Page 38 of The Staircase in the Woods

And that’s when the world opened up behind Matty.

Owen smelled a sharp exhalation of must and mold, mingled with the tang of citrus oil, like the stuff his mother used to clean their dinner table. And beneath it all, the smell of rot. He was sure he saw something there—a shuddering space, a hallway, a room, something. A contained space. Flickering light like from a lamp with a bad plug. And then Matty turned to jump and—

In that one moment, Owen knew he should tell him not to jump. Matty did not see what was there, but Owen did—and he knew he should scream and shout and try his very hardest to get Matty not to jump—

But he couldn’t get the words out.

They stuck in his throat.

(Maybe because he wanted them to.)

And then, Matty jumped—

There was a feeling like a silent thunderclap. Something that reverberated without sound, that made Owen’s eyes water and his knees go weak.

Matty went through that strange open space, into the room beyond, the room that could not exist, and then—

He’s gone.

Those words came out of Owen then, quiet the first time, louder the next—“He’s gone!” And only then did the others start to see. There was laughter and incredulity. It was just a joke, they thought. Something insane. Hamish shook his head wondering how Matty pulled it off, walking around to the other side of the steps to see where Matty had landed, the beam of Hamish’s flashlight searching, searching. Lauren and Nick came up behind Owen, urging him to hurry up the stairs, to see where Matty went—yelling at him to go, go, go, move,move,where the fuck did Matty go, Owen whathappened, Owenmovefor fuck’s sake, move—but Owen felt more scared than he’d ever felt in his life.

His feet were rooted to the spot. The staircase was inside his mind suddenly, growing steps, wooden slats appearing out of nowhere and unfolding like a deranged child’s toys, like the staircase was more than just this place in the woods—like it was a thought in his head he couldn’t pry loose, a terrible thought growing and growing, a cancer. It wanted him. It wanted them all. He didn’t want to be swallowed up by the staircase. By the darkness. By the rooms beyond. He started to crumple, started to weep. Knees weak. Melting. Nick tried shoving him. But he wouldn’t budge. At the top of the steps, the other room—the hallway, if it was that—was gone now. All that remained was the slashing spear of light from Hamish’s flashlight below. Owen finally cried out, turning around and running back down the stairs. He tumbled into the trees. Vomit came up out of him, a hot geyser of acid, the raw ruin of a whiskey burn searing him like fire. And in its wake—in the emptiness that followed swiftly after—he felt something far worse: guilt. The whiskey went out. The shame flooded in.I could’ve stopped him.

I wanted him to jump.

The world shuddered. Matty was gone. And soon, the staircase was gone, too. As if it, and Matty, had never existed in the first place.

24

The Only Way Through Is Out

Now.

This new staircase stood there. Waiting silently.Patiently.Nick stood near the first step, but not on it, his arms spread wide, a fire in his eyes. Vigor and regret and righteousness burning off him like embers flung from a campfire.

“The Covenant,” he said, with some finality.

Owen wiped vomit from his mouth with the back of his arm.

“No campsite,” Hamish said again. “Jesus, Nick. What the fuck.”

“No cancer, either, I bet,” Owen realized out loud.

Nick just shook his head. No apology in his eyes.

Hamish started pacing. Leaves and sticks snapping under his feet. “Fuck. Fuck.Fuck. Nick, you fuck. You can’t—youshouldn’t—”

“I can and I did!” Nick screamed, his voice ragged. Quieter now, he said: “Matty called on us to come with him that night. He said it, he invoked our bond, the Covenant, in calling us to that staircase. Andwe didn’t go. We fucked around while our friend went up those steps and disappeared. And in the years after? Did we look for him? Did we stay together, work together,find him together? As friends? As family? No. We didn’t. We didn’t do shit except fall apart and fuck off. But now here’s our chance. I found this staircase. And I got us all together, here, today.” He paused, looked to each of them, his stare deliberate, as if he was marking them. “The Covenant. The Covenant!The fucking Covenant.”

“Fuck,” Hamish said, face buried in his hands. “We don’t even know if that’s how we lost Matty. We don’tknowthat. We were young,Nick, we didn’t know shit, maybe we, we, we…misrememberedit—”

“And it’s not—that’s not the same staircase,” Owen said. “The staircase from Highchair—that one’s gone. This one’s different, Nick. Different staircase, different location, how do you even know—”

But it was Lore who answered.

Lore, who hadn’t said anything up until this:

“Only one way to find out.”

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