The paranoid man

Carl’s house was different from others. Nobody but Carl ever went into his house so it was only after he died that outsiders looked upon the interior. Delivery people knew what the first room looked like, but that was it. They didn’t even know what Carl looked like. They would walk in the only door and place their deliveries in a small room with another door leading into the actual house. It was metal and had all sorts of contraptions to keep people out. Most of the deliverers came from the grocery store and dropped off canned goods and anti bacterial supplies. That was about as much as anyone knew about Carl.

When the investigators came into his house after he failed to place an order with the local grocery store in over two months, they were met with a horrible smell that came from Carl’s decomposing body. They called in someone to take it away and explored the house.

The entire house was clean, save for the dust that had accumulated and not wiped up while Carl was unable to do so. In the kitchen, all surfaces shined and sparkled. At the sink there was an array of different kinds of soaps and towels. There was also a button that looked out of place in a kitchen and out of curiosity, one of the investigators pushed it. A loud noise came from in the wall and the other investigator opened what looked like a wall safe to see a sort of laundry chute. He told the investigator to push the button again, and the bottom of the chute opened at the bottom so whatever was put down there was carried away.

There were also more cabinets in the kitchen area than was usual. The investigators opened the doors and found canned goods stored neatly in rows. The amount of food in the house was comparable to a food bank.

They wandered some more and one investigator found a bookshelf with many books on it, and as he was an avid reader, he stopped to look at the titles. One title in particular interested him and he started to pull the book of the shelf when a rumbling happened and the bookshelf moved. The two investigators looked at each other and then helped the bookshelf along until there was an opening big enough for them to fit through. Inside was a room entirely made of steel. It almost felt like a solitary confinement cell. They looked where they had first come in, and there was a large lever that swiveled and a keypad with numbers on it. They were too afraid of being locked in this room, so they didn’t play with the door or the buttons. One investigator saw an unusual pattern on the floor and could hear a hollow sound when he stepped over the area. He pulled out a pocketknife and stuck it in an unassuming groove in the room with many other grooves. The knife went down until the handle was touching the ground. He pushed the handle and part of the floor came up and he grabbed it with his hand. Underneath the trap door, there was still even more food and a large collection of disinfectants and medical supplies. There were flashlights, batteries, light bulbs, and giant jugs of water. The investigator saw something behind some cans and pushed them aside to reveal a screen with pictures of different areas of the house. He watched his partner pace around above him in the screen.

Both investigators’ walkie-talkies made a static noise and a person told them to come back to the station. They took one final look around the house as they were leaving and shook their heads.