The Golden Key

“SARAH”! My mom yelled calling me down for breakfast. I grabbed my phone and rushed downstairs, before my mother got really mad.

It was snowing outside, again. There had been a snow storm going on for 2 weeks now. Everything was covered in snow, driveways, roads, and my car that I got on my 16^th birthday. I had got it from my dad before he left my mom 1 year ago. I had hated him ever since, not even one final goodbye. He thought a car would be able to make me happy as if I am some materialistic adolescent. I hated him ever since.

“Eat your breakfast, I have to go to work and the house better be spotless when I come back”, Mom said leaving the house with a loud bang. I hurried up and ate my oatmeal so I could finish cleaning the house. My house isn’t really that big, it has 2 small bedrooms upstairs, an average sized kitchen, a family room, and a basement which I’m not allowed into since mom doesn’t trust me with all her important files. It’s not that big of a deal though, it’s creepy down there anyways.

Three hours later, I finally finish. Its only 1:00pm so I decide to start reading my book. I have to finish it by the end of Christmas break, but I absolutely hate procrastinating. As I am about to start reading, the bell rings. It’s the mailman, he has a red box in his hands which he hands over to me. It’s for me, from an anonymous person. It all wrapped up like a Christmas gift, with a cute blue bow on top. I open it up and what do I find, just a weird little gold key with a note attached to it.

I know you must be wondering who I am and why I sent you a key, but just know that this is the key to all you answers. But you have to be cautious with it or else…

-Anonymous

What does that mean? What answers? Then it hits me. The basement, maybe there’s a reason I’m not allowed in there. Maybe my mom could be hiding something down there. I get up and finally decide to go check what is in there. Just as I am about to go down, the door opens and my mom appears. If she finds out I’m trying to go down there she’ll kill me. So I run upstairs to my room without letting her see me.

It’s midnight now, and my mom is finally asleep. I head downstairs to the basement to see what’s in there. I still don’t know if I should go in, what if it’s really nothing. I don’t know why, but I’ve been scared of the basement ever since I was a little kid. But I know that something is down there, so I suck it up and put the key in. IT DOESN’T WORK!

I still want to go in the basement though so I use my bobby pin to unlock the door. There’s a long dark staircase and another door at the bottom. I use the flashlight on my phone and start heading down. I try the key again but it still doesn’t work. So I try with the bobby pin again. It takes about 10 minutes but it finally opens. I open the door and my jaw drops instantly.

It is some kind of torture room. It’s painted all black with broken mirrors all around the room. On the right side of the wall, there’s different types of knives hung up. On the left side, there are guns, so many guns hung up. And in the middle, it’s a cage,

with my dad inside of it. “DAD, what is all this,”? I said with tears rolling down my eyes, I had been wrong about my dad this whole time. I removed the tape on my dad’s mouth so he would speak.

“Sarah, your mom has kept me in this for a year. Your mom is a very dangerous woman. The only thing that could get me out is this key which you mom threw out”

It finally made sense. I took the key out of my pocket, “Do you mean this?” I said holding it up. He nodded. I started walking toward the cage to open it. But as I was about to put the key in, I saw a reflection, of my mom in one of the broken mirror. I turned around and see my mom with a knife in her hand coming towards me.