Greetings,
Well, with Halloween coming up, I thought I would go for a slightly more suspenseful story, in true Halloween spirit. This story was partly inspired by a YouTube video about the "Top 10 Scary Games You Should Never Play". I had just watched the video the day before my short story group came up with the prompt: "Dying to Live", so I saw a chance to use my inspiration to create a story.
Anyway, let me know what you think of the story and look forward to any feedback!
Have a Happy Halloween!
James
"The Elevator Game"
by James J Meadows III
Some of you are, no doubt, going to
tell me, with unwavering conviction, that if you were in my position, you would
never have done something so stupid and childish. Of course, you also, I’m
sure, will tell me you never stood in front of a mirror chanting “Blood Mary”
or played Three Kings at your friend’s house.
To all of you, I have these words,
“A coward dies a thousand deaths!” Having quoted Shakespeare, I will now go to
a rather less eloquent, though no less profound, quote by Jimmy Buffet, “I’d
rather die while I’m living than live while I’m dead.”
Both these statements summarize my
own personal view on life, a view shared by my good friend Stephen. This
philosophy, and this philosophy alone, brought he and I to opposite sides of a
hallway at midnight one lonely Friday in October.
“I bet my elevator gets here before
yours does,” Stephen teased, glancing over his shoulder at me.
“No way,” I snapped back. “No
elevator wants you or that crummy old jacket inside it.”
“Don’t be a hater.” He teased, displaying
the old burnt-orange jacket, with its numerous tears, rips and stains, toward
me as if it were made from white mink. “Just because you lack fashion sense,
doesn’t mean I can’t look good in these regal robes.”
I stuck my finger in my mouth and
made a gagging sound, as though I was about to vomit. He just laughed and
turned back toward the elevator. I faced mine, with an equally determined grin,
which served to mask my growing anxiety.
Although we were standing near the
lobby of one of Houston’s premiere hotels, thanks to the lateness of the hour,
we were the only people there. This was the way we planned it. We didn’t want
anyone else getting on the elevators with us. Each of us had to be alone. If
someone got on with one of us, that player had to quit. Those were the rules of
the Elevator Game.
The Elevator game, which originated
in Korea, was supposed to be one of the scariest and most unnerving games in
existence, promising to take the player to a frightening alternate dimension
from which they might never return. Like the other creepy games Stephen and I had
played over the years, we didn’t really expect anything to happen. After all,
nothing happened when we played with the Ouija board; nothing happened when we
played three kings; no mysterious man caught us when we played the midnight
game.
Altogether, we had no reason to
believe this one was any different. Yet, the adrenaline rush pulled us onward.
The sensation of tingles, chills, and goosebumps, spreading across our arms as
we performed each new scary ritual, awaiting the results with frightened
anticipation, called us to try the new game.
*Ding*
The sound of an elevator arriving
caught my attention. I glanced instinctively upward at the lights above me. It
wasn’t my elevator. It was Stephen’s. The up-light on the elevator in front of him
had illuminated, signaling its arrival.
“Told you mine would get here
first,” Stephen said, giving me a teasing smile over his shoulder.
I watched as the elevator doors
slid open to reveal an empty interior.
“I’d love to stay and chat, but my
chariot awaits me,” he declared in a mocking tone, giving a rather comedic bow,
as he advanced backward into the elevator.
The elevator doors started to close
as he stepped inside but his hand shot out quickly to stop them.
“Don’t forget,” he added, in his
best impression of a spooky voice, made all the more humorous by his
exaggerated expressions and forced attempts to keep a straight face. “Before
you get off the elevator, check every single detail to make sure you come back
to the correct dimension. If even one thing is out of place or incorrect, don’t
get off, or you may become trapped in the otherworld forever! Dun, Dun, Dun!”
Then, still wearing his usual grin
and his comic smile, he let the doors close. Yet, as he faded from view, I
could tell from his body language that he was nervous. The eyes gazing at me as
the doors slid closed revealed a mix of mingled excitement with nervous
agitation. The same agitation gripped me. Up until this point, we had always
performed our various stunts together.
Even when we played Three Kings,
though we each sat alone in the room, one of us was assigned to check upon the
other after an hour passed. This time, however, we were on our own. Somehow,
this made everything just slightly more frightening.
I pushed the up button again to
call the next elevator and waited. The lobby around me, with its empty chairs
and unmanned desk - the clerk had walked into the back just a short time prior
to Stephen’s elevator arriving - were dull and lifeless, kind of like the whole
last week, which Stephen and I spent studying for our mid-terms. It was this
monotony of studying, working, and walking to-and-from classes, which motivated
Stephen and me to seek this break, this adrenaline rush, this small chance to
escape our ordinary daily lives.
