Harrowing Situation
This is something she never expected to happen. She never thought she would face a situation as harrowing as this after living there for fifteen years.
Watching the repairman disappear under her house, she waited. All seemed well until a scream pierced the air. There was one thing that was clear. It wasn't a raccoon under her house.
Danger At Home
Elizabeth Miranda Burns, a 60-year-old Tacoma resident, expected life to slow down. Throughout her life, she had worked hard and helped others.
The recently retired caregiver wanted nothing more than to enjoy the gifts of life in her sunset years. In recent weeks, she felt that even at home, she was in danger. Her feelings were justified when the repairman found what he did, under her house.
Gift From Her Children
The house was bought by Elizabeth when she was forty-five years old. Having just graduated high school, her youngest son was ready to start college.
Thus, Elizabeth would be on her own. All of her other children contributed to the purchase of the house. Their goal was to give her the best, unaware of the consequences.
Within No Time
Within a few days, Elizabeth had found her new home, and she was moving in. The lovely cottage-style two-story building, rich in history and charm, had been her dream home for a long time.
During her decade and a half in the house, Elizabeth enjoyed its many amenities. Something strange happened as the fifteenth year drew near.
Bat And Flashlight
She awoke to the sound of a low knock on her floor at night. At first, Lizzie believed she was dreaming. Nevertheless, the knocking continued to increase with each passing day.
Her curiosity led her to investigate. Her bat and flashlight in hand, she hurried downstairs, believing that a stubborn raccoon was the cause.
Midnight
It was a whole week before Lizzie decided to investigate something that had been knocking against her floor. She marched downstairs as the hour grew closer to midnight.
It was dead quiet in the neighborhood, blanketed in the peace only found at night. The silence of Lizzie's living room caused her heart to thump.
Peaceful Solutions
She had been a pacifist for a long time. Her preference was always for peaceful solutions over violence. It was usually her goal to reduce the impact of the verbal blows she delivered in confrontations where peace was not an option.
She hated the idea of fighting with anyone or anything. She was becoming increasingly frustrated with these constant knocks against her floor. In hindsight, she would have been safer locked in her room.
Threatening Fear
As fear threatened to choke her, Lizzie pushed downstairs with her bat tightly gripped. At first, she was okay with raccoons living under her house.
It was impossible for her to sleep at night due to the constant knocks that came after she had gone to sleep. In order to save herself from losing her mind, she had to put an end to this.
Being Watched
She walked carefully into the living room. Immediately after touching the floorboard, the knocks stopped. While holding her position, she sharpened her hearing to see if she could hear any noise. There was more silence in the house than in a cemetery.
The bat hung at Lizzie's side as she sighed. Rather than stalking through the dark of her house like some vigilante, she needed to be in bed. As she returned upstairs with that thought in mind, she was unaware that something sinister was watching her.
Two In The Morning
Despite Lizzie's best efforts, the raccoons continued to knock against her living room floor and staircase, so she went to bed.
As soon as she fell asleep, the noises began again. A groan escaped her lips as she rolled over to check beside the clock. It was 2:00 in the morning, she grumbled. All that noise wasn't coming from a raccoon, it was something else.
Making A Plan
Lizzie rolled to the other side of her bed, turning on her radio to drown out the eerie knocks. She found a soothing radio program with mellow 70s rock and drifted to a fitful sleep.
She'd made up her mind to go to Home Depot early the following morning. She'd buy a few raccoon repellents and ask her neighbor's son to help her set them all over her property.
Home Depot Time
Morning couldn't come fast enough for Lizzie, who hurriedly drove to Home Depot. She didn't even eat breakfast. She was too angry and exhausted to spend time fighting with pans, ingredients, and spatulas in her kitchen.
With a grumpy look, she marched into Home Depot and asked for raccoon repellent. She bought more than a few, wanting to teach the raccoons a lesson they'd always remember.
Going Home
With the repellents in her backseat, Lizzie calmed somewhat. She even found herself craving some donuts and coffee and went to Dunkin Donuts for some.
Afterward, she visited her neighbors, a sweet family with an eighteen-year-old son named Jeremy. He'd always loved helping Lizzie with mundane chores like taking out the trash. She hoped he’d be okay with installing the repellents.
A Good Afternoon
Jeremy wasted no time in setting the repellents. By afternoon, Lizzie's backyard was well and ready for any assault the raccoons would launch.
With her mind at ease, Lizzie spent the afternoon cleaning the house. Winter was right around the corner, and she needed to ensure she was ready for the long frozen nights. But unknown to her, something else was happening right under her nose.
Change In Seasons
Nightfall came quicker than Lizzie anticipated, and she slept soundly for the first time that week. No knocks on her floor or eerie sounds woke her up.
The next few weeks went in this same vein. All over, the dark orange and brown landscape slowly turned white as fall gave way to winter. But with this drastic change would come development that would show Lizzie that her problems were far from over.
