Sean walked toward the narrow hallway doorway that led down to the stone basement level.
Clara stepped quickly across the hardwood floor and blocked the narrow hallway with her body.
Clara: There is nothing down there except old furniture and dusty holiday decorations.
Sean: I heard a distinct sound coming from below the stairs, Clara.
Clara: It is just the old steam pipes knocking against the foundation walls.
Sean did not listen to her desperate excuse and pushed gently past her shoulder.
He opened the wooden door and stared down into the pitch black stairwell below.
A cold draft of damp air blew upward against his warm face immediately.
Sean: Dad? Mom? Are you down there?
He rushed down the steep stone steps while holding firmly onto the rough wall.
His heart hammered violently against his ribs as his eyes adjusted to the dim light.
At the bottom of the long staircase sat a large dark room with stone walls.
Sean reached out and flipped the wall switch, illuminating a flickering overhead bulb.
At the far end of the room stood a heavy iron cell door.
A massive iron padlock held the thick metal door securely closed against the stone frame.
Behind the rusty iron bars stood two frail figures looking back at him in shock.
Arthur: Sean! You came home!
Sean gasped in absolute horror as he recognized his father's silver hair and beard.
Beside Arthur stood his mother Eleanor, holding a thin woolen blanket over her shoulders.
Sean: Why are you locked down here in this cell?
He crouched down quickly near the rusty bars and reached his hands through them.
His parents gripped his fingers tightly while their hands trembled from the cold air.
Eleanor: We thought you would never find us down here, my dear boy.
Tears streamed down Eleanor's pale cheeks as she squeezed Sean's warm hands tightly.
Sean: Who did this horrible thing to you?
Arthur: Clara brought us down here three days ago under false pretenses.
Sean stood up slowly as anger surged through every single vein in his body.
He turned back toward the stone stairs and saw Clara standing at the top.
She held her black clipboard tight and looked down at him with a cold expression.
Woman: Sean, you were never supposed to come down here today.
Sean: You told me they went away on a quiet winter vacation!
Clara: It was necessary to secure the family estate trust before you returned.
Sean: You locked my elderly parents in a damp basement cell for money?
Clara shifted her weight uncomfortably on the stone step while holding her clipboard tightly.
Clara: They were going to sign the entire property over to a charitable trust fund!
Sean: It is their money and their estate to do with as they wish!
Clara: That inheritance belonged to the entire family, not just your personal line!
Sean took two quick steps up the staircase toward Clara with his fists clenched.
Sean: Give me the key to this heavy padlock right now!
Clara: I do not have the padlock key on me, Sean.
Arthur reached his tired arms through the iron cell bars and called out urgently.
Arthur: Son, there is something much bigger about this whole situation you need to know.
Sean stopped on the stone steps and turned back to look at his father.
Sean: What else could she possibly be hiding from us, Dad?
Arthur: The legal documents she wants us to sign are completely fraudulent.
Clara's face turned completely white as Arthur spoke those words out loud into the room.