All Chapters of Elevator to Betrayal: My Village Turned on Me: Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

10 Chapters

Chapter 1

"Look at that hunk of junk, officers!"I had just wrapped up a routine inspection and climbed out of the elevator shaft with the maintenance crew when I looked up. There was Walter Grady, spraying spit as he yelled, standing next to two uniformed city council officers."That Mitchell Crowe kid thinks he can build whatever he wants on the main road out of town just because he's got money," Walter sneered. "He's running a toll booth out there like some kind of highway robber! You guys have to do something about this!"He lifted his walking stick, the muddy tip coming inches from my nose.I squinted and took a step back, my eyes still adjusting to the bright daylight outside the shaft.Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed Dorothy Brooks waiting near the elevator, clutching her young grandson's hand and looking anxious.She had a backpack slung over her shoulder, a lunchbox in one hand, and a grocery basket over her arm. She had to drop the boy off at school before heading into t

Chapter 2

Marcus avoided my eyes, pouting as he feigned indifference and grumbled, "Is it really an honor system? Come on, we all know each other here. You just knew that poor folks would be too proud to use it for free, so you did this on purpose to guilt us into paying!"Otherwise, why would you hire all these outsiders? You're just using maintenance as an excuse to keep tabs on us!"The maintenance technicians, whom I paid handsomely, looked ready to burst, wanting nothing more than to set the record straight on my behalf.Meanwhile, Walter was still working overtime to make my life miserable."You heard that, officers," he said. "The whole setup is entirely his doing! The town had absolutely nothing to do with it. We're just a bunch of helpless, ordinary folks. If you're handing out fines, you have to penalize him and him alone."Their eagerness to throw me under the bus cut deeper than any knife.Mountains completely boxed in our town. For decades, the only way to get to town was a tr

Chapter 3

Ever since the elevator was built, the residents hadn't had to grope their way down the dark cliffs at night.Five years was more than enough time for people to develop entirely new routines.Now that they were stuck at the foot of the mountain, it didn't matter how much energy they had to climb the trail, for they were already going to miss whatever plans they had for the day.They looked at me, their eyes filled with either guilt or remorse.Walter, however, couldn't care less. He barked at the crowd, "What, are you guys seriously itching to hand over your hard-earned cash? Let me be clear. He's standing right here, so you won't be saving a single dime if you fold now!"A few of the older residents felt too embarrassed to stay silent. They shuffled over to me, their expressions sheepish."Look, Mitchell… We didn't mean it that way," Frank Dalton said, rubbing his hands together, with a sycophantic smile plastered across his face. "You know how Walter is. He just has a big mou

Chapter 4

Marcus sat on a stone boulder, a cigarette dangling from his lips. He had the smug look of a man who thought he had everything figured out."He's just waiting for us to beg," Marcus sneered. "That way, he can justify jacking up the price and squeezing us for every dime. That's exactly how these capitalists operate. Some guys get a taste of money and suddenly think their crap doesn't stink."Our ancestors hiked that mountain for generations, and they survived just fine! He's the only one throwing a tantrum. He puts up some crappy elevator and expects us to treat him like a hero?""That's right!" someone in the crowd chimed in. "We got by just fine before he showed up!"Just then, a chaotic chorus of crying and shouting echoed from the mountain trail.Everyone turned toward the noise. Martha was hobbling down the path, flanked and supported by two middle-aged women.A massive patch of skin had been scraped clean off her shin, and blood was pooling down her ankle. The knees of her p

Chapter 5

Losing his mind, Walter grabbed his walking stick and smashed it violently against the fence, cursing, "You heartless bastard! Aren't you afraid that this might come back to bite you? You've got no conscience, Mitchell. God's going to punish you for this!" I didn't bother sparing him a glance. I stepped right into the elevator cabin and pressed the button to go up.The elevator ascended toward the top, leaving Walter's vitriol and the residents' frantic pleas to fade into the valley below.…By the third day, which was the city council's deadline for demolition, the taped-off elevator was still standing completely intact against the mountain facade.Because the town was so isolated, heavy machinery couldn't just roll right in. Just like when we built it, setting up the logistics took a massive amount of prep work.But to the residents, this delay meant something entirely different.Walter was the first to march into my yard, leading a restless mob of over a dozen residents.Ev

