I didn’t know what I’d got myself into. I had promised Aurora I’d help with whatever it was she had planned Thursday, but it came quicker than I would have liked. I sighed as I rolled out of bed, dreading the thought.

I had spent most of Wednesday calming down about Random and Cody, thus avoiding going to school yesterday, and neither I nor Aurora were going to go today because I’m meeting her at her home.Not that I’ve had much reason to really “calm down”; more so just to get over the initial shock.

I never thought Random or I would ever be dating, but I guess I’m happy for her in a way. But I haven’t heard from Avery, even though he said he’d be there this week. The thought made me feel a little depressed, which didn’t help.

 

I never have been over to Aurora’s home, which excited and frightened me a little. I really didn’t know what to expect, but was expecting something extravagant, considering Random and I once followed her home from school and came across something neither of us would have guessed. What we ended up stumbling upon was a large, hedged in home, almost like a mansion; a metal fence set just outside the hedges to keep people from hiding in them easily I guess or to keep out intruders. On top of that it even had its own butler! But it was also just another chance for Aurora to… I didn’t want to think about it and pushed the thought aside, reaching for the close inside my dresser.

 

I decided to wear some tan khaki pants and tan t-shirt under a brown sweater. I remember the walk there tired me out, so I wore my loose fitting, black pull on sandals. They were comfy to wear, even for long distances and surprisingly durable.

After I slipped them on I headed toward the window and brushed the curtain aside. I flinched as my eyes took in the sunlight; my room was rather dark at the moment (thanks to the dark brown curtains) and I’ve only been up a few minutes, not enough time to really adjust them to bright lights. Once they were focused I looked down the busy street toward the exit of town, cars racing up and down them to work or the store, and tried to recall the steps Random and I took to get to Aurora’s. It was mostly a linear path. I remembered lots of greenery, like long, double sided row of trees, so I was able to quickly mark it out from my second story window.

Letting the curtain fall back into place, I turn toward my side table and grab my brush to quickly untangle my hair, having to run it through several times. As I brushed I noticed I didn’t hear the usual screaming from downstairs, an almost staple in this house. I found it strange, but didn’t question it; it was nice to have some peace and quiet. When I finished, I placed the brush back on the side table and headed downstairs.

 

When I reached the bottom, I turned my head toward the kitchen and then toward the living room and noticed my Mom was nowhere to be found. I also looked toward the key rack and noticed the keys for the car were gone. I guess my Dad left for work already. My Mom, however, was a stay-at-home type and didn’t really go out much. Even when I called her name and got no reply it felt strange, like I was suddenly living alone.

I shrugged it off though; she was probably sleeping and I didn’t want to wake her.

 

I decided wasn’t feeling as hungry today so I didn’t bother getting anything to eat and just headed out the door, making sure I couldn’t turn the nob afterwards, ensuring it was locked. Satisfied, I started toward Aurora’s.

 

It must have been longer walk than I thought, because the first few turns confused me a little too much. Getting to the edge of town this way shouldn’t have been a problem; I’ve lived here most of my life and thought I knew my way around better than this. I guess it was just my nerves getting to me. I tried to stay focused on the destination, thinking about what her home may be like on the inside.

 

It was big, but what was the inside like? Was it done up like any old rich family’s home, paintings lining the walls, long dining tables, maybe a large flat screen TV with a game system or two plugged into it? My mind raced with all these thoughts and, after a few more wrong turns, I finally made it down the tree lined road Random and I took, right before having Aurora’s house appear in the distance. Right now, I was thankful for its size as I walked past the bushes and headed up toward the metallic, front gate. It still felt eerie being here, especially now that I wasn’t spying on her, now that I was allowed to be here, at least for today.

 

“I still can’t believe she lives here,” I murmur as I swing the gate behind me shut with a loud clank.

 

The butler was staring at me from the porch as I walked down the grey, stone pathway. I didn’t notice him right away though as I was gazing around the front yard, noticing stone pillars holding up parts of the roof and a metal looking fountain spraying water not only into the fountain but around it as well, as if it was meant to water the grass and be put on display. It was defiantly no water sprinkler.

 

When I got up to the butler, I was little freaked out and didn’t quite know what to say. Some words got jumbled in my mind then straightened out, but none of it managed to come out of my mouth. I was afraid I’d look like an idiot in front of him, which I found odd as I was used to speaking with just about anyone, even a random stranger. But he just felt more intimidating, as if as long as he’s around I had no control.

 

“Hello, Miss Vanswell,” he says, greeting me formally. “Aurora is expecting you. Right this way, please.” He waved me inside, obviously unaffected by my lack of words or composure.

