He wanted to tell his father how it felt the very first time he stepped into the house. That shivery feeling. A sense that something wasn’t right. But not today. His father was too stressed already. He had a new job at the plant, a new house, two kids to worry about, and no wife.

Liam decided to keep his fears to himself.

3. Noises in the Basement

3

NOISES IN THE BASEMENT

Liam stood in the hallway off the kitchen, peering into the basement. The stairs were ancient wooden boards nailed across empty space. One false step and it was a long drop to the cement floor below. The basement gave off a smell of decay, of things gone rotten. A place where mice had crawled off to die. Home to cobwebs and spiders, trapped flies and ruined toys.

Liam flicked the switch on the wall. Nothing happened.

At the bottom of the stairs, he could scarcely make out a bare bulb that hung from the ceiling. It had a pull string. Maybe that would do the trick.

But an inner voice made Liam cautious. He remembered his father’s warning during breakfast. “I’ll be gone most of the day,” he said. “I know you like to explore, Liam. And that’s fine. Up to a point. But stay out of the attic, and don’t go into the basement. I don’t trust those old stairs. And that old furnace needs to be replaced. It’s an accident waiting to happen.”

When Liam stepped back to shut the basement door, a metallic sound came to his ears.

CLANG

CLANG

CLANG.

The sound came from … down there.

“Hello?” he bleated.

Again, in a stronger voice, “Anybody down there?”

Liam wiped his hands on his pants. He looked around. Puffed on his inhaler and thought about things. Breathe in, breathe out. Kelly was upstairs in her room. Still asleep, most likely. Or texting, texting, texting —like always. His father away on errands: groceries, the lumber yard, who knows where?

All Liam really knew was that he was alone.

In the house.

Or alone with the house.

CLANG, CLANG.

CLANG-CLANG-CLANG.

The sounds echoed up in rhythm, like a voice calling to him, a song in the dark.

Come, Liam. Come.

Doolin stood protectively at Liam’s side. GRRRR, she growled. A warning sound, low, from deep inside the animal’s chest. GRRRR, GRRRR.

The metallic noises came louder now, more urgent. Clearer. They were calling to Liam. Come, come.

Transfixed, Liam took one cautious step down the stairs. There was no railing, nothing to grip. He shifted his weight from his left foot to his right. There, CREAK, the old board held strong. Some fluttery something brushed across Liam’s face, like the shadowy hand of a ghost.

No, it was only a cobweb, a spider’s trap.

“Come on, girl,” Liam called to his dog. “Let’s explore together.”