The 11th Floor

by Charles Culver

  Once on the sidewalk in front of the building, he gazed around looking for clues as to why people would be heading there. A sign was taped to the inside of the glass door, which read “Community appreciation day. Free chicken and beer for everyone!”

  “Damn, free food and booze, no wonder. I like this place,” said Eddie. “I hope they don’t hassle me. I could really use something to eat and a beer sounds great right now, with all this weird shit happening.”

  “Okay,” he said while looking around for the name of the company. “Koenig Development Systems… whatever the hell that means. Lead the way to the free food!”

  He pulled open the door to the lobby and casually walked inside.

  Eddie didn’t smell any food. He certainly didn’t see any food. Was this some kind of joke? He didn’t like jokes that included both the promise and withholding of food. He didn’t find it funny and he was most definitely not laughing. He needed an explanation.

  Against the wall near the elevators was the reception desk. Surely he could find someone there to help, but it appeared no one was around. He did, however, see a sign on the counter that resembled a small sandwich board containing a picture of a fried chicken wing and a can of beer.

  “Oh, here we go. Let’s see…” he said while walking closer to the sign.

  “Community party. Free food and beer, today only. 11th floor café,” read the sign.

  “Oh man, this is gonna be great,” exclaimed Eddie.

  He quickly moved over to the elevators and pressed the call button. Soon, the bell made its ding noise and the doors opened. He jumped inside, spun around, and pressed the button labeled eleven.

  “I hope they have some slaw too,” he said. “I can’t have chicken and beer without slaw. I may be homeless, but I’m not a savage.”

  He became giddy, filled with the idea of stuffing himself with tons of free food. As the elevator doors were closing, he heard an intense demented laughter coming from above the elevator’s ceiling. He wanted to get back out, but the doors were closed too far to fit through, so he jammed his arm through the gap. It didn’t stop them from closing and instead the doors closed tightly on his forearm.

  “Aaahhhh,” yelled Eddie as he pulled back, squeezing his arm through the doors.

  “Ow, my arm,” he said.

  When he rolled up his sleeve, he could see the door had managed to break the skin causing it to bleed slightly. He furiously pressed buttons, at first just “Door Open”, and then moving on to all of them, followed by the red emergency button. None of the buttons had any effect, and the elevator car began moving. Only a few seconds after starting, it screeched to a stop. The normal lights flickered and shut off which triggered the dim emergency lights to power on.

  He remembered the phone that was usually hidden in the panel below the buttons. Throwing the little door open, he grabbed out the phone and began screaming obscenities into it, mostly out of fear and anger, but also in the hopes that someone would quickly come to his aid.

  A voice came over the phone, “How can I help you, sir?”

  Eddie screamed, “You have to get me out of this thing, it’s haunted and tried to eat me.”

  “Don’t be ridiculous, sir. Just sit tight and we’ll have you out of there soon. In the meantime, try to relax.”

  “You relax. Get me out of this goddamned thing,” said Eddie.

  “Goddamned? I’ll tell you what. I’ll let you out when I’m ready. How about that?”

  Stunned, Eddie stood there in silence. The voice on the phone was the person responsible for his arm being hurt. It had to be.

  “I’m sorry. Could I please get out now? Please?” Eddie begged.

  The voice on the other side just chuckled and then hung up.

  “Hello? HELLO? Can someone help me here?” asked Eddie.

  He hung the phone back up and sat down in the corner of the elevator in the fetal position, crying softly.

  Chapter 14

  Both Tina and Joseph had been walking the streets for several minutes before finally coming upon Fourth Avenue. A quick survey of the building numbers revealed that they were very close, probably within a block, of number 110. Another large crack of lightning overhead quickly turned into a sudden torrential downpour of rain. They both took off running for number 110, which they could now see was a very short distance ahead.

  Just as they managed to make it under the awning of the building, the rain changed to large balls of hail. Relieved that they had made it to cover just in time, they both let out a sigh.

  “I think we are here, kiddo,” said Joseph while looking at the sign. “110 4th Avenue, Koenig Development Systems. That sounds familiar.”

  “Yeah Daddy, this is where my interview today was supposed to be,” replied Tina. “This is the business that Uncle Richie’s friend owns.”

  “Right, I’ll be damned. It’s like we are supposed to be here, or something,” said Joseph.

  “This is too weird. We tried our best to avoid this place and yet here we are,” said Tina.

  “Spooky,” they both said together.

  They turned and stared into the lobby, then looked back at each other.

  “Should we go in?” Tina asked.

  “As much as I don’t like this whole day so far, we certainly can’t stand out here in this crappy weather,” said Joseph.

  “I agree,” said Tina as she pulled open the door. “You first, Daddy.”

  “So that’s how it’s going to be, huh? Send the old man in first,” he said.

  He shook his head and cross the threshold.

  Walking behind her father, Tina followed Joseph into the lobby. Once inside, they realized that the place was empty, just like the rest of the city. Together, they stood alone in the lobby of the building, scanning the surroundings, looking for signs of life. Behind a door next to the desk, they heard a toilet flush, followed by the tearing and crumpling of a paper towel.