Chapter 6

The autumn wind howling off the mountain carried a bitter, biting chill, snapping the flags attached to the excavators.Walter's walking stick slipped from his hand and clattered to the dirt.His mouth hung open, every bit of that swagger completely draining from his eyes.The dozen or so residents backing him up looked like a flock of headless chickens, their vitriol instantly dying in their throats.Everyone's eyes were locked on those freezing, heavy metal beasts.Nicholas stepped forward, his sunburned face coated in road dust.He removed his hard hat and gave me a nod. "Mr. Crowe, we've got all the equipment here. We pulled an all-nighter to map out the initial demolition phase. When should we get started?"I quietly slipped the city council's citation into my pocket, my voice calm as I said, "You may start now.""You got it!"Nicholas turned around, giving his crew a wave."Alright, listen up! We're rolling with Plan A. Get the yellow tape up and clear out anyone who is

Chapter 7

Marcus was the first one to snap out of it. He grabbed Walter by the arm, his voice dropping to a whisper as he hissed through his teeth, "Say something! If that elevator comes down, I'm screwed. I use it a half-dozen times a day. Are you going to carry me up and down this trail on your back?""What does that have to do with me?" Walter snapped, slapping his hand away. "You were right there with me when we blew the whistle on him, cheering me on!""Bullshit! You're the one who started this—"Just like that, they started tearing into each other.Watching the petty finger-pointing only made me feel completely drained.For five long years, I had poured my heart and soul into looking out for these people.I had poured every single cent I owned into this mountain, only to learn the hard way that no matter how much one gave, people would always expect one to bleed a little more.Just then, the deep rumble of car engines cut through the trail.Everyone stopped to look as three black

Chapter 8

Walter froze."He's working as a warehouse manager at Suncrest Enterprises," I said, holding his gaze. "Full benefits, a matching 401k, and 8,000 dollars a month. I only gave him that job as a personal favor to you."Your daughter-in-law literally begged me, crying about how your boy had spent his whole life drifting from one dead-end job to another. She said he'd end up on the streets if someone didn't give him a break. I took pity on a neighbor and threw him a lifeline."Every bit of strength drained right out of Walter, and he stumbled backward."When you stabbed me in the back, did you stop for one second to think about who was putting food on your son's table?"I looked at him, feeling completely drained."You probably didn't because you thought I was a sucker—a golden goose you could pluck for everything I was worth. But let me make one thing crystal clear. Suncrest Enterprises isn't in the business of feeding parasites. Jonathan's termination notice is getting handed to hi

Chapter 9

"Thanks," I said."No," Ashton said, shaking his head. "What I mean is, you've had a rough five years. I'm sorry you had to go through that."I froze, and my eyes stung.For five long years, nobody had ever acknowledged what this place had taken out of me.Most people just told me I was out of my mind. A few complimented me, but the vast majority just sneered and said, "You're loaded anyway, so what's the big deal about doing something nice for the rest of us?" Nobody had ever stopped to think about what it cost me.I looked away, pretending to focus on the scenery outside the cabin.The familiar ground below slowly receded, and the faces of the people I had known my entire life, only to become strangers, dwindled into tiny black dots.The elevator ground to a halt at the 1,500-foot summit.The moment I stepped out, the mountain air hit my face, thick with the scent of pine and damp earth.Down at the base, the demolition was already underway. Even from 1,500 feet up, the he

Chapter 10

The demolition pushed forward like clockwork, moving efficiently through the steps.The crew started by ripping away the heavy outer protective shield of the elevator shaft. Next, they fired up their temporary rig for high-altitude work.The specialized industrial platform slowly crawled up the cliff facade.Harnessed into safety lines hundreds of feet in the air, the crew worked meticulously to strip away the steel guide rails and massive support brackets.With every section they unbolted, the steel giant that had dominated the landscape for five long years dropped a little lower against the horizon.Down at the foot of the mountain, the residents watched the whole thing play out in dead silence. Nobody tried to start a riot anymore.Maybe they had finally accepted reality or realized that throwing a tantrum wouldn't save them.By dusk, Joseph texted me a photo showing the very last section of the guide rail being hoisted away by the crane.Ashton finished the paperwork, climb

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