the Basement

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Vamos hagamos un trato [Come, lets make a deal]
Un pacto secreto [A secret contract]
De nosotros dos [For us two]

Quiero que cuentes conmigo [I want you to trust me]
contar yo contigo [I will trust you]
De aquí hasta el final [From the present to the end]

Tu [You]
eres para mi [Are for me]
Te vas a encargar [You will make sure]
de hacerme feliz [To make me glad]
Yo [I]
ser para ti [Will be yours]
me voy a encargar [I will be in charge]
de hacerte aun mas feliz [of pleasing you even more]

Vamos hagamos [Come on, let 's …]
un trato un dulce contrato [Make a sweet deal]
que quiero cumplir [That I wish to keep.]
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There was no way in hell Hebe was going to sleep well tonight.
When the adults finally managed to drag themselves back up to their feet they tried to help, SURE, of COURSE they would try to help and end up making things worse, that’s how it was every freaking time.  
First, they’d wrap their abominably large adult arms around you, making your skin crawl and cut off your circulation, blood, energy—whatever is it that keeps your guts together—and loudly say random lines claiming the exact opposite of what's true and expect that to make you feel better.
Everything will be alright…
Shhhh, it's okay…
We're here for you, baby…
Hebe would've also shut herself in the bathroom but knew all too well the giants would be much too fast and wouldn't allow it. So, best thing she could do was press her hands against their chest or arms and shove herself away from them as hard as she could. No small task for an average little human like her, but feasible.
Hebe thinks she's taking this stupid situation very well, actually. She didn't scream when the apartment exploded in cries and bats crashing into doors, she didn't curl into a ball and look pitiful, all she did was politely ask for Melinoe to close the door to their room and just pick up the coloring book to get productive and turn of your brain as long as the issue lasts. She hates doing it, but it's better than getting involved, it's what's worked so far, as long as she shoves her head into the dirt, nothing bad can happen, if you can't see the monsters…
…then the Monster won't see you…
After more than enough shoves and maybe an inhuman shriek thrown here and there for good measure, the adults finally gave in and allowed her to go back under her fortress of bedsheets and wooden chairs, back to her stuffies and blankets. Melinoe was the only one with the grace and decency to give her her coloring book and crayons back, which made the situation almost perfect again.
But alas, all good things must come to an end, because it was barely ten minutes after Hebe first dozed off (at around 4 in the morning), when the guests finished their long conversation of hushed whispers. Hebe heard the front door open, along with footsteps and a short murmuring squabble between Hera and her Brother, who argued that perhaps it'll be better of he stays behind and sleeps at the front door of the house curled up with an ax from the hardware store like a sleep-deprived, barking mad guard dog and Hera told him to go home and rest his mind before he comes up with any more shit ideas.
Then, the door closed, and it was just Hebe and her Mother again. Hebe quickly hugged a panda her Father had bought for her as a baby, and then closed her eyes and forced hers to not hold her breath and at least try to breathe deeply, and steady. I mean, how else will you be able to trick your Mama into thinking you're fast asleep?
She heard Hera go to the bathroom and turn on the light, before pausing a moment and then turning it back off—probably having thought twice after seeing the wreck—and then she heard Hera pull off her sweater and turn off the kitchen's lights, leaving only the light coming into the window from the streetlights outside to balance out the darkness. Then, a flap from the sheets was pulled aside, and Hebe could just FEEL Hera's eyes watching her.
At least it's better than trying to grab me and say nothing's wrong…
It didn't last long however, as Hera then rolled up next to her and tossed on the side of the blanket and stayed still without another sound.
Hebe appreciated that. Melinoe told her nearly half a year ago that before they moved into a larger apartment she had to share a room with her Father and would hear him cry at night. Hebe can't imagine that, she'd feel absolutely horrible. Not necessarily because it'd feel uncomfortable, just because she would have absolutely no idea how to handle the situation, how to fix things or make your parents feel better, you'd end up just freezing and lying there silently, with nothing else to do but wait and feel so …
…Worthless.
Hebe buried her face into the panda and tried hard to just end this awful day already. If she could just create the bridge into the next world …
And if only the damned bridge called sleep wasn't built out of nightmares.
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The apartment building had a basement, a VERY large building infested with rodents and insects of every shape and size, veiled with so many cobwebs you'd end up with a mouthful at every step. It was lit only with one old red lightbulb in the claustrophobically low ceiling of barely six feet, and smelling of such dampness your hair grew wet and the particles of mold seemed to just float into your lungs and clog its walls with the same moss that had grown onto every old box and pipe down here.
Problem is, Hebe had never been down here before.
She had overheard Hera mention it once during a phone call to point out that the place could be a hazard if the floor falls through thanks to its deadly humidity, (best answer they got was that it would be looked into, and then nothing), but as far as Hebe knows it's just some random hole in the floor for the toilet waste to leave the house.
But here it was in front of her, as clear as life, she could almost reach out and touch it, or at least the thick ambience, you could make the sickly air slip through your fingertips.
Funny how dreams are …
Her footsteps—like they tend to be in most dreams—were silent and spongey, sticking to the floor ad if it were made of glue-covered Jell-O, but all of a blue, one of her steps landed on a much different surface, on a hard, somewhat slimy aluminum-like surface, a metallic trap-door with only a thin layer of slimy green-gray stuff. Underneath all of the grossness, there were beautiful carvings of people, all looking sideways and with writing that formed words Hebe couldn't quite completely understand, even though she felt she should.
Hebe took a step back, and the trap door simply opened itself, and she went along with it, as if it were the most regular thing that had no choice but to just happen.
An echoing sound of old, thin metal flooded the silent basement like a toxic fume before clanging as it hit the floor, and a deep well was revealed.
-scritch… c-ccrrrritch-kratch …thunk-
….someone's in there … oh God, someone is IN there….?!
Hebe could only stare as something scraped its way out of the well, and finally a small hand appeared, a hand like a shadow that glowed black, if there ever was such a thing. The hand gripped the edge of the trapdoor, and then trembled as it struggled to climb up, making Hebe carefully bend down, and put out her hand with concern.
Another trembling hand appeared and grabbed Hebe's hand, wet and slippery, almost failing if it weren't for Hebe holding on tight…
…their hands are only as big as mine…
But then the hand went limp and still, trembling no more, forcing Hebe to cry out and then pull the shadow person out with all her might else they fall again.
A head emerged from the darkness, and even though they were still a shadow, Hebe recognized what she was seeing immediately.
She's me…
That's me …
…I'm not breathing anymore.
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⏰ Last updated: Dec 28, 2022 ⏰

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