The hallway mystery

The key refused to budge. I jiggled it around inside the keyhole, hoping to get it to click, but it was to no avail. “Maybe not this one”, I thought. With a strong jerk, I pulled out the previous key out of the rusting metal lock frame, and let out a faint sigh. Then, I tried to clearly see the rest of the bundle of keys under the dim, old, flickering light, trying to locate the right one for this match. As I went through them one by one, the clinging and clanging of the keys against each other in the bundle echoed down the long, mysterious, and dark hallways. The entire place had a sinister yet pleasing sense to it.

Obviously struggling to find the right key, I was just about to give up with frustration, when a particularly oddly shaped, long silvery key entered the keyhole with utmost ease. After pushing it in, I slowly turned it clockwise, hearing the gears click and the pin tumblers moving up and down inside the frame of the lock embedded in the door. Then, after giving it a gentle push, the big heavy wooden door opened. Creaking at its hinges, the door swung with might, with its high-pitched shriek ringing in my ears. Opening the door let out a gush of stale air and unsettled dust, and lead into another dark hallway, whose end was not visible, simply descending into a void of black. I was perplexed. I was expecting a room, or a closet perhaps, but now encountered this. Another mystery waiting to be discovered. I took one final look at both the sides of the corridor behind me, and then took a step forward. The first thing I noticed was the floor, in that it was no longer carpeted. It was made of hardwood, and so as I walked forward, with every footfall, my formal shoes clip-clopped against the wooden floor, announcing my arrival into the area. The air felt damp and heavy, and the atmosphere felt jarringly spooky.

As I continued to stride forward, my eyes slowly adjusted to the relatively darker environment. The faint light from the entrance to the hallway fell on my back, producing an ill-defined silhouette on the floor. The lights above, however, were spaced far away from each other. They were dim, the type which function on less power and are made for long term use. The lights had faded even further because of the accumulation of dust on them, which made it difficult for me to see anything past 20 feet. The walls were just horizontally laid panels of wood, and some of them had the distinct patterns on them, with crevices and gaps towards the edges between two consecutive panels of wood. I had absolutely no sight of where I was going, and moreover, what I expected to find. The hallway began to curve to the right, the air got damper, and the tension increased. Perplexed, I thought of turning back. But there was something about this place, something that felt inviting, as if calling me to see it. Within my thought process, curiosity triumphed, and I decided to move ahead.

Then, the lights changed to yellow, metal framed lanterns on the wooden walls, and I began to hear a buzzing sound, seeming to emanate from some sort of machine. My pace automatically increased, and I took bigger strides, eager to find out what this was, and hoping it would be what I had in mind. I kept walking, and the buzz kept getting stronger. I had been walking within these monotonous walls for about 10 minutes now, and I felt as if I was close to something.

So, it felt quite anti-climactic to me when I reached a dead end.

I was utterly confused, feeling lost and alone, but the buzz continued. I tried to get a sense of direction with respect to the sound, but the closed environment and echoing meant that it felt as if it came from every direction. I did not want to give up now, getting so close to something. The wall felt blank, faceless, leaving absolutely no clue, like a poker face. 12 vertical wooden strips arranged perfectly, like soldiers in a parade. No handles, no signs, no hints. Absolutely nothing. I was desperate for anything, so I began to try the stupidest of things. I threw myself at the wall, banged the wood with my hands, stuck my ear to the wall to try and hear something, tried to stick my fingers into the infinitesimally small gaps between the wood, everything. Nothing seemed to work. I tried to somehow make the oak wallboards from the corner of the wall pop out by pulling it, but it was a long and irrational shot. Out of absolute annoyance and exasperation, I gave the wall a knee strike with a grunting sound because of my frustration. I feared that this was the end. Years of research, hard work, all finished in one moment. But then I saw that the panel which received my blow creaked and shook ever so slightly. I hit that same panel with my hand again, it didn’t move. I kicked the base again, like a football, it did not move. I kneed it again, it moved out a little further, like a puzzle piece protruding out of the wall. I was elated to finally see a sign, something happening. I crouched down, and then punched the wall palm first at the new eye level. From this perspective, I realized that the upper part of the panel began to tilt outwards, but the bottom tilted inwards with every hit. I quickly realized it was a pivot with very particular strike points.

