William stood watching solemnly as the casket was lowered into its grave. The last remaining member of his family had passed. Williams great grandfather and the best man he’d ever known had died in a car accident the last week. The worst part being that William was in the car when it happened.

            Miraculously he’d not suffered any injuries whatsoever. He’d been told that it was a miracle by the paramedics. They were in complete disbelief that he’d made it out of the accident without a scratch. William couldn’t believe it himself as he was covered in blood when he woke to a first responder dragging him from the flipped vehicle.

            His grandfather though didn’t have the same luck. He was on death’s door when the paramedics got to him. William still remembered the surreal feeling he’d gotten when he was told his grandfather didn’t make it. He’d died on the way to the hospital.

            Glancing around at the mostly vacant seats, William felt a little anger rise in his chest. His grandfather was a well-liked man and yet there were only a handful of friends that could spare the time to attend his funeral.

            With the conclusion of the funeral, William and the few attendants began leaving but made sure to give their condolences to him first.

            William took a taxi back home, the driver picking up on the mood and remaining silent for most of the drive. Arriving at the moderately sized house, William could feel a difference, it almost seemed that the inhabitants of the nearby forests were mourning with him. At least, he liked to think that was the case with the silence of the surrounding area.

            William paid the taxi driver and walked to the entrance of his grandfather’s house- no, HIS house now. His grandfather left everything to him. This included the house and surrounding property, enough money to live without working a day in his life, and the convertible lost in the accident.

He honestly didn’t know how to feel about it. His grandfather never mentioned anything about being rich. They lived a moderate lifestyle. The only hint of having any real money was the expensive car, and that could be explained by his grandfather saving for a long time.

            Pulling out his key, William unlocked the door and entered his house. Everything was exactly how it had been before his grandfather’s passing. It made it hard to believe everything he’d been through for the past week wasn’t just a dream, a very bad dream at that.

            Mentally exhausted, William walked up the stairs at the far end of the corridor and continued his trek to the end of the hall, entering his room. Throwing his wallet and phone on the nearby nightstand, William flopped onto the bed and quickly embraced the relief of darkness.

The sky darkened as the sun set beyond the horizon. William and his grandfather were on their way home in a fancy convertible. They bantered back and forth, both in good spirits. After all, William had secured 3 out of 4 first place medals in the first track meet of the year.

“At this rate I might even make it to state!” William boasted to his grandfather.

“Don’t get complacent. If I was 50 years younger, you’d have gotten second place instead.” Retorted the old man behind the wheel.

“Hahaha!” William let out a joyous laugh. He knew what his grandfather meant, even if he wasn’t willing to admit it.

“I’d love to see that. I could brag and tell everyone that even my grandpa is faster than them and mean it.”

            This elicited a small chuckle from the old man, the corners of his eyes crinkling as a smile split his lips.

            The old man flipped on the brights of the vehicle to compensate for the encroaching night.

“GRANDPA GENE!” William shouted as the brights revealed a motorcycle barreling around the corner without their headlights on yet.

            Reacting faster than an old man like himself should have been able to, Grandpa Gene slammed on the breaks and swerved to the right, directly into a tree.

            Following the impact, the only sound that could be heard was the roar of a motorcycle that never slowed for a moment.

If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement.

            Pain enveloped William as he recovered from the collision. Eyes fluttering open, he could see red everywhere.

Barely able to keep his eyes open, William let out a cry mixed with a groan as he tried to move. The impact with the tree managed to break an indeterminate number of bones.

            This was the least of his worries though. The blood pouring from the wound below his right collar bone consumed his thoughts. One of the low hanging branches splintered on contact with the windshield leaving a sharp stake to pierce William’s chest.

            A sudden thought took his attention. Looking around for his grandfather, William saw him in the seat next to himself. He didn’t appear to be in much better condition than himself.

            Shaking the old man to wake him with his left arm, William called out to his grandfather.

“Grandpa Gene!

 Wake up!

 Please! Wake up!”

            Slowly the old man lifted his head and began to grasp the situation. Turning to look at William, his eyes widened in shock at the boy’s broken and bleeding figure.

            Letting out a groan, the old man fumbled around his jacket pocket with a broken arm. The pain wouldn’t stop him from helping his grandson, even if it killed him.

            The shock started leaving William’s body and the blood loss was setting in. He was starting to get cold, and his limbs felt heavy.

            Seeing his grandson start to droop, the old man moved faster, wincing in pain as the bone fragments in his arm ground against each other.

            Slowly he pulled a vial full of a red liquid from his pocket and pulled the cork with his teeth. Leaning over with intense pain enveloping his body, the old man held his grandsons’ mouth open as he poured the red liquid in with his broken arm.

            Seeing that the vial was empty, the old man closed his grandsons’ mouth and tilted his chin back to make him swallow it.

            His job done, the old man collapsed back in his seat, smiling as he wheezed for a moment before darkness took him.

            Moments later, something miraculous happened. Cracking and popping noises were heard as William’s bones squirmed beneath his skin to align themselves. Internals now recovered; the red liquid wasn’t done. It moved onto the stab wound below William’s collar bone.

*CREEEAAAK* *SNAAPP*

            The branch impaling William’s chest was pushed with such force that it bent and shattered before the wound closed, no sign of it ever existing.

*GASP*

William woke with a start, pale, drenched in sweat, and with eyes full of panic. William couldn’t escape that night. It had come back to haunt him every time he closed his eyes.

            Touching the area where he was sure he’d been impaled, William wondered what had really happened that night.

*BANG* *BANG* *BANG*

Before William could lose himself in thought, he heard someone knocking at the door.

            Taking several deep breaths, he stood and made his way to the front door, mopping the sweat from his pale face as he went.

            William unlocked and opened the door to reveal a man in a suit holding a small envelope.

“Excuse me sir, might you be William Plat?”

            Confused, William nodded.

“Yes, I’m William. What’s this about?”

            The man’s eyes brightened, and he elaborated.

“I’m Dean Marshal, your great grandfather’s attorney. Let me start by sincerely offering my condolences for your loss.”

            The attorney gave a slight bow before holding out the envelope.

“You’ve already received most of your inheritance, but this needed to be retrieved from a safe box your great grandfather had in Chicago. I apologize for the delay.”

            Hesitantly taking the envelope, William looked it over and saw no indication of what it was for.

“What is this?”

            The attorney became serious.

“That I do not know. It was explicit in the instructions that nobody should see the contents before you.”

            Seeing William staring at the envelope in his hands, the attorney decided to give him some privacy.

“It was nice meeting you William, but I must be going. Here’s my card, I hope I can continue to work with you in the future.”

            He handed William the card and briskly retreated to his car before taking off a moment later, leaving William standing there in silence.

“Well, that was weird.” William mumbled to himself.

            Entering his home and locking the door behind him, William walked to the kitchen to find something to open the letter.

            Finding a small paring knife, he returned to his room upstairs. He wanted to be comfortable before opening the envelope.

            Fully prepared for what the envelope might contain, William slid the knife along the top of the envelope and opened it.

            Inside there was a small slip of paper and something else… Turning the envelope upside down, a thin metal object fell flat into Williams open hand.

‘A key?’

            Confused, he turned the slip of paper over and read the single word printed in bold letters. Basement.