A psychological thriller I had written back at Emory and decided to give it a good edit and share it! This fiction story was part of a challenge to write a suspenseful, complete character in under 550 words.
Staircase to Heaven
(image from Shutterstock)
Annie walks into the old building holding a bouquet of white roses. The building is empty and dark with a strong smell of acid. She steps on a piece of broken glass and stops. Dust falls on her eyes. Nadia? Silence. Nadia? She is far from civilization where her voice can’t be heard by anyone but Nadia. But Nadia never responds. Annie places the flowers on the cracked, wooden floor and looks at the graffiti on the walls. The walls that she had loved so much as a child, in a building that was her home.… Now, teenagers vandalize the old building’s walls with graffiti, yet the police never go after them. It's no one's property now; even the government prefers to invest their money elsewhere.
Annie's leg is shaking as she walks in the big dance room where she spent most of her childhood years. It is filled with black shadows. No! No! I don’t want to be here.
In the middle of the room, there is a brown coffin. A hole forms slowly on the ground and starts to suck the coffin. Annie tries to reach for it, but the black shadows hold her back. Let me go. I can save her. She is my sister; let me see her face. I brought her flowers.
Annie fights the shadows until they disappear. Blood is dripping down her arm all the way to her hand and onto the knife, she's holding. She turns around and looks at the big staircase; she tries to climb the stairs, but she never makes it to the top. I’ll come to you, Nadia. One day, I’ll climb all the way up… We can finally be together.
Suddenly, Annie hears a cricking noise. She sees an old woman in the distance talking to the young Annie “Don’t forget to take your medicine, sweetie.” The scene changes and adult Annie sees young Annie inside the building's bathroom throwing her pills down the toilet when young Nadia appears and disciplines young Annie. “This time, I’m going to tell Mrs. Mary. You can’t stop me anymore. You must take your medicine.” Young Annie grabs young Nadia and starts to choke her. "Help, help," yells young Nadia.
Adult Annie is back on the staircase. No, I didn’t try to kill her. I would never harm my sister.
Adult Annie looks down at the staircase and sees adult Nadia climbing up with a knife in her hand. Nadia, I’m sorry. I’m sorry. Don’t hurt me.
Nadia slices Annie's thigh. Annie squeaks in pain and starts to cry. Blood drips down the staircase.
The young Annie reappears crying. Mrs. Mary is holding her: “Annie it’s okay; Nadia is fine. Take your medicine now.”
Young Annie and Mrs. Mary disappear...
Adult Annie is holding an empty bottle of medicine. The pills she never took… She tries to get up, but her leg can’t support her. Her thigh is bleeding...
She sees adult Nadia at the start of the staircase. Nadia? Nadia starts to leave. Wait! I’m coming…
***
"Next up a woman was found dead after jumping off 3 flights of stairs in the old “Hope” Orphanage."
Nadia looks at the scar on her throat. She turns the TV off.