“I saw him take the body down there,” whispered Prosper Deem to his sister, Acacia, as they both glared shockingly at the cellar door to old Sterner Kaine’s basement, “it was covered by a white sheet.”

“How can you be so sure it was a person under that sheet?”

“It was in the shape of a body,” began Prosper in a bold defense, “why, are you calling me a liar?”

Acacia reassured him almost immediately, “No, no, it’s not that…it’s just, you do have a rather over active imagination sometimes.”

“Look, I know what I saw, and I know that I saw old man Kaine, drag a body into that basement, you’ve got to believe me…you just have to trust me for once.”

“I believe you, I trust you.”

“Good,” said Prosper, as he felt relieved that his sister didn’t find him crazy, even though he was starting to think he was, “because I would never lie about something this serious.”

The moon was high in the air and it was getting late in the evening, vastly approaching midnight, in the prime of the changing of the seasons; where summer had finally disappeared without notice but autumn wasn’t quite born yet. The two siblings sat crouched behind a patch of rose bushes that were directly behind Sterner Kaine’s house, with an almost too vivid view of the creepiest building in the entire town. Old man Kaine’s house was wretched and decayed, and even wreaked of death and foul play. Its exterior hadn’t had anything remodeled on it in decades, and its maintenance was nonexistent. Its foundation was practically crumbling in spots, and its walls were filled with moss and thick vines. The roof was barely together, as tiles upon tiles had fallen to the ground, making visible the rafters that were also beginning to rot and fall away. Some of the oldest trees in the town were situated on either side of the building, and always cast the darkest of shadows, in natures attempt to hide the misery within. Most people who live elsewhere would probably expect that it was abandoned at first sight of old man Kaine’s house; but it didn’t bother that man one bit, as he rarely ever left it to care about what anyone had to say about it.

They turned slightly and were instantly fixated on the graveyard to their right, whose entrance path led directly to old man Kaine’s cellar door. It was small, and even more terrifying to look at than the house. While in the sunlight, it looked almost picturesque, as if Monet himself had risen from the dead to paint one final masterpiece upon the landscape; but when cluttered by the darkness that the night had unraveled, the smell given off by the graveyard’s dilapidating flowers drifted across the entire field, leaving an everlasting stench of pain and sorrow that is a constant presence found at Sterner Kaine’s lot.

The mood felt somber, almost a cry as though for help, when they suddenly saw a silhouette ascending the steps from the cellar and heading in the direction of the graveyard. Sterner was wielding a knife in his right hand completely blanketed in the deepest shade of crimson blood. His left hand contained a white cloth, curled up into a mess of a ball as he began to run the blade all over it.

“See I told you,” whispered Prosper, “Old Man Kaine’s done something terrible, I can feel it.”

“You might be right about this one.”

Sterner pushed aside the crooked gate to his graveyard and disappeared within its confines, still wielding the massively large blade and now dragging the bloodstained sheet along the ground.

“Now’s our chance,” exclaimed Acacia once she lost sight of him, “let’s go!”

“What are you talking about?”

Acacia glared at him, “We’re going to go in the cellar and see for ourselves what he’s done,” she began, clearly becoming irritated with him, “wasn’t that what you had in mind when you came home and got me?”

Prosper was fumbling for words, “No, I just figured I should tell somebody…to help me prove to myself that I wasn’t losing it, and going insane.”

“Well too bad we’re going down there,” snapped Acacia, not believing a single word he said.

She knew just as much as he did, that they both wanted to go down there and find out what exactly was in that cellar. She grabbed his hand and pulled furiously upon it as she guided him towards the entrance to the basement. The steps were broken and cracked practically everywhere, but somehow still managed to look like they were the sturdiest things ever assembled. The staircase began in the gleam of the moonlight and slowly diminished into a crevasse of darkness, leading to a glittering outline of a beautifully crafted cellar door.

