Uninvited Guests

His heart was pounding. He was sure he had seen the doorknob turn. Richie monitored the small door closely, looking to see if it would shift again. Ever since he had cleaned the basement and uncovered it, he would hear strange things coming from behind the carefully carved wooden door. However, when he twisted the rusty knob and pulled the door open, there was nothing but more of the stonewall of his basement.

Richie assessed the small door from his dark corner for a few more minutes, deciding whether or not he should walk over and try the door again. Eventually, he decided that he’d rather not be disappointed, and went back to reading his comic book. He had convinced himself that the dancing shadows of the basement had manipulated the dim light to make it seem as though the doorknob had turned. He flipped through the last few pages and looked at his watch.

When he was about to head back upstairs, he heard scuffling from behind the small door. Richie quickly sunk back to his corner and watched, his heart racing. He heard hushed voices grow and fall as they argued about something. He watched and waited. He began to get more and more frightened as he pondered what could possibly be behind the door. Soon, there came silence. When the doorknob turned with a squeaky shrill, Richie’s heart skipped a beat, he breathed harder, and his eyes became wide circles. The door suddenly swung open. Richie gasped. Two little creatures crept out, eyeing their surroundings.

The creatures seemed cautious, slowly stepping out into the light. Richie could now clearly see what they looked like. They were very short, about knee-height.  They were hairy homunculus with heads that resembled an otter’s. One had a light shade of brown fur, and and the other had a darker shade. They wore raggy grey cloaks, tattered button shirts, and overalls. Strangely, Richie found that he wasn’t all that afraid of them. However, he didn’t want to be seen by them, so he scrambled farther backwards in his corner. As he inched back, he didn’t notice that a nail was poking up from the floor. He accidentally sat on it and screamed loudly from the sharp pain in his butt. He jumped up and his head hit the shelf that had been holding many of the boxes that contained family antiques. The shelf broke off of the wall,  and all the boxes tumbled upon him with a loud crash.

When the box avalanche had ceased, Richie pushed himself out from underneath the debris. He dusted himself off and froze. He remembered the odd little beings that were there. The creatures were staring right at him with surprised and slightly confused expressions. Richie stared at them, and they stared right back. After they shared a few awkward moments of silence, Richie mustered up the courage to try and speak to them. He raised one hand slowly and waved. “Hi,” he said shakily. Suddenly, their eyes narrowed to nasty slits, and they opened their mouths to reveal two rows of white, sharp fangs.

“OH MY GOD, WHAT THE H---?!” Richie shouted in surprise. He jumped back and surprise and hit the wall. The creatures began slowly stepping towards him, moving their cloaks and revealing long, curved claws. They started hissing and growling, and Richie was panicking. He was trapped between these two little demon-like beings and a cold, stone wall. He began to hyperventilate. He looked around frantically in the mound of boxes for a weapon and found an old wrench. He picked it up and began swinging at them, hoping to frighten them. It didn’t work. They kept coming at him, this time from both sides. They crouched down, ready to attack. Richie thought fast, and threw his wrench at the one on the left, and ducked so the one on the right missed him. He charged to the stairs, and practically sprinted up to the door. He looked back, and saw that the creatures were coming up the stairs right behind him, snarling and gnashing their fangs. He screamed, slammed the door, and locked it. They banged on it, and Richie slowly backed away, making sure it would hold. After a few minutes of loud, anguished growling and scratching, he heard them scuffle away, and there was complete silence.

Richie collapsed on the ground, breathing heavily. He felt cold and his palms were sweaty. He heard his father running down the stairs, and he came into the kitchen. “Richie,” he said, “What is going on?!” Richie turned to his dad.  “Dad,” he replied shakily, “Don’t go in the basement.” His dad looked at the door, and back to Richie. “Why?” he asked. “What happened down there? You look like you’ve seen a monster.” Richie just looked at his dad. “Don’t go in the basement,” he repeated. His dad shrugged and went back upstairs.

Richie rose to his feet and leaned on the kitchen counter. What the h--- had he just seen? He didn’t know what they were, or where they came from. He ambled up to his bedroom and turned on his laptop. He searched Google in hopes of finding any information--typing in the characteristics of the creatures. Nothing came up. Of course, thought Richie. He then had an idea. He could look up his address and see if there might be information about the history of his house. He typed “10500 Norwich Ave” into the search box, and pressed “Enter”. He scrolled through many search suggestions and couldn’t find anything of importance, until he came across one link. It read “The Wuldrins of 10500 Norwich Avenue”.

