The Elevator By William Sleator Novels & Stories

No one apart from his assistant Josh Knight knew this and he helped to keep women away from his boss. Ethan entered the elevator hoping no woman entered after him. To his dismay, a group of women came out of nowhere and entered the elevator pushing him to the back. Without warning, Ethan’s chest tightened. Beads of sweat coated his forehead as he struggled to breathe. He wanted to rush out of the elevator but it was too late. It had already taken off. Since it wouldn’t take long for the elevator to reach his floor, he decided to endure the attack. But it seemed fate was playing with him that night. The elevator suddenly stopped on its way to the top and it wasn’t on any floor.

The elevator was mirrored on three sides and I looked at myself in it — at the specific face of a woman who had been awake for over twenty-four hours and had absorbed more than any single day should contain and was standing in an elevator going to meet her father for the first time. The doors opened. The floor was dim. The kind of dim that was chosen rather than accidental — low lighting, the large windows showing the city spread out below, the specific quality of a space designed to feel significant. Richard Ashford was standing at the window. Eliot was in a portable bassinet near the couch. I walked to the bassinet first. He was asleep. Completely, stubbornly, entirely asleep with the comp

"No. I do word associations for information I need to keep secret. Since I can't write anything down in case someone else finds it, I've had to develop a pretty elaborate way of keeping info organized in my brain." His jaw clenched and he grumbled under his breath. "I didn't catch that." I leaned forward. "It wasn't nice. Tell me about elevators." He waved me on. Okay then. "Elevators go up and down. Sometimes they fall." "Yes, they do. Good job, sweetheart." He went to pat my head. I kicked at him. "Some Adune dude back in the day invented them. His name was Siemens. Another dude, Iashiran, invented the safety thingy that keeps them from plummeting into the ground if the cable snaps. Said d

Marcus whispered, as if reading her thoughts. At the far end of the lobby, an elevator stood open.Waiting.Jesse glanced at it.“That’s not ominous at all.”Everlyn allowed herself a small smile.“It’s efficient.”They stepped inside.The doors closed without a sound.No buttons.No controls.The elevator began to move on its own Up. The ride felt longer than it should have.Jesse shifted slightly.“This is her way of setting the tone.”Everlyn nodded.“Control.”Marcus added quietly,“And observation.” The elevator stopped.The doors opened.The floor above was nothing like the lobby.Warm lighting.Minimalist design.A wide open space with a single long table at the center.

She had clearly seen someone getting onto the elevator and that it was still running normally earlier, so why were they putting up a sign to show that it was under maintenance now? ‘Did he do it on purpose?’ "There's no other way.” The man gave Sally a sly look. "Sorry Mrs. Moses, but you’ll have to squeeze into the staff elevator with me." After he said that, he immediately started walking. He carried Sally into the staff elevator with big strides. "Mr. Moses!" "Morning, Mr. Moses!" As soon as Elijah entered the elevator with Sally in his arms, everyone in the entire elevator was instantly filled with profound respect and humility.

Elliot leaned closer to Timothy as they walked toward a private elevator. “Do they always look like they’re about to get fired?” he whispered. Timothy pressed a button. “Yes.” The elevator doors closed. Elliot watched the digital display climb rapidly. Floor 30. Floor 50. Floor 70. “Please don’t tell me you live at the top,” Elliot said. “Penthouse.” “Of course.” The elevator opened into an enormous living space. Floor-to-ceiling windows wrapped around the entire room, offering a breathtaking view of the city below. Modern furniture sat perfectly arranged across the polished floor, and everything looked so clean and expensive that Elliot felt afraid to touch anything.

If it didn’t stop on the first floor too, then a red flag was going to be raised as to why there’d be an elevator in a residence that led to the morgue only. To my relief, the elevator did stop at the first floor and I also learned -at a later date- that the undertaker’s mother was in a wheel chair. Hence the reason for the elevator. I’ve never been good at riding in elevators. I assume it was because I watched one too many scary movies where people got trapped in them and the devil or some equally scary creature showed up. It was a residential elevator, not a commercial one. This meant that there was only room for two to three people to comfortably fit in it. Max and his burden equaled

“He’s waiting for you upstairs.” Liora’s fingers tightened on the strap of her bag. “Already?” “Yes.” The woman tilted her head, just a little too far, like her neck didn’t work like a human’s should. “The elevator will take you directly to him.” Liora nodded, unable to shake the feeling that she’d just agreed to something she couldn’t take back. The elevator at the end of the lobby opened before she even pressed the button. It wasn’t like any elevator she’d ever seen. No floor numbers. No control panel. Just soft, glowing light inside. She stepped in hesitantly, the doors closing behind her without a sound. The air changed instantly, warm and thick, wrapping around her like an embrace. Her

He was about to start kissing her exposed smooth collarbones when the elevator halted on the next floor. Winsley quickly restrained himself and just wished they would arrive quickly in the room so he could start unwrapping and exploring Emily's body. Two men entered the elevator then it closed. Winsley's mouth suddenly went ajar. He knew one of the men who had just entered the elevator. He was the heir of the Adams, the superstar, Charles. Then Winsley looked at the girl who was weakly leaning on his shoulder. He gripped her waist tighter to prevent her from moving.

Stella accompanied them inside armed, Mrs Smith held a gun to Mr Mc Millan as he led them to his bedroom, he pushed the king sized bed and unlocked a hidden door when his bookshelf split into two parts. The door led to an elevator, Mrs Smith and Stella thought it foolish for an elevator to be inside a non-skyscraper, let alone an upstairs building, and this small house. They got in and were more surprised when it kept moving downwards until the last floor underground. "How did you do this?" Mrs Smith asked as the elevator stopped and they came into a beautiful and wide room. "Do what?" Mr Mc Millan feigned misunderstanding. "You know the heck what I'm talking about!" Mrs Smith frowned.