I struck it again and again, the same spot on the same panel, repeatedly, with every strike producing a small tilt. And then, with one lucky hit, it seemed to fall off its feet, and fell outwards, towards me. The intensity of the mechanical buzz now increased. I saw nothing but black, so I stuck my hand through the thin slot. As soon as my elbow went through, I pivoted my arm and tried to feel the back of the wall. I felt nothing but the same wood, and for a second, I felt a little disappointed. But then I moved my hand a further down, and I felt a sort of stick attached to the back of the wall. Moving my fingers around it, it seemed to be some sort of a latch, but I could not be sure. I pushed it, but it did not move forward. I pulled it, and with a large grinding sound, it budged forward a little. I kept pulling it, until after a certain distance, the very last panel on the end fell out. I pulled it further, and the panel after it shook a little. I realized what this is. And I realized that only one person around here could have thought of this, and a faint smile appeared on my face. After this, I pulled it out even faster, and the next 4 panels fell one after the other. Enough space between the wall and the 6th panel for me to enter.

I got up and walked through.

I saw a doorway, leading to an evidently well-lit room at the end. The buzz became stronger, and this now felt like something big. Absolute ecstasy, satisfaction to curiosity, and a small amount of fear were what I felt. This was it. I don’t know if anyone was still there, I wasn’t expecting them anyway. Just the room.

Walking towards it, my heart pounded faster with each footstep. The light poured out of the doorway at an angle and fell on the rustic, hardwood floor. I could see dust particles bouncing around in the air under this light. As I got closer, my eyes squinted and took time to adjust to the light. Then, the moment came. I turned to the right at the corner of the hallway, and there it was. Sitting there, in all its might. Concealed from the rest of the world, a downright treasure. Right off the bat I first realized that the monotonous buzzing sound that I had been hearing for a while came from a generator across the room. The ceilings were high, and thick pipes lined along with the wall for air circulation dipped into a vent. On the far right was a table lined with numerous types of experimenting equipment, from something as fundamental to a stopwatch to something as intriguing as a plasma ball. Right above the Geiger counter, set alongside the test tubes were a set of papers, which, upon further inspection, I found to be lab results. I turned my back towards the lab area to face the room. There was a giant bookshelf on the main wall of the room opposite to the door. It was lined with thick books regarding the vast field of physics, a wide range of topics. The shelf itself was again, made out of mahogany, with glass-framed doors so that you could see inside without having to open the door.

Then, I noticed a table, with a single chair on one side. There was a lamp on the left side of the table, along with scientific equipment like vernier calipers and screw gauges in an open, rectangular, metal case. There was also a cuboid paperweight made out of glass, an ink-pad for a stamp, and a small pocket-sized notepad on the right end. But the real treasure were the documents. Pages and pages with complex equations and solid research were strewn about on the table. Years’ worth of information and study were here, and its results were astonishing, but kept away from the world. Then, I noticed an uncapped pen lying on the table. It was a heavy, black pen, with its cap attached on its back. I took out my own notebook, and tested the pen. I drew a line, and the pen worked. It had not dried, even after being left open for so long. I was shocked, and confused, until I realized what this meant. Almost at the same moment wherein I came to this profound realization, he was there.

Standing at the entrance of the doorway leaning against the frame, his eyes glaring straight at me, a smug smile appeared on his face. Wearing a lab coat with his glasses in his pocket near his chest, and a pair of thin blue gloves hanging out of the lower pockets of the coat, he just stood there. After all these years, I had found him. I set down the pen and my own notebook, and crossed my arms.

“You have been up to some mischief!” I remarked, while gesturing to the entirety of the room.

He half smiled, walked over to his table, sat down on his chair, laced his fingers together, and invited me to have a seat opposite to him. I eagerly sat down. An ultimate culmination of years and years of work and events, now compiled into this one conversation between us. I knew I was in for the story of my life.