This incident happened to me at around the age of eight years old, and everything has been fine ever since.

When I was a little girl, back when my dog Louie was still alive, I had suddenly woken up. There was no dream, no sound, nothing to wake me up. I had turned on the light in my room, and both of my dogs were with in there room with me. This surprised me as whenever the door is open, they have usually left the room. I had noticed no lights were on and there wasn't a sound in the house. Everyone was sound asleep and aside from my dogs, I was the only one up.

When I wake up, I usually go and get some water (and keep in mind this is before I had a phone with a flashlight), so I had decided to go get some. I called out to my dogs, wanting at least one of them to come with me since I wasn't comfortable alone. My dog Maddy was a little older than a puppy, and was always eager to go with me places, so it seemed strange that she laid there, glancing at me uneasily, not even daring to stand.

I started calling out to Louie, and after a while of reluctance and more calling on my part, he finally stood and went downstairs with me. My basement door is in front of our kitchen and not far from the stairs, so on my way to the kitchen, I noticed Louie's reluctance once more. Our basement door was open as it usually was, and he stopped before it, not daring to cross paths with the opening. He sat there looking at me, and started whining. I glanced into the basement to see nothing there, only the absence of light.

"What's wrong, Louie? Come on." I remember saying those words to him, and he whined once more. That was when I heard the footsteps coming from the basement. They sounded a bit distant at first. I remember calling out to the sound, "Mom?" I had asked, maybe wondering if she would come see what the problem was.

That was when the footstep sounds grew faster, louder, and sounded like they were coming up the stairs after me, I screamed at the top of my lungs "Mom!" And bolted up the stairs with Louie in tow, my mom bursting out of her room. I remember hugging her and crying, but no further sounds were made. I know it wasn't a dream because I wasn't able to sleep that night. The house wasn't previously owned, and my parents had built it, there were no peculiarities or any graveyards that were nearby. However, to this day, I cannot sleep in the basement alone, and I still wonder why that had happened, and why it hadn't happened any other time before or after. While no one else believes me, I can say with confidence that I am definitely traumatized.