The Stairwell

As John and Jean walked along the first floor of their newly purchased 'in need of repair' manse, they came upon an old wooden door with a dusty, glass window.

"I don't remember that door, John, do you?" asked Jean

"No can't say I do either, dear, wonder what's in there?" John replied as he leaned into look through the glass. "Its certainly dusty, look at all those cobwebs" John wiped off a handful of cobwebs but the glass was still very opaque.

Mary took an old cloth out of her pocket that she had been using to clean some of the wood work with and started to clean a bit of the window with a small circular motion until it shone like it was new. Jean leaned forward and put her forehead on the glass and closed one eye, she peered through and the small amount of light that was getting through shone on an old wooden staircase leading down from the door.

"I can see stairs in here, there weren't any stairs when we were here to view the house" said Jean in a very puzzled voice

"Not that I remember, we came up the stairs at the end, then there are stairs up to the second floor at the end. That's all I remember, I don't even remember the door being here. "John walked over.

"Here, have a look for yourself" Jean moved over and allowed John to place his head against the window.

"So there is, that's weird, wonder where they go?" John straightened up and scratched his head.

John reached down, grabbed the handle and gave a couple of tugs at the door,

"It's properly stuck" John leaned back and put his shoulder into the wooden part of the door and gave it a hard dunt but that didn't work as the door clearly opened out the way going by the frame.

" I'm going downstairs to have a look as it should come out in the big hall but I cant remember seeing stairs or a wall there that would cover the stairs" john scratched his head again in confusions "Weird"

They walked back along the landing and stopped to admire the Grande staircase they had come up earlier, an ornate wooden banister on either side and the dark red carpet with brass rails on each step was still there.

"Touch of class" thought John, " I'm gonna be happy in this big old crazy house, just needs a bit of love, that's all" John then thought of his flat in the city that he was moving out of and shook his head disbelievingly. He smiled and continued back down and into the big hall.

"There are definitely no stairs here, no stairs and no wall covering where the stairs should be" John surveyed the area," This is it, the stairs would be here coming down that way"

" But that's an outside wall with a big window in it, are you sure its not that bit and the stairs are in there?" Jean pointed to a wall at the end of the hall"

"its 100% on this side and there is no where for it to be." John shook his head and looked up at the empty ceiling.

"Lets go and try and open it to see where it goes" Jean suggested

John grabbed the handle, turned it and jerked the door back twice as hard as he could. The door moved about a centimeter but that was it, even after several more pulls it stayed put. Jean came over to try again but again no luck. She turned and pressed her head against the glass to peer into the stairwell,,

"What's your secret? Where do you go and what are you hiding?" Jean smiled and shook her head,

"We can try again later with a big hammer and a screwdriver or something like that" suggested Jean as they both turned to head back down the hall. A click from behind made them stop in there tracks,

"What was that? Did you hear that?" Asked John

They both turned round together, both stood stunned, eyebrows raised, eyes swollen in disbelief as they both looked at the door that was now open ajar.

"What the!" John stammered

"Whoa! That's so freaky!" Jean said in a rather excited voice, " We need to go in, the house has invited us!"

"No way" John took a step back

"come on, we have to go and look" she grabbed John by the arm and pulled him forward. Jean put out her hand, took the handle and pulled the door open. The door opened as though it had been newly fitted except for the dust and cobwebs that fell off as it moved. There was no landing area and the first stair was straight behind the door, an old set of wooden stairs that had been well used at some point due to the wearing of the wood in the middle. It was dark after the first few stairs as there appeared to be no lighting in there and the air had the musty smell of an old wooden chest that had been closed for years. Jean leaned in through the doors hoping to see something other than the darkness, but it was just dark.

"Get your phone out and put the torch on then, we're going in!" Jean demanded.

