Creative Writing: Heart Of Darkness

Darkness. The flick of a switch. Light, dim and twittering, on a well-used study in the basement of a turn-of-the-century mansion. The room was massive, far larger than the building above it. It seemed only half the lights were functioning, as one could only see about fifty feet before darkness took over again. What could be seen looked like an odd mix of immaculate library, laboratory and dank cellar, as if someone began the process of converting it into something more presentable, but lost interest. This was, in fact, the case, as the man who flicked the switch would tell you. Tall, with an old, round face and short, white hair. He wore a white, striped, long-sleeve button-up shirt with ripped beige pants and suspenders. His eyes were perpetually squinted, and not because of the light. He stood at the top of the long, winding staircase down to the deck of the basement study, along with two others.

Yes, three... it had to have been. Surely, the boy thought, there can't be anything alive down here. Besides, he said that it was deactivated. "Still," the boy's mind stated aloud, "I could have sworn I heard--" "What's that?" The girl was suddenly right alongside him. He hadn't noticed he had caught up with her, and judging by the look he was on the receiving end of, she had noticed he was distressed by something. "I... wuh... theh--" he stammered. "Haha! Oh come on, I know this place is creepy as hell, but I kinda like it," With that he let her fall ahead of him. True enough, what the boy had heard, or rather thought he had heard, severely put him on edge. But that train of thought came to a screeching halt when the old man announced his discovery.

"I've some bad news. Hattman. It's gone,"

"The android?" the boy was quick to ask.

"Yes,"

"The one you dedicated your life to completing?"

The old man turned his squinted eyes on the boy. "No, the other one!"

The girl, breaking things up as usual, offered "It couldn't be stolen, could