*Ding*
My elevator had arrived. I took a
step back in case people needed to get off. No one did. The elevator, like
Stephen’s elevator, was completely empty. I took a step inside then hesitated.
Without Stephen here, I felt my courage wane slightly.
“It’s just a game,” I said aloud to
myself, willing myself to get on. “It isn’t real.”
I knew it was a game. I knew it was
stupid. I knew I couldn’t turn back anyway; because Stephen was already on his
elevator. What would he say if, after all of our talk and teasing, I chickened
out now?
Mentally forcing myself onward, as
though my brain were some telepathic device dragging my frozen feet across the
threshold, I advanced into the lift.
“Well, here I am,” I said. “There
is nothing else for it. Let’s go.”
I reached out my hand and pushed
the button for the fourth floor. The elevator rose.
“You can do this,” I muttered to
myself. “There is nothing to be afraid of. It’s just a silly game, like all the
others.”
The elevator doors opened onto the
fourth floor. Determined not to give myself further opportunity for doubt, I immediately
slammed the button for the second floor. After a moment, the doors closed and
we were on our way down.
“Please don’t be anyone there,” I
said to myself, trying to sound convincing in my own ears; ignoring the silent
voice in my head secretly wishing for someone to get on so I could abort this
stupid game.
No one did. The elevator doors
opened and shut. To the sixth floor –
nobody. Back to the second floor – still nobody. Now up to the tenth
floor – no one there.
The doors shut again. I stared at
the back of them, my heart racing so fast I could hardly breathe. This was the
moment of truth. Fighting the urge to abandon the game – the urge to cheat and
head straight back down, the urge to chicken out and claim I had done it even
if I really hadn’t – I extended my finger toward the number five.
“It’s just a game,” I repeated
aloud, “a really stupid game. There won’t be anything there.”
I gave a small laugh, which sounded
hollow even to me.
“Just one more floor and I’ll be
back with Stephen, laughing this whole thing off as the nonsense it is,” I said
again, trying to reassure myself.
Closing my eyes, as though unable
to watch myself do it, I leaned forward, feeling the five button compress at my
reluctant touch. The elevator lurched downward.
This floor would reveal everything.
The game claimed that a mysterious creature would appear on this floor, in the
guise of a woman - a woman who you must not talk to or even look at. Otherwise,
she might decide to keep you for her own. None of the stories explained what
happened to such victims. Supposedly, none returned to tell.
“It’s nonsense,” I repeated to
myself. “It’s just made up rubbish.”
The elevator lights flashed nine,
then on to eight.
“There is no mystery woman going
appear and get on the elevator,” I reminded myself.
Next to seven, then to six.
“It’s just a dumb gag!”
The elevator alighted onto the
fifth floor. With a “bing” the doors slid open.
My breath caught in my throat, my
body almost trembling with nerves. If the woman, who I kept reminding myself
didn’t exist, did appear and get on, I was certainly not going to look at her.
Fixing my eyes on the buttons, I waited.
The doors just sat there, open and
expectant. They remained open for no more than their ordinary time of five
seconds. Still it felt like five minutes. Several times I was convinced they
had somehow broken. Yet, even as panic started to set in and beads of sweat
appeared upon my face, the doors began to slide shut again.
A sigh of relief escaped my lips as
I watch them drift toward each other, their reflective silvery interiors
gradually masking the outside world from my sight. I moved forward to hit the
“1” button, thankful the game was over.
“Hold the doors!”
*Clunk*
A female voice sounded from the
hallway, followed by the clanking sound of metal and gears, as the doors reopened
with a “ding”. Someone outside had pressed the button for the elevator. Before
my stunned eyes, I saw a woman enter to join me.
A feeling of indescribably horror
gripped me. I tried to dismiss it. This wasn’t a monster, I told myself. It was
just pure coincidence. There were lots of women staying in the hotel. This just
happened to be one of them, getting on the elevator at the wrong time. That was
all.
I could feel my lungs contracting
as my heart rose into my throat. Staring ahead, trying not to look at the
woman, I found myself unable to resist studying her from the corners of my eyes.
She appeared to be about my age, with long, beautiful black hair, a soft
winning smile, and a slender-shapely body, well-outlined by the one-piece swim
suit she wore, her figuresque physique only slightly concealed by the towels
gripped in her hands. She looked like she was on her way down to the pool.
“Sorry about that,” she said, as
she moved inside to stand next to me. “My friends are down at the pool and I’m
running a little late to join them.”
I said nothing. Although going swimming
at midnight might seem a little odd, the pool was open and it was a Friday. At
the same time, this was the fifth floor. Was this girl really what she seemed?
I wanted to kick myself for my own
stupidity. Of course, she was just what she seemed. There were no alternate
dimensions or mysterious monsters that trapped people as their own. At the same
time, the whole thing seemed a bit too coincidental, and my already strained
nerves were not prepared for this turn of events.
