~3.12~

“Right, that’s her door,” Michael said when they got to the hallway on the top floor. He started counting doors on either side. “We’ll need to be able to find it from the roof.”

“Another roof?” Stephen asked.

“It’s the only way in,” Michael said.

“What about the door?” Stephen asked. “Can’t we just, you know, knock?”

“Go ahead, if you want to,” Michael said.

“Why? What’s going to happen?” Stephen asked.

“What do you think?” Michael replied. “What can happen, just knocking on a door?”

“Well, it is a witch’s door,” Stephen said. “She could, I don’t know… have spells or curses on it?”

“Don’t be ridiculous,” Michael said. “‘Spells or curses,’ he says. Go ahead and knock if you want to.”

“You knock,” Stephen said. “You’re the protagonist.”

“I will not,” Michael said. “Because it won’t do any good.”

“Why not?”

“Because I have it on good authority that she had her door removed,” Michael said.

“What’s this, then?” Stephen asked, waving at the door.

“Well, she left the outside where it was,” Michael said. “Somebody would notice if it were suddenly missing. It’s the other side that’s gone.”

“So what happens if you open it from this side?” Stephen asked.

“You can’t,” Michael said. “There’s nothing to open it to.”

“So what if you try?”

“What if you try to walk through the wall?” Michael asked.

“That’s different,” Stephen said.

“How?” Michael asked.

“Well, you can’t walk through a wall,” Stephen said.

“Exactly,” Michael said. “It’s the same with the door. You can’t open it.”

“What if you break the lock?” Stephen asked.

“Then you’d owe her a new one,” Michael said.

“You’re telling me that no amount of force could open that door?” Stephen asked.

“I didn’t say that,” Michael said. “I’m sure if you tried hard enough, you could get it to open… I just wouldn’t want to place bets as to where you’d end up if you did.”

Stephen shivered.

“Roof, then?” he asked.

“Roof,” Michael agreed.