The Cabinet Under the Stairs

Whose Woods These Are...

I ran down the alley keeping close to the wall and hiding from any Ordon I saw along the way. Before I knew it, I had breached the outer limits and was free to roam the hills that separated the city and the woods. I had no idea what a screecher was, and wasn't too keen on finding out.

I stood outside of the first row of trees. I've never been fond of forests. Trees are great and beautiful, but once they're clumped together, they turn into horror movie fodder. Settings for scary things. The denser the woods, the scarier the monster, and these woods looked very dense and dark. Somehow, I was reminded of one of my favorite poems by Robert Frost. The woods were indeed dark and deep, but I wouldn't quite call them lovely. Of course, beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

As I took steps beyond the first row, something strange overwhelmed me. That same feeling grabbed me like the first time I came through. I've been here before. But how? How could I have ever been here?

Instinctively, I made my way through the trees, and I wasn't afraid. As if in a trance, I hiked across the rugged terrain. It was chilled outside and leaves crunched beneath my feet like a classic fall evening without all the different colors. I found myself at the foot of the stairs to a large, old-looking house in a clearing. I walked up the steps as if the house belonged to me and walked right in.

The loud creaking of the door echoed in the front room, and I wondered if this was the cabin I saw when I first came in. It was different, yet somehow exactly the same. A fleeting thought came to me. If this was the same structure I saw on my way in, then the way back out into my house was very close by. The thought came and went in the blink of an eye. Somehow, I was more interested in exploring this murder mansion. I was convinced there was something in it that I needed.

I hesitated in the entryway listening for whatever creature I must've been alerted when I opened that incredibly loud door. There was a hallway just like my house, except the walls were lined with large sconces holding lit candles. The door creaked again as it closed with a thud.

"Welcome home, Elise."

A deep voice echoed through the building. I froze mid-step.

"H-hello?" I called out. I hoped no one would answer.

"You've finally returned." His voice bounced around me like in a movie theatre.

"Returned? I don't know what you mean. This isn't my house."

He laughed, deep and almost sultry. "We've had you here before, Elise."

"What? No, I've never been here."

"You belong to us." His voice merged with that of a woman, two voices speaking as one. "You belong here."

"I don't think so."

I turned to run, but the hallway and the door weren't there anymore. I looked around and it was as if I were in a completely different room.

A third and fourth voice joined in. "You escaped us once," said the voices. "You will not escape us again."

"That's one opinion, and I have to disagree."

I bolted for the door to my left and was met with another hallway. Without stopping to think about it, I started going right seemingly to a dead end but there was a staircase just off to the right. The staircase narrowed as I climbed and was barely big enough for me to fit through to the next floor. When I rounded the corner, I was back in the room that led to the front door. I was above it and there didn't seem to be a way down that didn't involve breaking a limb.

I continued around the top to what I thought would be the other side, but I seemed to be back in room two.

"You belong to us," the voices said.