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“Robert,” Henry called out gently, as to not disturb any sleeping lodgers as he entered the kitchen, “Are you still down here? Is something wrong?”
Half an hour.
That was how long it had been since Robert had pushed his chair back with a loud scrape of wood on wood, pulling both men out of their fervent focus on the financials at hand, declaring that he was going to get a drink for them both. They’d gone back and forth a few times before Henry had given in, resolving that even he was beginning to go a bit mad if he had to keep staring at these papers, prompting Robert to decide to head off to go pick out a drink while Henry organized the papers for them to continue once he returned.
Now, with half an hour of no return from the doctor, Henry couldn’t help but worry a little.
‘He probably got tired of this bullshit and decided to skip out while he could,’ Hyde murmured from one of the kitchen cabinets as Henry continued to search for the man. ‘You could just make it easier on the both of you and burn all those stupid papers.’
Like hell that would happen.
‘Suit yourself.’
“Robert,” Henry called out again softly, his brow furrowing softly as he entered the connecting hallway to the kitchen, finding a single door at the end of the hallway.
It had been a while since he had come to this portion of the house, as Rachel commonly shooed people away in the day in favor of fetching things for them herself, as she preferred to keep the pantry and all its belongings as orderly as possible. Tonight, however; he supposed that the woman had already retired to her bed.
He considered it for a moment, looking at the door. Considering the area in the building, it would either lead to a pantry, a storage room, or perhaps a wine cellar.
Robert had said that he was going to get a drink. So far, this door was Henry’s best bet.
Henry opened the door and stepped inside, finding himself at the top of a thin staircase that creaked softly as he stepped out, the door slowly beginning to shut with a low scrape as it brushed across the floor. There was a light on in the cellar, so surely this was where Robert had vanished to? “Robert,” Henry called out again.
“Henry?” A voice shouted from somewhere distant beneath the society. “Henry, don’t let-”
“What is going on?” Henry asked, confused as he listened to Robert’s footsteps gradually increase, the other doctor seeming to stumble briefly, the doctor quickly coming into view at the bottom of the staircase, holding a hand out as if reaching for something as he sprinted up the steps, pushing Henry out of the way as he reached behind him and-
Click.
Both men stood there for a few moments, Henry pressed against the wall, having narrowly caught himself on the banister to avoid tumbling down the steps as Robert stood there by the door, panting and looking at the doorknob. After a few moments, Henry could have sworn he had heard the other man mumble a soft curse under his breath.
“What’s wrong?” Henry asked.
“The door is locked.”
A brief pause of silence followed these words before Henry softly spoke. “Oh.”
Robert sighed and stepped away from the door, eyes still trained on the doorknob as he ran a hand through his hair. “How long have I been down here?”
Henry did his best to stifle a laugh. “Half an hour.”
Robert blinked at him incredulously. “Half an hour?”
“Yeah,” Henry said, unable to help himself from cracking a gentle pitied smile for the other man. He broke their gaze quickly though and turned his eyes back to the door. “Is it really locked? It might just be a little stuck.”
Robert sighed again and stepped down a couple of steps, lingering close as he gestured to the door. “Be my guest.”
‘He’s just overreacting,’ Hyde murmured distantly, a faint tinge of amusement lingering in his tone just behind his facade of annoyance.
Henry grabbed the handle of the door and twisted, finding it to not even budge. He furrowed his eyebrows as he tried tugging at the knob. Again, the door refused to give. He tried putting a little more force into it, pressing his shoulder against the door for a little more leverage. Once more, nothing.
‘Might as well try kicking it, genius.’
Henry could do much better without the criticism.
“Henry, I don’t think it’s going to open. I tried all of that,” Robert said, folding his arms and tilting his head slightly as he watched.
Henry sighed and stepped back, glancing back at Robert. “Have you tried calling for anyone?”
“Yep, already tried it,” Robert said, shaking his head. “Everyone is either asleep, too far away to hear us, or all of the above.” With that said, he began to make his way back down the steps.
Henry frowned slightly. “Well we can’t just stay here until someone happens to walk by, surely there must be some other way out of here?” He asked, watching Robert descend the steps.
