Casey hung up his coat and threw off his shoes, almost expecting his mother to drift out of the kitchen with that absent-minded look on her face, just like she used to when he was younger. but she didn't. She hadn't since she took that job with the research company that practically owned the town.

He was so absorbed in his thoughts that he didn't notice the light coming from the crack under the basement door until it he was halfway up the stairs.

"What the..." he trailed off as the light flickered. "Mom? Dad? Are you down there?" There was no answer. He slowly made his back down the stairs to the basement door and pressed his ear to the thin wood. Hearing nothing, he opened the door and peeked down into the basement. The light was coming from his mother's desk, behind the boxes of rarely used Christmas ornaments and old clothes.