The Staircase

                                                           

The Staircase

By Katzen Peterson 

“Hey,” Abby had leaned back in her seat and whispered to Emi from across the aisle, “hey!”

They were in the middle of history class, Emi had been busy making notes as best as she could off of the slides. She glanced over at Abby and mouthed what to her.

“After school, the old cemetery? Yeah?” Abby opened her eyes wide, looking for an immediate response.

Emi nodded at her, focusing on the slide presentation, and what her teacher was saying. For a moment, she smiled to herself. Sure, she wasn’t one of the cool kids but she was amazed that she’d found a friend group so soon after her transfer. What passed as fried chicken was awful, they didn’t know what grits were. She stuck out like a sore thumb with her accent.

Derrick was poised at the bike rack, waiting for them to show up after school had been let out. Abby and Emi each collected their bikes.

“Cemetery, right?” he asked. They both nodded as they mounted their bikes and followed behind him.

Old Lake Aldrich Cemetery was dated back to the seventeen and eighteen hundreds. Some of the names and dates were so worn down that it would take a charcoal rubbing to read. The grass was well taken care of but the graves themselves left much to be desired. Sure, flowers were planted at some of the graves yet others were crumbling back into the dirt that they came from. The Halloway and the Brahms graves were exceptional, they had descendants looking after them. However, the trio settled down around Miram Paulson’s grave. It was beautiful and haunting, a gravestone set against a worn feminine angel, its wings spread, blowing into a trumpet, a loose stone toga swirled around her frame.

The dying autumn light decided to settle into Derrick’s hair, a close crop against his scalp that glistened with red, deep brown, rust, and black. He leaned against the gravestone, puffed twiced, then passed to Emi. She hurried, puff puff passing back to Abby. Derrick grinned to himself.

“Hey, what’s so funny?” Abby wobbled, watching Derrick.
“Oh, sorry...”, Derrick paused. “I heard something from the seniors today.”
Abby crooked her head, passing the blunt to Emi. “Well, what? What did you hear?” As Emi drew in the smoke, she closed her eyes.
“Oh... Yeah... So, they found a staircase in the woods.”
Abby cocked her head, her bleach blonde hair bouncy enough to look reminiscent of a renaissance painting. “Where?” She croaked out.
“Uh, in the north west part of the woods?” Derrick offered. “It’s just a rumor though. It appears, stays for a while, and then appears in other places.”
Abby considered it. Knees folded, hands together. The light of a spark in her eye was undeniable. Emi passed the blunt back to Derrick. “Let’s find it, guys.”

Emi shook her head, well versed in the stories of Appalachia and surrounding areas, “No... That's, I’m sorry, that’s a bad idea... Can we not?”

Abby looked at her for a long time before she spoke again, ”Okay but why not?”

Emi sighed as the blunt was handed back to her,”my memaw used to tell me about weird things in the woods that she and friends found when she was younger, sometimes heard. It’s just best not to mess around with that kind of stuff.” She took in a puff, held it, then blew it back out. Her eyes glanced from Derrick to Abby. “People disappear in the woods, sometimes they never find them again and sometimes when they are found, they have no recollection of how they got to where they were.” She passed the blunt to Abby.

“Emi...” Abby tilted her head at her friend as she took the blunt, ”It’s just a walk in the woods. Right, Derrick?” She placed her hand on his arm.

He shifted nervously, feeling the tension between the two girls like he was stuck in the middle. “You know, there’s probably nothing out there but it would be cool just to see, right?” He offered Emi a weak shrug.

Emi scoffed to herself and shook her head. She threw up her hands,”Fine! Fine, it's just a walk. I’ll go, but I don’t want to go in too far and I don’t want to be there after dark. Okay?” She eyed her friends.

Abby smiled and nodded. She held out her hand to shake Emi’s,”deal.” Emi took her hand and shook it, waiting for Derrick to do the same. He did. Their blunt was finished but Abby saved the roach in a little medicine bottle that she kept stuffed in her purse. “We won’t go today, we’ll go tomorrow. We’ll start out in the morning, get home by dinner. Let’s make sure we bring lots of snacks and water bottles.”

