As I approched the Basement door, I was shaking, almost unable to breathe. Then, I was next to the door

desperately afraid of the sounds I might hear.  But there was nothing but silence, a cold breeze. That seemed

odd, because I knew there were no windows or outside doors, leading to the basement. Once more I looked

at the marks on the inside of the door. Who or what could have made such deep marks in a hardwood door?

 

Then, I heard it, and tried to block it from my mind, pretending that my ears were playing games as I grew

hysterical. I heard the same familiar scuffing sounds made across the basement floor. The sounds that made

Jessica cry out and call to her husband. I didn't wait another second, as I slammed the basement door. I

screamed at the top of my lungs, and as I did, I heard foot steps on the stairwell. They were heavy, solid,

but slow, something was taking it's time to reach the door. I heard the other's rushing to the hallway frightened,

looking in both directions, until they saw me with my back against the door.

 

As my four friends rushed to my side, I pleaded, "Hurry,... if you want to live!!!! Push as hard as you can

against this door, don't let it in". No sooner had everyone leaned against the door, then, something hit the

door, HARD!!!! So hard, Becky screamed OMG!!!!! Again and again, we felt the door pounded, as the

force pushed us away from the door. And each time we were pushed away, we pushed back as if our life

depended on it. The look on all our faces reassured me that they knew what ever had killed Jessica and Bill's

family was now, trying to kill us!

 

I looked down at my feet, as I strained with all my strength to keep the door shut, and I saw the heavy

wooden boards with nails protrubing, in a pile. Jo Ann was crying reciting the lord's prayer. Soon, everyone

staring at me, followed my eyes to the boards, and had the same idea, to re-board the door. But we dared

not let go of the door. Suddenly, we were all reciting the lord's prayer together, and then, OMG, the smell!!!

The most horrific, undescribable stench of rotting flesh. Like something that had laid rotting out in the summer

sun for a month.

 

Then I heard it, well, I think we all must have heard it, the sounds of something going down the stairs, slowly,

limping. What ever was on the stairs was going back down into the basement, as I felt my tears rushing down

my cheeks. My eyes looked at John and then to the nearest board, and he nodded nervously. But then, he

hesitated,and I nearly went insane! "I know where there is a hammer, it's on the kitchen counter, but one of

you must get it". No one moved. My heart was pounding so hard, I thought it would burst. Becky was the

smallest of us, and she reached over and clenched my hand hard.  "I'll be back in a second, I promise".

 

Softly, quietly she walked towards the kitchen, the hardwood floor not so much a making a squeak. Twice

she turned her head back and looked at us, and I will never forget the fear written in her eyes. It seemed like

minutes, no hours, before we saw her, hammer in hand coming back to us. When she pushed herself against

the door, she almost collapsed as I handed the hammer to John. It was a calculated risk I took, to scoot the

nearest board towards John. I knew we wouldn't have much time to make room for John to pound the nails

in fresh holes.

 

"Listen to me", John said... When I pick up the board, you four duck down, and I will nail the board in.

Keep scooting the boards over to me, then Becky lost it, her eyes wild with fear, shaking her head no, "We

can't let go od the door, let's just run like hell, we can get away, I know we can".  With my right hand, I

slapped her hard, and told her to pull herself together. "We can't run Becky, we'll never make it to the front

door, there's too many of us! We have to board the door, to buy us time to escape, just do as John says,

stay low, and push hun"!

 

But secretly, I knew there was a drawback to John's plan...something he never mentioned. Perhaps the other's

knew it too, and were just to scared to say anything!John weighed 320 pounds, he was the heaviest one of us,

Without his weight to hold the door shut, I knew we couldn't keep the demon in the basement. And once

knocked to the floor, no one was running any where. But we didn't have any optionsno choice but to go for it.

Deep inside, I knew, the boards hadn't keep this thing in the basement before, it had killed an entire family. But

maybe, maybe we would have just enough time to make it out of the house.

