The Basement

He waved goodbye as Maya’s car pulled out of the driveway, and drove back the same way it came. He closed the door, and returned inside, slowly coming to terms with his current situation. This place wasn’t a home. At least, not anymore. Not to mention that the last thing he needed was memories from that long ago, plaguing him like a lingering illness. With nothing better to do, he decided to explore the rest of the house, and to take note of which rooms were the least run down and the most rain-proof to set up in. Surely one would be more acceptable than the rest. After all, it had just turned dusk, and Camden had no interest in enduring the nighttime cold that had begun to leak through the walls.

He left his suitcases in the front hall, and decided to first head to the kitchen. Unsurprisingly, the automaton was still there, standing idly in the corner. It must have decided to enter charging mode, as when Camden waved his hand in front of what seemed to be its eyes, it did not respond. Camden then looked over to the counter, where it had apparently decided to leave his coffee.

“At least it didn’t put it in the fridge.” Camden thought out loud to himself. Considering the state of the rest of the house, the fridge was likely a residence for various amounts of bacteria and mold. He’d probably have to purchase a new one, or just have non-refrigerated foods for the time being.

Next, he headed left, and ventured into the living room. There wasn't much of note, save for the ever-present ceiling pipes, and an old Cathode Ray Tube television that sat in the corner. Camden doubted that it still worked, but if it did, maybe he could sell it to some enthusiast, make a bit of cash to help to repair the roof.

Camden then made his way to the dining room. It was of similar condition to the rest of the main floor, which is to say damaged and unsanitary, as the glass chandelier in the middle of the ceiling bounced the limited light from the outside all around the room.

That was the main floor complete, all of which was just about as worn out as the rest. Camden sighed an exasperated sigh, getting more frustrated by the minute. What were his parents even thinking when they mentioned that he could stay in his grandparents old house? Surely they knew that nobody had been maintaining it, and that it’d be the actual abandoned building that it was. Then again, maybe it was Camden’s fault for considering it as an option in the first place. How could he be so stupid, so naive to have thought that coming back would be a good idea? Well it was too late now. Maybe the second floor would yield something promising.

After heading up the stairs and reaching his destination, Camden came to realize that the upper floor’s rooms had actually fared marginally worse than those of the main floor. It made sense, though. After all, they were closer to the roof, and therefore took the brunt of the rain and elements directly. The bedrooms had suffered greatly from the years of disuse, with the sheets being covered in water stains, and a thin coating of dust. Not to mention that Camden could have sworn that he’d seen at least 5 different types of insects skittering around.

The washroom was actually a slight improvement, if you ignored the carpeted flooring, that is. The countertops were still covered in dust, and there was some mold growing in the corner, but due to a distinct lack of holes to the outside, the room itself had held up somewhat acceptably. It appeared that, much to his chagrin, Camden would be sleeping in the washroom tonight.

He began to make his way back to the front hall, in order to retrieve his suitcases to set up in his new abode. That is, until he spotted something. He had almost walked past it, but caught it just out of the corner of his eye. Something that danced at the edge of his memories, just beyond what he could easily recall. But after turning to face it, that single memory came rushing back, clear as a newly polished crystal.

It was the door to the basement.

Camden had turned 8 years old the year of that Christmas, and it had been a fun time at his grandmother’s house too. Lots of festivities and snacks and the like, not to mention his grandmother’s famous turkey roast. But all fun times must come to an end, and eventually it was time for him and his parents to head back home. As they were at the front door, getting ready to leave with winter coats already zipped up snugly, Camden realized that he had forgotten one of his presents back in the living room. He headed back in that direction, until a sound stopped him right in his tracks.

Camden could have sworn that he heard someone screaming in pain. Camden looked curiously to his left, and for the first time, took note of an inconspicuous door. Did it lead down to the basement? He didn’t think his grandmother’s house even had an underground, but then again, he hadn’t ever checked. His hand cautiously approached the doorknob, hand closed around it and almost opening the door before his grandmother, who had arrived with a speed he’d never seen from her, firmly pushed his hand out of the way. Camden jumped, not expecting her to have been right beside her. He looked up. She smiled at him warmly. But even then, at his young age, he felt as if it were some form of facade. There was something she was hiding, he just knew it.

Camden shook his head, bringing himself back to the present. He must have blocked out that memory until now. His grandmother would have never let him investigate. But she wasn’t here anymore, was she? And he supposed that now that the house belonged to him, he could do whatever he wanted. Not to mention that if the upstairs had fared worse than the rest of the house, perhaps the downstairs had fared better? He could only hope so. Camden pulled out the brass keys once more, unlocking the door in front of him, turning on the flashlight on his cellphone, and cautiously making his way down into the basement. After all, he didn’t have any idea what to expect. The stairs creaked and groaned, objecting to someone walking on them after all this time. Dust particulates floated in the air, caught in the flashlight’s beam. Camden continued, stumbling briefly as he came to the bottom of the staircase, his feet landing on the solid floor beneath him. He looked around, and was able to locate a light switch to his right. He hesitated, and then flicked the switch. A sole overhead light slowly flickered to life, illuminating the room gently. The room itself was… strangely normal, the floors covered by a mauve carpet, the walls built of the same brick as the exterior. Though what resided in the room was a completely different story. Placed directly in the middle, was a sphere. Or rather, some form of large sphere shaped contraption, constructed from seemingly the same brass, copper, and bronze as the automaton and the pipes from the main floor were. And stranger yet, was that all of those pipes seemed to converge right here in this room, all of them having been routed from the floors above, and then into innumerable outlets and connection points that had them entering the sphere, like if one had stabbed an orange with hundreds of miscellaneous knitting needles. Camden didn’t have a single clue as to what the contraption was, or what it had even been designed to do, but it looked undoubtedly handmade.

What was more compelling than the machine, however, was that the room had been left in almost pristine condition. Well, at least when compared to the rest of the house. It seemed that the basement had fared better after all. Camden thanked whatever deities there were that he didn’t need to sleep in the carpeted bathroom after all. He checked the clock on his phone, which read “9:23 PM”. Camden felt generally unmotivated to attempt to clean out his new living space, and decided to head to sleep, planning to get a start on it when he woke up the next morning.

After gathering all of his items, he set them up in the mysterious underground, locking the door on the way down, if only to prevent the automaton from somehow coming in and disrupting his sleep. One blanket laid on the ground to add more cushion between Camden and the wooden floor that existed beneath the carpet, another blanket on top to hopefully shield him from the frigid nighttime air. Sure, the basement might not have had any holes leading to the outside, but due to being underground, remained stubbornly cold as usual. Camden laid down, head resting on the pillow that he’d brought along, as his mind began to wander.

What was the need for all the pipes?

Why exactly had his grandmother adored the automaton so much?

And for what reason had she been hiding a mysterious contraption in her basement for all these years?

Camden slowly fell into a somewhat restful state of slumber, questions about his new abode still lingering in his mind.