Spaces_003-4A
Nickname: The Kitchen That Waits
Danger Ranking: 4A
First Reported: 1977–11–03 — Burned-down farmhouse outside Granite Falls, WA

Summary:
The Kitchen That Waits manifests as a perfectly preserved domestic kitchen from the early 20th century, accessible only through a collapsed section of basement beneath the ruins of the Eller Farmstead. Despite the fire that destroyed the house decades ago, the kitchen remains untouched by time or decay. It exists in a pocket-space that extends far beyond the known foundations, and it is always waiting—for a guest.

The kitchen appears inviting: a hearth still warm, the smell of stew in the air, dishes clinking softly in the sink as if recently used. Yet the door only opens from the outside, and no matter the path taken, all exits lead back to the kitchen. Inside, something is aware. It observes. And it prepares.

Known Properties:

• The space manifests ambient sounds of domestic life: footsteps on floorboards above, humming, the whistle of a kettle. There is no one else physically present.
  
• Time behaves normally for the most part, but memory interference begins within 30 minutes of exposure. Guests begin to “remember” lives they never lived—birthdays in this kitchen, arguments at the dinner table, a woman named “Maureen” who always wore yellow.
  
• All food found within is warm, edible, and heavily personalized to the subject’s memories or cultural background. Consumption deepens the compulsion to remain.
  
• Writing left by previous explorers fades after several hours. Objects moved from their place are often returned overnight.
  
• If the subject sleeps, they will dream of being a child again, watched over by something unseen but maternal. Waking becomes difficult after the second sleep cycle.
  

Containment Procedure:

• The entrance to the basement has been sealed with concrete and monitored remotely via vibration sensors and thermal imaging.
  
• No entry is permitted without direct Site-3 authorization. Explorations are capped at 20 minutes.
  
• Subjects are outfitted with neural desync trackers and chemical memory anchors.
  
• Recovered individuals are to be quarantined for 7 days and interviewed daily for identity coherence.
  
• Absolutely no food is to be consumed inside the space under any circumstances.
  

Encounters:

• 1977–11–03 — Granite Falls, WA: First discovered by a volunteer firefighter during post-fire investigation. He remained inside for over three hours, insisting afterward that he’d “only stepped in for a moment.” Recounted stories about “his son’s first steps” in the kitchen. He never had children.
  
• 1982–04–17 — Internal Expedition: A four-person team entered. One exited after 12 minutes in a dissociative fugue. The other three never emerged. Their names are now found scratched into the underside of the dining table inside.
  
• 1990–02–01 — Site-3: Audio recording recovered from inside the kitchen (no team had been sent in that month). It contained lullabies sung in Agent Mara Bell’s voice. Agent Bell had been deceased for six years.
  

Recommendation:
The Kitchen That Waits is to be avoided unless critical to timeline interference studies. The space does not forget. It remembers visitors. It sets the table in advance.

Do not sit. Do not eat. Do not answer if it calls you by a childhood nickname.

List of Case Workers:

• Agent Elijah Trant (Status: Active)
  
• Dr. Adrienne Sol (Status: Transferred, 1988)
  
• Site Psychologist Mira Nells (Status: Active)
  
• Containment Support: Haro Kitch (Status: Active)
  
• Agent Mara Bell (Status: Deceased, 1984 — Compulsion collapse, suspected interior assimilation)