My fists hit against the aged metal doors, hoping my father would hear them from down the hall.

Another 5 minutes of that yielded no results, and I was stuck staring at a mirror funhouse version of myself in the most unflattering light.

The call button on it of course wasn’t working either, though who would I even reach. I doubted it was connected to anything anymore. Seriously, how did father do this every day?

He probably takes the stairs.

I kept jamming the open door button, but they didn’t budge. I had even flexed my muscles and tried to pry the doors apart, but they didn’t budge. None of the floor buttons did anything either; they were all lit up now, but the elevator didn’t even sway. The only buttons that I hadn’t tried were the very last three, B1, B2, and B3. It was clear that they led to the basement levels.

No one ventured down to the basement; there was no need. Father had mentioned that it was mostly storage, and I believed him. Or rather, I didn’t want to think about what was actually down there. Basements for old houses creeped me out; I didn’t want to think about what an abandoned lab basement looked like.

My finger hesitated as it hovered over the B. I didn’t want to go down there, but I didn’t want to spend the night in an elevator that could drop me to my death either.

I pressed it and held my breath. Nothing. I pressed it again. Also nothing.

Great. None of these fucking works! I thought as I slammed my hand up and down the console in frustration.

The elevator groaned and readjusted itself. Then it began to slowly descend.

All the buttons were lit now, every floor we got to I prayed it would stop and open the doors, but it just kept going down.

8,7,6,5,4

Oh come on, just stop.

2,1,B1,B2, B3

The doors creaked open, and before me stood a dark void. The light from the elevator barely made a dent against the darkness.

Like hell I am getting off here.

I pressed the door close button but nothing moved.

My eyes kept watch on the darkness. Something inside me told me to keep watch, because as soon as I turned away from it, something hiding within it would reach out for me. I had never been afraid of the dark, not even as a child, but now, as I stood slamming down on every single button, something made me want to be far away from it, in a brightly lit room.

The elevator refused to move. Not even to close its doors.

I would have to take the stairs. The thought popped into my head, and I immediately groaned.

Fumbling with my phone, I relied on muscle memory to turn the flashlight option on. Not wanting to take my eyes off the black abyss in front of me. Luckily, the light beam turned on, and I pointed it out front. It reached further than the light of the open elevator, but not by much.

Forcing one foot in front of the other, I stepped out.