The Room at the Top of the Stairs

It seemed peculiar to Isadore’s mother that on moving day a police officer was at the house to welcome them.

Then again, as her father had said, this town is incredibly safe. This could be the sort of thing that happens in safe places. Besides, Officer Merchant was so helpful. He was able to answer every single question they had.

Isadore was inclined to agree with her father on this one, though she hadn’t met any police officers. What else could it possibly mean, to be greeted by a police officer?

Now, the house was in turmoil. The movers had placed everything in the rooms as directed, but that left a lot to be finished to turn this house into a home.

While her parents hurried from one room to another, openly complaining about how poorly they had packed their own boxes, Isadore was drawn to a red door at the top of the stairs.

Officer Merchant had mentioned this door. Isadore reached up and pulled the door open. Behind it was a wall of bricks, just as the officer had described.

Nothing behind the bricks worth worrying about. It was sealed to get around the need for proper permits. Rest of the house was sound though, Officer Merchant had said.

She looked up, across, and down the edges where the bricks met the doorframe. No way in, it would seem. With a shrug she shut the door, and went downstairs.

At the foot of the stairs Isadore could hear her parents in the kitchen, pulling pots and pans out of boxes, clanging against counter tops.

“Isadore.” She spun around. It sounded like a boy, but no one else was there. “Isadore, come in my room.”

“Mom?” Isadore called out. “Dad?” Her parents replied in brief bursts to come over if she needed anything, but they were busy.

Isadore looked up the stairs for a moment before following the voice to the red door.

“Isadore, come into my room, please.”

Isadore stood in front of the red door, hand in the air above the doorknob. “I don’t know if I should.”

“Please Isadore.”

He sounded sad, she thought. Maybe even scared.

“I can’t see you behind the wall.” She grabbed the doorknob and pulled the door open. The bricks were gone.

She was looking into a room. The furniture looked like the furniture at her grandparents’ house, in her mother’s old room that she would sleep in during sleep overs.

Except this room was covered in dust and cobwebs. Isadore walked in, leaving footprints on the dusty floor.

“Hello?” Her voice echoed.

“Over here.” His voice was the sound of a loud whisper. Isadore thought it sounded like the boy was inside a chest of drawers with a mirror attached to it.

Isadore walked over and looked behind the chest, but no one could have fit there. She stepped away and looked in the mirror.

“Hello.” The boy said.

She saw a boy in the mirror. She gasped and spun around looking behind her. He was not there. She turned back and could see the boy in the mirror still.

“Where are you?” Isadore asked.

“I’m trapped.”

“Trapped?” Isadore said.

He nodded.

“What’s your name?” Isadore asked.

“Adrian.” The boy said.

“Hi Adrian, I’m Isadore.”

“I know.”

“How did you get trapped in here?” Isadore asked.

Adrian’s face twisted a little and the mirror around it darkened. Only now did Isadore become aware of the rest of the furniture. She could hear low rattles and creaks from the bed and the end tables.

Adrian’s face relaxed back to sad curiosity. “I miss my teddy, Isadore” Adrian said. “Can you get it for me?”

Isadore waited a moment, listening closely. The room had returned to quiet. “I might. Do you remember where it is?” Isadore said.

“It is in the last of the old cabinets in the basement. The cabinet is locked.”

“How do you know that?” Isadore asked. She had only glimpsed the basement. It was dark.

Adrian crunched up his nose. “I know my house.”

This made a strange sense to Isadore. “Then how do I unlock it?”

Adrian shook his head, “Smash it on the side with something heavy? The lock may not break, but you can break part of the door. The cabinets are old, but the lock is brand new. I just need you to get in to get my teddy. Then you can come back and we can play!”

She thought on this a moment. A friend would be nice. “I will try. Can you come down there?” Isadore asked.

Adrian shook his head.

“I’ll go find your teddy. Then we can play?” Isadore asked.

“Then we can play!” Adrian beamed. Isadore took in all the dust once more. She noticed her footprints. There were a lot of them.

Were they all hers? She didn’t think so.

She stepped into the hall. When she went to shut the door she realized the bricks were back. She could not hear Adrian’s voice, and could see no way back into the room.

She hurried down the stairs. She asked her mother for something heavy. Her mother shrugged her off, we’re busy getting ready to eat and nothing is where it should be.

Isadore noticed the pans. Three were cast iron. She grabbed the smallest and discovered just how heavy it was. Two hands and a squat got it off the ground. Her mother did not notice, and her father was not in the kitchen.

Isadore carried the cast iron pan to the doorway that led the basement. She set it down, opened the door, picked it back up and started down the stairs. She flipped the light switch on with her nose.

Isadore found the basement more creepy than the room, despite being far less dusty and no obvious signs of ghosts. Once her eyes adjusted, she noticed the cabinet with the lock. The cabinets ran the length of the basement wall, but these doors were the only way in.

Isadore approached and realized how heavy the pan was in her hands. She set it down and took a few breaths.

Adrian had told her to break the sides of the door. His teddy would be inside.

Isadore grabbed the pan, hoisted it above her as far as she could go without losing balance, and let it fly against the side of the door.

A chunk of wood came out, but the door remained in place. She hoisted the pan and swung again. Another, bigger, chunk of wood came out.

Three more swings and Isadore was sweating in the dark, chill basement air. The door fell forward just a bit.

She heard her mother yell her name. Isadore grabbed the cabinet door where it had fallen forward and pulled hard. The wood groaned, and she could hear her mom yelling more for her.

Isadore began to feel a sense of panic. She grabbed on with both hands, placed her feet against the wall, and pulled back. The door creaked and snapped, the cabinets screamed all around.

The door flopped down, swinging where the lock held the doors together.

In the darkness, Isadore could see a teddy’s eyes. She let out a sigh and grabbed the teddy.

She stopped in alarm as her mother screamed. Isadore looked around and realized the crashing she had heard was not just the door.

It was all the cabinets. Isadore wasn’t entirely sure what she was looking at, but it was a very dark mess and had spilled everywhere. She became aware of the smell and vomited.

She looked at the teddy bear, and clasped around the teddy’s stomach was the hand of a small boy. A blackened goo leaked out of the sawed off end of the hand at the wrist.

Her mother grabbed her and ran up the stairs. Isadore dropped the teddy. Her father was at the top of the steps, asking what was going on. Her mother told him to call the police. Isadore was set on the couch, her mother checking her face and her ears as if she was hurt.

Isadore told her mother about the room, and the boy, and the teddy through tears. Her father joined them in the living room and said the police would be there soon.

Only a moment later a knock at the door startled them. Isadore’s father let Officer Merchant in. He was alone, but that was fast. Shouldn’t there be others?

Officer Merchant had hurried over as soon as he heard. Help would be by soon.

Officer Merchant turned back and locked the deadbolt. Her father asked why, and the Officer shot him in the chest twice.

The Officer then shot her mother three times in the chest. He walked over to Isadore, commenting that he almost had enough time. Amazing that she would find it at all, though sometimes quick work is bad work.

Officer Merchant then shot Isadore twice in the chest.

The world faded away and Isadore could hear the voice.

“Now we’ll be able to play forever.” Adrian said.