 

The first thing that struck me as weird when I entered were the paintings on the wall. They were all of flowers and plants, some recognizable and some I’d never seen before. I pictured Aurora as an inventor; nothing to do with flowers or plants. But I didn’t get much time to admire them as the butler continually ushered me forward, past two swinging doors on opposite walls and right into the kitchen, which I did get to study.

Men dressed in white chef outfits were working at the counters cutting various meats as pots of boiling water sat on the stove.The refrigerator and counters sat against most of the walls, cabinets above them all. Meats of varying types hung above most of them, along with pots and pans. Most of the men looked toward me with dark sneers, like I was an intruder who wasn’t welcome here. The butler ignored this however and continued on toward a door and I shook a little, my nerves getting to me again. I was usually good with a group of people, but something about them was unsettling. I also felt a small gust of wind, which was probably making me shiver to begin with.

 

“Miss Crystalere is in the basement, awaiting your arrival. It is located just beyond here,” he tells me, pushing open a big, black door.

 

A sudden rush of cold wind brushes over every inch of my body as he opens the door, causing me to shiver even more and tense up. It was defiantly part of the small breeze I felt earlier. What was down there? I wondered as I continued to stare into the black nothingness, hoping some strange creature wouldn’t leap out and drag me down into the black depths. Because I mean, I could barely see the stairs and I turned toward the butler to indicate this, to maybe flip a light switch or at least hand me a flashlight, but he seemed to not care. He just waved onward, like this was normal procedure. So I turned back to the dark, spiraling stairs, swallowed and headed down them, careful not to trip and fall.

 

If I thought it was dark at the top, then this must have been a blackout. I had to feel along the cold, stone walls as I moved further down, hoping a hand rail would pop up at any given moment. No such luck. Once or twice I almost slipped and just barely managed to hang on. The wall was lined with cobble stones, almost like a medieval style, winding in a spiral around the stairs. Every so often there was a 3 foot indent, wide enough to fit almost any person. It’s that indent that saved me from almost falling into this bottomless darkness.

 

Halfway down, or what I think to be halfway, I started to hear voices and my heart began to race. One of them was Aurora, her loud, bossy voice echoing clearly up the stairwell. But the other one had a strange accent that I couldn’t quite make out. I decided to stop and listen, as I didn’t want to interrupt her conversation. So I stepped back into one of the indents and strained my ears to pick up on whatever they were saying.

 

“So is ita ready yet to enta the next stage?” the foreign man asked. He sounded impatient.

 

“Soon enough, but I’m not quite done with it. I’ve asked for someone else to come over here and help. They should be here soon…” Her voice dropped to a whisper at the end of her sentence, like she was disappointed I wasn’t there yet, but I could defiantly make it out as Aurora.

 

Had she asked me here to help work on something for this guy? I thought it was for her. I decided to go down the stairs a little more to hear them more clearly, as now I was curious and wanted to find out why I was really called here.

 

“I ain’ta paying you fora notin’, ya know. You tolda me this thingal be ready before long. I’ll a pay you whatchu want, but youneeda get on track faster. Winter is my deadaline.”

 

Deadline for what? I wondered. What did this man want from a High school student? I know Aurora was smart but…

 

“Look, my work is top notch!” Aurora said, her voice rising to a sharp, piercing shriek, cutting off my train of thought. “I’m working on it as fast as I can, but I have a second life to live as well. You breathing down my neck does not help in any way to push this further to completion, either.”

 

I could tell she was angry from the sharp, direct way she was speaking. Whoever this guy was, he was annoying her a lot and, without noticing it, my mouth was starting to curl into a small smile. It was then I realized I was actually happy, happy that someone else was putting her in her place. Especially after…

My train of thought was interrupted once again when the foreign man spoke once more, in the same calm, collected, yet awkward voice.

 

“Look here, Aurora. Ima a paying youa top dolla’ to make this contraption for me. I picked you to do thisa for me. You better a not let me down, capiche?”

 

Silence filled the room once the man had finished speaking. His words must have been final, as Aurora didn’t even make a comeback about it. She must have been feeling pretty small.

Footsteps then slowly echoed up the spiral stairwell, and that’s when I knew he was coming up the stairs. Lights still hadn’t been turned on, so I wondered how he knew his way around. I also heard a loud ‘thunk’ every time he took a step up.

 

My heart was racing as I was trying to get out of his eyesight, or lack thereof. I managed to push myself back against the 3 foot crevice as much as I could, hoping the darkness would conceal me from his vision and that I’d be out of his walkway. Thankfully it worked; he walked by me without a second glance. But that could have been because it was too dark to see, or he really didn’t care if anyone was ease dropping. It was also too dark for me to see what he looked like, so I waited for the loud thunks to fade into the distance before continuing my descent, wondering what Aurora would say if I told her I listened to their conversation.

