I Discovered 13 Mysterious Candles and My Photo in My MIL’s Basement—The Shocking Truth

It was just supposed to be a regular family celebration—my mother-in-law’s birthday. But when I went into the basement, I found something shocking: a ritual that made me question everything, especially the woman who raised my husband.

Honestly, this was wild! My mother-in-law has really lost it!

So, here’s what happened.

It was Jane’s birthday party. The whole family was there, and everything seemed fine. People were laughing, drinks were flowing, and she was acting sweet and welcoming.

You know, typical family stuff. I had only been married to Willis for a month, so I was still figuring out the whole in-law situation and trying to get along. But if someone had told me earlier what I was about to find, I would have thought they were joking.

Willis and I were in the living room with the guests when Jane, my mother-in-law, casually mentioned we were out of wine.

“Chelsea, dear, could you and Willis go down to the basement and get some bottles for the guests?” she asked, smiling in that warm but slightly forced way she always did. I didn’t think much of it, so I nodded and followed Willis downstairs.

The moment we stepped into the basement, something felt off. Maybe it was the musty smell, the dim lighting, or just a feeling deep in my gut telling me to leave. There was an eerie silence that hung in the air like a bad sign. I glanced at Willis, but he seemed completely unaware of anything unusual.

He walked straight to the wine rack, chatting about how his mom loved a good Chardonnay, while I lingered by the stairs, looking around. That’s when I saw it.

In the far corner of the basement, past the shelves of old family albums and dusty boxes, was a small table. On it sat a framed photo of… me.

“Uh, Willis?” I called out, my voice a bit shaky.

“What’s up?” he replied, still focused on grabbing a bottle.

“There’s a picture of me over here…”

He stood up, holding two bottles of wine, and walked over, looking confused. I pointed to the table, and that’s when he noticed it too.

“Why is your picture here?” he muttered. That’s when I spotted the candles.

Thirteen candles. Eight were lined up in front of my photo, one in each corner of the room, and one right in the center, right on the floor.

“What the hell?” I whispered, feeling my stomach drop. “Why are there candles? And why are they all around my photo?”

Willis blinked, just as shocked. “I…I don’t know. This is weird.”

“Weird?” I snapped, my voice rising. “This is more than weird, Willis! This is freakin’ creepy!”

I rushed to the table, my heart racing with questions. Why would Jane have a picture of me like this? Was it some sort of ritual? A strange family tradition? Or something darker?

I turned to Willis, my heart pounding, feeling like I had stepped into a horror movie. His face was pale, and his eyes were wide with disbelief, as if he had seen something much worse than just a weird setup of candles and my photo.

“Willis,” I whispered, barely able to speak. “What… What is this? What’s happening?”

He didn’t respond right away. He just stood there, staring at the candles, his breathing shallow. I could see the panic building in his eyes, the kind of fear that freezes you.

“Willis?” I repeated, my voice trembling. “Please, talk to me.”

Finally, he turned to me, his lips parting slightly, but no words came out. After what felt like forever, he spoke, his voice hoarse and shaky. “I… I think my mother’s been using a spell,” he stammered.

“A curse?” My stomach dropped. “What are you talking about?”

He took a deep breath, clearly struggling with whatever awful truth he was about to share. “My grandmother… she was into all this—this dark stuff. Witchcraft, curses, spells. I—I never believed it, but…”

He ran a hand through his hair, his voice almost breaking. “She taught my mom everything. And I think—Chelsea, I think my mom’s been trying to curse you.”

I stared at him, my mind racing. “Curse me? For what?”

I blinked, and there it was: positive.

“Willis!” I shouted, barely able to contain my excitement. “Willis, come here!”

He rushed in, panic flashing across his face. “What? What’s wrong?”

I held up the test, my hands shaking. “I’m pregnant,” I whispered, tears spilling down my cheeks.

For a moment, he just stared at me, his mouth hanging open in shock. Then his face broke into the biggest smile I had ever seen.

“You’re—wait, we’re—” He stammered, pulling me into a hug so tight I could barely breathe. “We’re having a baby?!”

20+ People Honestly Showed What Their Jobs Are Really Like

It’s impossible to argue with the fact that all jobs are important. We see people specialize in different things every day. They could be doctors, school teachers, cashiers, or cleaners. All jobs contain things that outsiders have no idea about.

We at Bright Side have found Internet users of different professions that revealed the invisible side of their jobs. And in the bonus section, you’ll find a tweet about the difficulties that shop assistants have to deal with.

“My sister works in a photo center and this is who she was asked to take a picture of.”

This is the hand of a doctor after removing his medical gloves after 10 hours of being on the clock.

“A group of teenagers came in just to trash the theater. I was one of the people that had to clean it.”

“I work in the Arctic and Antarctic and find it much more convenient to wear my watch on a lanyard than on my wrist because of all of the layers I wear.”

“This watch has been to Antarctica countless times and to the geographic North Pole 12 times.”

“Be nice to your trash man when it’s raining and it’s 30 degrees outside. We’re not invincible. This is my hand after working 4 hours in bad weather.”

“I work at a hotel these days and went to see if a room was mislabeled as dirty. This is what I found.”

“I kept my hotel key cards from my first year working for the airlines.”

“Working hard as a truck driver has its advantages: the views!”

“My mom works at Amazon and she sent me a photo of one of the trucks she loaded.”

“I work at a call center. Whenever I get a particularly rude caller, I like to draw what they might look like. Here’s Lorraine from today.”

“I work in a fast-food restaurant, and this is our broom. My boss says it’s too expensive to replace it, yet he drives a Lincoln.”

“I work in the film industry and I’m usually too shy to ask for a picture with an actor, but I had to get one with this little guy.”

“Every staple I removed in one year at my boring office job”

“I work in a −25°F freezer every day.”

“I work at a cat shelter. These are the ’can we keep him?’ photos I sent to my partner. It worked.”

“My job involves putting labels on boxes. I hold them with my left hand and put them on the box with my right. This is what my ’clean’ hands look like.”

“I got transferred to a new location at work. This is my new break ’room.’”

You can work anywhere if you’re a programmer.

“I work as a professional princess on weekends. My kitty insists on inspecting each costume for detail accuracy.”

“I work at a hotel — a guest left this when they checked out.”

This is a bathtub full of playing cards.

“So, I work in a movie theater. ’Family of the Year’ award goes to these guys!”

“I’m a seaman. We live alone in these rooms. Depending on your position, the room can be better and bigger. This is mine.”

“I have my own toilet and shower.”

“Took this photo yesterday at work. Thought I’d share it with you guys.”

What is your job and what downsides are there to it?