THE THIRTEENTH STAIR
1434 Words
Adrian's last words remained between them.
That girl was you.
Elena stared at him, waiting for him to take it back.
He didn't.
The staircase beyond the door was narrow and poorly lit. The walls were covered with dark wooden panels, and a faint yellow light came from somewhere above. The humming had stopped, but Elena could still feel the presence of whoever had been making it.
"How old was I?" she asked.
Adrian looked at her.
"Six."
"Why was I here?"
"I don't know."
She almost laughed.
"Again?"
"I know you don't believe me."
"You're right."
He glanced toward the staircase.
"Come."
Elena didn't move.
"You're not getting away with that."
"I wasn't trying to."
"You just told me I was here sixteen years ago, and somehow you expect me to follow you upstairs?"
"No."
He waited.
"I'm expecting you to stay here."
Elena folded her arms.
"Then I'll stay."
Adrian studied her for a moment.
"Fine."
He stepped onto the first stair.
Elena remained at the doorway.
He took another step.
Then another.
She watched him disappear slowly into the dim light.
Something about letting him go alone felt wrong.
"Adrian."
He stopped.
She sighed.
"Wait."
He looked back.
She joined him.
The staircase seemed longer than it should have been.
There were no windows.
No paintings.
No signs.
Only the stairs and the faint sound of their footsteps.
Elena counted without meaning to.
One.
Two.
Three.
Four.
The fifth step creaked.
Adrian stopped.
"What?"
"Nothing."
He continued.
Six.
Seven.
Eight.
At the ninth step, Elena noticed a scratch on the wall.
She touched it.
Three lines.
Fresh.
"Someone's been here."
Adrian looked at the mark.
"Yes."
"Recently?"
He nodded.
They continued.
Ten.
Eleven.
Twelve.
Then Elena stopped.
There was no thirteenth stair.
The staircase ended at a small landing.
A door stood directly ahead.
It had no number.
No handle.
Just a narrow opening between the frame and the wall.
Elena looked down.
"That was twelve."
Adrian didn't answer.
"Where's thirteen?"
He looked at the door.
"It's behind it."
She stared.
"That doesn't make sense."
"Nothing here does."
He pushed the door open.
The room beyond was unexpectedly bright.
Elena stepped inside.
It looked like an old office.
A desk sat beside a window.
A bookshelf filled one wall.
There were several cardboard boxes stacked in the corner.
And on the desk was a child's drawing.
Elena approached it.
The picture showed a tall building.
Four people stood in front of it.
A little girl.
A woman.
A man.
And another figure drawn entirely in black.
Elena picked it up.
There was handwriting at the bottom.
ME AND MY FAMILY.
Her fingers tightened around the paper.
"That's my handwriting."
Adrian stood near the doorway.
"Yes."
"How do you know?"
"I've seen it before."
"When?"
"Sixteen years ago."
She looked at him.
"You really knew me."
"Yes."
"Who were the people?"
He looked at the drawing.
"The woman was your mother."
Elena's breath caught.
She stared at the little figure beside her.
"And the man?"
Adrian's expression changed.
"Your father."
Elena lowered the drawing.
She hadn't expected that answer.
She barely remembered either of them from that period of her life. Her memories from childhood were scattered and incomplete, but there were certain things she remembered clearly.
A bedroom.
A yellow curtain.
Someone singing.
A hand holding hers.
But Vespera wasn't among them.
"What were my parents doing here?"
"I don't know."
"Adrian."
"I told you. I don't know everything."
She looked at him suspiciously.
"Then what do you know?"
He didn't answer.
Elena walked around the desk.
A drawer was slightly open.
She pulled it out.
Inside was a small silver key.
Beneath it was a folded photograph.
She opened it.
Her parents stood outside Vespera.
Adrian stood beside them.
Elena was between them.
The picture had been taken at the entrance.
Her father was smiling.
Her mother wasn't.
And Adrian was looking at the little Elena instead of the camera.
Elena turned the photograph over.
There was a date.
August 20, 2010.
She looked at Adrian.
"Why do I have no memory of this?"
He walked toward her.
"You were six."
"That's not an answer."
"Sometimes memories disappear when something is too difficult to hold."
She stared at him.
"Did something happen to me?"
Adrian didn't answer.
That silence was enough.
Elena placed the photograph down.
"What happened?"
"Not here."
"Why?"
"Because we're not alone."
