The Lady on the Stairs

Heather sat snuggled into her favourite chair, a mug of tea to one side, a magazine in her hands, and a hope and a prayer on her lips.

“Please don’t come, please don’t come,” she whispered over and over again.

On the wall, the clock chimed nine o’clock and Heather closed her eyes, the words she was repeating now more like a mantra. Derrick hadn’t come back from work, some issue with the servers. He’d promised he’d be home before nine, and yet she was alone. But not alone… the lady was here already. Heather could tell by the prickles down her back and the way her hair stood on end. Even her tea tasted cold, despite being fresh.

Her and Derrick had moved the furniture to accommodate the lady’s path. Only once did she walk through where Heather’d originally had her chair, and once was quite enough. Now a path that didn’t make complete sense with the current layout of the house was kept clear for the lady and her mission.

A creaking noise from off towards the kitchen echoed through the sitting room, and Heather’s eyes flashed open. The door moved slowly, creaking on hinges she didn’t want oiled. This way she had a clue, could prepare, at least *know* the lady was here.

Then she appeared, as if from dust, a lady dressed in grey, her hair in a complicated twisting bun, her dress long and her image stopping at the hem. She flew into the room, striding purposefully towards where there once had been a door. Unable to help herself, Heather jumped up and ran around to the stairs. The lady was already there, halfway up and not slowing down. A moaning filled the air that turned to keening as the lady neared the top. She stopped momentarily on the last step and dabbed at tears that disappeared into air as they dropped.

And then she did the thing that made Heather’s heart skip a beat every time. The lady strode across the landing and stepped up on something that no longer existed. She made motions of opening a window that had long ago been bricked up and stepped through.

Heather raced to where the window now was and flung it open, only a cold night’s breeze there to meet her. An insane urge grabbed Heather, and before she could stop she’d put one leg out the window. Her breath caught in her throat and for a moment she imagined what it would be like to fall to the concrete path below.

The time had come. Something *had* to be done about the lady before Heather ended up joining her in a final swan dive.