“Be my guest, keep looking. I’ve already checked every inch of this place, there’s nothing.” He reached the bottom and glanced back up expectantly. “Besides, the pantry is here. Rachel will find us in the morning when she begins preparing breakfast.”
Henry tilted his head, folding his arms as he glanced around the top of the stairwell and considered Robert’s words. The other doctor was right, they’d hardly be stuck down here that long. It would only be a night and then Rachel would find them and-
‘She’s never going to let you live this down,’ Hyde giggled.
Henry sighed.
He looked at the door one more time and softly murmured, “Fortunately or not, I suppose it is a fair point that she will find us.”
Robert laughed softly. “Look, we’re not the ones that locked the door from the outside. Frankly, I’m surprised she isn’t right down here with us.”
Henry couldn’t help but give a small smile at that. However, the smile quickly drifted away as he flicked his gaze back to his and Robert’s surroundings. From the top of the steps, he could see very little of the basement but he was genuinely surprised by how large it appeared to be.
He took a few steps down, stopping only a couple of steps away from Robert as he peered around them. It appeared to be one main room with a connecting hallway on one side -- two doors down that hallway -- and a single room off on the other side with a heavy-looking wooden door that was slightly cracked open.
“What,” Robert asked, shocking Henry out of his silence as he looked around their surroundings. “Good lord, Henry, don’t tell me that I’ve explored the building more than you have? You’ve lived here two years!”
Henry blinked before offering a somewhat sheepish smile. “I suppose that I’ve just been a bit busy with everything, the thought of exploring never really occurred to me.”
Robert laughed softly, “Well, fortunately enough, I’ve recently had some time on my hands to do that for you.” With those words, he took a step back, wearing a slight smirk of amusement just like all those times in their university days, the man sticking his arm out grandly for Henry as if he were about to lead Henry on some grand expedition. “Allow me to give you the grand tour?” Something lingered in his tone right at the end, an odd little lilt that Henry would have missed, had he not heard it a few hundreds of times in the past.
Henry blinked, looking at the other man’s offered hand, genuinely a little surprised by the gesture. Then, it finally sunk in.
“No..” Hyde muttered under his breath in disbelief. Finally, his break of silence cracked as the hallucination snorted with laughter. “Oh my god. This is going to be good.” Robert was drunk.
Henry gave a slight exhale of amusement, watching Robert for a few moments more, “How much did you drink?”
“Mm,” Robert hummed in consideration, skewing his eyes up to the ceiling for a moment. “Only maybe a third of a bottle.” His smile quickly dropped as he brought his gaze back to Henry and lowered his hand a little. “Is it really that obvious?”
The doctor laughed. “Only to me, I don’t believe anyone else would notice.”
“Well then it is a lovely thing that we are only in each other’s company -- now,” He brought his hand back up, a little less dramatically this time as he clearly tried to fight back his own giggle. “You’re avoiding my offer. Come on, we’ve got a few hours to kill and I don’t intend to awkwardly linger at the door with you like I’m welcoming a new house guest.”
Henry gave another small laugh before shaking his head and taking the other doctor’s hand, Robert leading him to the center of the room that the stairs led into. “This, my dear Henry, is the entryway.”
“Really?” Henry asked, putting on his best attempt at shock.
“I could do without the sarcasm.”
Henry giggled before glancing around. “It doesn’t seem that welcoming,” He pointed out as he looked around. It was kind of dusty, a few cobwebs lingering in the corner. It seemed to be one of the few rooms that were not regularly cleaned within the house. It looked a little dodgy, completely unfinished save for the different doorways, and certainly could have fitted Frankenstein’s preferences for an unsettling space -- had Henry been aware of it sooner. “I’ll need to get someone out here to fix it up a little, I would hate for Rachel to have to always pass through here anytime she needed to reach the pantry.”
“Oh could you go thirty minutes without talking about the society, what needs to be fixed, or its damned financials?”
“Sorry, continue!”
Robert shook his head before leading Henry off to the hallway, stopping in front of the doors before jabbing a thumb backward. “The room behind us is a bathroom. It’s cleaned up and I think that Rachel uses it. The sink counter is covered in her hairpins and hair ties.”
