The Complexities

“Hello there, Ciar.” The unknown deep voice waved. The man revealed himself at last, letting out a cheeky grin before walking towards him. He was an older man at the age of thirty-eight, but his aura seemed almost childlike with his fashion sense and gestures. The man wore a pair of khaki shorts, covered in red splatter, and a wrinkled handed down t-shirt with the logo of, “CDCA”. Ciar’s had frozen in his spot, unable to control his body from the mysterious man prancing his way over to him.
“Who-Who are you?!” Ciar screamed at the man, barely able to step back. The closer the man got, the more features Ciar was able to retain, and it was just too much for him for today. The man simply laughed at the teenager and stroke his small beard, as he got near Ciar, he pulled out his hand for a handshake and replied, “I’m your Uncle Alan. I’m in Floor 1.”
His convincing words seemed to turn himself trustworthy, and Ciar reluctantly placed his hand near the stranger’s. The man instantly grinned at this and grabbed the boy’s hand, squeezing hard before chuckling again, letting Ciar notice his missing front teeth.
“Now boy,” The odd man patted Ciar’s back, “Now that the old hag is gone, I can show you Floor Uno.” The man pulled Ciar towards the elevator’s direction, showing off a wild grin of satisfaction.
“Grandmother told me to never go to Floor One.” Ciar resisted and pulled away from his “uncle”. Ciar stared into Uncle Alan’s eyes before remembering Grandmother Dian’s warning.
It was the day she died when she warned Ciar of the Floor. “Whatever you do, do not affiliate yourself with anything from Floor One, no matter what. Promise me that, Ciar.” Her voice crowed into Ciar’s mind.
“Now boy,” Alan looked at Ciar, trying to detect any sense of danger from the boy, “Dian told me to find you before she died-“
“Then why did you take so long?” Ciar cut him off with an intense tone. Alan shook his head with his face full of shame and disagreement.
“I found a water leak on the basement so I’ve been working on it. Sorry, boy, if I had to put our lives on first priority.” This explanation was good enough for Ciar, and he had enough curiosity of Floor One to act like he was mildly interested in his new uncle. He nodded at Uncle Alan, and the man advised him to go into the elevator to adventure into unknown territories. Ciar carefully followed the man into the elevator, sure that if he resisted, the man would surely force him to go anyways. “No boy,” Alan croaked, killing the silence between them and the gears turning to pull the machine down. “How old are you, now?” Alan’s cheeky grin popped out, showing his perfectly aligned teeth with blood shot red gums.
“Fi-fifteen, sir.” Ciar struggled to pronounce his words. It had been days since he communicated with another human being, and Ciar wasn’t sure if he was relieved to see the man’s existence yet. The loud ping of the elevator soared through the time room, slowly opening the door to the Forbidden First Floor. Ciar felt himself begin to sweat underneath his clothes, engulfing saliva down his throat, and looked at the scenery. The floor was covered in electric wires, taped thoroughly onto the walls of the pillars, and constantly lighting the room with its red and blues. Ciar was intoxicated with the surplus of devices, and turned to face Alan, who had not taken his eyes off Ciar the entire time. Alan proceeded to speak, “I knew you’d love this place. Your father was wrong about you, Ciar.”
“Yu-you knew my father?” Ciar blurted out, unsure if the man of Floor 1 was telling the truth. Alan kept his wide smile and slapped Ciar’s back in joy.
“Of course, I’m your uncle.” Alan walked forward into the corridor, sounding less excited than before, “Let me show you around, Ciar.” Ciar followed his uncle, wondering how a water leakage could even happen without Uncle Alan being electrocuted from the thousands of wires plugged in. There were many questions Ciar had for Uncle Alan, but Ciar decided that his annoying curiosity was something that Uncle Alan would regret meeting.
As they got deeper into the floor, Ciar noticed the dirtier the rooms got, and more tangled wires appeared. Alan had swept through these objects as if it was an everyday thing, careless about Ciar’s feelings about things. They had reached the end of the hallway, and Uncle Alan turned a quick left, entering another hallway with royal red wallpaper with a halftone texture. The doors were all slammed opened, showing the luscious green carpet, either destroyed by failed electrocution appliances or covered in crumbled bedspreads.
“You’re a smart one, Ciar.” Alan stopped his tracks, making Ciar bump into him because he was too focused on the new corridor’s features. “You remind me of myself when I was your age.” Ciar eyes the Uncle, trying to read his mind. “You’re a smart boy, but you have no idea what the truth is.” Alan had slowly turned a doorknob of the closest door, revealing a tin room, rusting from every corner, and a giant iron door with vintage swirls all around it. Ciar was blinded by this door and its bright landscape that displayed itself.
“That,” Uncle Alan explained, “is the door to the outside. I want to see if you can open it.” Ciar’s heart began to beat faster, still looking at the ground of the outside world, contemplating if life outside the House was in anyway better than the inside. Alan’s temper had fused out of him, grabbing the fifteen year old by the shoulders and shook him aggressively. “Open the god damn door boy! Do you want to live here until you died?” Ciar stood facing his uncle, now seeing clearly at what his grandmother meant. His uncle was completely out of his mind.