Not Electricians

"Come on, Black Lightning, go, GO!" Twelve year old Johnny Heralds jumped up and down on the couch, in tune with the beat of the race horse's hooves, thoroughly entranced by the rapid unfolding of events. As the horses raced closer and closer to the finish line, he inched closer and closer to the TV, holding his breath in anticipation of his favorite horse crossing the line first. Black Lightning pulled ahead of the pack, stretched his neck out to the line and...

The all too familiar blip of the old tube TV turning off filled his shocked eyes, and he sat on the couch, staring, before it hit him that the rest of the power had gone off as well. Johnny frowned slightly, but then his face turned to full blown panic when the full gravity of the situation sank in. He wasn't ready to deal with the memories of the cave yet. Mom had said so, it was the whole reason she didn't want him alone in the first place. He had told her he was fine, but it was now, with the terrifying event front and center in his mind, he realized how wrong he was.

He and his best friend Ben had been out exploring the forests behind their home that Saturday a few months back. Ben had decided to go a little further than usual –  of course Johnny agreed -  when they found the cave. Its mouth was large and menacing, and the very thought of going in terrified the life out of Johnny, but Ben insisted. “What are you, a fraidy cat?” he mocked. Not wanting his image to be tarnished, Johnny crept in behind Ben, into the mouth of the giant cave.

They had only gone in a few feet when Ben stopped suddenly. The pause surprised Johnny and he let out a small yelp when he bumped into his friend's back. “Shh!” Ben had scolded, but before he could get anything more out, the ground of the cave began to shake. It was going to collapse.

“Run, back out the cave!” Johnny yelled, but Ben had a hold of his arm and wouldn't let go. “This way, deeper! Captain Impossible does it all the time!” And so they ran, as far as their legs would allow, before everything turned black. The entrance had been covered, and Ben and Johnny were stuck, inside the cave. And so they remained, for four hours, until Ben managed to find another way out, but by then it had been too late. The time in that cave burned in his mind, and now any amount of darkness scared the –

Bu-bump. Johnny startled. What was that? He looked as far as the darkness allowed, but saw nothing. This meant it was farther, beyond the darkness. Beyond the point of no return, as it may as well be called.

Bump bump THUD! The haunting noise came again, this time even louder than before. Why, oh why did the power have to go out now? Johnny curled himself up into a ball on the couch, shivering not from cold, but from fear. I'm such a wimp... he thought to himself. If only his parents were here. But they weren't. They were at a dental party, some middle of the year staff thing. 

Bah. Dentists. Why couldn't they be... electricians? Electricians didn't go to parties. Electricians didn't abandon their son in his hour of need. More bumps sounded,  likely from the basement, startling Johnny out of his thoughts. He craned his head towards the source of the noise. Though it was too dark to see, he knew the noise was coming from the white door, the one leading down into the pits of doom.

Ben would know what to do in a situation like this. Even at just a year older, he still proved to be the bravest kid Johnny knew. He would jump at the chance to investigate the noises coming from the basement. Well, if Ben can do it, I can do it too, he thought defiantly. Decision made, he slowly got up from the couch and felt his way into the kitchen. Very quickly, he felt his right foot slip from under him, heard the sound of moving skateboard wheels, before falling face first in his dog Riley's food. He sputtered, spat a few pieces of dry kibble out of his mouth, and stood up again, quickly brushing himself off, making a pose that said "I am all business."

Groping around, he searched for the flashlight that he knew was supposed to lay on the counter.  Cu-BAM!  He jumped, heart racing like the horses he had been watching on TV.  "Please stop... please please stop..." he pleaded into the darkness. He flipped the switch on the flashlight, but he got little relief from the soft glow it created. Forget too-brave-for-his-own-good Ben, he was going to have to go down there. Alone.

CRASH! This time it sounded like glass falling to the floor. Johnny remembered the comic book lying prone on his upstairs bed. Could he have ghosts creating a mess in the basement? He shivered at the thought. He'd dealt with snakes and spiders and rats before, but never ghosts. How do you get rid of a ghost? I know. You thump them real hard across the head. Everybody knew all ghosts had heads. How else would they do all that... ghost stuff? He continued on his way to the ominous big white door, but stopped again when a new, stranger sound resonated from it's hidden depths. 

Giggling? He paused. Maybe they wanted him in there. Maybe it was a set-up. Who knew if he would ever be seen or heard from again? He couldn't bear the though that if he were to die, he had promised Ben all his comic books. Stop it. I have to be brave. Giving Ben my comic books is a... worthy cause. Kinda. He stiffened his lip and reached for the doorknob. His hand ready to turn it, he stopped when scratching came from the door. Something wanted out? What if it was ghosts?

Wait a minute... do ghosts scratch? According to Captain Impossible, they can float right through walls.  He creaked open the door a crack, peering one eyeball past the frame. Satisfied that nothing was going to jump out at him, he opened it further.  He shined his light into the darkness and breathed a huge sigh of relief. 

“Flopsy and Tudsly!” Two gray rabbits looked up at him, their big brown eyes pleading.  They were his parents' rabbits, who must have gotten stuck when his dad went searching for his "documents of utmost importance". Whatever that meant. He ushered the rabbits out, then ran his light over the mess they had created.  Boxes littered the floor everywhere, so much that the once clean floor could hardly be seen.  A vase lay in pieces scattered on the floor, and Giggle-With-Me-Teddy was face up among boxes of books as well. 

Laughing to himself, he left the basement and headed back to his spot on the couch.  About to sit down, he was struck to pause by another noise.  There was thumping coming from the attic...