The Invisible Stairs

The house was beside a lake, Dorothy drove across the thin lane towards the ancient mansion.

The arch-style windows with open wedges seem to spread out their arms to embrace. The stone facades were ornate with 15th-century architecture, and the steep roof pitches and the large chimneys enhanced the gothic style of the mansion.

After tough haggling Dorothy happened to get the deal finalized at $100 for this ancient property, she signed the lease and got the property to stay and write her next novel.

Things went along well with the deal, dropping her daughter at her mother's and then driving almost 120 miles away from the city into this solitary mansion.

The first look ran a chill through her spine, the architecture was ancient and the gothic look of the building emerged as a giant palace that seemed to be a place of decayed grandeur, which was once full of life and vitality but now seeped in decay appeared to be creepy.

The car passed through the gravel path towards the huge entrance door with a screeching noise the Honda came to a halt.

Dorothy opened the door and jumped off the car. A cool breeze went past her, it was the fall of dusk and her overcoat lay beside the driver's seat but she was reluctant.....the cool breeze refreshed her for a new start.

She moved slowly towards the mansion, the beautiful architecture of the medieval period.

The welcoming fragrance of the pansy and tulip rejuvenated her feelings, the house seemed to be alive.....she held stretched out her hands to the door, and with a little push it opened.

Suddenly there was a buzz, her cell phone rang...she picked up the phone, her manager...."Andy, I have reached out and now I am going to switch off my phone, I do not need any disturbance. Go along with the copies, track the sales, cancel meetings, do whatever you want to."Dorothy rumbled everything in a single breath.

Andy was trying to say something however his voice was disrupted..."Did you get me, Andy?... Hello, Hello.......Oh no! The network's gone.....phew!"Dorothy unknowingly had gone inside the house......she looked around...all seemed to be set....she needs to warm herself up first then need to eat something and then sit down to write.....no one was gonna disturb her!

Dorothy Clarke, a well-known name in horror and sci-fi writings. Her best-seller, "The Haunting Hour" brought her huge name and fame. She had been struggling with her writing career, a childhood full of anguish and sadness, orphan by birth left alone in an orphanage and later raised by foster parents, who had left her alone, married to a harsh and aggressive man, who destroyed 3 years of her life, then she decided to leave him, holding on to her only daughter she divorced her husband and started her struggle.

She had been looking for jobs, she got one and started to live happily and then the twist in the tale occurred.

The recession started globally. Dorothy's life seemed to revolve around all kinds of harshness in society. Meanwhile, her husband claimed custody of her child as Dorothy lost her job during the recession. Now she was left destitute to luck...

It was her passion for words that took to flight with the feathers spread.

"The Haunting hour" a horror story of mystery clicked, but she struggled to publish to a little grace in her luck she had few publisher friends who helped her, and she this time cheated the luck to allow her one chance to show her talent and she succeeded, claiming her daughter's custody too.

Dorothy settled in a while, the table lamp glowed yellow. A laptop, a scribbling pad, a pen, a pack of cigarettes to unfold her blocked mind while thinking and an electric kettle for her coffee breaks that's all constituted the small table. She had no idea where to start, while she flipped open the laptop fiddling her fingers on the keyboard....she typed a few words and then deleted them all. She got up from the chair in about 15 minutes, lit a cigarette, and smoked out a few rings...she was blank in her thoughts.

Then her eyes caught something, a book!

The shelf next to the table had a number of books and magazines, they were left by the prior tenants.

The book did not grab her attention though, it was its cover..... winding stairs in the dark alley leading to nowhere, the staircase was nearly invisible surrounded by dense fog.....

She opened the book out of curiosity....it read...

"TO ANYONE WHO LOVES TO DISCOVER"

 She started to read the first page, each sentence intrigued her. She felt to read the next..and then the next....and then the next...she read the first chapter...

Dorothy could not stop, but her throat had dried off, she needed a coffee...she had no idea what the time was. She checked her cell phone, it was 2:30 AM.

How time went by she could not understand. The whistle of the kettle alerted her of the boiling water, the coffee was ready.

Unusually the book seemed to be the history of the mansion. The palatial mansion was quaint. It talks about Lilith, a woman who lived in this mansion and practiced the occult and satanism. But she had to sacrifice something....what was the thing......

This built-in her curiosity....she could not stop reading the book.....the legend then uncovered a sinister room.

"And she took the stolen child in her arms.....tears filled her eyes, a sense of pride, happiness, and contentment, it was a human child....she could proceed with the ritual to appease her Satan.

She took the child in the early hour of the dusk, whispering voices called out her name, slowly she moved towards the door and unlocked the latch......she went out and looked heather and teather...no one was in sight.

Lilith lifted her hood, and she wore a long cloak holding the baby to herself.....the baby's eyes sparkled dark black, and the voices called for Lilith again.

She followed the voices, she was in a trance....her Satan required the blood of a human baby following which she would need to sacrifice 8 more children to appease him.

Once she had sacrificed all of them, she would attain immorality and join her Satan to rule the world.

Towards the lake she walked slowly and stealthily......the round, fair moon shone brightly in the sky, the reflection of which fell in the black water......they led to an unending bottom.....the stairs remained invisible unless the twilight.

She moved her feet ahead and entered slowly into the lake.

When she came out of the lake it was close to dawn, she came out, content on her blood-stained white face and a dagger stained with fresh blood. Her face was as white as snow. She was drenched with water & blood completely. Not even a leaf came to know what happened."

A chill ran down Dorothy's spine, the sweat poured down her forehead.....drops of sweat had accumulated .....she wanted to stop but her heart would not.