  Tina jumped behind her father and peeked out around his arm as the door slowly opened. Out walked a man dressed in overalls with unkempt, long curly hair. The three of them just stood silently for a few seconds, staring at each other.

  “Hi. Can I help you folks?” asked the man in overalls.

  “Maybe,” replied Joseph. “We are looking for some help. We crashed our car a few blocks over and saw a sign that said someone in this building could help us out. Any idea what that means or where we go?”

  “I’m just the janitor here, so I’m not exactly sure, but I bet the boss would know. He’s up on eleven.”

  “Hey, excuse me, Mr. - ,” said Tina.

  “Lou. Everyone calls me Lou. No Mister. Just Lou,” said the janitor.

  “Lou. OK. Lou, do you know where everyone went? The whole city is, like, abandoned,” said Tina.

  “Right. There was no one around anywhere that we saw,” added Joseph.

  “No one was around at all, but you crashed your car? How did you manage that?” asked Lou.

  “Oh never mind, my eyes were playing tricks on me. Forget it. Do you know where everyone is,” replied Joseph.

  “Can’t say I know anything about any missing people. I’ve been here all night cleaning,” said Lou. “Boss says that some VIPs are coming today and he wants to make a good impression on them. He wants this place spotless,” explained Lou.

  “Alright, I guess we’ll head up to eleven and ask your boss if he can help us out. Maybe he knows what is going on. Thanks anyway, Lou,” said Joseph.

  “No problem, sorry I couldn’t help more,” said Lou. “Oh, but if you are going to go up to eleven, I would suggest taking the service elevator in the back. These main ones have been acting funny.”

  Both Tina and Joseph just stared at him with a puzzled look on their faces.

  “I’ll show you where it is, follow me,” said Lou.

  They followed the janitor around across the lobby and through some hallways and into the back room where the service elevator was located.

  “Crazy we
ather we are having today, huh,” said Lou. “Ah, here you go, the service elevator. Just get in, press eleven. You’re good to go.”

  “Yeah, sure is, thanks again, Lou,” replied Joseph.

  Tina and Joseph both stepped into the elevator and turned around to face the door. When they turned around, Lou was gone. They popped their heads out and looked around, but he was nowhere to be seen. Tina shrugged her shoulders at her father and pressed the button for eleven. The doors closed.

  “Why did that janitor guy, Lou, say the weather was crazy,” said Tina. “The only way he would have known the weather was bad was if he looked outside.”

  “Right. If he saw the weather, he sure as heck would have seen the lack of people out there,” said Joseph. “Something doesn’t add up with this guy.”

  A minute later, the elevator bell made a ding and the doors opened. Tina was the first to step out; however, as soon as she was through, the doors quickly shut and trapped Joseph inside.

  “Daddy,” she yelled.

  Tina began repeatedly pressing the button to call the elevator, but to no avail. She could hear the elevator start moving, then immediately stop. The doors opened, revealing Joseph standing inside, but the elevator had moved down one half the height of the car.

  The both of them tried pressing buttons, but the elevator did not respond to anything. He would have to climb out.

  “Oh man, I don’t like this at all,” said Joseph. “This is something you always see in horror movies.”

  “Daddy, you have to climb out, you can’t leave me out here alone,” said Tina.

  “Okay, but we do this fast, I mean, really fast,” said Joseph. “I’ll jump up and pull myself out, you try to hold the doors open. Ready?”

  “Yes, ready. Go,” said Tina as she leaned against one door trying to brace it open.

  Joseph jumped, pulled himself up, and belly flopped on to the tile floor. He crawled out a bit when suddenly the elevator car dropped down a little more, trapping his right foot.

  Tina screeched, fearing the worst.

  “Shit,” yelled Joseph. “Quick! Untie my shoe! Hurry!”

  Tina scrambled to his foot and pulled at the laces as Joseph squirmed, managing to get his foot free, minus the shoe.

  Once free, they stood up and hugged each other. The elevator doors opened, and the car came back up to the correct position. He wanted to get his shoe, but didn’t want to go back inside that damned elevator. Instead of trying to retrieve it, he just kicked off his other shoe so he wouldn’t be walking crooked. Almost as if the elevator knew it couldn’t lure him back in, the doors closed.

  They both now stood alongside the closed elevator door, staring at a ground floor lobby. To their left were a reception desk and a door marked as a restroom.

  “Impossible,” said Joseph.

  “This looks awfully familiar,” said Tina.

  “It should, this is the damn lobby where we saw Lou,” replied Joseph. “How the hell did we come out of the main elevator on the first floor when we entered the service elevator and rode it up to eleven? It doesn’t make any damn sense.”

  They both looked at each other, then around the room.

  “The hell with this place, let’s get out of here,” said Joseph, as he took his daughter’s hand and pulled her with him, making a mad dash for the exit back to the street.

  Chapter 15

  Something had just brushed against his leg. He didn’t want to stick around to find out what it was, even though it felt small. Luke stumbled back, turned around, and made a dash back down the escalator to the floor below.

  At the bottom of the escalator was something he had not noticed before. Bloody footprints were leading away from the center of the room where the garbage can sat. They headed around the escalator to the back of the room, right up to a closed door.

