Here is the finale as promised. This is ending 1 which as I said before I would do two based on the fact that the story did start as a "Choose Your Own Adventure" type of story. The second ending should be up later today. Feel free to pick whichever ending you like. I hope you enjoyed the story.

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Desperate times call for desperate measures, you can’t recall who said that but it doesn’t matter. You point the flashlight ahead of you on the stairs as you slowly descend into the unknown. You aren’t counting but you assume you are about halfway, you can hear the muffled sound of glass breaking followed by a thud. The dog is in the house you say to yourself as you nod and try to reassure yourself coming down to the basement was the right choice.

The light finally reaches the bottom spreading out and you step into the basement. There is a small amount of light coming in through small barred windows but it barely reaches the ground. Your flashlight doesn’t fare any better, but you move it around you noticing boxes piled up in most directions. You approach a stack to see that it is covered in dust and has no markings of any kind. You feel around the side and grab the end of the tape and begin to pull it off.

The tape peels away and you fold open the lid; inside is some children’s toys but nothing out of the ordinary. You wonder if you should check the rest when you hear something coming from the corner across from you. Moving the flashlight in the direction you can hear it is crying. It’s the same crying you heard upstairs coming from the closest. The closet that you found empty after you left the room. You look back to the box and regret opening it; did you upset whoever is crying?

You move as quickly as you can back toward the stairs, you turn to face the basement and shine the light about. Nothing you can see is moving but the crying is coming from a different direction and its getting closer. Turning your head you look back up the stairs, you are stuck between a rock and a hard place. You start to climb the stairs slowly hoping to at least see whatever is down here with you before it sees you. From behind you hear scrapping, is it the dog or the creature?

Your breathing starts to become erratic and you feel light headed, did you just sign your death certificate? The crying from below is getting unsettling close to the bottom of the stairs and the edge of your light. You take another step up; you are just about in the center of the door at the top and the basement below. Too many thoughts enter you mind, so many choices yet none of them seem plausible. The door handle jiggles and you try to spin but your ankle twists in pain, you begin to fall but you can’t balance yourself.

Before you realize it you are already falling and you contact the stairs rolling and tumbling the flashlight escaping your grip as your vision blurs. The darkness opens slightly the flashlight offering a slight amount of color just off to your side, you groan and try to get up but your back hurts too much. You tilt your head toward the flashlight and can barely see a silhouette bending over into the haze of light. It’s crying and as your eyes being to adjust to the light you notice a doll dangling down. You try to move feeling no harm coming from whatever stands in the darkness but the pain that throbs out from your back when you try to twist to stand blurs your vision and makes you want to vomit.

Even as you try to breath deep pain stabs you in your chest and you can feel yourself wanting to sleep. As you try to move your legs you can hear barely from above the door creak. You fight your eyelids to keep them open and look up the stairs to see light pouring in through an open doorway. The pain begins to disappear and you wonder if sleeping now would be the best thing to do. If you close your eyes now you won’t have to watch the creature descend the stairs and witness the end. You give in sliding your eyes closed, as everything slowly seems to drift into the distance you hear the crying stop and the creaking of the first basement step.