They descended the declining concrete slabs as tediously and carefully as possible, not only concerned about their safety but fixated on not making too much noise, to be detected by Sterner out in the graveyard. The area in between the backyard and the cellar door was narrow and secluded, leaving you in a state of quick and piercing claustrophobia, that wouldn’t subside. However just the sight of the magnificently erected cellar door, seemed to wipe away any signs of misfortune or upsetting delusions; if only for a moment.

The wooden masterpiece was made of a beautiful cedar that seemed as if it were polished in gold. They were transfixed in the glistening beauty that just radiated off of it; an incredible work of art situated in a place of complete solitary recluse. It looked as if it didn’t belong, but it offset the mood of the area so well, that it almost became necessary. Not a scrape or mark was visible upon its exterior, with the exception of the word ‘Laboratory’ chicken-scratched across the top.

It was borderline mesmerizing.

Prosper snapped back to reality, and looked at his sister who proceeded to nod. He grabbed a hold of the knob, and looked at her again. She put her hand upon his outstretched arm and encouraged him silently to continue.

“I really don’t think we should being doing this.”

“It’s too late to turn back now, he could be heading this way already,” Acacia insisted, “we must go on.”

He shook his head and finally turned the knob slowly and then, with her help they pushed the door inward. The practically perfect door was heavy and made barely even the slightest sound when it opened, moving with ease; it almost seemed as if it were magical.

The air felt different as they stepped into the corroded cellar; it felt deadly, as if the air itself didn’t even want any part in this venture or to be anywhere near what lay within.

Well of course it feels deadly, Prosper thought, it’s because there’s someone dead in here.

They slowly embarked into the darkness engulfing them. The cellar was disturbing, as it creaked and groaned its own noises every other movement that they made, as if it was trying to speak to them. Acacia still had a firm grasp on Prospers’ arm and tightened frantically at every noise she heard. Prosper was amazed that she went from being the heroic, insisting, adventure seeking little sister, to so quickly, the frightened little side kick. She wouldn’t back down though, as despite the nervousness that the sounds imputed upon her, she pressed on by his side, matching him step for step.

It was certainly a sight, scattered with boxes and instruments in which they had never seen before. At the heart of the cellar was where the majority of the action clearly happened in Sterner’s laboratory; machines with millions of buttons and levers, computer screens and keypads, data placed all over a pin up board, wires were everywhere and ran in every direction. Plain and simple, the heart, the epicenter, looked like utter chaos. But no instrument looked quiet as disturbing as the chair with restraints on the arm rests and on the head rest. Neither of them had any idea what it was doing there in the middle of all that science equipment and what significance it even foreshadowed, but no doubt they feared, it was meant to be there; and that it was deadly.

Prosper was in awe of the technology in front of him. He had always assumed Sterner Kaine was a mad scientist, working on advancements in the field of computers, but he had never expected to see any of the things Sterner was working on. He began to fiddle through the papers of data, and exaggerate what pressing the buttons and levers might do. Acacia was still feeling queasy about the restraint chair in the middle of the room, and urged Prosper to explore further, so that they could leave this particular area.

When suddenly, they heard footsteps coming towards the cellar door, starting off faint, and grudgingly become louder and more perturbed. They darted promptly behind a slew of stacked boxes leading to a smaller more enclosed room. Finding a space between the boxes they sat crouched in the darkness when they heard the cellar door flail open and hit the brick wall hard. A desolate and ravaging mound of a man came barreling through to his work station, fumbling through his stuff as though he were lacking something that he needed. Sterner looked like a mad man, fierce and brutal. The long sleeves of his white cotton lab coat were rolled up to his elbows, showing off tremendously big forearms, covered in dirt and blood. His face was formidable and chilling, revealing no emotion in reverence to his clearly agitated nature.