Henry would definitely need to fix this area up now. He hardly knew that this place existed, much less that anyone spent more than a couple of minutes at a time down here.
“And this room?” Henry asked, gesturing to the other room.
Robert pushed the door open. “Pantry.” They both glanced around. Other than the food, there genuinely wasn’t much to look at. It was, by all means and purposes, a place where food was stored. Nothing more, nothing less. “Aren’t you glad that you agreed to let me give you a tour?” Robert asked in mock enthusiasm.
“You’re doing wonderfully, friend,” Henry responded genuinely, offering him a smile.
Robert blinked before laughing and closing the door, then leading Henry back down the hallway, into the entry room, and to the large wooden door.
“Oh, I know what this place is,” Henry said calmly.
Robert blinked. “Because you’re an alcoholic?”
Henry gave another small laugh. “I was going to say it was the room that you’ve been sitting in for the past half hour while I worked on the financials.”
Robert gasped in mock surprise as he pushed the door, letting go of Henry’s arm. “I’m shocked that you would ever make such an accusation!”
Sure enough, as the door creaked open, Henry was greeted with the sight of exactly what he had been expecting. The wine cellar.
The room was filled with rows of drinks spread from about waist height to the ceiling. It was a bit more nicely finished than the rest of the basement but still held the faintly creepy charm as the rest of it with its stone floors and walls and cobwebs lingering above. Most surprisingly, the wine was not the only beverage here, as he noted a couple of cabinets tucked between a few of the rows of bottles that seemed to be fitted with light amber-colored drinks as well as some darker ones. Least surprisingly, was one of the wine bottles sitting neatly perched on the floor in the center of the room, its cork sitting a couple of inches away still stuck on the wine opener. “Oh, Robert..”
“It’s social drinking, at least it is now that you’re here,” Robert chimed as he brushed past Henry in a mirror of one of their former conversations.
Henry watched with amusement as Robert plucked the bottle off the ground, noting that there sure wasn’t two-thirds of a bottle remaining as the other man had claimed there was, and smiled softly as Robert tilted the bottle back and took a few more sips.
“I thought that you had been working on trying to get out of here?”
“Mm,” Robert murmured, pulling the bottle down as he tucked it in his arm and considered the rhetorical question. “I was for a while, but thirty minutes is a long time, particularly when there is not much else to do than watch the ceilings for any spiders. Drink?” Robert asked, holding the bottle out. “It’s one of those nice Merlot’s from the countryside that we got last summer, do you remember that?” Robert asked, mischievously wagging the bottle as if trying to tempt the other doctor.
Henry blinked, watching Robert as he felt vaguely reminded of a certain someone lingering in his subconscious.
“Huh-uh,” Hyde quickly snapped. “Don’t compare me to him.”
Henry couldn’t help but crack a small smile as he sighed, reaching forward and taking the bottle from Robert, looking at the label. “Were you going to drink it all without me? There’s hardly anything left!”
“Of course not, I have the cork right here,” Robert said, grabbing the cork, the sharp movement lazily flinging the wine opener off the cork and a couple of feet to the side, Robert and Henry merely watching it fall to the side with a small clatter. “Well, that aside, I would have saved you some regardless.”
As much as Henry was tempted to tease the man and joke about how much he doubted that, he genuinely believed the man. Even if Robert had overestimated how much was left in the bottle, he knew that Robert would have been quick to realize and cork it so that Henry could share some of it with him.
He almost wished he hadn’t saved some for him, considering how Robert was already eyeing the other bottles, looking for the next one for them to tuck into following this.
Henry gave a final resigned sigh. “I guess there’s no point in saving this little amount for another occasion.” With that, he tilted the bottle up.
“That’s the spirit!” Robert called out.
By the time Henry brought the bottle back down, Robert was already beginning to subtly nudge another bottle out of its slot, looking at the label curiously. Apparently, this night was as good as wasted.
----------
Rachel pressed the empty basket that she was carrying against her waist and pulled the door open, ducking down as she forced the small wooden doorstop between the floor and the edge of the door to keep the damned thing from closing on her again.