 

Becky and I were crying as Sam and Steve pushed hard against the door hard. Slowly, John leaned down, with

one big hand, and picked the board up, as we leaned down, to give him room. I knew that as soon as the

pounding started the foot steps would return and all hell would break loose. I had never felt so close to dying

before. John positioned the board just above my head, the strongest part of the door, and as he pounded, the

sound was deafening to my ears.

 

He placed his huge boot against the bottom of the door, which was the only source of comfort I felt, a hope it

was enough to save us all. By the time the second board was nailed, my ears were still ringing. If the demon

was on the steps of the stairway, if it was standing  on the inside of the door, we couldn't have known it. I think

we were so scared, it really didn't matter at that point. Two boards were left to be nailed against the basement

door. Finally all four boards were nailed, as we all sat on the floor, our backs against the door, shaking, crying,

as Becky hugged my neck.

 

We sat there in stark disbelief, at what we had witnessed, and not a word was spoken. But the look in each of

our eyes told the same story, that later we knew would be part of a haunting nightmare. There was an evil spirit

in this house, a doorway from hell, and something wanted to enter our world. Would it, could it leave this house?

I thought about Jessica and Bill, wondering, why didn't they just flee this house when they had a chance? When

things began to get unexplainable? I knew the answer's were in Jessica's diary, within her tear stained pages.

Pages of anguish, of tearful prayers, that this couldn't be happening.

 

Suddenly, I realized to my horror, that Jessica's diary wasn't with me, I had left it back in jessica's bedroom!

Before I could speak, John whispered, "listen to me! I want you four to stand up, and "Calmly" walk out the

front door while I stay and hold this door shut! We can't all run like frightened mice down this narrow hallway.

You can do it, if you don't panic! I'll be fine, I can run once you all have made it outside"! I guess the look in my

eyes told John something was wrong, and I began to shakily whisper. "I can't leave, John, I can't, Jessica's diary

tells everything that happened in this house"!

 

I left the diary in their bedroom and I'm not leaving this house till I go back and get it"! Everyone looked at me

like I had gone mad! But after a moment, john told the other's to leave, and motioned for me to head toward

the bedroom. Everything was going fine, and as I reached the bedroom door, I saw the blue diary on the floor,

and I walked over, reached down and picked it up. But no sooner had I held it, the a horrific thud hit the

basement door, and I heard a board hit the floor. John was putting all his body weight against the door as thud

after thud hit the door. I wasrunning, getting closer to John, tears rolling down my face, the look of terror in John's

eyes, as he motioned for me to run faster.

 

Then I heard the sounds of wood splintering, and a fist size hole was seen through the door, and a grotesque

clawed hand, held John by the throat, as John's face turned red. Blood was spurting where each claw, punctured

his throat, as he desperately kicked his feet, trying to pull away, but could not. My feet froze there next to him as

I screamed and he frantically waved his arms for me to get out. Then I almost jumped out of my skin as the

pounding continued, and I saw the nails working their way out of the wood boards. In a desperate last chance

effort to save my life, John kicked me in the leg, and with a voice that barely could speak, he told me to "run"!!!!.

Blood was running down John's chest, soaking his shirt, as a second hole was ripped through the door, as both

claws ripped away at John.

 

I ran, OMG!!! I ran as if Satan himself was right behind me, and as I rushed onto the porch, I saw the other's

huddled, shaking! "Where's John?... I heard... but the more I tried to speak, the more I realized, I had lost my

voice. Sam began to race back up the steps, and I grabbed his foot and held on tight to his leg, shaking my

head, but he broke free. When he reached the doorway, he stopped in his tracks, as if hit by a invisible brick

wall. For he saw John, drenched in blood, lifelless, being pulled through the basement door by the two clawed

arms, and he was gone.

 

None of us returned to that house, and I? I turned the book over to the police, and caught a Grey Hound bus,

from Tulsa, Oklahoma headed to Billings, Montana and prayed that I would never be found by the demon.