They both switched on their phone torches and slowly passed through onto the stairs, shining there torches all around, the stairs creaking with the weight being put on them after a long time in hiding. The stairs were varnished in a dark colour that showed up the layer of dust, the walls were painted a cream colour which John decided to knock on,

"hmmm, wood, the walls are made of wood" John said confidently

"Really, are you sure? Well done John!" Mary laughed and walked down a couple of stairs, keeping her fingertips on the walls as there was no barrier to hold. She shone her torch all the way around and continued on

"13,14, 15 we must be about in line with the downstair floor now" Jean continued to count "But it keeps g…."

"Click" they both turned around startled as the noise came from the top of the stairs,

"Oh no" John ran back up the stairs, " Its locked, the bloody doors locked" John pulled hard at the door but it was stuck solid.

"Are you kidding?" Jean ran back up the stairs

"Honestly, you try it" John suggested

"Well" Jean paused "We will just need to find out where the stairs go and get out another way"

Jean shone her torch down the stairs and started off, keeping one hand on the wall at all times for stability.

"It just keeps going, that must be about 50 steps and it doesn't stop!" She turned around to see John

"I will go back up and count the stairs on the way down" John turned and ran up the stairs. He shouted after about ten seconds "I'm here already but I can't see you"

"1,2,3" he continued to count"55, 56, 57 you were close, but I only went up about 10 stairs, you try" John moved over to allow Jean passed, and set off up the stairs counting as she went,

"Are you taking the mickey, that's only 12 to the top" and then counted down "55,56 and 57! what the hell is going on, that can't be, the door is just there but I cant see it or you from up there." Jean said in a puzzled manner as she scratched her head and ran her fingers through her hair.

"We should keep going down as it cant go on for ever, it must reach the basement soon" John said with a worried croak in his voice.

"We can try another 43 and that will be 100" Jean suggested as she leaned back against the wall, " after you"

"58,59, 60" John continued on down "98,99 and 100, it just looks the same, " he turned to speak to Jean "I'm going to walk back up and see what happens" He set off "1,2,3 … 11 and 12 no way" he slumped onto one of the stairs.

"Are you almost there yet?" came a soft voice from below

"Yes but I only counted 12 again" there was no reply

"Hello" came a shout from below

"Its only twelve stairs to the top" John shouted back down.

"Does the door work?"

John tried the door "NO!"

"Are you coming back down?"

" no" john said in a quiet voice

"Hello?"

"YES, coming now" John set off counting stairs again until he reached Jean. " That's 12 stairs up from where ever you are but we are now 100 down! You can try, 12 stairs and you will be back at the top but I will still be all the way down here"

Jean ran up the 12 steps and grabbed the door handle, pulling with all her might " Let us out!" she screamed or at least let their be a bottom to this place" she made a fist and banged it on the glass of the door. Jean turned and sat down on the top stair and put her head in her hands, she heard John coming back up the twelve stairs,

"Its not write John, its not right" she cried " we are stuck on a stairwell that goes nowhere and a magic door that only opens on its own! Arggggh! LET US OUT!" she banged her head back against the door.

"Let's try again" John said in a soft voice "we can just keep going until we get somewhere or the battery runs out on the phone, we know its only twelve steps back up if we change our minds!" he held out his hand to help Jean up "you never know, it might go all the way to Australia!"

"Or the gates to hell! Jean frowned as she stood up "after you"

"The door wont open so we might as well start walking and see where we end up"

"I know but I just don't want to." Jean followed on down the stairs.

"Come on it will be an adventure" John put out his hand to take Jeans

"I want an adventure but I want an adventure when we go to Paris or Rome for a holiday"

They both set off down the stairs counting as they went.

Journal Fund

Thank you for reading this story and I do hope you enjoyed it. I enjoyed writing it and will continue to create as long as I can wield a pen. To support me and my writing you can help boost my moral and buy me a much needed journal or a nice coffee, this would be very much appreciated to encourage me to keep on writing new stories.

Photo by Ryan Fyfe