  He followed them back, pressed his ear up against the door, and listened carefully. He did not hear anyone or anything on the other side of the door. Slowly and quietly, he turned the knob. Once the knob was fully turned, he threw open the door, intent on surprising someone and not being caught off-guard himself.

  The door slammed into a pile of boxes and a metal shelf filled with cleaning products. A man in overalls, holding a Playboy magazine, jumped up from a chair.

  “Whoa! Damn, you scared me. Can I help you with something?” asked the man.

  “Who are you and what happened to everyone?” asked Luke. “What’s with all the blood out here?”

  “First, my name is Lou,” replied the man. “Second, I don’t know what you are talking about. I have been here all night so I don’t know anything about any missing people.”

  “Third,” he added, “what blood are you talking about?”

  “I’m talking about the blood out here in this room; the bloody footprints that led me to this door.”

  “I just cleaned that room only a few minutes ago and there was no blood.”

  “Well, it’s there now. Take a look for yourself.”

  Luke led Lou out into the room. The room was immaculate. Nothing misplaced, nothing overturned, and certainly no blood anywhere to be seen.

  “Blood, huh? Kid, I think you better see a doctor,” said Lou.

  “But— it was here. I saw it. It was a huge mess. There was blood all over the place, dripping into a bucket from the ceiling. I almost slipped on it,” said Luke. “I couldn’t have imagined it. I couldn’t. It was real.”

  “Listen, I have been here cleaning this building all night. Boss says a bunch of VIPs are coming today and I have to get this place spotless for their arrival,” said Lou. “I haven’t seen or heard anything unusual at all.”

  “Well, someone called me earlier from this building,” said Luke.

  “There is no one here yet, besides me and the boss. Perhaps you should go talk to him,” said Lou. “He is on floor eleven. Just go on up. OH, but take the stairs. Elevators are having problems.”

  “Yeah, the boss is a good idea. I think I will do that,” said Luke. “Which way are the stairs?”

  Lou turned and pointed at another door along the back wall.

  “Over there. That door there is the stairwell.”

  “Thanks, Lou.”

  “You’re welcome. Hey, good luck with the boss,” said Lou.

  Luke turned, walked to the stairwell door, pushed it open and began ascending the stairs.

  A few minutes of climbing and almost half-way up to the eleventh floor, a thought occurred to him.

  “Why did he say he didn’t know anything about any missing people,” said Luke. “I never said missing; I only asked what happened to everyone.”

  From many floors below, Luke heard a door creak open then slam shut. He stopped walking so he could listen quietly. He expected to hear someone approaching, footsteps or something else, but he heard nothing.

  “Hello,” called Luke. “Who is there? Is someone down there?”

  He received no answer. Dismissing it as some kind of building settling or HVAC-generated pressure change, he continued climbing. As he went, he occasionally kept looking down the center of the staircase over the railing to be sure he wasn’t being followed.

  He made it up one more floor before he noticed that the lights on the bottom of the stairwell had gone dark. He paused to look and the next set of lights went out too, followed by the next.

  “Oh crap,” said Luke.

  His slow climb turned into a sprint up the stairs. The quicker he went, the quicker the lights below him went off. The darkness pursued him faster than he could run until eventually it caught up to him. A second before the lights went out, he reached the next landing and found a door labeled number nine. He charged through the door just as the stairwell completely succumbed to darkness.

  Chapter 16

  Approximately five minutes had passed from when Jonathan stepped into the elevator and pressed the button for floor eleven. He considered himself a patient man, but five minutes for a ten-floor trip in an elevator was absur
d. Something was clearly wrong with this elevator.

  Impatience got the best of him, and he began pressing buttons in a futile attempt to make the elevator go faster. First it was just button eleven, over and over, but quickly changed to any and all buttons. That seemed to do the trick. The elevator made its “ding” noise and the doors opened. The display indicated that he was now on floor six.

  “One minute per floor,” he said while looking at his watch. “Completely insane. That is way too slow. What is going on today? Everything is broken.”

  He stepped out of the elevator, which closed quickly and suddenly behind him.

  All the employees jokingly referred to floor number six as the cubicle floor. This was where all the programmers sat plugging away at their computers for eight hours a day. He shuddered to think of what that must be like. He could never live without the spaciousness of his corner office, loaded with windows, natural light, and all his plants. In fact, his office was almost a greenhouse and he loved it that way. He had to hire someone whose sole duty was taking care of all his plants.

  “Anyone here?” he yelled.

  He received no response, so he slowly walked around the perimeter of the room, looking into the cubicles as he passed each one by. Every one of them looked the same; computer, monitor, filing cabinet. Only minor differences set them apart, such as pictures of loved ones, cats, dogs, etc.

  As he continued passing each cubicle, he noticed that every computer was on and logged in. The occasional cubicle had a radio playing music at a soft volume as to not disturb their neighbors but still break up the silence.

  At the end of the row of cubicles, he saw that the door for the manager’s office at the end was ajar. He approached the door and pushed it open slowly with his foot. Once the door was fully open, he saw a janitor sitting behind the manager’s desk, staring out the window with his back to the door.