 

Light started to fill the stairwell as I continued down. That’s when I could start to hear faint clicking and clacking noises, as well as small hums of electricity echoing off the cobble stone. I didn’t know what to expect when I got to the bottom, but when I finallygot there, my mouth hung open and I couldn’t believe what I saw. Tons of control panels lined the walls, large monitors hung on the wall just in front of them. People, who appeared to be scientist, were tapping away on the control panels. Faint lights hung from the ceiling, giving off just enough illumination to fill the whole room. But that’s not what surprised me.

What surprised me most sat floating in the center of the room like a miniature planet, just above a circular pillar that was about five feet tall. It was a giant, spherical orb lined with spikes that surged small amounts of pink electricity that danced along its surface. My eyes widened as I stared at it, wondering if that’s what the man was wanting Aurora to work on or if it was just part of the sci-fi like basement setting, including the clear blue kitchen tile along with tubes, wires and metal cylinders linking and powering what I guess to be everything.

 

If Random saw this, she’d be just as awestruck or more. I knew Random was a genius, but this was almost like being on a whole other level. She even had her own personal scientist down here working for her. From what I could put together, her parents must be rich, but that was obvious from the setting of the house outside. I didn’t get to stare at it open mouthed for too long as Aurora broke me out of my hypnotic state, also reminding me that it was a little chilly down here.

 

“You’re late,” echoed a cold, yet sad voice from the other side of the large, floating sphere. It was Aurora, and she didn’t look happy, her hands placed on her waist as she walked toward me. Her blue hair hung just below her shoulders, the purple streaks heavily illuminated by the glowing electricity of the sphere. She was in a black T-shirt and tight leather jeans, something I’ve never seen her in outside of school. Her eyes looked black around the outside, like she hadn’t had sleep since we last met. Immediately I was wondering how she wasn’t shivering in that outfit, but she must be down here a lot, which would explain it.

 

“Where have you been? You should have been here 10 minutes ago,” she demanded.

 

“I…took my time coming down your stairwell,” I said idly, trying to remember where I was. “You really need lights placed in there, and a heater. What happened to you?” I asked, trying to sound concerned, which I found out I was, if only a little.

 

“Whatever,” she said, exasperated. “I’m fine. Look, just come over here and start working on this,” she said, pointing toward a stack of papers. “I need you to sort these out and compare them to that,” she spins and points toward the giant sphere.

 

I cast a glance from the papers to the sphere and toward her. I didn’t exactly understand what she wanted from me. I noticed that panel on the circular pillar was opened. Maybe she wanted me to compare stuff within it?

 

“I’ve made a few deals,” she continues. “I want you to go over most of them and use your business sense to get right what’s right. I’m working on that,” she jabs toward the machine again,“so I don’t have time for it.”

 

“You sure you want me looking at private documents between you and your client?” I asked with a confused look. It was an honest question, but she didn’t look to be in the mood of answering questions.

 

“Cocoa,” she said after about a minute, “yes, I trust you.”

 

Without another word she headed back toward the circular platform and ducked her head back inside the opened panel. I turned toward the stack of papers and shrugged, wondering how this compared to her machine. I guess she didn’t want me working on that, I think to myself. I was good at conducting business plans and could find a few flaws in others work. If this was what she had in mind, then I didn’t mind doing it.

“So,” I say, turning toward Aurora with two papers in either hand, who stops and turns around. “What is that?” I nod toward the sphere.

 

“It’s nothing you need to concern yourself with,” she told me flatly. Then she cast her gaze toward the side and whispered, in an almost concerned voice, “It doesn’t concern you Cocoa, and it’s nothing you should worry yourself over. Just…work on those,” she finished as she returned to her work, her last words coming out slowly.

 

Then it hit me; did she actually care what happened to me? I thought up till now she was using me, having me be her best friend over Random to make her jealous. For what purpose though I couldn’t quite understand. But could she have something looming over her that-

 

“By the way,” Aurora said, starling me a little. “Did you see anyone as you were coming down the stairs? If you did,” she continues, without me answering, “do not tell Random. You know what’ll happen if you do?” she asks, a cold yet almost concerned smile twisting her lips.

 

I nodded and turned back to stack of papers, hoping to avoid her cold gaze. I didn’t know why she didn’t want me telling Random who the man was, but I didn’t let the thought sit long. I just continued doing what she wanted, almost mechanically, hoping that time would pass quickly so I could leave and hopefully never come back to this cold, creepy home again.