Derrick paused for a moment, “when do you wanna meet up?” He glanced over at Emi. “How about 10? We’ll meet up here.”
Derrick nodded. Emi sighed and nodded too. She checked her watch, “shit, guys it's 5:30. I gotta go.” Standing up, she brushed off her clothes, waved bye to her friends as she grabbed her bike, walking it along the dirt-worn path and out to the road.

She felt bad about leaving so soon but it was her turn to cook dinner before her mom came home. Her mom had the night off and she wanted to spend some time with her, watch a scary movie. She had also wanted to get out of there. The thought of going into the woods made her feel uneasy, especially after the stories her memaw used to tell her and her cousins, which she swore were all true. Stories about mimics, voices in the woods, the men without faces, disappearances, weird structures, even aliens and Big Foot.

She lived at the end of the road on Reed St in the cul-de-sac, a three or four minute straight shot from the old cemetery. Emi rolled her bike to the back and chained it to the one of the posts for the porch, then made her way up the rickety 4 steps to the back door. She took the key from her around her neck. As she was about to put the key into the deadbolt, the door slowly creaked open, revealing a dark kitchen and dining room. She felt the hairs on her arms and the back of her neck stand up. She knew it was locked when she left for school that morning. Her breath quickened as she took a step back. Her eyes widened as she heard the floorboards further on in the hallway groan under the weight of a heavy boot. Flight. Fight. Freeze.

She bolted in an instant, flying down the stairs and past the wooden gate of the fence, crossing the cul-de-sac to her neighbor’s house. She banged on Ms Maggie’s door, ringing the doorbell, coming close to a panic attack. Ms Maggie’s door swung open and Emi pushed her way inside, face red and breathing hard.

Ramona Locklear came home to red and blue lights in her driveway, her daughter standing with a woman officer and a blanket around her shoulders. She parked in the street in front of her house, threw open the door and jogged over to Emi, arms embracing her into a protective hug. “Emi?” She then turned her attention to the officer, “what’s going on?”

“Your daughter called us from the neighbor’s house, saying the backdoor was open and that she heard someone in the house. My partner is inside to look things over.”

“Why wasn’t I notified?” Ramona demanded.

Emi spoke up, her voice unsure and timid, “I tried calling your cell phone but I couldn’t get through. It kept going to voicemail.”

Ramona pulled her phone from the pocket in her vest. “Oh, it’s dead.” As she put her phone back in her pocket a male officer came from around the backyard and made his way toward the group.

“Ms Locklear?” His voice was deep yet kind, sympathetic.
Emi turned her head towards the officer, “yes?”


He looked at both mother and daughter, “I didn’t see anyone inside the house but that doesn’t mean anything.” He paused, clearing his throat, “there’s been a string of home invasions lately and that could mean that the perpetrator, or perpetrators, was interrupted and ran after he heard Ms Emi here run off.” He motioned to Ramona, “ma’am, it would be helpful if you could go back inside with me and make sure that nothing is missing or been messed with, as a precaution.”

Ramona nodded and turned her attention to Emi, hand on her shoulder, “I’ll be back in a little bit, okay?” Emi nodded.

Ms Locklear didn’t find anything out of place during the walkthrough, though she was concerned by a few scuff marks on the floor in the hallway and kitchen, as well as one on the wall by her daughter’s room. As promised though, the house was empty and she decided that the locks would be changed the next day. The officers gave her the number of the local handyman and the number to a security company from the next town over that did work in Lake Aldrich in case she wanted cameras installed around her home. They had also assured her that they would make sure their officers would be patrolling her area of the neighborhood more often. Emi had reluctantly agreed to come back into the house, worn out and hungry, fearful and feeling violated by the intrusion. The pair decided to order pizza for dinner. They didn’t talk much and skipped their movie night, which was supposed to be The Thing.

Ramona, in her nightgown and robe, paused at her bedroom door. “Hey, Emi?” Emi, dressed in her pajama bottoms and the t-shirt she’d been wearing all day, stopped and looked at her mother before entering her own room.

