The Cellar (Remastered)

 “Hazel, why are we going into the cellar?” seventeen-year-old Jared Lohst asked tentatively, looking down into the old, murky cellar and then back at the dark-haired girl in front of him. Hazel turned around, a wide smile stretched across her face. Her silvery gray eyes seemed to shine with excitement. “I need to show you what I’ve been working on! You’re gonna love it!” she squealed, pushing the smaller boy down the cracked stone steps. Jared placed his hands on the icy walls, trying to regain his balance. He watched Hazel step in front of him, patiently waiting. “I swear to God Hazel if you show me more dead animals you stitched together I’m going to kill you,” Jared mumbled, following Hazel deeper into the sunless cellar. Hazel looked back at him, making sure he was following. “I can assure you it isn’t another stitched-up animal,” Hazel replied, humming a familiar tune. Jared had heard that tune so many times, for almost 12 years now, but still didn’t know what song his friend was humming. Hazel would always hum that same tune, mostly while she worked on whatever new horrific experiment she would consider her newest masterpiece. 

Jared had gotten used to all the disturbing things Hazel has done and created. It didn’t scare him anymore- in fact, it never did, and he had no idea why. He guessed it was because Hazel was his first-ever friend and the first person he’s ever interacted with besides his family. Being 2 years older than him, Jared just assumed that Hazel knew what she was doing. For so many years, he thought that the unsettling things Hazel did were normal. It wasn’t until almost 10 years later, when he met Noah, that he realized that was far from true. She constantly tortured anything that moved, performing “experiments” on them. These experiments mainly consisted of removing limbs, tearing out organs, locking them in freezers or trash bags, burning them, feeding them poisonous objects, and stitching up two or even more creatures together, sometimes even alive, and seeing how long the forced fusion could live for. Jared never took part in doing the twisted experiments, but he did watch them, sometimes even forced to be Hazel’s assistant. 

The brunette continued walking, trying to focus on better memories. He smiled to himself, remembering that in a couple of months, he’d get to see Noah again. Noah was the complete opposite of Hazel. Jared considered him as a “normal” human being. Unlike Hazel, Noah had lots of friends, almost perfect grades, and had a huge soft spot for animals. He knew a little bit about almost everything and was highly curious as well, as he would come up with questions and topics that Jared had never thought of, and those were only some of the things that Jared admired about him. It had been almost 5 months since they’d seen each other since Noah had just recently graduated and was now busy with college. They did, however, stay in touch and would write emails to each other every so often. 

Eventually, the two teens reached the bottom of the stairs and were now in the large underground room. A musty, old smell floated around them. Jared coughed, reaching into the pocket of his jeans, and pulled out his inhaler, using it quickly. Hazel turned around once again. “You ok?” she questioned, a hint of worry in her voice. Jared nodded, clearing his throat. Hazel smiled and gestured to him to keep following. They kept walking, stopping once they reached a rusted metal door. Hazel paused in front of it and turned to Jared. “I want to show you something, Jared. I’ve been working on it for quite a long time, and I wanted you to be the first one to see it!” she smiled at Jared again and he awkwardly smiled back, wondering what kind of horror would be behind the door. A present? He watched Hazel push open the door, allowing him to walk inside. Jared looked around, staring down the dark tunnels. He didn’t hear Hazel lock the door behind them.

“Wow,” Jared whispered, squinting his eyes. “It’s really dark down here.” Hazel stepped beside him. “Well, of course! It has to be! It’s so we don’t disturb them.” Hazel grabbed Jared’s arm, leading him down one of the tunnels. “Now let’s go!” Jared hesitantly followed, letting Hazel lead the way. “Disturb.. who?” he asked, staring at the girl in front of him. Hazel didn’t answer, continuing to drag him down into the dusky underpass. The musty smell in the air slowly faded, being replaced by something smelling even more unpleasant. The further and further they walked, the stronger the putrid smell became. Jared gagged, covering his nose. The smell was almost unbearable. “Hey!” Jared snapped. “You told me you weren’t going to show me a dead ani-” a fit of coughs cut him off and he reached for his inhaler again, desperately trying not to breathe in the pungent odor. He shoved his inhaler back into his pocket, feeling Hazel let go of his arm. She had stopped.

