1.3 Someone At The Top Of The Stairs
The episode opens as a young woman walks strangely through a dark mansion, arriving at the top of the house in the attic room. The door closes behind her, and she screams.
Later, outside the mansion, a young man rings for admittance, presumably to inquire about a room for rent advertised via a sign in the window. An odd woman inside the mansion sees him ringing the bell, but refuses to admit him and he leaves, bumping into two young women on the pavement. Chrissie and Gillian are two young college students who ring the bell and are immediately greeted by Mrs Oxhey. Mrs. Oxhey is extremely friendly to them, and she shows them an apartment that exceeds their expectations. When the girls worry that they won't be able to afford it, Mrs. Oxhey seems anxious to rent the space to them, and she gives it to them for a ridiculously low amount, telling them "I want you to have it!" Gillian and Chrissie move in and find a few peculiar things, such as a necklace with a pendant on it and the message "Help me, help me" written on the inside of the wardrobe. They begin to meet the other residents of the boarding house, all of them polite but odd in some unexplainable way. Unbeknownst to the girls, there are peep holes through which they're being watched. The residents also seem to be acting in unison: a man named Col. Wright rifles through the girls' clothes while they are in the bathroom, stealing their underwear, while Mrs. Oxhey sees this and says nothing. All of the rooms are rented, but nobody is ever seen coming or going from the attic room at the top of the stairs.
A pleasant young man named John Elgar tells the girls that the room is inhabited by "Mr. C", and that he's the oldest resident of the house.
Chrissie notices all the residents use the word marvellous a lot, " a marvellous day" " you'll be marvellously happy here", and all have a habit of holding their fingers of both hands clasped together under their chins, in an inverted V shape.
Chrissie meets little Jonathan Patrick, a small boy holding a Teddy Bear soft toy which is a bit battered.
Chrissie, " perhaps it's because you loved him too much."
Johnathan, " he's only a toy, he isn't real."
Chrissie, " do you have a real pet?"
Jonathan, " no, I wish I had."
Chrissie buys a kitten and hands it to Jonathan at the Patricks door.
Chrissie, " I hope you don't mind?"
Mr Patrick, " of course not, what's not to mind, a little thing like that."
Mrs Patrick, " what d'you say Jonathan."
Jonathan, " he's marvellous."
In bed that night Chrissie is woken by a scream, she wakes Gillian.
Gillian, " probably just the kid having a nightmare."
The next morning Chrissie is putting rubbish out in the yard,she opens a bin and recoils as she sees the kitten dead.
Mr Patrick explains the cat must have climbed out of the window during the night and fell because he found it in the yard.
Chrissie is becoming increasingly upset, she opens the wardrobe where they found the words "help me" scrawled on the inside of the door.
Chrissie, " we thought this was a joke perhaps it wasn't. And have you seen any of the other residents go outside, I mean actually face the light of day."
Gillian, " of course they go out."
Chrissie," or get any mail."
Gillian, " oh Chrissie please, I'm getting fed up with this."
Suddenly the sound of footsteps is heard from the floor above.
Chrissie, " that's Mr C coming out of his den."
Chrissie runs to door to get a look at the mysterious attic resident, but she can't open it!
Chrissie, " It's stuck."
Gillian, " it can't be."
The door eventually opens, but too late, Mr C is back in his apartment.
At a local pub, she meets the man who bumped into them on the sidewalk outside the house the day they rented the room: he introduces himself as Gary and she tells him about the strange things that have been going on.
Gary, " these old Victorian houses have a life of their own. Nooks and crannies, memories."
Gary is invited round and reckons the place just needs a lick of paint .
Next day Chrissie is in the bathroom when she sees an eye pressed against a hole in the wall. Running out fuming she opens the door of a broom cupboard next to bathroom and sees Jonathan in there spying on her. His parents apologise profusely, Mr Patrick says, " I'll deal with him I promise you that."
Mrs Patrick, " how could you Jonathan?"
The three of them enter their apartment, the door is slammed shut. Chrissie turns to go back into her apartment, then stops stunned, inside the Patricks apartment she hears raucous laughter.
Later Gary comes round again, Chrissie has clearly been crying, Gillian explains why.
Gillian, " a peeping Tom, the little boy from across the landing while Chrissie was in the bath looking through a hole in the wall."
Gary, " oh that's dreadful."
Chrissie sobs, " and the cat, and everything's marvellous."
Gillian, " you better go Gary."
Gary, " okay, I'll come tomorrow, take care of her."
After Gary leaves Chrissie implores Gillian, " say we can leave..please."
Gillian, " okay...end of the month..we're all paid up until then, but I promise end of the month we'll go."
Next day;
A man named Thurston arrives at the house and says he is looking for his missing daughter; he has a vague idea she may have stayed there, although he cannot be sure. Chrissie cannot find Mrs. Oxhey to verify it, so Thurston leaves a photograph of her ( the girl from the first scene)
Chrissie promises to phone him after she speaks with Mrs. Oxhey. Oxhey denies ever having seen the girl, as do all the other residents, but Chrissie is positive it's the same girl because the locket in the photo is the same as the one they found when first moving in.
In a cafe Chrissie meets Thurston who surmises that Mrs Oxhey may be running an illegal pregnancy termination service, and promises he'll confront her and find out if his daughter did indeed stay there.
Gillian is awakened in a trance one night by a voice calling to her from the attic. Chrissie wakes up and stops her from entering the attic just in time; the incident is dismissed as sleepwalking.
Next day Thurston arrives at the house to question Mrs. Oxhey, and he is attacked by a figure that comes out of the basement.