“Yeah?”

Ramona tried to offer a warm, reassuring smile but it seemed more apologetic than anything. “I’m really proud of you for not... For not going into the house. For running to the neighbor.” She looked down, “some kids don’t pay attention to stuff like that and end up getting hurt or, or worse.”

Emi looked away and nodded to herself. “Yeah, I know, mom.” Ramona turned to go into her room. “Hey, mom?”

Ramona stopped and looked back at her, “yeah, honey?”

“I think I'm gonna go over to Abby’s house tomorrow. Hang out for a while. I don’t think I want to be here alone.”

Ramona nodded, “that’s fine, honey. As long as you're back by the time I get off work, okay?” Emi smiled and nodded at her. “I love you, baby.”

“I love you too, mom.”

Emi tossed and turned all night, shifting between dreams of a faceless dark figure of a man in the house creeping down the hallway, stepping in each place where the floorboards squealed in protest, and being deep in the woods, face to face with a pristine carpeted staircase in the middle of a clearing. A place where time stood still, silent like death. When her alarm went off at seven the next morning, she was so tired but thankful that she was awake and not dreaming anymore. She stayed for a few minutes, collecting her thoughts and gathering the energy to get up for the day as she stared up at her ceiling. She didn’t want to go out into the woods to hunt for a rumor, but she also didn’t want to stay home. The events of the day before still left her feeling unsettled and should the prowler come back, she didn’t want to be in the house by herself.

She heard her mother’s door squeak open from across the hall and her shuffling, sleepy footsteps going to the kitchen. Minutes later, the smell of fresh coffee wafted in from beneath her door. It smelled so good. Her mom usually made enough for them both to have a cup or two. She breathed in deep and rolled over onto her side. “Fine,” Emi muttered, “I’m awake, I’m up. Ugh.”

Emi sat up and began checking her phone. Abby had texted something about wanting to stop for snacks and drinks at one of the gas stations and to make sure they brought backpacks. Derrick asked if they were all still meeting at the cemetery but Abby hadn’t responded.

Padding down the hall to the kitchen, the atmosphere of the house felt off. Different somehow. Her room had felt safe enough and she wasn’t sure if this was some kind of trauma response to the day before but the lightness in the air was gone. It felt... Heavy. Weird, she thought to herself, trying to brush away the feeling. Something nagged at her though. She was glad that she was leaving for the day, in spite of her feelings about where she was going. Her mom was in the kitchen, reading the morning paper at the table, coffee steaming in front of her next to a plate of some kind of Jimmy Dean breakfast bowl. Her mom hardly ever cooked and when she did, takeout was the better option. Being a veteran of her mom’s cooking made her not complain when a fast food worker got her order wrong or that burnt toast wasn’t the worst thing in the world.

Her mom glanced up from her paper, “Hey hon, there’s a few cups of coffee in the pot for you.” Emi grabbed herself a mug from the cupboard and eagerly made her way over to the coffee pot. The best thing her mom made was coffee. It was the pinch of chicory and the smidge of salt and only her mom knew the exact measurements. “Oh, hey, I’ll be getting off early today and I won’t be working at the bar tonight.”

Emi turned to look at her mom, brows furrowed, “how come?”

Ramona took a sip of her coffee, “I called those numbers that officer gave me. So, I need to be here for the handyman to come change the locks and the other people to come install cameras around the house. And, you can’t get back in without the new key anyway so, I’ll be here to let you in and give you the new key.” She paused, “plus, we can make up for yesterday. We can make dinner together and watch that movie? The Thing, I think it was?”

Emi smiled at the thought, “yeah. Yeah, I’d really like that mom. That sounds perfect, actually.” Maybe normalcy was right around the corner. Maybe this feeling of dread would be over soon.

