Cottage Upper Floor Stairs

The narrow wooden staircase creaks under Sarah’s weight as she ascends toward the upper floor’s dim landing. Faint moonlight filters through a single grimy window, casting streaked shadows across the worn treads where decades of traffic have polished the edges smooth. The thin banister, wobbling under her grip, offers little comfort as the cottage’s trapped atmosphere presses in—damp wood mingling with the sharp medicinal scent of Keeler’s decaying infection. Below, the staircase vanishes into the cluttered corridor where Hargreaves’ muffled movements betray his oblivious approach. Above, the upper floor’s silence waits, broken only by Keeler’s muffled screams from behind the closed door.