The Lady in the Basement

The old man lived alone at the house at the end of the street and at the end of the street there was a field. For years he had lived a hermitized and secluded life. At one time he apparently had a wife and one day she disappeared and was never found. Because of this the old man was hounded by police for years. They dug up his basement and dug up his yard but they found no evidence of his wife. Rumor had it that his wife had cheated on him just after they had gotten married and after the incident he had locked her up in the basement. People had said that they heard someone screaming the basement and others had claimed that they had seen shadows of someone in the basement. But nobody thought anything of it because the couple were eccentric and anti-social. Over time people grew suspicious when the old man reacted strangely to being questioned about his wife. Then one day the police said they had received an anonymous call that a lady was being tortured in the basement. The police investigated quickly and found no evidence of someone being held captive. They also found no wife either. The old man claimed that she had left him long ago and he didn't care where she was. The police persisted in their investigation but got nowhere. 

​The old man was now in his 80s and virtually never left the house. He had not been seen in years, for many in the neighborhood he was a forgotten man and most believed he was dead. Then one night the screams were heard from the basement once again. Nobody called the police because nobody wanted to get involved with the old man of a shady reputation. A few days later a rumor in the neighborhood surfaced that a light had been seen on in the basement for the first time since his wife disappeared. Suspicions and interest resumed about the old man and his wife. Many were wondering if she had returned from her exile. 

Days later a young boy then reported to his parents that he had seen a priest enter the old man's house. The family kept it secret while the father and son investigated what was going on at the house. Night after night the father and son went out to the old man's house and looked and listened. For the first few nights they heard and saw nothing. But then one night they heard the screams coming from the pitch black basement along with the sound of clanking leg irons and clinking chains. Then the basement light came on and the old man was seen. He had someone down there. The father and son moved around to the back door and tried the handle, it was unlocked. The screams continued and somebody was hollering in the Ukrainian language. The father and son moved down the stairs and were baffled by what they saw. 

The lady had returned but only in spirit. The man was standing there as the priest was shouting prayers to a screaming invisible entity trying to break free from being chained to the wall.