The Heating Problem
It had been five weeks since the knocking incident, and a happy Lizzie was getting ready for bed. But although her house had long had a working furnace to keep her warm through winter, the whole place was cold.
Her teeth chattered as she wondered if her heating system was broken. She'd never had problems with it before. If only she knew what was happening under her house.
Check The Furnace
Lizzie spent that night wrapped in several blankets and duvets. She couldn't stop shivering as the invasive cold seeped through her many covers. What was going on?
Lizzie didn't think much of it. "All I need to do is have Jeremy check the furnace in the morning," she told herself. But more bizarre things were about to start happening around her home.
Where There Is Smoke, There Is Fire
The first was the odor of smoke that kept filtering into her house at odd hours of the night. By now, she'd already had Jeremy check the furnace twice, and the boy had confirmed nothing was wrong with it.
Lizzie was still getting used to the constant cold when the stench of smoke started creeping into her space. But this was only the beginning.
The Knocking
The second was the knocking on the floor, which had seemingly returned with a vengeance. Five weeks ago, it had been once every few hours.
But now, it had become constant through the night. Lizzie didn't know what to think anymore. But one thing was clear. She was not dealing with a raccoon.
What To Do
A scared Lizzie didn't want to admit that this must have been more than a raccoon. The thought of a more dangerous, possibly larger wild animal living under her house petrified her where she sat.
But she also knew she couldn't let this go any longer. She'd already caught a cold because of the constant cold and feared she might contract pneumonia if she weren't careful. But what could she do when her advanced years wouldn't allow her to sneak under her house looking for wild animals?
Don’t Send Him
Lizzie considered asking Jeremy for help. But she couldn't put him in danger. The knocks she'd been hearing of late were deep and hefty.
Whatever was making them had to be big and dangerous. She'd also noticed her gate would be open in the morning when she closed it at night. Although Jeremy was an able-bodied kid, there was no way Lizzie would send him down there.
Animal Control
Lizzie decided she'd call animal control, hoping they'd better explain what was happening. But before she could do that, she ordered a new furnace for the house, looking to stabilize the temperature.
The company she bought the furnace from promised a handyman would visit her house at noon the next day. Lizzie sat in anticipation, knowing she only had one last night to spend in the cold. But what the handyman would find would show her this was far from over.
A New Furnace
True to the company's word, the handyman came at noon the following day. He inspected the new furnace and hurried to install it.
But as he examined the old one, he stepped back with furrowed brows. "You said your old furnace was broken, right?" he asked Lizzie. "Yes," she answered. "I don't think it is!" the man said.
Great Condition
"What," Lizzie hurried to his side. "Yeah," the man said. "The furnace is in perfect condition. A little old but still in great working condition." To prove his point, he rolled the new furnace next to the old one to compare.
Turning to the living room, he said, "Do you have a basement? I think the issue might be with your ducts."
The Basement
"I do," Lizzie said. "But I haven't been there in years." "I'll examine the area just to be sure,” the man cut in. “Judging from how old this furnace is, the ducts might have suffered some damage over time, leading to heat loss."
Seeing reason in the man's logic, Lizzie leads him outside, walking to the basement bulkhead. She had a pair of old keys in hand, ready to open the door. But she stepped back at what she saw.
It’s Unlocked
The padlocks she and her kids had locked the bulkhead with over five years ago were missing. "That's odd," she said. "This place has always been locked."
She shared a look with the repairman before he motioned for her to step back. Taking a mallet and flashlight from his toolbag, he promised her he'd only be a minute.
Going In
A tall and burly gentleman, the repairman assured Lizzie he could handle anything the basement would throw at him. Armed with the mallet, he slowly descended the steps while flashing his light.
The basement's darkness swallowed him whole, and for a whole five minutes, he didn't respond when Lizzie called his name. Then all of a sudden, he screamed.
A Dark Figure
"Hello," Lizzie yelled frantically. "Are you alright?" Heavy footsteps rung all over the dark basement before a figure shrouded in black shot up the murky stairs in full sprint.
It flew past Lizzie, knocking her back. She thought it was the repairman at first, but at a second glance, she realized it was a different person. What was happening?
Malice
The repairman came out of the basement a second later, heaving as he gripped his mallet tighter. His eyes were wide and murderous, and one of his arms was scratched and bleeding.
"What just happened?" Lizzie asked, her voice small and shaky. The repairman looked at her as he inhaled deeply, clearly trying to compose himself.
The Truth
He held a crunched beer can in his other hand. "I think that man has been squatting in your basement," he said. "He cut your ducts and directed the heat into the basement to keep himself warm."
Suddenly, everything started to make sense. Lizzie remembered how often she'd felt like the knocks under her living room were footsteps. "Should I call the authorities?" the repairman asked. "No," Lizzie answered. "The man is gone. I think it's over." It wasn't.