Her mom left for work around nine. Before leaving, Ramona made her promise to triple check the locks on the front and backdoor before she left for the day. Emi promised. She rushed to get dressed and ready, gathering up her backpack and a few essentials: toilet paper, her compass, lighter, flashlight, matches, jacket, swiss army knife. She checked the front door and all the windows, everything was locked tight. She walked out onto the back porch, locked the knob, then the deadbolt. She jiggled the doorknob and pressed into the door a few times but it wasn’t going anywhere. When she felt satisfied, she walked down the four rickety wooden steps and around to her bike. The lock was on the grass underneath her bike. She could’ve sworn she had locked it up before... Whatever.

The morning autumn air was crisp against her face as she rode the few minutes to the old cemetery down the street. Sure, she was early but she couldn’t stand to be in that house any longer by herself than she had to, it just meant that she had some peace to herself before the teenage chaos of the day would commence. She sat down at Miriam Paulson’s gravestone, earbuds in, leaning back, and eyes closed against the blaring sun.

She was shaken awake by a firm hand on her shoulder, eyes fluttering open and trying to focus. Derrick came into view, shielding her against the sun. “Hey, you okay?” The look in his eyes were deep with concern.

Emi nodded at him, eyes glancing around, “yeah, just tired... Where’s Abby?”

“She wants us to meet her at her apartment. She’s waiting for her Tia Rosa to come over to watch her siblings or something. Didn’t you see her text?” Emi shook her head as he offered his hand, pulling her up. “I figured, that’s why I checked here first.”

The pair rode their bikes. Crossing Halloway blvd and Main st, down Raven rd. Emi glanced over to the first house on the right, swearing that she saw someone peeking through the blinds of a window. Abby lived at the last apartment building on the left, bottom floor. 810 2-B. A little girl with dark brown, long hair answered the door, wearing pajamas a size too small. She must’ve been about 11, rolling her eyes at them. “Abby! Your friends are here!”

The three friends hit up Jim’s General Store, buying snacks and water. Emi bought some extra batteries for her flashlight, power bars, rope, twine, and gatorades instead of water. She’d been hiking and camping before, she knew how easy it was to lose electrolytes on a trip in the woods and water wouldn’t always cut it. She eyed her friends' choices but kept quiet. They weren’t supposed to be gone that long anyway but she wanted to be prepared. They made their way to N Francis st and between two vacant houses following a worn path to the treeline. Emi checked her phone as they dismounted their bikes. It was 11:43 a.m. Plenty of time to explore and make it back before dark. The path into the woods disappeared and didn’t look bike friendly. They would have to walk it from there. Emi pulled out her compass, found north. “You said it was northwest, right?” She turned to Derrick.

“Yeah, that’s what they told me,” he replied.
She oriented herself to face northwest, “alright, this way.”
The trio began their trek. Dry leaves and fallen twigs snapped underfoot, rays of the sun poked holes in the canopy above. The birds, high on their branches, sang loud and proud their last songs before their annual migration of flying south for the winter. It was a beautiful day for a hike. Abby led the way, hands brushing against the trunks of trees to feel the moss, pausing every so often to look at mushrooms and other fungi. To Emi, it seemed like her friend was in her element and reminded her of some kind of forest nymph. Derrick trailed in the rear. Emi could hear him breathing hard as he kept up.

She slowed her pace so he could catch up with her, “hey, are you okay?”
He nodded, “I can ride a bike all day but this is... Way different...”
Emi looked at him, her face a little flushed as she offered a smile, “I know what you mean, it’s been awhile for me. I used to go hiking with my memaw all the time.”
Derrick was silent for a moment as they trudged along, “you didn’t want to come with us, right?”
Emi glanced over at him, “that’s right.”
“Because of what your memaw told you?” He looked over at her as she nodded. “What exactly did she tell you?”
Emi sighed, thinking how best to put it, “she used to say, don’t be in the woods after dark. If you saw something, no you didn’t. If you found something, no you didn’t. If you heard something, no you didn’t. You don’t pay any mind to the things in the woods. Go around it and ignore it, or turn around calmly and walk back to where you came from... Don’t run, don’t acknowledge, and be respectful.”

Derrick was quiet again. The sound of their footsteps in the leaf litter seemed somehow louder now. “Did she see something? Like what we’re looking for?”

