Just bought my childhood house 1 (Archive)

Like the title says, I just re-purchased my childhood home from the previous owners, who bought it from my folks when I was in college. My folks passed away a few years ago (basically one after the other, we figured as much) but I feel close to them here. Overall the experience has been awesome. That being said, there's an unavoidable issue and that's the attic tunnel.

My little brother and I were fucking around up there one day and stumbled across this door tucked in a really weird spot in the floor by the back eaves. It's weird because you have to literally crawl to get to it. There's less than two feet of clearance between it and the ceiling. We tried to open it but it was stuck shut, so we got our parents and they couldn't figure it out either. They'd never seen it before or even known that it was there. It was definitely hollow underneath, but it was stuck shut so we couldn't open it to verify. From the outside there's absolutely no sign that anything is weird about the house. We even went as far as to unearth the blueprints to see if maybe it was a hidden crawlspace but nope, nothing. It was a real curiosity for a few days but eventually other stuff just kind of took precedence and we all forgot about it except when we were up there for whatever. I'm sure my dad tried to open it a few times, just can't remember exactly when or how. Either way, it passed out of memory and when the house was sold we never had any questions from the new owners.

I graduated college and was lucky enough to almost instantly land a really good job that set me up well. Parents passed away, and about six months ago I got a call from a friend who still lived in the area that my old house was up for sale. I had enough to comfortably buy it (not outright but a good portion) so I put in an offer without even seeing what shape it was in. Maybe a stupid move but I figured that I could always hire someone to put it back in order. Turns out I was the only bidder, and I got it! I was SUPER fucking excited, and since my job is remote it wasn't a problem to move. I did ask to speak to the previous owners just to get a sense of what their experience with the house was like, but the realtor said that they had already relocated and didn't want to be contacted. A little weird but again, whatever. I figured maybe someone in their family had died or something and the circumstances weren't the best. Sucks for them, but AWESOME for me. I got to move back into the house I grew up in- and not only do that but decorate it the way I always wanted it to be. I.e lots of furniture with cushions for building forts, always-stocked junk cupboards, etc. It's been a pretty emotional thing for me, but my God does it feel good to have my old house back.

I was actually having so much fun I totally forgot about the weird attic until about a week ago when I was chucking some stuff up there. It's one of those attics with a pull-down ladder, and it's a large area, basically spanning the length of the house. Pretty much like every horror movie attic ever. I was up there moving some stuff around and I noticed that door. All those memories came flooding back.

I was a little nervous but after some internal manning up I thoroughly checked it out and the thing was definitely sealed with some kind of rubber cement or epoxy. Not well, either. I got some solvent and got through it quick. The door doesn't open all the way, it's too close to the ceiling, and the space is almost too small to fit through. I can't tell if the design is stupidity or some kind of deterrent to anyone trying to go down it. Maybe both? Anyway, I'm a big enough dude that I couldn't squeeze into the space the door provided. So, naturally, I took the damn thing off. Not with elegance, mind you, but I got it off. After getting a flashlight and lowering it about a foot down this thing here's what I can tell you as of right now:

It's a square 'tunnel' going straight down, and is just wide enough for a person, about three-and-a-half feet on almost all sides. One side is slightly shorter for some reason, not by much but noticeably enough. Seems intentional but I can't imagine why. There appears to be a set of wooden rails running down one side, however I'd have to actually lower myself in there to know if it's a ladder. For some reason they don't start until about five feet down. Basically, you have to hang off the edge to get your feet on what I assume must be a top step. Weird right? My best guess is it's some kind of like, air conditioning duct? It would have to have been installed by the new owners if that's the case, since the house wasn't built with anything like that. My other thought was that maybe it was a laundry shoot but again, it's not in the original blueprints.

My current plan is to check out the basement for any sign of an exit. Failing that, I'll probably just get in there and see where it goes. Maybe not the smartest thing but what the hell, it's my house so I can kill myself with it if I want.

It's pretty weird, even I'll admit that. But I don't feel unsafe here or anything. No matter what, it's still my safe childhood house. Nothing can change that.