The Masquerade Episode 6: The Hidden Staircase

The chair moved again Not far Just enough Just enough to point I followed where it faced A wall I’d seen a hundred times Nothing there Nothing strange Then something hit the floor behind me Glass A picture split And underneath A narrow line A door It opened by itself There were stairs Going down Too far down I knew the shape of this house I knew what should be there This wasn’t there Then I heard someone running One step Two steps Three The door slammed shut above me No light Then footsteps below Moving fast I kept going down Though every part of me said no I kept going down Where no staircase should go Something moved beside me Something brushed my arm And disappeared Before I could turn A figure crossed ahead Black coat White collar Gone I ran after him Julian No answer Another turn Another door Then music Music from somewhere That should not exist I opened it And there they were Dancing Laughing Glasses raised Bodies turning Every face alive And him Across the room Same face Same age Julian... I pushed through the crowd But nobody moved for me I touched their shoulders Their sleeves Their hands Nothing They passed through the space I made Like I wasn’t there Like I had never been there Then one woman stopped She looked straight at me You shouldn’t be here yet Everything stopped The music The glasses The dancing Every face turned At once The lights went out I ran Up the stairs Or where the stairs had been A hand hit the wall behind me A door slammed somewhere below Someone was coming Coming up Fast I kept going up Though the staircase had changed Turn after turn Nothing looked the same I hit the wall I hit it again Open Open OPEN And then it did I fell through Back into the house The chair was still there The picture was still broken But the wall The wall was solid No door No stairs Nothing Then I looked at my hand A black glove Old Cold Mine... I didn’t bring it down there I brought it back