Sterner was an overpowering force in stature, shoulders as broad as a mountain and an attitude of immense brevity. He was always doing something; his massive hands would be going one way while his eyes and head could manage a completely different direction with the greatest of simplicity. Acacia was terrified of this man, his whole demeanor and presence shuttered her into oblivion. And his eyes were as demented and black as the night, as she spotted them intently scanning the area for whatever it was they were looking for. Acacia saw hate and violence in Sterners’ almost pure black eyes. The iris and pupils didn’t even appear to have any color other than black which disturbed her to a point that she just had to look away. Prosper was glaring at him, studying his every move, trying to understand what he was looking for and most importantly what he was mumbling under his breath.

“His memories, his memories,” Sterner was muttering, “I need the rest of his damn memories!”

His efforts seemed to be turning futile, as he’d practically trashed the laboratory up and down numerous times.

Sterner thrashed his fists down on to the tables, breaking one in half, scattering papers everywhere. The sound that echoed throughout the cellar left a terrible feeling in their guts, as if the vibrations were bullets plummeting in and out of their flesh. He left the mess and stormed towards the cellar door, furiously slamming it behind him as he once again ascended the steps into the night.

“What the hell did he mean by, memories?” asked Acacia, taking her face out of Prospers’ shoulder.

“Your guess is as good as mine,” he responded with little reassurance, “but maybe what he’s looking for is still in here somewhere.”

She stared at him stupidly, “We haven’t got the slightest clue what it is, or what it even looks like.”

Prosper picked up a piece of blueprint paper that landed in front of him after Sterner broke the table.

“Actually, we do.”

He held the piece of paper in front of Acacias’ dumbfounded expression, as she looked the drawing up and down and read the words, ‘The Dememorator – for extracting memories and knowledge.’ The device was small, not any bigger than a flashlight, which ironically would be very useful in the constantly darkening cellar, in search of something this small.

“Sterner built a device for extracting knowledge and memories?” Acacia asked seeming confused.

“Apparently, and he obviously needs it for that man he killed,” began Prosper excitedly, “and he must only have a certain amount of time to use it, before that information becomes lost and useless.”

“This is getting wicked creepy,” she answered, looking as if she were on the verge of tears.

“Look, it’ll be all right, we’ve just got to find that device and leave before Old Man Kaine finds us down here.”

She didn’t know how much longer she could go on, but ultimately saw the good intent in her brothers’ eyes, reassuring her completely. She knew that he wouldn’t let anything happen to her.

They commenced to head into the dark alley situated behind the stacked boxes that hid them from Sterner’s outburst. It was cold and damp, and only lit by a few ceiling light bulbs spaced out every ten feet. It was a lonely journey to an even lonelier destination. The room that they entered was even colder than the alley, almost like a freezer. More boxes filled with appliances and outlines and discarded manuscripts filled the floor and the shelves on the walls. The two split off in separate directions of the room in search of the Dememorator, and expected to meet up in the middle of the room, where the largest box, made out of mahogany was placed.

“Keep a sharp eye out,” instructed Prosper, “and if you find anything, out of the ordinary, just clap your hands a few times and I’ll come to you.”

She nodded her head slightly and embarked to her right, while Prosper headed for the left. The room was an over elaborate oval, and with the assortment of boxes was nearly a labyrinth in itself. Prosper had little skill for finding things, as he was hardly as attentive as his sister was. He was having trouble seeing in the room, as the lone light kept flickering on and off, but he managed what he could. The boxes appeared to be very old, and untouched for centuries as spider webs parted in all directions for each of them. One box caught his attention out of the corner of his eye, as it had a distinct object sticking out of the Styrofoam peanuts. He glared from the blueprint in his right hand to the object in the box, doing a double take just to make sure, he was really seeing it.

The Dememorator he thought to himself as he approached the box carefully.

Firmly grasping it with his left hand he took it out of the Styrofoam and held it like he had just pulled a sword from a stone. It was marvelous looking, even more powerful in reality than it looked on the blueprint. Prosper felt the surge of the immortality of knowledge that radiated from it. He was overwhelmed with a force he had never quite experienced, and sensed an ability that he wanted to possess more than anything.

But then he heard it.