The episode opens as a young woman walks strangely through a dark mansion, arriving at the top of the house in the attic room. The door closes behind her, and she screams.
Later, outside the mansion, a young man rings for admittance, presumably to inquire about a room for rent advertised via a sign in the window. An odd woman inside the mansion sees him ringing the bell, but refuses to admit him and he leaves, bumping into two young women on the pavement. Chrissie and Gillian are two young college students who ring the bell and are immediately greeted by Mrs Oxhey. Mrs. Oxhey is extremely friendly to them, and she shows them an apartment that exceeds their expectations. When the girls worry that they won't be able to afford it, Mrs. Oxhey seems anxious to rent the space to them, and she gives it to them for a ridiculously low amount, telling them "I want you to have it!" Gillian and Chrissie move in and find a few peculiar things, such as a necklace with a pendant on it and the message "Help me, help me" written on the inside of the wardrobe. They begin to meet the other residents of the boarding house, all of them polite but odd in some unexplainable way. Unbeknownst to the girls, there are peep holes through which they're being watched. The residents also seem to be acting in unison: a man named Col. Wright rifles through the girls' clothes while they are in the bathroom, stealing their underwear, while Mrs. Oxhey sees this and says nothing. All of the rooms are rented, but nobody is ever seen coming or going from the attic room at the top of the stairs.
A pleasant young man named John Elgar tells the girls that the room is inhabited by "Mr. C", and that he's the oldest resident of the house.
Chrissie notices all the residents use the word marvellous a lot, " a marvellous day" " you'll be marvellously happy here", and all have a habit of holding their fingers of both hands clasped together under their chins, in an inverted V shape.
Chrissie meets little Jonathan Patrick, a small boy holding a Teddy Bear soft toy which is a bit battered.
Chrissie, " perhaps it's because you loved him too much."
Johnathan, " he's only a toy, he isn't real."
Chrissie, " do you have a real pet?"
Jonathan, " no, I wish I had."
Chrissie buys a kitten and hands it to Jonathan at the Patricks door.
Chrissie, " I hope you don't mind?"
Mr Patrick, " of course not, what's not to mind, a little thing like that."
Mrs Patrick, " what d'you say Jonathan."
Jonathan, " he's marvellous."
In bed that night Chrissie is woken by a scream, she wakes Gillian.
Gillian, " probably just the kid having a nightmare."
The next morning Chrissie is putting rubbish out in the yard,she opens a bin and recoils as she sees the kitten dead.
Mr Patrick explains the cat must have climbed out of the window during the night and fell because he found it in the yard.
Chrissie is becoming increasingly upset, she opens the wardrobe where they found the words "help me" scrawled on the inside of the door.
Chrissie, " we thought this was a joke perhaps it wasn't. And have you seen any of the other residents go outside, I mean actually face the light of day."
Gillian, " of course they go out."
Chrissie," or get any mail."
Gillian, " oh Chrissie please, I'm getting fed up with this."
Suddenly the sound of footsteps is heard from the floor above.
Chrissie, " that's Mr C coming out of his den."
Chrissie runs to door to get a look at the mysterious attic resident, but she can't open it!
Chrissie, " It's stuck."
Gillian, " it can't be."
The door eventually opens, but too late, Mr C is back in his apartment.
At a local pub, she meets the man who bumped into them on the sidewalk outside the house the day they rented the room: he introduces himself as Gary and she tells him about the strange things that have been going on.
Gary, " these old Victorian houses have a life of their own. Nooks and crannies, memories."
Gary is invited round and reckons the place just needs a lick of paint .
Next day Chrissie is in the bathroom when she sees an eye pressed against a hole in the wall. Running out fuming she opens the door of a broom cupboard next to bathroom and sees Jonathan in there spying on her. His parents apologise profusely, Mr Patrick says, " I'll deal with him I promise you that."
Mrs Patrick, " how could you Jonathan?"
The three of them enter their apartment, the door is slammed shut. Chrissie turns to go back into her apartment, then stops stunned, inside the Patricks apartment she hears raucous laughter.
Later Gary comes round again, Chrissie has clearly been crying, Gillian explains why.
Gillian, " a peeping Tom, the little boy from across the landing while Chrissie was in the bath looking through a hole in the wall."
Gary, " oh that's dreadful."
Chrissie sobs, " and the cat, and everything's marvellous."
Gillian, " you better go Gary."
Gary, " okay, I'll come tomorrow, take care of her."
After Gary leaves Chrissie implores Gillian, " say we can leave..please."
Gillian, " okay...end of the month..we're all paid up until then, but I promise end of the month we'll go."
Next day;
A man named Thurston arrives at the house and says he is looking for his missing daughter; he has a vague idea she may have stayed there, although he cannot be sure. Chrissie cannot find Mrs. Oxhey to verify it, so Thurston leaves a photograph of her ( the girl from the first scene)
Chrissie promises to phone him after she speaks with Mrs. Oxhey. Oxhey denies ever having seen the girl, as do all the other residents, but Chrissie is positive it's the same girl because the locket in the photo is the same as the one they found when first moving in.
In a cafe Chrissie meets Thurston who surmises that Mrs Oxhey may be running an illegal pregnancy termination service, and promises he'll confront her and find out if his daughter did indeed stay there.
Gillian is awakened in a trance one night by a voice calling to her from the attic. Chrissie wakes up and stops her from entering the attic just in time; the incident is dismissed as sleepwalking.
Next day Thurston arrives at the house to question Mrs. Oxhey, and he is attacked by a figure that comes out of the basement.
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