Payton Klaer

“I just don’t know what you do all day,” Liz’s voice echoed through my room, bouncing off the wood and metal. “I’d be losing my mind.”

“And that’s where we’re different,” I responded, sitting on the edge of my bed to slide on my hiking boots. “I’m having a great time out here.”

“But for real, what do you do?”

“I enjoy the solitude.” I grabbed my backpack off the hook near the door and turned off speaker phone, holding Liz’s voice up to my ear as I locked the door to the watchtower behind me. Then, I descended the rickety wooden stairs toward the forest below. “And I watch for forest fires.”

“Okay, but why? You didn’t have to go all the way to Oregon to get rid of me, you know.”

“Ha ha,” I sarcastically laughed, trying to hide the actual amusement from my voice. “It was a last second deal. The watch they had before me had something come up. It’s only for another few weeks, then I’ll be back and you can bug me all you want.” It was an easy job, anyway. I just had to keep an eye out for fires (or any teenagers screwing around enough to potentially cause a fire). “Besides, I get all-day access to hiking and swimming basically whenever. And it’ll look good on resumes.”

“That’s such a you thing to enjoy.”

“What, you don’t like being in the woods by yourself, cut off from most of civilization minus the spotty cell-service and rusty old rotary phone in the watchtower?” Liz made a sound of disapproval, which I couldn’t help but laugh at. “Shouldn’t you be going to sleep? It’s gotta be nearing midnight over there.”

“Nah. We just hired a summer intern who makes the best coffee. I’ll survive.” It was the best part of day to go on a hike – just before the sun fully set. I had at least an hour before needing to worry about being in the dark. I walked through the clearing around the tower and toward a nearby trail I used regularly. I’d been through it at least fifteen times in the last month, and I knew when the call might drop. Now, don’t get me wrong, I love talking with Liz, but the watchtower was the only place with reliable service and you can only walk in circles looking at trees through windows for so long. I had to get out of there eventually.

The ground beneath my feet felt familiar. It was familiar until it wasn’t. There was a sudden moment where something washed over me and something felt off. Did I eat something weird? No, I had the same thing as earlier in the week and was fine. Was it a noise? The forest around me seemed quieter than normal around me, apart from Liz’s voice, but that wasn’t too concerning. It was getting late, it was fine.

“Hold that thought,” I said, interrupting Liz’s complaints about someone at work.

“Is something happening? Oh my god, is there a fire?”

“No…” I looked around, trying to place the oddness. “No, something just feels different.”

“What does that mean?”

“I don’t know where I am,” I whispered, realizing it all at once. The trees didn’t look right. There were always trail markers within sight, but I couldn’t even see where the trail was. I turned around, hoping I’d be able to find my way back.

“Do I need to call someone? What’s going on?”

“I should be able to see the tower if I get close enough,” I reasoned. I hadn’t made any strange turns off the normal path, so theoretically I’d be able to retrace my steps and be okay. If that didn’t work, I kept a map of the park and a compass in my bag. I’d be able to figure it out. I had to.

But then I saw the stairs.

Right there, in the middle of the forest, was a set of concrete stairs leading up to nothing. It looked as if someone had taken them out of a normal building and just plopped them in right in front of me. They weren’t decaying from years of being in the forest, either. They were clean. Not a single branch or stray leaf sitting on them.

“I know you see something, you got quiet. What is it?” Liz demanded, knowing me too well.

“It’s… there’s some stairs here. I’ve never seen them before.”

“Stairs? Are you sure?”

“Yeah. Concrete stairs, right here.” I stepped closer to them, feeling a strange curiosity I hadn’t had a moment before.

“Do you know the stories? Riley, you have to get out of there-” The call started to cut in and out. I had to piece together her words as she begged me to leave.

“They’re just some stairs. What could they do?”

“Do not – do you hear me? Don’t-” Her voice came out in pieces before cutting out completely, giving me three short beeps to let me know that Liz wasn’t there anymore. I was alone, staring at what was in front of me.

Something wasn’t right. I felt a fogginess enter my mind and I couldn’t place my own thoughts. I didn’t worry about Liz or who put these stairs here or how I was going to get back. I could only wonder what it would be like if I climbed them. I felt myself approaching the base of the stairs, not thinking about moving my feet. I just… walked over. It felt like I was sitting backseat in my own body, letting something else take the wheel.

I noticed the sounds around me then, as I reached the bottom step. Before, it had been quiet, but now it was silent. There was no rustling of leaves, no wildlife, nothing. I would’ve been able to hear a pin drop to the dirt beneath me. It was deafening.

I didn’t register my own body as I took the first step up. My mind was empty other than wanting to see what was at the top. Somehow, I knew something was there. Something I had to see. My legs, not in my control, continued pushing me up step by step. As I went, I could feel my knees getting tighter and my legs getting heavier. Everything in me protested the climb, but who was I to deny this call?

Eventually, I made it to the top of the stairs and saw it. The being that told me to climb. The thing that pulled me off the trail. The monster that put the stairs in the forest. It was right in front of me… if only I could take one more step forward…

When my mind was finally my own again I felt wind in my hair for a split second before hitting the ground. I’d fallen off the stairs. Then I blacked out.

Two days later, a park ranger found me, disheveled and unconscious at the head of the trail I’d gone off on before leaving the path. I had tons of missed calls from Liz and my parents. When I woke up and the questioning started, I remembered Liz calling me. And going hiking. And seeing the stairs, but it took a long time to remember what exactly happened. Even longer to make out the thing at the top. Now, I can only see it as fire. Something pulling deep from the Earth, something that wasn’t meant to be seen unless it wanted it so. It was roiling and there was no stopping it.

I’ve been more agitated since then – remembering everything. Little things set me off, like Liz calling me instead of texting. Or whenever I make a wrong turn while driving. I also have a lot of, what the experts have been calling, ‘missing time.’ There are whole days I don’t remember happening. It’s random, I can’t control it.

When the police asked me why I climbed the stairs, the words came out of my mouth without a second thought.

“They were calling me. Who am I not to answer?”