While contemplating opening the cellar door I suddenly realized I still hadn’t barred the front door and it was hanging wide open. In a panic, I rushed back and quickly shut and barred it in case the howl had alerted other wolves.

Thankful that my stupidity hadn’t let any more monsters in, I returned to the cellar door. I remembered how dark the cellar looked and with no other light source, I was forced to use my cell phone. The problem was I couldn’t hold the phone and use the spear effectively.

I thought for a minute and decided to secure the cell phone to my forehead with a strip of cloth. I probably looked like an idiot but it should work. The goal was to get in and out as fast as possible to save the phone’s battery. It didn’t seem like I had used it much but it was already down to 60 percent.

With a deep breath to calm my nerves, I opened the cellar door and entered the dark space. I was greeted by cobwebs that clung to my clothes and hair. Shuddering, I continued down the stairs to the cellar basement. At the bottom of the stairs the room opened up, but I couldn’t see the hole made by the falling wolves. It seemed the cellar was split up into different sections, just my luck. The sides were made of bare earth that had been compacted and were lined with dusty shelves. A rack of wine bottles caught my eye but I needed to focus.

The mansion was large and it looked like the cellar extended below most of it. The ceiling wasn’t that high so I had to duck somewhat to avoid hitting my head on the wooden support beams in places. So far there wasn’t any movement, but I kept moving my head around to illuminate the area. Wooden crates and barrels were stacked up and there was a wooden wall on the other side of the room with only one door leading out, so I moved toward it.

The door was partially open but I couldn’t hear anything from the other side. While listening intently I instead heard something from behind me. A slight skittering sound made me whirl around and my headlamp illuminated what I was afraid would be down here. It wasn’t the size of a dog this time and only about as big as Shadow, but it was just as terrifying.

The brown colored spider stopped momentarily as my light illuminated it but then continued toward me. I quickly brought the spear into play and attempted to stab the monstrosity. The thing was fast however and was moving side to side so it was hard to land a hit. I kept backing around the open room and at one point had to dodge webbing that it shot out at me. Miraculously I didn’t knock myself out on one of the beams or lose the cell phone and finally connected with my spear. The spider zigged when it should have zagged and I was able to pierce its body. I didn’t let up and pinned it to the floor where it slowly stopped moving.

Getting the spear pulled back out of the spider almost made me throw up as the dead spider emitted some kind of rancid odor. It took a little while for my hands to stop shaking before I could proceed through the door. I really wasn’t good with bugs. I peeked my head through the door and quickly pulled it back and shut the door. My heartbeat that had finally gone done was skyrocketing again.

The good news was I wouldn’t have to worry about the wolves. The hole in the ceiling had illuminated the two wolves among the debris. One was already fully cocooned while the other was still in the process. The spiders must have taken advantage of the wolves being stunned from the fall and pounced. There were at least three more of the brown spiders on the other side of the door crawling on top of the wolves.

I had enough trouble with one of the spiders so couldn’t imagine taking on three at once. The spiders seemed to have some kind of venom that paralyzed or killed their prey as the wolves weren’t moving. If it wasn’t for the large hole, I would just lock the door and try and pretend they weren’t there. Now, I would either need to deal with them or find a new place to live.

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The door I was leaning against was made of solid wood that hadn’t started to deteriorate yet which gave me an idea. My plan was to lure the spiders through the door one at a time and shut the door behind them so I wouldn’t have to deal with them all at once. Luckily the door swung out toward me so I could hide behind it as one came through and it had a latch that would hold it shut.

To further confuse the spiders, I decided to place the phone on a crate and have it pointing toward the door so when they came through the light would be in their eyes. I noticed one of the crates was full of pieces of coal, so I grabbed a few softball sized chunks and took my position. I slowly opened the door again and made sure they were still busy with the wolves. Then I threw the coal at the nearest monstrosity.

It was a direct hit and the spider instantly whirled around and saw me in the doorway. It started crawling its way towards the door so I hurriedly ducked behind it. I could hear the skittering getting closer and held my breath as it passed the threshold. When it was far enough into the room, I slammed the door shut with my leg and jammed the spear into its body. The spider didn’t stand a chance and was soon dead.

I didn’t waste any time as I knew the noise was sure to draw the attention of the other spiders. I kicked the dead spider off to the side and prepared to open the door again. Before I could, the door rattled as one of them tried to get through. I took a couple deep breaths and swung the door open. A spider jumped through which surprised me, but I managed to get the door shut right away before any others could get in.

The spider went straight for the light with me trailing after it. I swore as it bumped into the crate which caused my phone to tip over. I jabbed my spear into its body just as the cellar was plunged into darkness. I kept hold of the spear until I could feel the spider stop struggling. I could just make out the glow seeping out around the phone so was able to find it and quickly swept the light around. Thankfully, the spider was dead and the door was holding. “That was a close one.” I muttered, trying to calm my frayed nerves.

I repeated the process two more times without any more mishaps until the spiders stopped coming. “So there were four of them. I’d better make sure the wolves are really dead I suppose.” I said hesitantly. There was always the possibility that some of them had climbed out of the cellar through the hole so I had to remain on guard.

The area with the wolves contained more shelving and crates but that was about it. I had affixed the light back to my forehead and made sure to check the corners as I entered the room. The webbing was everywhere in here and I had to use the spear to clear the way. There were a couple smaller cocoons that might have been rats or birds, but I was focused on the wolves.

I approached them cautiously, wary of the hole in the ceiling and stabbed each one through where I thought the head was. Both of them were now fully cocooned but they didn’t so much as twitch. I hoped the cocoon would keep the stench down as hauling them out would be a struggle. I mused that the wolf bodies couldn’t stink any worse than the spider corpses.

I made my way back to the kitchen and did a sweep through the house looking for any stragglers. There was nothing so I wearily sat down on one of the dining room chairs. There was still a lot of work ahead of me. I had to bury the dead beast person and dispose of the wolf bodies that hadn’t fallen into the hole. Then there were the broken stairs and hole in the floor to take care of. If I hadn’t done so much work on securing the house already, I would say the heck with it and find another location.

I took a quick break, drank some water, then got to work. Shadow had managed to get down the stairs and was standing on top of one of the wolves like she had defeated it herself. I didn’t hear any more howling but was cautious when I went back outside. I surveyed the street but there was no sign of any more wolves. I grabbed my rusty shovel and dug a hole for the two wolves. I wasn’t really sure what to do with the dead beast person so wrapped him in a blanket for now until the girl woke up. I wasn’t sure if there was some kind of burial ritual or not so would wait to be on the safe side.

There was a pile of scrap wood in the backyard which helped cover the hole in the floor and repair the stairs. I worked through lunch with only a few breaks to check on the girl and was finally done by late afternoon. “So much for working on the tower.” I grumbled while eating a supper of smoked fish. I cleaned myself off by the well and put on some cleanish clothes that I had scavenged. I preferred my jeans and t-shirt but they were getting pretty stained and had rips and tears in them. The clothes I had found were plain cloth but were well made. The girl hadn’t woken up yet but I was hoping she would by morning. Then maybe I would get some answers.