Hazel turned around, her deep silver eyes glowed in the darkness. Jared tried closing his eyes, not wanting to look at the other pair, but felt unable to escape their command. Hazel looked away, her eyes now focusing on an object at the end of the tunnel. Jared walked closer to her, trying not to look at the object, but curiosity got the best of him and he slowly lifted his eyes off the ground, feeling as if his head was being titled up by a nonexistent force. Once his eyes focused on the object in front of him, he froze, falling to his knees in disbelief. Hazel sat down beside him, putting an arm around him comfortingly. “I know you two were very close. That’s why I wanted you to be the first to see it!” Jared felt his heart break into a million little pieces. “No..” he trembled, his whole body paralyzed with fear. “N-Noah..?”

The blonde-haired boy didn’t answer as he stared lifelessly at Jared, his left eye being nothing but an empty socket. There was a look of terror and indescribable agony written across his once lively face. Noah was so pale that his skin was almost see-through, little worms and other tiny insects visible underneath the skin. His back was bent at an impossible angle, his ribs tearing out from his sides. Burn marks were scattered all over his body, worms, and maggots crawling out of the charred patches of skin. His mouth was opened slightly, hundreds of blisters lining his cheeks, throat, and tongue. Streaks of blood and pus were leaking from his nose and mouth, leaving trails of red and yellow. Hazel clapped her hands in excitement. “Isn’t this wonderful! The little ones have hatched!” She then focused her eyes on Noah, pouting. “He sadly didn’t make it throughout college after all, but hey, it was a perfect explanation for his disappearance, and it made it easier for me to send those emails to you!” 

Jared’s breath grew heavier as he remembered the emails. He remembered everything, how excited Noah was to start college, how he remembered being so proud of him, how Noah told him that Hazel invited him over the day before he left, and the promise that they’d see each other again- it was all too much. Jared felt the hot tears fall down the sides of his face and he looked back at Noah, whose arm now seemed to twitch. Jared stared at it for a second and reached for it. As he did, parts of the skin tore open, unspecified bugs flying out and onto the ceiling, burying themselves deep in the alcoves above. 

Jared let out a small scream, his breath quickening. He stumbled back, frantically trying to wipe his eyes. Despite his vision being blurred with tears, he stood up and ran, knowing if he could just escape the cellar he’d be free, and able to tell everyone what had happened, he’d save Noah, he’d at least do.. something. He continued running, having no idea where he was going. He briefly considered hiding, looking around for any spots Hazel might overlook. He suddenly yelped, feeling a sharp pain in his lower back. He turned around, seeing a shadowy figure with a long, emptied syringe in its hands. Adrenaline filled his body as he flung himself at the figure, pushing it down. He turned around, running as fast as his legs could carry him. His vision blurred once again, and every footstep felt heavy, like he was sinking into the ground. Jared reached the rusted door once again. Everything was spinning. He felt around for the door handle, for his vision was nearly gone by now. He could feel the figure behind him, looming closer and closer by every second. The last thing Jared remembered was falling hard, face-first, right onto the cold, damp cellar floor. 

Jared awoke, his eyes fluttering as he tried to focus on his surroundings, allowing them to adjust to the dim light. He gasped for air, struggling to breathe. There was a sharp pain that started in his head, before splitting throughout his entire body. A large cut lined the middle of his forehead, stretching all the way down to his brow. Warm blood leaked down his face at an alarming rate. He shut his eyes, groaning. His head felt like it was slowly being torn open. Jared felt nothing but pain at this point. He felt something being placed on his forehead, eventually hearing Hazel’s voice from the side of him. The cool cloth soothed his head pain for a couple of seconds but the intolerable aching soon returned. Hazel then came into view, a small scalpel and an unidentifiable object in her hands. 

A wave of panic rushed over Jared as he struggled, realizing he couldn’t feel anything below his ribcage. He looked at his legs, trying to sit up, but there was absolutely no response. No feeling. Hazel gave him an apologetic look. “This isn’t normally how I perform this, but I couldn’t have you running away again. But hey, at least you can still feel your upper body.” She paused, gently placing her hand on his forehead. “The whole cracking your head open thing wasn’t supposed to happen either, but I think I can make it work. I think it’s for the better. Now I can see how long they can live in a human head! I was originally only gonna put them in your intestines and lungs, but now I have a third option! Isn’t this exciting!” her smile grew even wider, eyes practically shining through the darkness. 

