As a teenager, Elizabeth left her father's house and moved in with her distant relative Cosette, a wealthy widow who lived not far from her house. Cosette, with a gentle and easy-going character, loved to meet different people and always wanted them all to live in her large estate, Garth Manor, also known as the “House with Stairs”. And so it was: the widow’s friends got together, brought their friends, and in the end a motley and cheerful company settled under Cosette’s roof. But there was one person among them who came here not by chance. In the depths of his soul he cherished a monstrous plan and used monstrous means to realize it. Many years have passed, but Elizabeth cannot forget the horror of those days. No, he did not disappear into the past - gradually this horror moved into her present...