Horror Short Story | The Stairwell

The old apartment building where Shen Li lived had no elevator, so she had to climb five flights of stairs every day. She got used to counting the steps as she climbed. Sixteen steps per floor, eighty steps for five floors. She had counted them for three years without a single mistake. One night, returning home, she counted to eighty and looked up, only to find herself on the third floor. Thinking she had miscounted, she climbed again. This time, she counted slowly, step by step. Sixteen steps: first floor. Thirty-two: second floor. Forty-eight: third floor. Sixty-four: fourth floor. Eighty: fifth floor. She had arrived. She took out her key and opened the door. The next day, the same thing happened again. She counted to eighty but stopped on the fourth floor. She started to feel that something was wrong. She searched online for information about the building and discovered something strange: the building's permit originally indicated it was designed as a six-story structure. However, only five floors were actually built. She asked the landlord, who said the developer had cut corners back then, and the sixth floor was never completed, so the permit wasn't updated. "Then where are the stairs to the sixth floor?" The landlord paused for a moment. "You'll know if you go to the rooftop." Shen Li climbed to the fifth floor and pushed open the metal door to the rooftop. The rooftop was empty, with only a water tank and clotheslines. She walked to a corner and found a concrete staircase on the ground, extending downwards, leading to a floor that shouldn't exist. She descended a few steps. The stairwell was dark, and the walls were covered in scratches, as if made by fingernails. At the end, there was a door. A piece of paper was taped to it, written in messy handwriting: "Stop coming up here. We're living just fine." Shen Li froze. Just as she was about to turn away, a piece of paper slid out from under the door. It was new, written in neat handwriting: "Stop coming up here. We're living just fine."