The Elevator By William Sleator Novels & Stories

Instead of buttons, a heavy brass lever jutted from the side, its surface worn from years of use. As Ryan pulled the lever, the chains groaned, shifting like an ancient beast awakening. The counterweights—massive slabs of stone—descended into the shadows below, dragging the platform upward. Torches flickered along the walls of the shaft, casting long shadows as the elevator rumbled toward the upper floors.

As soon as the elevator doors closed and began descending, the man in the machine room pressed a modified control. Suddenly, a harsh grinding sound echoed, and the elevator's lights flickered before cutting out completely. “No!” Evalina gasped, fumbling against the walls in the darkness. The lift jolted to a stop between the ninth and eighth floors. A dim emergency light flickered on, barely illuminating Evalina’s pale face. She pressed the emergency button—no response. Then, she tried calling Hunter on her phone. “No signal,” she muttered in frustration. Her heartbeat quickened. Sweat formed along her hairline. Her breathing turned shaky. The tight, silent space made her feel trapped—like h

He looked around the office one last time, making sure everything was in order before leaving. Lucas walked out of his office and through the hallway, passing by other employees who were also getting ready to leave. He nodded and smiled at them, exchanging pleasantries as he walked towards the elevator. Once he reached the elevator, he pressed the button and waited patiently for it to arrive. As the elevator doors opened, Lucas stepped in and pressed the button for the ground floor. The elevator began to descend slowly, and Lucas leaned back against the wall, closing his eyes momentarily to relax.

A stupid question she would expect from Kaitlyn, she said the dumbest of things at times. “I wonder how delusional you must be to expect me to allow you to ride the elevator first,” Nirvana stood straight as the elevator door started closing and turned to give Kaitlyn the same look given to a naïve brat who entered a deadly business with optimism. “This company isn't a Moore kingdom and the elevator isn’t a throne. Everyone here got treated only based on actual merit.”

"Lead the way." The executive elevator required biometric access. There was no music during the ascent, no polite small talk from the assistant. There was only the subtle, mechanical hum of rapid elevation and the faint scent of a perfume that probably cost more than a month of Jamie's cardiac medication. Sloane stood completely still, watching her own reflection in the mirrored walls. She counted the floors in her head, matching the steady throb of her pulse against the ascending numbers. When the doors slid open on the top floor, Sloane stepped out first.

Aunt Eliza says before she walks up the stairs. Quinlan and his Brothers follow their Mother, while Dave leads us to an elevator. It turns out Dezra was a lazy bum and had an elevator installed that only goes to the Beta floor. Yeah, that’s correct. The elevator only has one floor it stops on, the Beta floor. “This damn thing has to go or it needs to be adjusted to stop on every floor.” Daxton says as he steps into the elevator. “Aunt Eliza will probably have it adjusted to benefit the entire family.” Benton mumbles.

I was being herded like sheep. There was an alcove with wooden walls and a wooden roof, above which there was a thick rope. I paused to examine it and everyone stopped behind me. The wooden box was suspended in a shaft. It was an elevator, although probably not mechanical. More likely there was a donkey on the other end of the rope that moved the box up and down the shaft. Maybe a team of donkeys. “You want me to get in that? It doesn’t look very safe.” Laney stepped into the lift and turned around to face me. “You aren’t scared, are you, Dragonslayer?” Her words were laced with all the sarcasm a thirteen-year-old could muster, which was a lot.

The "lift wish." She was only six when they went to the Government Plaza in Shreveport and experienced their first elevator ride. "When you're going down in an elevator, hold your breath when you're on the 12th floor. And you only let it go when you make it to the ground floor. Then you can make a wish and it'll come true," Corbett said with so much fervor it was hard for two children not to believe him. There was an awkward silence that enveloped Eli and Brigail as the elevator descended.

Dani The elevator jolted to a stop. With sweaty fingers, I pounded the button to the penthouse floor. A groaning noise filtered in from somewhere outside the elevator. I gripped the side railing, then slowly sunk down until I was on my haunches, breathing in and out and telling myself it wasn't a big deal. Elevators stall all the time, right? In a few seconds, everything would be fine, and I'd be telling the story to my sister Pris and her movie star husband.

As soon as we were next to the elevator, the elevator, which was supposed to be on the second floor, unexpectedly went down. "See? He can't wait any longer." As Shirley spoke, her face didn't change at all. She seemed to know what Shelton was thinking about at her fingertips. Sure enough, the elevator went up with Shelton standing inside. After the door of the elevator opened, he came out, looking somewhat gloomy. He had realized that it was a single-sided glass elevator. Walking out of the elevator and seeing that Shirley and me both standing at the door of the elevator, Shelton managed to curl up the corner of his mouth, asking, "Are you done measuring the size?"