My dream house has a door in the basement and I think I must be stupid, because I unlocked it and went inside.

I bought my dream house last month. Like many other houses, it has a basement. Unlike many other houses, it has a door in its basement.

The door was locked when I bought it.

The realtor didn’t have a key.

I managed to ignore it for about three weeks. Then I went down into the basement to shove a box of holiday decor into the dark where it would be ignored for a year and as I turned to leave, my gaze caught on the door.

A slip of light was visible through the crack. Blip. It went out almost as soon as my brain registered it was there.

And, as it turns out, I’m an idiot.

I’m an idiot, because a normal, rational, smart person would have locked up the basement and just never gone back down there. Might even have put some boards over that door first. But no, I had to get CURIOUS. I had to be STUPID.

I bought a lockpick.

Lockpicks are surprisingly hard to use, so after buying the lockpick, I hired a guy off Facebook Marketplace to come pick the lock. He did. Then he left, and I stood in my basement with a newly unlocked door, and I committed the gravest sin out there by turning the handle and opening it.

A yawning black hallway stretched before me. I slid my hand inside, found a switch, and flicked it.

It just looked like another hallway. It was surprisingly short with the light turned on, leading to another set of stairs. Oh, I thought. My basement has a basement. And then, because it turns out I have the self-preservation skills of a newt, I stepped into the hallway and then walked down the stairs.

At the bottom, I flicked the light switch, expecting to find a cellar or something similar. Maybe an old prohibition-era tunnel.

Instead, brilliant shades of red, blue, and yellow met my eyes. The walls were the most garish shades of primary colors I have ever seen, so bright it almost hurt my eyes to look at. A perfectly square room met me. At the direct center of the room was a jack-in-the-box.

And do you know what my idiot self did?

That’s right. I walked right up to the jack-in-the-box and bent down to pick it up. As soon as my palms touched the neon-painted wood, the handle started to turn and it began to chime. Do-do-doo-do-doo.

Startled, I dropped the box. The handle started to turn faster.

Do-do-doo-do-doo. Do-do-doo-do-doo.

A sense of dread washed over me. It was like a spell had broken. My brain came back from vacation and I suddenly realized how stupid I was being. I took a step back.

Do-do-doo-do-doo. The top flaps started to open. A bulbous, pulsating shape began to push against them. Do-do-doo-do-doo.

“Oh my God…” I backed up until my heels hit the bottom step.

Do-do-doo-do-doo. Thick blue ooze began to bubble out of the box and spill onto the ground. The flaps pushed further open. Do-do-doo-do-doo. The blob began to take on a human shape, changing colors before my very eyes. The bloody flesh turned into a colorful striped jumpsuit. Visible muscle transformed into a mess of curly red hair. Do-do-doo-do-doo.

A shriek curled out of me and I turn, racing up the stairs and into the room above.

Do-do-doo-do-doo. POP. It was like a fun had gone off. The music stopped. Even without looking, I could tell that the creature–the monstrosity disguised as a clown–had just broken free.

The door to my basement was closed.

Why was it closed?

Fear curdled in my chest, sticking to the inside of my throat. I slammed myself against the door, beating my fists against it and screaming for help. Flap-thump. Flap-thump. The sound of oversized shoes coming up the stairs joined the cacophony.

I risked a look over my shoulder.

A clown had just gotten to the top of the stairs. It was so tall it had to curl forward, spine seemingly unable to hold itself upright, body twisting like a centipede pinched between two fingers. There were too many joints in its arms, hands covered in blue-soaked gloves.

“Pop.” The clown’s voice was wretched. It reminded me of my grandmother’s deathbed confession right before lung cancer took her. “Pop.” Thick blue slime spilled from its mouth and down its chin, splattering heavily on the floor. One hand lifted, fingers twitching toward its palm, all but one. One that pointed at me. “Pop.”

I spun around, flattening my back to the locked door. I didn’t want to turn away from the creature. “Get away from me!”

It took a step closer, then another, and another, until there was less than three foot of space between us.

“Pop,” it said again, and the purse of its lips sent blue spraying over my face. It reeked of rotten flesh. A hand reached out, gloved fingers brushing over my cheek.

I didn’t know what it was going to do, but I knew I was about to die. I was certain of it. But just as that hand tried to curl around my shoulder, the door swung open behind me and I fell backward, hitting the ground hard.

“Jesus!” The man I had hired, Gary, looked down at me, wide-eyed. “Are you okay?”

I shrieked, kicking out and trying to scramble away from the door.

He reached down and helped me up. “I left my phone here, so I came back to grab it. I could hear you screaming, so I thought I’d better come see if something had happened…”

“We have to go,” I bellowed, grabbing at his arms. I couldn’t understand why he wasn’t running.

“Hey, it’s okay.” Gary gave me a pat on the arm before gesturing toward the door. “Whatever critter had you has scurried off now.”

Wide-eyed, I turned to look…and saw the hallway was gone. Instead, the door led to a small room not even half the size of a closet. A wave of dizziness washed over me. I couldn’t understand.

“Say…” Gary reached up and wiped my cheek. “What’s this?” His fingers came away blue and he whistled. “Now that is a bright color.”

Obviously, I had him leave. And then I locked the door again, and I piled every tote of holiday decor I could in front of it. And then I locked the door leading into the basement and I pushed my couch in front of it.

And now I’m here, in my bedroom, at my computer, realizing my stupidity knows no bounds. There’s still blue dried to my cheek. Something is in my basement. And I’m trying to decide…if I keep the door locked…will it be safe to stay?

What do you think, Reddit?