do. I lost ten years of my life thanks to you. So, with a few contacts I know, I found out who you guys were. But I wouldn’t get even with all of you. That would point all fingers right to me. No, I figured killing off a quarter of the jury that took a quarter of my life was justice to me.” He took a long drag of his cigarette and blew smoke rings. “Now, I’m not a heartless man. I planned on making sure you were dead first before I ditched the evidence.” He pulled out a large pack of matches and lit them with his cigarette. “From what I hear, you’ll only feel pain for the first few minutes.” I watched in horror as he threw the small fireball down towards me. That’s when I realized the fumes I smelled weren’t coming from a faulty heater, but from me. |