A clapping sound that reverberated through the room at a massive speed, which startled him enough to drop the Dememorator and only concern himself with finding his sister. He ran as fast as he could around the labyrinth, with his veins pumping acid throughout his body, until he finally came upon her in the center of the room.

Acacia was standing there pointing in horror at the large mahogany box on the floor. Her mouth was wide open and clearly in a state of shock. Prosper approached her with a miniscule sense of caution, but with a more distinct sense of concern. He touched her shoulder, and she turned to face him. He could see the disbelief in her eyes, and read them as though there was no way what she just saw was real.

Prosper proceeded toward the box just laying there, hiding his fright as best as he could. Grabbing a hold of the side of the box he leaned his face forward to look in at its contents, and almost fainted with incredulity at the body he saw.

“There’s, there’s…there’s just no way,” he was fighting to breath, “how can that possibly be?”

“I don’t know, it’s just not logical,” she whispered, “I mean…we just saw him minutes ago.”

“Something just doesn’t make sense here…how can there be two of him?”

Acacia thought hard, “I can’t put a finger on it either. But this body here is definitely the real Sterner Kaine.”

“How can you tell?”

“Just look at his eyes.”

Prosper did as she insisted, first examining the entire body from the feet to the head. The feet were tied together in an extremely impressive knot, as were his hands which were placed right in front of his waist. There were purple and blue strangulation marks across the throat, and very intricately placed knife gashes in the chest and the shoulders. The shirt was barely holding together on the frayed body and the dried blood was beginning to send off an increasingly offensive malodor. Prosper then reached his face and stared the dead body directly into the eyes, concentrating as hard as he possibly could, noticing that they were a beautiful shade of blue and green.

“What about them?” asked Prosper bewildered, curious as to what she was getting at, “they look normal to me.”

“That’s because they are normal. This Sterner Kaine has color in his eyes, and the other doesn’t.”

“How do you know that?”

“Because I saw them in his lab when he was looking for the Dememorator, his eyes were pure black.”

Prosper felt relieved that she happened to be that aware at the time to note that key piece of information, but he shook it off and realized that the most terrifying aspect of the moment wasn’t even touched upon.

He took a deep breath and said in a frightened high pitch tone, “Then who in the hell was that other guy?”

Acacia’s expression was listless, “I don’t know. But I have a feeling we need to get out of here, fast!”

“I’m not arguing with that,” Prosper exclaimed as he finally shifted his eyes away from the corpse.

As soon as they started to weave through the labyrinth of boxes, they heard a menacing noise that echoed throughout the basement, shaking their nerves to the core. The lights began to flicker, the boxes began to sway. Sterner’s presence could be felt by both of them.

It sounded as though he was headed in their direction. So in a fit of panic Prosper grabbed his sister by the arm and pulled her towards the darkest corner of the room near the entrance to the hallway. In a matter of seconds Sterner pummeled his way through the room passed where they were hidden. He was still on a mission, and even angrier than before. Acacia was so frightened of his presence that she moved her body back against what she assumed was the wall, in an attempt to get herself as far away from him as possible. Her hand grazed what felt like ice. But when she glanced down, she noticed that the cold object she had a hold of wasn’t ice at all; it was metal. Metal in the form and distinct shape of an arm; as shiny and perplexing as anything she’d ever seen.

“Wow!” she whispered.

Prosper was caught off guard and turned to face her, “What is it?”

“I’m not sure,” she started, making sure she didn’t raise her voice any more than a muffle, “it looks almost like an arm. Like a robotic arm, y’know? Like the ones on those science shows you always watch.”

“Oh. Well why on earth would he have one hidden away in here?”

Acacia pulled the device out of its current position and noticed that behind it was a cascade of thousands of robotic arms, legs and torsos, “I don’t know, but it’s definitely not the only one he has,” she said as she turned his attention to all the robotics situated next to them.

