The Elevator By William Sleator Novels & Stories

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.

To her surprise, the indicator light flickered to life when she pressed the button—the power was still on. As the doors slid open, a wave of metallic rust and mildew hit her, but Chloe's hunter instincts flared. Something was wrong. The floor of the elevator was spotless. In a house filled with a decade of dust and decay, the elevator had been recently cleaned—as if to hide footsteps. Someone else is here. She stepped inside anyway; she didn't have a choice. The elevator groaned as it began its ascent: 2... 3.... Suddenly, the car lurched. The lights flickered and died, plunging the small space into an eerie, blood-red glow from the emergency lanterns. They were stalled between the fourth an

* **Floor 10-20: REPETITIVE TRAUMA (THE SLASHER SUB-DIVISION)** * **Floor 21-40: UNREQUITED LONGING (THE ROMANCE REVENUE STREAM)** * **Floor 41-60: EXISTENTIAL DREAD (THE PHILOSOPHICAL THRILLER WING)** * **Floor 61-80: SYSTEMIC OPPRESSION (THE DYSTOPIAN ENGINE)** "They've mapped out every way a human can suffer," I whispered, pressing the button for Floor 90. The elevator doors closed, but the ride wasn't a smooth ascent. As we passed each floor, the "Reality" inside the elevator changed.

The plan had not accounted for a broken elevator, which meant fourteen flights of stairs with a four-and-a-half-year-old who was, on principle, opposed to being carried but had agreed to it today on the grounds that Patterson was also being carried and Patterson's legs were too short for stairs. Patterson was in Eli's left hand. Eli was on Selene's right hip. They descended fourteen flights together with the particular efficiency of people who had learned to adapt to each other's logistics without discussion. "How many more?" Eli asked, somewhere around the ninth floor. "Five." He considered this. "That's a lot." "It is." "Why is the elevator broken?" "Because things break sometimes." He abs

What if Bonus Chapter 4: What If They Met in an Elevator Trap? Eli POV The elevator in the downtown high-rise shuddered to a sudden, sickening stop between floors 14 and 15. The lights flickered once, twice, then settled into dim emergency mode, casting everything in a sickly yellow glow. I was stuck. Alone. Or so I thought—until the guy who’d stepped in right behind me cursed under his breath, voice low and frustrated.

Elizabeth asked in confusion when Holand remained standing outside. “The elevator is reserved for VIPs. It will take you directly to the floor exclusive to the Channings.” Before she could ask what he meant, the elevator doors closed. Her anxiety doubled as she stood there alone. What if her husband was furious at her for having children with another man? Her mind spiraled into worst-case scenarios. The elevator stopped at the fifty-eighth floor. There were five or six closed doors along the quiet, brightly lit hallway. Chairman Channing’s name was elegantly engraved on a marble plaque beside one of the doorbells.

The elevator doors were gold, figures, and there was a guy with a suit and white gloves present who asked me what floor I was headed for. “Um, the top floor.” He punched in the number 34 and the letter B showed up on the screen. “Elevator B,” he said and pointed the way to said elevator. Is an elevator butler a thing? Is that an actual profession? Can you imagine applying for that job and in the interview, you get asked if you can punch in numbers and read the alphabet, and when you say yes you get hired at a place like this? Jesus. The elevator arrived and doors opened, letting several people off before I stepped on. There was a mirror on every corner of it that made it look bigger. I’m sur

The foul-mouthed guy got back on his feet and moved on to the next corridor. ‘Lets part now,’ Elky whispered in my ear. And so we did. I just melted away into the dim light, and Elky Jennings stepped on to the grilled landing, slipping on slimed concrete floor before it. There was a low dirty railing next to the grilled panels that he managed to grab on his way down. A sleepy guard leaned to the wall in a far corner. Elky froze. He was in two minds shooting the guard dead: it could be a noisy affair. A few minutes had past until the guard’s walkie-talkie came to life. He listened to it half-ear, without much enthusiasm on display, unplastered his butt from the rocky wall and went away, swear

Growling and screeching moans made Jack to move quickly and step inside the elevator wherein they can't reach him for because his standing at the middle of the elevator where the rays of the morning sun can reach him. Those attackers (living dead) were only observing Jack while throwing those bomb away. Every throw he made, they take glance at it and then back to Jack. When the elevator was about to close, Jack then again throw another SWAYBOMB and that's the time the elevator closes. While he was inside the elevator, Jack seems to be relax and calm. He doesn't worry any less because he knows they can't touch him. They can see him but they can't touch him. 'Ding!' Sound of elevator chimes.

"My story, let me tell it…Thumberlina.” I found myself smiling at the interaction. "What floors?" Livvy immediately looked embarrassed. "Oh my God, we've been talking and haven't even moved." She pointed. "Thirteen for me." Then gestured vaguely behind her. "Twenty-one for Val." I pressed both buttons and the doors closed, starting our upward climb. Livvy glanced around the elevator. "Can I ask something?" "Sure." "Why is this elevator empty when the other ones looked like people were being packed for shipment?"