She kept reading...

".......And the voices were more prominent day by day.....they were louder, she followed them....to the lake where the invisible stairs were visible again, the moonlight fell on the lake.....it was the 9th sacrifice...she was happy about what she was to achieve.......she will attain immorality...Oh so great would be the experience, she was excited and thrilled.

Finally, the day has come......she was to sacrifice to get back her powers...

She stepped into the lake.....the wind was wild......"

Suddenly the windows banged on each other...Dorothy shrieked....maybe the windows remained open and she forgot to close them.....she kept down the book .....the clock struck 5 AM, it was about dawn and the wind was wild enough to push the windows.

The winters were at bay.

The cold breeze rushed through the open window, it seemed the rain would pour in......as predicted the morning started with heavy rain. Dorothy kept on thinking about the book. The writer was anonymous, and the location of the story was quite similar to this mansion, the lake was right in front of the mansion.

The steam in the cooker pushed the whistle.

The lunch was cooked. She had a creepy feeling. Something was not correct, she looked towards the lake constantly, nothing extravagance but it seemed to stretch its arms towards her as if calling her. The huge drops of rainwater rattled on the rooftop, the breeze blew at an intolerable speed. Suddenly she saw someone on the lake.....a reflection or an illusion...was she hallucinating? She became alert, rubbed her eyes several times, and looked back towards the lake...no, not even a sign of an animal leave alone a human.

The rain was heavy who could be there on the lake.....

The fireplace was lit. Her phone buzzed,-video call it was her mother....."Hello Mom! how is it going....."

"We are going on a picnic,, tomorrow mom!" A voice chirped happily from the other side. It was her daughter's...Dorothy smiled at her little daughter throwing a flying kiss at her...

Dorothy's mother was clearly happy to spend time with her granddaughter.....they spoke for a while when Emiley got stuck....."Mom! who's behind you?"

Dorothy suddenly turned around...no one....she got back to Emiley, "Who did you see..?"......."Mom trust me I saw someone...." she kept uttering the same word, no one believed in her, neither her mom nor her granny. Assuming it to be a child's hallucination they laughed.

Dorothy felt lighter....she felt a little relaxed after talking to her mom and daughter...

She must concentrate to write now.

She checked her emails on the laptop. Several emails had already accumulated......few were from the publishers, still a few from fan followers, the rest of them from Alex, her manager...oh no wait, a mail popped up.

A personal mail from Alex talking about the history of the mansion and in a moment the phone buzzed.

"Alex, I have told you..."Dorothy picked up the phone."Dorothy, I plead with you not to stay in the mansion, I have investigated a bit...things are abnormal there, tenants had either to run away leaving their stuff or they're found dead, hanging on the tree, or drowned in the lake.....we can't afford to lose you, Emiley is still a child! she needs you. I have sent in every detail of the house, satanic, evil rituals were performed......." Alex nervously spitted everything over the phone, Dorothy was listening to it impatiently. When Alex stopped to take a gulp, Dorothy said, "I know it....and I know why.....but I need such a challenging concept...I need to create another book and sell it, buddy! The house gives me inspiration." completed Dorothy.

Even after rattling several cautious words, Alex could not bring Dorothy to an agreement to leave the house, the network constraints withheld them from further communication.

Dorothy retrieved herself, she needs to finish reading the book and then start writing....she has already weaved the intro to her next book.

She looked outside, the weather was bad, it was still raining heavily, and cold winds blew across rustling the bushes and swaying down the trees. The surrounding was pitch black, not even a thing next to the open window was visible. Dorothy took out the book and started from where she left off......

".....But Lilith could not attain immorality, she was used by the devil for power.....once used she was thrown away, appalled she resolved to take revenge.....she stepped into the invisible stairs once again.....an unending path leading to the bottom of hell.....she was already crammed with sins.....now she will fight the Devil.....what can hell do to her! She had already been through sorrows and sufferings..... the stairs leading to the dark world.....a whirlpool rose in the lake.....the tides rose seemingly hungry trying to engulf Lilith gluttonously.

She tried to protect herself.....

The lightning tore the sky apart, flashing white rays like hungry swords pounced on her hungrily.

Lilith stepped ahead, first step, then a second, then the third.....slowly and gradually her legs, her waist, then her shoulder dipped in the black water lake....in a few moments the tip of her forehead showed up, and then slowly it went down like the rest of her body. The lake was now silent, the surrounding dead as the grave.....the lightning, the thunder, the storm everything stopped in utter silence......"

The book ended....the last few pages were blank nothing was written. Dorothy turned the pages several times.....nothing was visible...no another word....reluctant she threw the book aside.

She looked through the window pane.....it was dark and stormy....the lightning flashed hungrily in the sky, and the sound of thunder deafened her ears.

Suddenly the hinges of the window went loose. The window opened wide, flapping in the storm.

Suddenly the door opened ajar.....Dorothy heard a few whispers as if someone was calling her....she followed the whisper in trance. One step...then two...then three...slowly and gradually Dorothy walked towards the lake....the water was black, the tides were high.....she stepped ahead towards the bank....then slowly into the water...one step, two steps, three....slowly her entered into the water...

Andy had been trying for Dorothy for a long however when he could not connect he reached the lake house.....the Honda stood still, the house was deserted...no sign of Dorothy, he had been looking for her everywhere, in the house, garage, terrace, backyard, lake.....only thing which he found was a table...Dorothy's computer, scribbling pad, hot kettle, and book.......that read..."The Invisible Stairs"