She froze.
"What?"
Adrian looked toward the window.
The curtains moved slightly.
There was no wind.
Elena stepped backward.
The curtains moved again.
Something brushed against the glass from the other side.
She swallowed.
"This is the thirteenth floor?"
"No."
"Then where are we?"
Adrian looked at the door.
"The old office."
"What does that mean?"
"It's where the first game began."
Elena stared at him.
"Why is it still here?"
"I don't know."
The curtain moved again.
This time, a shadow appeared behind it.
Adrian stepped in front of Elena.
"Don't move."
The shadow remained still.
Then the curtain slowly opened.
A woman stood behind it.
Elena recognized her immediately.
The woman from the conference room.
The woman from the security footage.
The woman who had spoken through the telephone.
She looked at Elena.
Not Adrian.
"You remembered the drawing."
Elena's throat tightened.
"Who are you?"
The woman smiled.
"Someone who remembers you."
Adrian stepped forward.
"Leave."
She ignored him.
"You used to call me Aunt Mara."
Elena stared.
"I don't remember you."
"I know."
Mara's eyes softened.
"You weren't supposed to."
Adrian's voice became colder.
"Enough."
Mara finally looked at him.
"You haven't changed."
"Neither have you."
She smiled.
"That's the problem."
Elena looked between them.
"You know each other."
Mara laughed softly.
"Everyone knows Adrian."
"Who are you?"
"Someone who worked here before you were born."
"That's impossible."
Mara's smile disappeared.
"Not in this building."
The room suddenly felt colder.
Elena stepped closer.
"What happened to my parents?"
Mara looked at Adrian.
He didn't respond.
Mara sighed.
"You really haven't told her anything."
"She doesn't need to know."
"She does."
"Mara."
"She deserves to know why she was brought back."
Elena's eyes narrowed.
"Brought back?"
Mara nodded.
"Yes."
"By who?"
Mara looked toward the ceiling.
"That depends on which story you believe."
Elena felt frustrated.
"Stop speaking in riddles."
For the first time, Mara looked directly into her eyes.
"Your parents came here sixteen years ago because your father believed he had discovered something hidden beneath the company."
Elena listened.
"He thought Vespera wasn't just a company."
Adrian remained silent.
"What did he discover?"
Mara's face became serious.
"The games."
Elena's heart sank.
"Why?"
"Because someone had been conducting them for years."
"Who?"
Mara didn't answer.
Instead, she looked at the silver key in Elena's hand.
"Where did you find that?"
Elena looked down.
"In the drawer."
Mara's expression changed.
"Give it to me."
Elena instinctively closed her fingers around it.
"No."
Mara stepped closer.
"You shouldn't have that."
"Why?"
"Because it's yours."
Elena frowned.
"Then why are you asking for it?"
Mara's gaze moved toward Adrian.
"Because he knows what it opens."
Elena looked at him.
Adrian's face was unreadable.
"What does it open?"
He didn't answer.
Mara smiled faintly.
"The room where your memories were taken."
Elena felt the room tilt beneath her.
"What?"
Adrian immediately stepped toward her.
"Don't listen to her."
Mara shook her head.
"She deserves the truth."
"You don't know what you're talking about."
"I was there."
Adrian went still.
Mara looked at Elena.
"I watched you leave this building."
Elena's voice became small.
"With my parents?"
"No."
Her heart dropped.
"Then with who?"
Mara glanced at Adrian.
Elena followed her gaze.
Adrian looked away.
The silence became unbearable.
Then something knocked on the door.
Three times.
Everyone froze.
Mara's face changed.
Adrian moved toward Elena.
"Stay behind me."
The knocking came again.
Three times.
Mara whispered, "It found us."
Elena looked at her.
"What found us?"
Mara didn't answer.
The door handle began turning.
Adrian reached for the silver key in Elena's hand.
"Give it to me."
She hesitated.
"Why?"
"Because if that door opens, we need to leave."
The handle stopped.
Silence.
Then a voice came through the wood.
A child's voice.
Soft.
Familiar.
"Adrian?"
Elena's heart stopped.
She knew that voice.
It was hers.
Her six-year-old voice.
The child outside spoke again.
"Why did you leave me?"
Adrian's face went pale.
Mara stepped backward.
Elena stared at the door.
The voice whispered one final sentence.
"You promised you'd come back."
The door slowly opened.
And Elena saw herself standing on the other side.
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