The Door to the Gray Stairs

This is the story of a dream that I had about a kid that has to deal with a realization that his reality may not be his reality that he thought he knew...

Part 1: Intuition

In the back of my room, I believe something lurks. Something terrifying. No one in my family believes me, but every time that I approach the back wall, I feel a dark presence. My friends make fun of me, but I don’t care. I know I’m right. 

Hello, my name is Arthur Micbriar. I have lived in the same house for the whole of my life, that being only ten years since the day of my birth. Now let me introduce my family. 

There’s my dad, Henry, my mom, Lisa and my two brothers, Marty and Drake. We live in a small corner of a village where there lies a big house. My dad thought it was cool so he bought it with cold hard cash (it wasn’t that expensive). The price was only 8 grand and he was quite well off. The house was falling apart and dad and mom wanted to fix it up and make it livable for the fact that they liked the space for the kids to play. The fellow villagers of Getty’s Hollow never went near the house because of the area that it was located in. The villagers called it the forgotten forest. It’s not that it was haunted, it’s just that the village had developed so much further west with perfectly new housing projects and they simply moved. With time the forgotten forest was truly forgotten and became inhabited by the birds and wildlife again. A beautiful area to the east of the new housing full of hiking areas and fully decomposed houses was constructed by mother nature and the area was mainly explored by kids. When the children of the villagers were booted from the house and told to play outside, they disappeared to the forgotten forest. I guess it got its name from the kids that played there and the lack of adults that entered. It seemed completely forgotten by the grownup society that inhabited the village, therefore it became the forgotten forest.

It is truly wonderful, flowers and bees that pollinate the surrounding wildlife lie in abundance. Old 19th century houses that were completely unrestorable littered the forest covered in moss and insects of all kinds. But within the forgotten forest lay one house that was somehow still salvageable after all the years. It’s not that it lay untouched by the hand of the forest, it just was significantly more intact. So, when my mom and dad first moved to the village they bought the only property in the forgotten forest and started to reconstruct the house. They rented a house outside the property in the west end of the village for a time they needed to do the fix and started a family. They told me that I was the last born and that the construction was going on for five years until they had what they needed done to make the house livable. Within four of those five years they had two children, my older brothers, and in the fifth year they had me. I was the baby of the family. I was picked on since I was young, but I was loved the same as my older siblings. Marty and Drake are strong, and they take care of me when needed, but they tease me about my weakness when mom and dad aren’t around. It must be a family thing that happens. 

But fast forward ten years after the fifth year of living and the town and we arrive in the present. I’m still picked on, though not as much. And I’m still the youngest, and therefore still the baby of the family (though that’s inevitable I guess). I’m also the most sensitive to slight changes. Now, I’ve roamed around the forgotten forest, as have Marty and Drake and the rest of the family. Unlike them I noticed that within the last year something changed. It wasn’t a big change. It was small, but it felt that winds that passed through the trees shifted to a new set of patterns. Nothing big, but it was noticeable. The insects also started to move differently, so I told my brothers.

“Stop being paranoid!” they insisted as they went prodding at my sensitivity. 

“But I felt-” 

“Just come with us one day to the village and hang out one day to get these thoughts out of your head. Come on… just enjoy one day outside of the forgotten forest or you’ll become as forgotten as the forest itself.” 

I decided that I would go one day to the village and spend the entire day outside of the forgotten forest with them. It would be good for me, as they said. 

Usually when I left the property I left for half a day because I felt lonely in the village. I didn’t have many friends and I wasn’t good at making them, but today was going to be different.   

Part 2: Village

We walked to the village; it was only around 30 minutes to arrive. The whole time while walking we were teasing each other over common brotherly quarrels, the family seemed to breed the best competition. 

“Remember back at Christmas when we played a trick on you and gave you a lump of coal? You really believed that you weren’t going to receive a Christmas present. I’ve never seen someone so sad before.” Marty said to Drake.

“Wasn’t as bad as when you shitted yourself over realizing that dad and mom were entering the room when we first started to smoke weed though.” Drake retorted. 

“And Arthur was having the time of his life playing with his insect friends when we surprised him and he stepped on one and started crying, we had to console him and tell him that no matter how many you can kill they’ll keep regenerating at a faster pace than you can finish them off.” 

