When they adjusted their eyes to the light they tried to force the door open. It wouldn't budge. "Big surprise," Taya muttered. Sitting side by side on the steps they couldn't decide on the best course of action.

"This thing pushed us in here. It probably wants us to go down these stairs." Taya said.

Margot nodded. She'd guessed as much too. "The door is stuck and I'd rather not waste any more energy trying to pry it open. Maybe there's another way out down there."

Taya fumed. "This fucking thing has attacked me three times already. I sure as hell am not walking into its death trap!"

“I know, I know, you make a very good point. This thing seems to be fixated on you and I can only guess as to why.” Margot said. “I don't like the idea of walking into a trap either.”

What Margot found so baffling was, why. Why was it going through such lengths to draw them here? She'd read cases of extreme hauntings from very violent, territorial ghosts. Ones that tried to cause serious injury or even kill the occupants of a house or building. Personal experience showed her that. A terrible thought occurred to her. What if this haunting was demonic? She asked herself. A shiver ran through her at the suggestion. Now more than ever she wished she hadn't come alone. Truth be told, all the signs were pointing to something like that.

Yet something about it felt off. Shadow People, she recalled, came in two categories: mischievous and evil. The former were small and largely benign, if puckish and at times chaotic. But the later were something else altogether. This thing was firmly in the latter category and gave credence to her demonic theory. Margot knew she had walked into this blind and now she was trapped in some stairwell with her estranged friend.

Exhausted, afraid and bruised the two young women sat in silence. Margot reached over and took Taya's hand, cold and shaking, in her own.

"I know you are afraid. Lord knows, so am I. But we can't stay here." She said turning to look at Taya. "We can make it out of here if we stick together."

Taya shot her a withering look. "So what do you want to do?"

"We go down these stairs and see where they lead. There might be another way out of here."

Taya considered this. The door wasn't going to budge, it was still dark out there and at least there was light in here. They could see where they were. Maybe Margot was right, their best chance of escape was down there. But then why drag -in Taya’s case literally- here? She bit her lower lip. At least she wasn't alone this time. "OK." She said at last.

Margot and Taya held hands and slowly made their way down the stairs. There was a door at the bottom, both hoped desperately that it was a way out. When Margot pushed the door handle the door moved. It was unlocked. They looked at one another and at the count of three, pushed the door open. What they found wasn't a way out.

"Damn it, it's still the basement!" Taya swore.

"The lights are on." Margot pointed to the ceiling where the fluorescent beams shined. Margot hesitated at the doorway, her mind trying to work together why now, after a good hour or more in the dark, there was suddenly light. More importantly, why hadn't they been attacked again? Those same questions were plaguing Taya’s mind.

“Something isn’t right. This has to be a trap.”

"Let's look for a way out," Margot suggested. "There might a hidden exit or something."

“In a university basement?”

“Oh like you have any bright ideas?”

It wasn't much of a plan but they didn't have many options open. Just to be safe, Margot and Taya kept the door as open as possible, wedging it in place with a single cement block that had been left behind. They took to exploring. The room was large, cold and smelled like dirt. The walls were all cement blocks and each wall lined with shelves stacked with boxes of equipment. There was no other door and no way out.

Taya growled. "Well, that was a waste of time."

"Maybe not," Margot said. She had taken down one of the boxes and looked through it. "There might be something in one of these boxes we could use."

"Such as?"

"A flashlight, batteries, maybe a walkie talk? I'll take anything at this point. You try this wall on the right, I’ll try the one on the left."

Margot tossed aside the box and looked through another. Taya grumbled but did as Margot suggested. She worried about Henry upstairs. She prayed he was safe, that maybe he and the others found a way out. As she sorted through the boxes she found a large one with only one thing inside: a plastic bag. Hoping it might be something useful she tore it open and spilled the contents in the box.

"What the hell?"

The bag had only two items: a book, possibly a diary and a jeweled brooch. The broach was what caught her attention. A red stone nestled within a circle of gold, a pin in the back. It was lovely and elegant: the gold was tarnished and the red gemstone smudged. It looked valuable and old. It felt heavy in the palm of her hand. In the back of her mind, she knew that it was a diamond. What's this doing down here? The book was something else altogether. Taya recognized the frayed spine and stained front and back covers. She'd been the one to buy it when it was new. She called Margot over.

"Margot, come look at this!"

"What? What did you find?" Margot asked.

“Look familiar?” Taya handed her the book and the broach. Margot only glanced at the gem but her eyebrows shot up and her eyes went wide when she saw the book. She grabbed it from Taya, her hands shaking.

"Is that what I think it is?"

"It looks like it, right?" Taya asked. She’d seen it a hundred times. This was Trisha's diary. She never went anywhere without it.

"What is it doing here?." She wondered aloud. A crash upstairs startled them. Margot put the book on the inside of her jacket pocket.

"Jesus, what now?" Taya stood up, pocketing the broach. More crashing, like something, was trying to knock down the door. Looking around Taya found an old broom. She grabbed it, brandishing it like a spear. Margot gave her a look.

"I sincerely doubt a mop is going to do us much good."

"Shut up!" She hissed. "It's coming!"

They waited for several long, dragging seconds. The banging became louder, more forced until finally, the sound stopped. They heard footsteps come down the stairs, people shouting their names. Taya recognized his voice.

“Ahhhhh! Taya? Margret?”

"Henry!"

“My name is not..never mind.” Margot sighed.

She didn't run out immediately, too afraid it might be another one of the Shadow's tricks. But when Henry came rushing down the stairway, wielding a broomstick, she ran into his arms. Margot gasped, pointing to the doorway. Everyone in the stairwell saw the outline of a man at the entrance. When the lights returned to the rest of the building there was no one there.

It seemed, for now at least, the nightmare was over.