Prosper was in a trance. He’d never seen such technology up close before. As he reached for the arm he quickly froze as Sterner’s hand jolted through the dark and extracted it before his very eyes. It happened in such a flash, the two of them barely had any time to react by being startled. Acacia wanted to scream but Prosper put his hand directly over her mouth before she could get anything produced. Their minds were running wild, their eyes were witnessing a nightmare, and their ears took careful notes.

Sterner had a firm hold of the robotic arm in his left hand and took it towards the corpse in the center of the room. He lowered his body towards him and stared him directly in the eye.

“You think you’re damn clever old man?” Sterner asked the corpse in a menacing tone, a voice as loud and as low as a rumble of thunder, “Did you think you could prevent me from taking over your life? You must’ve known I was getting stronger and smarter by the day. You must’ve freaking known all along that I was gonna do this, so you hid that damn Dememorator! Didn’t you, you stupid dick?” He smacked the corpse across the face with the robotic arm, “Didn’t you?”

He dropped the robotic arm and picked up the dead body showing an unbelievable amount of strength. With a giant heave he threw the corpse across the room towards a bunch of boxes, creating a noise so devastating, it almost sounded as if the body moaned after hitting the concrete. Sterner’s left arm was slashed and was barely attached to his body. Yet he wasn’t bleeding a single drop of crimson. Wires were sticking out of the cut and when they touched, little sparks ignited and dispersed from his arm.

“Damn sonuvabitch,” Sterner shouted, “Look at my freaking arm! You’d think you could’ve at least used your superior knowledge in creating me, to make it so my arm would stay attached for more than two damn hours.”

He peeled off the skin from his arm and placed it beside him. With a thrust and a twist he yanked the busted arm from his body and tossed it over near the corpse. All the while mumbling, he applied the replacement robotic arm with such precision, without the use of any tools or manual instructions; then he resumed to reapply the skin he so eloquently removed.

Prosper and Acacia were fixated on what was taking place. They couldn’t believe what they were seeing, if it was even possible. They were sure that they would wake up from this nightmare in a matter of seconds. It just couldn’t be real.

“Did you see what he just did with his arm?” Acacia whispered in utter shock and disbelief, “He took it completely off! It wasn’t even real!”

“He’s gotta be a machine or something,” Prosper fumbled, “there’s just no way he’s human.”

“Well of course he isn’t human, you moron! Do you know anybody who can take off their arm, and replace it with another? I certainly don’t.”

“Neither do I. So he said that was the real Sterner’s robotic experiment? Sterner must’ve fed it most of his information. And when he wanted the rest of it, I’m guessing Sterner wouldn’t give in, so he killed him.”

“That’s just horrible,” Acacia began, “to think that his very own creation; what he put his life’s work into achieving, could turn on him like that, and become something so horrifyingly evil!”

Acacia was getting nauseous and couldn’t feel her body at all; it was as if she were trapped. But she was moving, more than she should have been. As she tried to get closer to her brother her foot pushed gently against one of the boxes hiding them from the monster in the middle of the room. That gentle push was just enough to send every box piled on top of it to crash to the floor, sending Sterner into a chaotic frenzy.

“Who the hell’s in here? This is private property!” he bellowed.

Prosper and Acacia were scared and trying not to panic.

“He knows were here, what’re we going to do?” asked Acacia, looking to her brother for answers that she knew he couldn’t possibly provide. Neither of them had ever been in a situation like this before.

“I don’t know,” he said with his voice cracking, “if we stay here, he’s bound to find us.”

“I swear I will freaking rip the flesh from your bones when I find you!”

They heard Sterner throwing everything in his way around the room as they tried to maneuver their way towards the hallway. Prosper was almost in the hallway when he heard his sister gasp in horror. He turned slowly around and saw Sterner standing right above their current position, turning his head back and forth like an owl. He wasn’t sure if he saw them or not, but he had a feeling that Sterner knew they were close.

Prosper mouthed to his sister’s petrified eyes, “He doesn’t see us. Just keep following me, slowly. Don’t worry I’ll get us out of here. I promise.”