I butted in, “And there was the time when I put a beetle under your pillows and you both fell asleep not even noticing, then when you woke up you saw it right by your face. It was the biggest one that I could find, and you guys never even realized I did it.”

“Wait a second…” Drake and Marty trailed off. 

“That was you? You little s**t, you gave me nightmares for two years straight!” Marty, the oldest exclaimed. 

I couldn’t help but be proud that I had found a way to top them both, being the youngest is sometimes difficult with the older brothers having more experience. They had more friends too and they weren’t afraid to rub it in. Winning felt good for a change. 

After a good amount of teasing more and pushing buttons, we arrived at the village ready to have a great time. I had let the feelings of uneasiness go and accepted that I needed to relax for a day. I was ready for the best day of my life. 

We got to Carl’s house and knocked on the door. He took a second, but he came running up and greeted Marty and Drake, then said, “Wait you brought Arthur?” as if I would ruin the time they were going to have.

“He won’t cause any issues, will you Arthur?” Drake looked at me with a glare that was supposed to frighten me into submission.

“I already know what you guys do here, my lips are sealed. I just came because I need to clear my mind.” I assured them all. 

Marty and Drake looked surprised but pleased at the same time. It was as if they had done something right. Carl looked at me and gave in, “I guess if he already knows what goes on here it can’t be that bad, and you better keep your mouth shut because what you see in the room stays in the room.”

“I accept the rule. Is that all?”

“I guess he’s okay then. Come on in guys.” And we entered the house. 

There was a hallway that led to a living room and two bedrooms, and it looked a lot newer than our house. I couldn’t help but wonder as to what modern wonders would be in his room. Our parents didn’t allow us to have any television or game systems (that probably explains why Marty and Drake were gone from the house and I was left alone most of the time). Mrs. Hesser looked at us as we entered, and she gave us a welcoming wave. We waved back as she said in passing, “Have fun kids!”

“Thanks Mrs. Hesser!” we all replied as we made our way down to Carl’s room.

On the door were a bunch of old license plates and a handwritten “STAY AWAY” in all capitals. It looked cool I thought. He even had a padlock on the door and as he was unlocking it, we heard Mrs. Hesser sigh and say, “I hope they can control themselves…”

We finally got in the room and Carl turned the TV on. He had the latest Nintendo console and a VHS player as well as a large collection of movies, so far, he was pretty cool. He caught my eye as I looked around, “never seen anything like this have you?”

Marty and Drake said matter-of-factly, “this is a first for him in many ways. Come on, let's light up man.” 

“Alright, alright already. I’ve got this sucker pre-rolled for us, you already know how we do it,” and he pulled a joint and lighter out of the drawer and opened up the window.

“You gonna smoke with us Arthur?” Carl asked.

But, before I could answer Carl, Marty and Drake lightly poked some fun at me, “don’t be a p***y man, join us in the clouds. You know this stuff causes you to fly high and go on journeys.”

“I’ll try a little and see if I like it.” what did I have to lose? I was almost 11 years old and hadn’t done anything socially significant all my short life. 

“That’s right Arthur. Now you’re gonna have a good vacation,” and Carl put the flame to the joint and started a movie.

The VHS was entered into the player and spun in its hypnotic fashion proceeding into a dark credit scene that was sparkled with the TV’s static and colors. They passed the joint around and as it came to being my turn to hit it I took in a big puff of smoke and coughed, not able to hold it in without feeling like I was being a bit suffocated.

“This kid’s a beginner.” they stated and started to laugh. 

When the smoke and coughing had subsided, the movie seemed to become more enticing. The credits had changed to a dark opening accompanied by orchestral music and the room started to focus on the TV itself. I couldn’t take my eyes away from the screen anymore. I was hooked.

The starting scene opened with a black and gray tinted tunnel that changed with the latest special effects to show a family at a table having dinner. Everyone was happy. The manner in which the shot was done left the watcher unsettled. After the dinner all the kids went to bed. The parents waited until they were gone and with an evil grin on each face, they opened a secret door. The door led to the same tunnel that the movie had at the beginning and something of dark magic started to happen. 