Emi licked her dry lips, “she saw a lot of things that I’d rather not talk about while we’re in here. Maybe when we get out, I’ll tell you about it.”

After walking for almost three and a half hours, which seemed like an eternity, they decided it was time for a break. They came upon what looked like an old campsite, with logs for seats around an old washed out fire pit. Abby gulped down a warm bottle of water and looked around, taking in the scene. Her eyes caught Derrick’s and then Emi’s. She shivered. “Does the air seem different to you guys?”

Emi furrowed her brows as she swigged down a big gulp of gatorade but Derrick piped up before she could respond, “what do you mean?”

“I don’t know, it just feels weird.”

Emi looked around, nothing seemed off but then, in the silence, she could hear it. It was just that, quiet. Too quiet. The birds had stopped singing. The breeze was no longer blowing. She couldn’t even hear the sounds of insects. “I think we should head back,” she blurted out.

Her instincts were telling her something was wrong. Usually, when everything went quiet, it meant that there was a predator nearby. She looked down at her gatorade bottle as she felt their eyes on her.

“Emi, what the hell are you talking about? Leave? We haven’t even found anything yet,” Abby burned holes into her friend, annoyed with the prospects of having to turn around.

Emi stammered, “listen, I mean really listen, do you hear anything right now?” Abby stared at her while Derrick perked up his head. “I don’t know what kind of big animals y’all have up here but when it goes quiet in the woods, it means they’re prowling about.”

Abby scoffed, “I’ve been playing in these woods since I was a kid and I've never come across something big.” She looked over at Derrick, “do you want to leave too?” He simply shrugged and looked down at his feet. “Bruh, yes or no?”

“I don’t know,” he looked at her. She stood up and began to pace.

“Guys, come on. Think about it. What if it’s real and not some made up story from a bunch of seniors? Don’t you want to see it? Don’t you want to find it?” She stopped, eyeing the two in turn.

Derrick relented, “yes, I want to see it but...”
“But what, Derrick?” Her voice pitched higher in annoyance.
“What if Emi’s right and there’s something we should worry about?” He stole a glance at Emi and Emi looked up at Abby.
Abby clenched her fists, “well, fine! I’ll go find it by myself!” With that, she stormed off, leaving the pair bewildered.
Emi growled, “damn it! We have to go after her.” She stood up and grabbed Derrick’s hand, pulling him up with her. They had to find their friend before something bad happened. “Abby! Slow down! We’re right behind you!”

The deeper they traversed, the darker the forest around them became. Even the sky seemed to be turning into night. Emi glanced down at her phone. They’d been in the forest for over five hours, most of it spent chasing after Abby, who seemed to always be just out of sight but they could hear her stomping through the woods and catch glimpses as she walked past trees. Emi wanted to get out of there, to turn around and head home. With each step, she could feel the air fill with an unsettling sense of dread and uneasiness. Derrick, who had been holding her hand the entire time, squeezed more as he grew anxious with each step.

“Emi!” He whispered, “Emi, we gotta go back!”

“What about Abby?” She whispered back, the sun was setting in the west, casting the trees around them in creeping shadows.

“Do you see her anymore?” They stopped, looking around them.

Emi drew in a sharp breath, she had to admit that she hadn’t caught sight of her in awhile now. “No... But...”

Derrick’s breathing quickened, she could tell that panic was setting in, “we need to get out of here. We need to go! We’ll call the cops or something-”

In the distance, they could hear someone shouting, “I found it! Guys! I found it! It’s here!”

“Abby?” Derrick called out as Emi retrieved the flashlight from her bookbag. “Abby!” He called again. He let go of Emi’s hand and lurched forward into a sprint.

“Derrick? Derrick, wait!” In the dark, in the woods, she was alone. Her flashlight came to life, catching Derrick’s lower half as he ran towards the voice and then he was gone. She caught her breath, darkness enveloping around her trying its best to eat away at the beam of light in front of her, “Derrick? Abby?” Emi bit her lower lip nervously, trying to decide what to do now. She didn’t want to go forward but she was afraid to walk back by herself. She gripped the flashlight tight in her hand. They should’ve left when they had the chance.