It’d been an issue when they’d first moved here, the woman getting accidentally locked downstairs a few times but her hairpins, fortunately, coming in handy to pick the lock back open. She’d tried telling the doctor about it a few times, but each time had always been interrupted by a lodger, meetings, and the sorts. She supposed it didn’t matter that much, she’d already made such a habit of pushing the small wedge in the door whenever she entered that the thought of the broken lock hardly ever occurred to her anymore.
That was, however, until today when she opened the door and pushed the wedge in, then looked down the steps and felt a sudden strange feeling that something was out of place.
She couldn’t quite name it, but there was something about this that thoroughly unsettled her.
Slowly, staring down the steps, she bent down, placing the basket for the ingredients for breakfast on the floor. Then, as she straightened back up, she reached for the cooking knife tucked within her dress. With it tightly held in her grip, she began descending the steps, careful to keep her steps as muffled as possible.
As she reached the bottom, her suspicions were confirmed. Something was very wrong. The cobwebs in the corner of the entry room were gone -- well -- not quite. They were clearly knocked down, but as she stared at the corner, she noticed that they appeared to have been not only knocked down but wiped off on the nearby wall. In a similarly poor attempt at cleaning, much of the dust that had formerly been laying around the room was gone, messily swiped away with many of the corners of the room and sparse furniture still being dusty.
Okay... So the current running theory is that someone had broken in, cleaned the room, and done an absolutely shit job at it. She appreciated the thought, but it wouldn’t save whoever this was from getting stabbed if they jumped out from any corners at her.
She went to the hallway first, glancing in while wearily eyeing the closed door opposite of it. Her eyebrows quickly furrowed though as she turned her gaze to the other rooms.
Someone had not only been in her bathroom but had organized the room, placing each of her hair ties on one side of the sink and the bobby pins on the other with a couple of stray bobby pins appearing to have fallen and been forgotten just barely poking out of the sink drain.
Rachel blinked, turning the light back off before wearily checking the pantry. Fortunately, it had not been disturbed save for the cobwebs noticeably being gone -- thankfully not clinging to any nearby walls.
Slowly, she stepped out of the pantry and looked back at the heavy wooden door to the wine cellar. She’d already checked every other room. It was time to meet whoever this mystery piss-poor-cleaning-home-intruder was.
She reached the door and clutched her knife a little tighter before throwing the door open, feeling it hit something in the sharp movement and hearing a grunt of pain from below.
“Oh!” She shouted. “I’m sorry!”
Inside, was none other than Dr. Jekyll and Dr. Lanyon, both sprawled across the floor and quickly trying to scramble up. Robert was a little bit less graceful, Rachel sincerely hoping that she hadn’t knocked him too hard with the door.
“You couldn’t have hit me any harder, could you?” Robert asked in sarcasm as if he’d read her mind.
The more she stared at the two of them, the more she realized they seemed just as out of place as the rest of the basement. Firstly, both had been laying on the ground when she’d entered, which was hardly a good sign. Secondly, they were both filthy and while she could have believed it was just from being on the floor, there was a bit more dirt than usual. Namely, Henry’s neckerchief, which currently sat against the wall a few feet away, was covered in dust and grime as well as his entire left sleeve was covered in cobwebs as if someone had wiped them off on him. Robert, on the other hand, was a bit cleaner, save for a couple of webs on his right shirt sleeve and in his hair, which brought her to the third point, that being the fact that Robert’s hair was very poorly tied back out of his face using what Rachel was sure to be one of her hair ties.
“I- Is that mine?” She asked, squinting at Robert as she pointed at his hair. “Nevermind, what are you both doing down-” Her words stopped in their tracks as she finally noticed the one other aspect that was off about the room; the three wine bottles sitting lined against the back wall.
She put her hands together, staring at the two men as they tried to dust themselves off and collect themselves, willing herself to gather enough strength to not absolutely lose it with laughter. She needed to make a point, not lose it while laughing at the two imbeciles who’d apparently gone on an alcohol-induced cleaning spree after getting locked down here.
“As much as I appreciate the midnight cleaning crew that you two have apparently appointed yourself as…” She began quietly, both Henry and Robert genuinely looking a little worried. “Please, don’t make this a habit.”
She was going to make sure to keep the door actually locked from now on.