I started to get a bad feeling out of nowhere, as if I had a heightened sense of what I felt before. My field of feeling had expanded, and my stomach started to turn, something had happened at home. I couldn’t tell quite what happened, but something definitely had. 

I couldn’t say anything though without ruining the moment here and never being trusted again by Carl. On top of that, I could be made fun of and bullied more at school than I already was. I was in a tough position. I put down the feeling in my stomach as much as I could and focused once again on the movie. 

The kids were sleeping and didn’t notice a thing. The parents up to their black magic had raised another from the dead. The new kid and the parents made their way through the tunnel back to the dining room and the newly raised kid made his way to the bedroom to sleep. 

A headache started now. Something was happening and I wasn’t there. I had to say something. I could waste away my life alone and regret it but knowing that I did the right thing or shut away the feelings as best I could, those were the only two options at the moment. 

“Arthur what’s with the face? That hit must have been good.” 

I told them that I needed to use the bathroom to not arouse suspicion among my brothers, as I truly needed to. They told me that I had to wait, no one could know that we were smoking weed. So, I waited and watched the movie until the last second and then we played the latest video games. 

When we finally got finished with the movie and video games Drake and Marty looked at me weirdly, “What was that? You’re lucky that you didn’t embarrass us. We got you away from the house so that you could relax and hang out with the cool kids, not be possessed by your psychic abilities. Save that for the house where mom and dad tolerate it.”

We started to walk home in silence. It ended up being almost 40 minutes till we reached home, but we did at long last. Marty, Drake and I entered the house, “We’re home!” then my brothers turned to me and said, “now go to bed and don’t talk to anyone.”

Part 3: Discovery

I remember that when I finally got on the property, I immediately felt something strong, and my intuition wasn’t wrong after all. I wandered a little out of it from the weed up the stairs and to my room and Marty and Drake the same. All the while I wondered what it was that I was feeling. What could it have been that caused my sensitivity to things to shift about and feel so different as it did right now. 

Getting to my room I started to open the door and stopped almost immediately. Something was coming from my very own room. Why did it have to be my room? I slowly creaked the door just enough to enter and took in the scene. 

Sitting right there at the other end of the room was a door like the one in the movie. I must be dreaming, so I pinched myself. The door was still there. I approached it with caution and examined it. 

There was no keyhole and it seemed to be carved directly into the wall itself. I pushed it, it wasn’t locked and opened silently, and I got my first sight of what was behind it. There was a set of gray stairs that seemed to go down forever in a square spiral. The stairs themselves were thin and seemed that they couldn’t support anyone. I could feel something macabre coming from down them and I decided to test them out. 

I took the first step and the stairs seemed to hold, there was a vibration that passed down into the darkness. Was it a trap that was set? I heard low thumping that started as a result of the vibration, and I started to edge my way down slowly. I took about five steps and then I stopped advancing as if I was walking in place. I heard 30 thumps and then I decided to stop walking and make my way back to my room. But, when I started to make my way up the stairs the same thing happened, I seemed to be walking in place. I still felt the dark presence that was at the bottom of the stairs and the low thumping as I desperately tried to make my way back up. After another 30 thumps had passed, I finally reached the door and was able to heave myself out through the opening. 

I thought to myself, “So it took an equal number of thumps to get out as when I entered and started to walk, something about this place is wrong.” 

I went to bed thinking of a way to make my way down the stairs to figure out just what it was that was haunting our house.

The next day I woke up and went downstairs for breakfast. Before I left my room, I noted that the door to the stairs was gone. Weird. 

I hugged mom and dad and went to school. Nothing seemed off like last night before sleeping. The feeling that I had yesterday was gone by now. Things had calmed down it seemed, and school went well for me (which was rare). I even wasn’t bullied throughout the entire day, I guess that Carl, Marty and Drake had something to do with that.   

It felt strange to not have someone come up to me and tell me how weird I am anymore, not that I missed it. If I really wanted it again all I have to do was break the levee and talk about the changes in insect behavior. I decided to keep the calm for the day since the door had mysteriously disappeared overnight during the time I went to bed and woke up for school. It might not come back again. 

The school day finished, and I got home and started homework. Nothing felt better than the feelings of uneasiness gone and relaxing for the day. Unlike when I hit the weed and it amplified my radar of senses, this day felt tranquil. I walked outside in the woods and felt nothing. The insects were normal. Everything was normal until sundown.