She took a small step forward, and then another in the direction that she’d seen Derrick run. The leaves crunching under her feet, heartbeat throbbing in her ears. She strained to hear anything else, any sign of her friends, though after this she wasn’t sure if they’d still be friends. Her memaw’s voice was in her head, Ain’t nothing in there for you, baby. Turn around and go back home to your momma.

“Memaw, memaw I can’t.” She whispered to herself, she could feel the burn of tears starting to blur her eyes. “I have to find them.” The voice inside her head was right. Derrick was right. She was right. They should’ve turned back. They never should’ve come out here. A twig snapped up ahead and with instinct, she crouched down to the ground, listening. Another twig snapped. She thought she could hear Derrick calling out for Abby again. She squeezed her eyes shut for a moment and gathered up her strength. “Oh, fuck it...”

Before she knew it, she was running toward the sound, the light bobbing along ahead of her path.

She came to a clearing. It seemed strange and out of place this far in the woods. Nothing grew, there were no crunchy leaves or twigs to snap. No signs of animal life. No signs of insects. She shined her flashlight until she caught two figures in its beam. A male. A female. A staircase. She approached the pair, half jogging towards them. Derrick. Abby. Chaos unfolding before her eyes. The pair were arguing. She couldn’t hear it at first but as she drew nearer.

“Abby! Please! Let’s just go and get out of here!” He pleaded, hands out defensively as he tried to deescalate the situation.

“No! I didn’t come all this way for nothing, Derrick!” Abby yelled back in a voice Emi had never heard before. It was shrill, defiant, hinting on the edges of insanity.

“Abby! Abby!” Emi called out, running towards them even faster as Abby turned towards the stairs, a hand gripping the railing. Emi could see it clearer now. A spiral staircase, pristine. Smooth granite steps encased in black wrought iron. There wasn’t a single leaf on it... The closer Emi got, the more the air became heavy and oppressive, not unlike a humid summer day where the air was thick and hard to breathe. “Abby! Stop!” Abby turned around for a moment to look at Emi, a foot raising to greet the first step. “NO!” Emi howled.

It was too late, Abby began her ascent without a care in the world. Whether it was a need or a desire driven by morbid curiosity, obsession, or to escape, it was hard to say. Emi fell, sliding on her knees a few short feet away from Derrick. She couldn’t take her eyes off of Abby. “Derrick, why didn’t you stop her?”

He breathed heavily, his voice wavering, “I tried but I couldn’t touch her. The stairs wouldn’t let me touch her...”

Abby paused before the last step and peered over at them. She seemed to smile as she called down, “hey! There’s a door up here!”

Emi screamed, “DON’T YOU OPEN THAT FUCKING DOOR! ABBY!”

Abby didn’t seem to hear her, and if she did she certainly didn’t care. She placed her hand on the doorknob as she stepped up on the final stair. The door creaked open.

Against the pale morning rays of light wafting through the trees above, Emi’s eyes fluttered. The leaves below her were damp as they clung to her clothes and hair. Moist, cool earth filled her nostrils, backpack weighing against her as she felt gravity pulling her down. It was a struggle to sit up but she managed. Derrick was asleep on the ground a few feet from her as she rubbed her eyes with the inside part of her shirt. At least it was sort of clean. Then she realized. Then she remembered. Abby. The staircase. The clearing. Gone. All of it was gone with no sign of their friend.

She gulped, her mouth dry and sour. Abby. Where was Abby? She crawled over to Derrick, who was laying on his side, body crunched up against the cold of the air. She waited a moment. He was breathing, slow and with purpose.

She reached out her hand and shook him. “Derrick... Derrick!”
He startled, his eyes blinking into focus as he looked up at her, “huh? What?” “Derrick, Abby’s gone!” She stared at him, his eyebrows furrowing for a moment as he was considering what she had said.
His face softened, confusion creeping in, “who?”
“Abby! Our friend!” She was trying not to yell at him but it only prompted more confusion

in his face.
“Who the hell is Abby?”