“Where are you going?” she asked, gesturing at
the unlit buttons before us.
As I had not yet selected my floor,
the question seemed innocent enough. In my current state of mind, however, they
were the most sinister words I could possibly hear.
“Where are you going?” were the
words the mysterious monster on the fifth floor was supposed to say to the
elevator rider when she boarded.
It’s just a game, I tried to repeat
inwardly. This is just a normal woman, trying to figure out what button to press,
that’s all.
I made an effort to say, “First
floor” but the words caught in my throat. What if it wasn’t just a game? What
if it was real? What if I spoke to her and was lost forever?
As I stood frozen, the elevator
doors closed. I realized I better act fast or else I’d look like an even bigger
moron. Taking a step forward, I pressed the “1” button, my sweaty hand
trembling so badly I could hardly contain myself.
Pressing the button for the first
floor was the next step in the game, anyway, and the logical step outside the
game. If she was a real woman, we would just coast down to the first floor and
it would all be over.
“Are you okay?” the lady asked, as
I retreated back into the corner of the elevator, my eyes still locked on the
ground.
I didn’t speak. I knew I must look
like a complete idiot. At the same time, I’d rather be a living idiot than a
dead fool. So, I pressed myself into the corner as hard as I could, my eyes
still fixed on the buttons.
“Oookay,” she said in a confused voice,
turning to face the closed elevator doors. At the same moment, I felt the
elevator lurch. But to my horror, we weren’t going down. We were going up.
My eyes shot toward the numbers
above the button panel: Five to Six, Six to Seven, Seven to Eight. No, No, No,
NO, NO!! This couldn’t be happening. The elevator was going to the tenth floor.
It was taking me to the alternate dimension! The game was coming true!
“That is odd,” I heard the woman
muse. “I guess we didn’t press the button in time. It must be going to pick someone
up.”
My eyes locked onto the ground!
Don’t speak to her! I thought. Whatever you do, for God’s sake, don’t speak to
her!
The elevator went from eight to
nine and from nine to ten. Then, slowly, inexplicably, the doors began to open.
I didn’t want to see what was out
there! I rushed forward, slamming the first floor button over and over with all
my might. According to the game, when the doors opened, I would see a hallway
identical to the actual tenth floor, yet pitch black, with no lighting of any
kind, save for a blood red cross, the only thing visible through the distant
windows.
I wasn’t going to look at it. I
wasn’t going to see it. There was no way I was getting out of this elevator!
“Close, close!” I all but screamed,
hammering over and over again on the button, as I watched the doors slide apart,
unable to take my gaze off the image I knew they were about to reveal. With a
sudden buckling sensation, my knees gave way beneath me. I found myself
kneeling on the floor, still pressing the button for all I was worth.
A man stepped into the elevator
from the well-lit hallway beyond, speaking on a cell phone and holding a pair
of car keys in his hand.
“No, you don’t need to be driving
here if you’re like that,” he was saying. “I’ll come pick you up! You said you’re
at the West End Bar?”
The man froze as he entered,
staring at my pale face, sweaty skin, and frantic manner.
“Are you okay?” he asked, lowering
the phone to address me.
I didn’t answer. Unable to think
anymore, I collapsed backward into the corner, burying my face between my knees
and curling my arms above my head. I don’t know what the girl and man must have
thought. I didn’t hear any words that they said. If I did, my agitated mind was
too weak to hold them. Instead, I remained in a state of complete paralysis all
the way down to the first floor.
The moment the elevator opened, I
erupted from the shaft, without even a glance at my surroundings, my body a
frenzied tornado of flailing arms and racing feet. I was so desperate to get
out of there I almost plowed straight into Stephen, who caught me with an
expression of shock.
“Dude? What’s wrong?” He asked,
concern evident in his voice. “What happened?”
I looked back at the elevator. The
man and woman stood staring at me in astonishment. They didn’t say anything,
though. They merely exited the elevator and went their separate ways – the girl
toward the swimming pool and the man toward the parking garage – each watching
me out of the corners of their eyes until out of sight.
“They were real,” I gasped. “They
weren’t monsters. They were real!”
“Oh my god!” Stephen exclaimed,
realization dawning on his face, along with an obvious urge to laugh. “Those
people got on at the fifth floor and you thought they were the mystery woman
didn’t you!”
He started to laugh.
“Well, at least I got that far,” I
replied angrily over his laughter. “What did you do?”
“I had a janitor get on at the
sixth floor so I had to abandon. Want to come back and try again tomorrow?”
“Definitely not!” I shouted, a
response which only served to illicit more laughter from my friend.
“Come on, then. Let’s get you home,”
he said, pulling the car keys from the pocket of his maroon and white jacket before guiding me toward the distant parking lot.