Prosper crawled as quietly as he could, like a Navy Seal trying to infiltrate an enemy camp site, when he finally reached the edge of the hallway. As he started to pull himself up he heard a scream. His sister was no longer behind him, and no longer in sight. The scream was distant and echoing through the corridors.

He began to sprint, his heart pumping acid through his body. He felt lost, and confused. The screaming just kept getting louder and louder with every step he took. He was tired. He was exhausted. But his sister was in trouble. He couldn’t stop, he had to keep going, he was determined to find her. Suddenly the screaming ceased as he reached Sterner’s laboratory.

His sister was in the center of the room, restrained to the chair, appearing lifeless. She looked pale and her eyes were rolled in the back of her head.

Prosper fell to his knees and was getting sick to his stomach. He tried to scream but nothing came out. No one would be able to hear him down here but it was all he could think to do. He was trying with all his might to produce a scream to alert everyone in the whole world if he could. Tears were flowing down his cheeks as he began to pull at the restraints that appeared to have strangled his sister. He knew his efforts were futile though because she wasn’t moving an inch. Her body was like a rag doll, her face carried no expression.

Prosper felt as though he was on the edge of a cliff, craving that one final push to end it all. He couldn’t give in though, he knew he couldn’t. His sister wouldn’t want that. He quickly untangled all the restraints off the chair and pulled his sister out and into his arms. She weighed more than he had anticipated and nearly fell over. But strength he never knew he had came out of nowhere to assist in his effort. Again, he started to run; this time in the direction of the cellar door. Freedom was a mere yard or two away when he felt a blow to the back of his head. He fell to the floor in agony, releasing his sister. Prosper was in a daze, almost oblivious to where he was and what he was doing there. His vision was blurred as he faced the ceiling of the basement.

The lights continued to flicker. The basement continued to groan its evil melodies. Prosper’s power of sight seemed to be fading more each time he blinked, when at last an outline came into view. The image was enormous and astonishing. It appeared to be speaking to him, but Prosper couldn’t make out a word, as it all sounded like the engine of a truck.

“Thought you could get away did ya?” confronted Sterner in a threatening manner, “You thought you could get away from me?”

Prosper’s hearing was faintly on the rebound as he could make out the fiercest sound of laughter, as his accuser finally came into full view in his sight. Sterner looked massive, and full of life. Prosper noticed a familiar object in his hand, that looked almost like a flashlight.

He found it Prosper thought.

His smile was ear to ear.

“Your time’s expired on this earth sonny boy,” Sterner whispered into his ear, “You two are now my experiment.”

Prosper’s fight against consciousness was on the verge of failure, as his eyes found it hard to focus, and his mind found it even harder to concentrate. He was trying to get his body to get up and run but his legs simply wouldn’t budge. He squirmed and twisted in effort, only exhausting himself to no longer fight.

The last thing Prosper did was look over at his sister’s body. Her eyes had moved back into place and were locked on his. His stare was to assure her that he was sorry, and before his mind blacked out completely, he let out a tear for Acacia, and his mind convinced him that her dead corpse shed a tear for him as well.

Sterner seized Prosper’s weak body and carried him to the chair. He strapped the restraints tightly around his legs, his arms and his neck without a struggle. Sterner grabbed a cloth and tied it around Prosper’s head and into his mouth. With a swift flick of a switch the chair began to produce a light show of electricity, pumping nearly fifty thousand volts of death into Prosper’s body. The amount of pain being inflicted to his limbs woke him from his unconscious state of mind, and even with the cloth in his mouth, he let out the loudest and most painful scream he’d ever produced. The sound echoed for what felt like days throughout Sterner’s basement. It resonated within Sterner’s soul, weaved its way around the boxes, and through the walls; passed the cellar door and along the stairs; upon the gravel, out to the grass; through the gates and passed the graves, all the way up to the trees and into the wind. Prosper’s screams of terror and remorse were heard and continually repeated all through the night, until his pain and his memory were finally stifled at dawn.