Elevator

She just barely catches the elevator. As the doors are closing she smiles to herself, the way she stuck the briefcase in-between the sliding steel doors just as they barred her entry.. She knows today will be a good one. Working late last night, and early into the morning, desperately trying to close the Mitchell account. One of the biggest accounts in the history of her firm. Now she’s brimming with pride, can’t wait to tell the boss man. Make all those chauvinist pricks who told her she was too sweet and too soft for this kind of work eat their salty little words.  In her thoughts, she suddenly realized she never even pressed the button. Quickly reaching to her left she impatiently presses fourteen. Then, almost as if an afterthought, she presses it again. Almost there now. She thinks to herself. Get ready. Just as the elevator passes the thirteenth floor, it halts. Still as night. There is a creak, agonizing, and then nothing. Shit, what now? She muses. And then, for the first time since she’s been on this elevator she takes a quick look around. How did she not notice she was all alone? She could’ve sworn there were other people on there. “Guess not.”, She mutters aloud. Checking her watch she draws in a long breath of cool air. Realizing it suddenly got chilly, anxiety begins to boil over spilling from the pot that is her mind into her very flesh. Covered in goosebumps she presses the call button. Then, almost as if an afterthought, she presses it again. ” Hello?” “Hellooo?” Greeted with static and the harsh reality that no one can hear her, she begins to beat against the elevator doors. Pounding the cold steel as if in full on tantrum mode. “Help me! Help me- God dammit let me out!!!!!” Reassessing the situation, she begins to frantically search for some way to get out, or even just communicate that she’s stuck. Looking up in half frustration and half surrender, she notices that one of the large tiles that go on the roof of the elevator is missing, leaving a hole just big enough for a human to fit through comfortably. Unease begins to sink in as she comes to the conclusion that this hole may be her only saving grace.  Through the camera, a security guard has come to realize that the elevator is malfunctioning. Through the lens,  he notices a woman, she seems panicked and appears to be trying to pry open the doors. He attempts to make contact. Inside the elevator, she hears the scream of static. Frightened and alone she attempts to ignore the sinister nuisance as it seems to sound more and more like a cackle. She readies herself to jump. The guard shouts no and suddenly, there is nothing left to see. The camera blinks off, but the sound, comes on.  She is shrouded in darkness great, just what I need. Suddenly she feels something brush past her, then the serrated edges of knives seem to grasp at her thighs. The guard can only listen in horror as his ears are assaulted with screams, knives scraping metal and what seems to be the distant ringing of a bell. The camera cuts back on and for a brief flash something truly evil seems to be staring at him. After blinking, he sees there is nothing. No woman, and the elevator begins to operate normally. Four hours later the local detective is reading the guards last words of his statement as he steps onto an elevator “It’s as if she was never there at all.” Getting a chill he presses the elevator button, on his way to investigate what he’s sure is nothing that can’t be explained. Then, almost as if an afterthought, he presses it again.