Richie clicked on the link, and an old web page came up. There were 2 photos on the top of the website, one of his house and the other of the creatures. There was also an article. It appeared to be written by the previous occupant of the house. He scrolled down and began to read.  “This is a website concerning the mysterious rumors of 10500 Norwich Avenue. Today is March 2nd, 1994. I’ve been living here since October of last year. When I first moved into the house, many people around here warned me, saying that the house is cursed by some demonic creatures. When I asked why, they said something about there being monstrous noises coming from the basement. The occupants would investigate, and they would find two small, cloaked creatures that would attack whenever they spotted anyone. They would become so terrified, they would pack their belongings in a panic and move out.  I wouldn’t believe any of those silly speculations. In my first few weeks of living here, everything seemed absolutely fine. However, one night I was watching T.V. and I heard bumping coming from the basement. I got up and walked to the door and opened it slightly. What I saw was horrifying--the shadows of two small creatures, who were making grunting noises and shuffling around. I opened the door a little more to get a better look, and it creaked loudly. Suddenly, the creatures looked up the stairs at me and snarled. They opened their mouths, and I saw huge, sharp fangs shining in the darkness. They charged up the stairs, and I slammed the door. I quickly ran up the stairs and into my bedroom, locking the door behind me. I didn’t know what had just happened, but I did know one thing -- the rumors about 10500 Norwich Avenue were true. I decided to do some investigating on the house, asking people who had lived in the area long enough what the creatures were and why they were there. No one knew, except one very elderly man. He told me that the creatures were called Wuldrins, and that they have lived there for many decades. He believed they came from a different dimension, and they were trapped here long ago. When they first arrived here, they had brought with them a single object. The old man showed a picture of it to me. It looked like a staff with a symbol on the top. The symbol was an infinity sign inside of a circle. He told me that the reason that the Wuldrins are trapped here is because they lost this object. The object is apparently buried somewhere in my backyard, and he told me that I needed to find it so I can send the creatures back to their home. I asked him where to dig for it, but he didn’t know. I looked for it for the next few days, digging in the back yard whenever I got the chance, but I could never find it. I’ve looked everywhere except under the garden bench. I think I’ll check there tomorrow.”

When Richie finished the article, he began to think. If the Wuldrins are still here, he thought, then the person who used to live here must not have been able to find it for some reason. That means it must still be there! He raced downstairs and outside to his garage, where he grabbed a shovel. He immediately began digging under the old garden bench. He felt determined to find the staff and help the Wuldrins get back home.

    Richie started feeling exhausted. He felt as if he had been digging for hours. All of a sudden, his shovel clunked against something solid. He dug his hands into the dirt and shoveled the rest of the dirt. He knew all too well that he was close to finding the staff. Just then, he felt a handle. He tugged on it.  The object didn’t budge. He gripped the handle and pulled with all of his might. Finally, it freed from the dirt. It was the staff! Richie inspected the symbol, which glowed a soft green, and the wooden carvings. Richie shook his head and snapped back to the task at hand. He ran inside the house, staff in hand, and went to the basement door. He unlocked it, and placed his hand on the doorknob. He slowly turned it and pulled the door open. He paused, took a deep breath, and descended down into the cold, ominous darkness.
    His hands shook as he reached the basement floor.  He waited for his eyes to become adjusted to the dim. His only source of light was the daylight shining through the corner window. He shifted his vision left and right, looking for the two creatures. He heard a rustle from the far corner and turned in that direction. He saw the Wuldrins sleeping soundly, huddled together. He took a step forward, and accidentally knocked over an antique. The creatures woke and began to snarl and hiss at him. Richie felt a chill go down his spine. He gulped and spoke: “Don’t attack me, please! I know what you are, and I know why you’re here.” They stopped and looked at him curiously. Richie continued: “I know that you are called Wuldrins, and that you are trapped here because you’ve lost something.” They nodded. “Was this the thing that you lost?” he asked as he held up the staff for them to see. The Wuldrins scuttled up to Richie and sniffed him cautiously. One of them took the staff, and the symbol glowed brightly. The creatures looked at each other and walked slowly to the door. They opened it, stepped inside, and closed the door behind them. Richie heard whining and whooshing sounds getting louder and louder, and saw golden light coming from behind the door. Following this was a loud crack, just like thunder, and then all was quiet and calm.