The minute that the sun started to go down, insects changed again. It was seven o’clock and I noticed that in transition the insects began to jitter as if they had a seizure. Then they started to move in circles repeatedly as if told to do so by a puppeteer. 

The night came, dinner had passed, and I went to my room to finish a project. As I approached the door like before, I sensed that same evil presence. But this time only as I approached my bedroom door. That was strange. 

 I again creaked the bedroom door open and edged my way into the room. The door was there to greet me with a cold welcome. 

This time the door was significantly smaller though. I made my way slowly across the room, past the bed, and to the opposite wall. Now that I knew the thumps would begin, or at least I was assuming that nothing had changed in a day. 

When I opened the door, the stairs were thinner also, the path to whatever was down there seemed to be stronger in presence, but more concentrated only to what was disappearing. Maybe I had three more days to explore, maybe I had one. 

I took one step down the stairs; the thumping was significantly less also. I took another step and noticed that I could go down. I tried another step while looking into the black abyss that lies to each side of the gray stairs. It extended into nothing. It was darker than pitch black. 

I started to make my way down the stairs with more confidence and I was able to make my way down. The distance seemed to be deceiving, seeing as I only traversed less than an eighth of the stairs and I was at the bottom suddenly. 

I reached a smooth stone platform that seemed to plateau extending from the last of the stairs that seemed to come down from pure matt black. Underneath the platform was a laboratory that was full of insects of all kinds and a spirit-witch by an operating table. Flasks lined the wooden shelves about five feet above the ground. Beside the operating table was my dad, waiting for me. 

Part 4: Conversations  

“Hello son, I’m glad you made it. We decided to let you down here tonight since you were so persistent on climbing the stairs.”

“What is this place? What kind of things are you doing down here? Why-”

“All the answers will come in time. Let me introduce you to my friend and lover-”

He said something that I couldn’t understand and continued to speak, “Here in this laboratory we intend to repopulate this house and the rest of the houses in the village.”

“Dad! But what about your own children? Marty, Drake and I? What about us and mom?”

“You were all created here in this laboratory, all by the same process.”

But that couldn’t be, seeing as I had memories of good times with both dad and mom. I recalled all the summers that we spent together picnicking in the surrounding woods. I recalled everything until a certain point and then my memory went blank. 

“So, you remembered where the memories stop? do you remember anything else?”

“It’s all blank and empty after that point.”

“As it should be, by the time you leave you will be the only one to remember anything that you have learned down here. It will feel like entering and leaving a dream. But now that you are here let me show you what we are doing here, we call it upgrades…” and he trailed off and started towards the table. 

Suddenly Carl appeared out of thin air and lay there on the table with his stomach open and dad and the spirit-witch started to have a conversation. I saw some flashing lights and I recall some of what they told me as the process of “upgrading”, as they called it, continued. 

“The light is the spirit of the person we use to see where they are failing the expectations. The flashing is what happens when we work on them…” 

Then, within the blink of an eye it seemed, Carl was gone from the table and back at home sleeping. 

My dad looked at me and said, as if possessed by the spirit-witch, “What a shame that one of the children created had to come out too sensitive to what was happening around him. For that you have the privilege of living in a hell of my puppets for the rest of your life.”

He shook his head and turned around to work on the next body that had appeared, Marty’s. 

“Get off him!” I screamed at the top of my lungs, but I was on the eighth stair again and the thumping was growing more and more distant. Then I was in my bed waking up for the next school day. Was it all a dream? It couldn’t have been real. Why would dad do anything like that? Why would he make a whole village worth of people and allow them to have real memories only to go and change them as he and the spirit-witch pleased. It’s like the movie was the reality I was living in. 

The door! The door was gone. I recalled one more thing though. Before I woke up me and my dad had fought on the gray stairs, and I had pushed him off them into the black oblivion below. If I go downstairs, he shouldn’t be there and should be permanently gone.

I made my way downstairs and to the kitchen where the whole family was waiting for me to start breakfast. Mom, Marty, Drake and dad. All of them seemed unaware of the insects that avoided dad, all of them seemed unaware of anything off.  

My dad looked at me and said, “Hello son, welcome to my world.”