It started like every other client. A meet and greet mid-day, before sundowning starts. My shift was 8p-8a, the midnight schedule. This is one-on-one care, specifically Alzheimer’s care. Typically, the meet and greet is preformed with family present, and you do a walk through of the house as well as get a feel for the client’s personality. It is especially important for midnight staff, as we’re usually on our own more than any other shift.
This time, I was greeted by a coworker instead. She was an older woman, and there was a kind but no nonsense feel to her. She told me she had been working with him for several years, since care had been requested. His children didn’t live in the area, and rarely visited the house. It would be just me and her providing 24hr care until they could find a 3rd caregiver to stay. I remember her leading me into the kitchen to greet my nearly 90 year old client. He was just lovely, and immediately wanted to know if I’d eaten. After meeting him, I wondered several times why they were having trouble keeping caregivers.
His house was almost as lovey as him. In Southern Michigan, situated in the suburbs around Detroit, just far enough North not to be described as “Northern Ann Arbor”. He had a larger piece of land, with a house built into the side of a hill. From the road, you couldn’t tell it was more than a simple ranch.
Inside was different. You walked into a large foyer, with a grand staircase to the basement, opposite the front door. A door on the left of the foyer lead to the kitchen, where the far wall is floor to ceiling windows. This overlooked a forested back yard. A door on this wall lead to a 2nd floor wrap around porch. I was told it stays locked, and is wired to an alarm system for the client’s safety. To the right of the foyer, there was 2 options. A hallway, which lead to 2 bedrooms, an office, and a bathroom. One of those was the client’s bedroom. The other option was an archway leading to the livingroom, which also had floor to ceiling windows overlooking the back.
After meeting the client and being shown around the top floor, we went over chores expected. It was all very normal. Wipe things down, sweep the floors. The only thing that stood out was laundry. That is typically a midnight responsibility, and I was used to doing it. My coworker insisted she do it on her shift. The explanation she gave was that there had been issues with other staff doing it, so she just does it herself. I figured there was some level of OCD involved, and didn’t pay any more attention to it. We wrapped up our scheduled walk through, out of time thanks to pleasant conversation. I still hadn’t seen the basement. Nothing beyond the darkness of the staircase, where you could faintly see tile at the bottom.
The next evening, I came for my first shift. All went well and as expected. The client went to sleep around 10-11pm, and I started in on chores.
Now, I don’t scare easy. It’s one of the reasons I work midnights with ease. That random noise? Plumbing. Ball of light? Was probably a car. Child’s giggle from the attic? Not my business. No, but seriously, it’s hard. So at around 2am, there was a loud noise I thought came from the basement. I go to the top of the stairs, and can feel a draft. With more irritation than fear, as it’s my first shift (what could have gone wrong!?) I turn on the light and head down there.
At the bottom, the door leading to outside was firmly locked. Spiderwebs still intact. I could see the door on my left lead to the laundry room. I flipped the light switch, and nothing happened. Out comes my phone, and I shine it’s flashlight around the room. Nothing out of the ordinary.
To my right is what looks like a dancing room. Checkered white and black flooring, and a grand piano. There was nothing else in the room, except a doorway leading out. I crossed the room, turning on the lights, and looked into the doorway. It was bigger than I expected. This hallway led to 4 bedrooms, and 2 bathrooms. All of which got their lights turned on, but none appeared out of the ordinary. Decorated with beds in each, and a lot of dust.
Further down, the hallway opened into what looked like a little home bar. I turned the lights on, and had a look. There was a semi circle bar, with 5 stools turned upside down on the counter. Behind the bar was fully stocked, with both opened and unopened bottles. The wall decorated with knick knacks from different places, and pictures behind them. Everything covered in thick dust. The noise long forgotten by now, I want to look at this cool stuff. As I’m looking closer, my phone flashlight still on, I feel the breeze and remember why I’m down there. It’s been about 5-10 minutes by now.
The hallway continues on the other side of this home bar, and opens into a LARGE carpeted living room. There’s a white couch on the far side, near sliding glass doors. That’s where I go to look first, and I notice it’s unlocked and slightly ajar. Spiderwebs and dust disturbed. I try to close it all the way, and it does, but it just won’t lock. That must be the noise and the draft! Giving up, but glad I solved the mystery, I turn around and examine the room.
There’s a child’s jump rope on the floor, in the middle of the room. Weird, for this environment. There’s also a standing record player, with a whole file of vinyls. Dust is covering everything so thick, you can see it settled on the couch. The most strange is the pool table. It’s in the corner of the room, with a light on directly overhead. 2 pool sticks lean, haphazardly, against the walls. Not returned to the wrack hanging feet away. Dust covers the whole table, obviously abandoned mid game, with little piles on of each ball.
Curiosity is a strong force. I picked up one of the balls. As soon as I touched it, every light went out. Only the light from my phone still shone, as I gently put the ball back down. I kept my eyes down, and quickly made for the hallway. Walking briskly, I went back through the bar, past the bedrooms, through the piano room, and to stairs. As soon as I stepped on the first stair leading up, all the lights switched back on. I didn’t go back to turn them off.
The rest of my shift was spent holed up in the room directly across from my client. All lights on. He didn’t wake up once. When dayshift staff arrived, I gave a very quick report, and went home to bed. Old electric can really be scary sometimes. The following evening, I arrived at my clients home. To my surprise, my coworker wasn’t alone. The client’s daughter was there as well, waiting outside for me. I got out of my car to greet her, and instead she had a look of fear on her face, and a question for me.
“You went in the basement, didn’t you?”