Jared’s voice broke, more tears streaming down his face. “Now..” Hazel spoke, setting down the scalpel and placing the object down on the middle of Jared’s stomach. The object was now within Jared’s field of vision and he could see that the item was some sort of metal cube. He moved his eyes towards Hazel as she continued speaking. “This procedure seems to work the best when the ribs are broken.” And just as those words escaped her lips, the metallic cube twitched slightly. Three metal rods began poking out of each side, each of them having a sharp chain at the end. Before Jared could process what was happening, the rods hummed with life, spinning around in opposite directions, twisting themselves tightly around their victim. He let out a blood-curdling scream that was followed by a sickening crunching noise. The chains untwisted, the rods retreating into their block-shaped home. His screams faded into a quiet, slow rattle of breaths. Jared’s eyes glazed over once more, the tears now falling freely, mixing with the crimson blood that now almost covered the entirety of his face. 

Hazel slowly placed the scalpel down on his stomach. She looked up at him, taking his staring as a question. “Alright, on to step two! I’m now going to be placing some of the eggs in your intestines,” she answered, frowning at the look on Jared’s face. “Hey, chill out, okay? It’s not like you’re gonna be able to feel anything. When I did this to Noah, he was fully awake! Sure, I had to break his spine for him to stay still, but he didn’t completely give up like you are! It’s kind of pathetic.” She smiled again, grabbing a small bucket filled with an unknown substance and setting it beside her. “..Hazel..?” Jared croaked, trying his best to look up. “Yes?” She answered, not looking at Jared, for her eyes were fixed on the scalpel, as she was carefully checking the blade. “I wanna... I wanna go home..” Hazel returned the sharp object back to Jared’s stomach once again, and nodded. “I get that. Sometimes I feel that way too. Sometimes I just want to forget about my responsibilities and go home.’’ She made eye contact with the boy once again. “But we can’t always get what we want. Can we?” Jared squirmed, watching as Hazel slowly pressed the blade down, seeing it effortlessly cut through his skin and flesh. He couldn’t feel a thing. He tried looking away, but it was like the invisible force was back, holding his head in place, making him watch as Hazel successfully opened his stomach, his bloody organs fully visible now. Hazel continued cutting. She had done this an innumerable amount of times, she knew exactly how and where to cut. Jared felt himself passing out, his vision growing foggy. Hazel reached into his stomach, feeling the warm bloody innards, finding the perfect spot to place the eggs. The last thing Jared heard before completely blacking out was that same tune he had listened to countless times. Hazel continued humming, smiling to herself as she stitched the green-eyed boy back up, getting ready to continue to step three.

Deadweight. That’s what Jared’s body felt like as his mind fell back into consciousness. He slowly opened his eyes, desperately hoping he had just woken up from a nightmare. Every inch of his body rived in agony. He took a breath, immediately wincing as intense pain radiated through his left side. His lungs felt as if they had been ripped apart, the pain worsening with every breath. His throat stung horribly from all the screaming and crying. He coughed, striving to get rid of the feeling of bugs crawling up and around his throat. The familiar suffocating smell hit his nostrils once again. He felt his stomach turn, and he violently threw up all over himself, seeing small black dots crawling through the vomit. His back laid against the stone wall, he stared at his legs as they sat helplessly on the dark stone floor. There was, once again, no response.

 He felt the insects crawling in and out of the cut on his forehead, for his head was now the only part of his body that wasn’t completely numb. The throbbing pain in his forehead started once again, but this time, he kept his eyes open. It was dark, but across the tunnel from him, he could make out Noah’s rotting body. The body was nothing but a living colony of crawling larvae now. He couldn’t watch. Jared coughed again, looking down at the lines of messy stitches covering his stomach and chest. He could feel them crawling inside of him, burying themselves deeper into his gut. Jared returned his gaze back to the decaying body of Noah and sniffled, crying silently in the dark, trying to cling to the hope of them seeing each other again. “I’m sorry,” he sobbed, voice breaking. ‘I’m so sorry that I didn’t… that I never had the chance to warn you..” 

-Allitini