Day 12

Day 11

Your character gets trapped in an elevator with someone he or she is afraid of

(you decide why)…

Day 11m

“Going up” sang out the elevator operator as we all ran to catch the lift as the doors opened. I needed to get to the penthouse this morning before anyone else did.

Crushed inside that small elevator with all those people almost made me queasy; it’s not my favourite way of travel, and the crush of bodies, with the accompanying odours of damp overcoats, stale perfumes, various aftershaves and umbrellas and leather briefcases jostling against my legs gave me the shudders.

As the elevator rose through the various levels of the building, there was some small relief as some riders left , but that was very short lived as others got on from different floors. This was a very tall office building too, and we had many more floors to go before my rendezvous.

The camera pinched my hand as someone bumped into me getting on., and I must have gasped. He did apologise, and I stole a quick peek at him from under my hood. Tall and dark featured, he smiled at me. I looked back at the floor; not wanting anyone to remember me when and if the event occurred. I didn’t even want anyone to remember that I was carrying a camera, not a briefcase. I had wondered whether I would be less noticeable with a briefcase, but had decided against it, needing to be able to get the shot quickly before I was noticed.

Gradually the crowd thinned out as the elevator reached the higher floors; the more “elevated’ floors where the executives would be working in the offices. I knew most of them would be in earlier that the regular office staff; he made sure of that. He didn’t like slackers amongst the people he had chosen to lead.

The mirrored walls of the elevator showed fewer reflections as we travelled higher, until there were just a few of us riders standing, watching the luminous numbers marking our way upwards, not looking at each other, waiting to be carried to the very top floors of the building.

At last, the elevator doors pinged as it reached the penthouse floor. I disembarked, head down and hood up, still clutching the camera, and hoping against hope that it would be alright. With my heart pounding, I set off along the thickly carpeted corridor to his door. I was walking so fast that I didn’t have time to admire the artwork on the walls, or the marble statues that adorned the hallway. My mind was firmly fixed on my mission. I had come here to do one thing and one thing only, and nothing was going to get in my way. Pulling the camera out from under my raincoat I paused to catch my breath. If my hands were shaky because I was out of breath, then the shot would be wasted. There would be only this one chance to get it right.

That pause was the undoing of me; had I not been so determined and unconscious of my surroundings, I would have realized that there was someone else coming along behind me. As I stopped, he strode up beside me. It was the tall stranger who had ridden up in the elevator at the same time as me. My mistake – I had been so deeply concentrated on what I was intending that I hadn’t noticed him get off on the penthouse level.

He took hold of my raincoat and tugged me around. I could feel the strength in him now, and knew that the game was up. Twisting my arm and pushing me hard, he hurried me back to the elevator doors . I hoped and prayed that the elevator had gone but he had jammed the door open so that it wouldn’t go back down……………… he almost threw me inside, and removed the case that had blocked the doorway. The elevator doors closed with their silent swish, and I was alone in that small mirrored room with him. He hit all the buttons on the pad, and the elevator juddered to a halt. I knew then that I needed to be afraid – very afraid. My queasiness returned, fast. I felt sick with fear, this time.

He took the hood of my raincoat off my head, and gave me that small smile again. I looked down and saw nothing but those big hands.

**************************

I needed to get out of this elevator. Now.

The stench of his sweat filled my nostrils, suffocating me. It had clearly been a few days since he had showered, or even shaved, judging by the stubble that hid his cheeks. I doubted he cared; right now, I was pretty sure he could have been standing there naked and he wouldn’t have noticed.

It wasn’t the smell of the booze that gave him away, it was the red rimmed eyes, gazing at me hungrily – or rather the wall next to me. It was the way he leaned against the elevator as if his world was spinning, which I guessed it was.

There was something about him that unnerved me.

Perhaps it wouldn’t have been too bad if there were other people here, but there wasn’t. We were alone.

There would be nobody to help me.

There would be nobody to hear me scream.

I shook my head forcibly. Thinking like that wouldn’t help anyone. The chances of him trying to hurt me where slim. It was far more likely that he would vomit or pass out before he even managed to cross the enclosed space.

I just needed to stay calm.

Two more stops and I would be out of here, in the crowded lobby where somebody else could take care of him, put him in a cab and send him as far as way from me as possible.

If only he would stop looking at me like that.

I could see the desire in his eyes as they raked over my petite frame. There was an animalistic edge to them, a wildness that made it hard to stay composed. Seeing the obsession in his glance made me want to run from the four walls that held me captive. Stuck in this goddamn metal box, I felt a strange sense of claustrophobia settle over me. I needed to get out, gulp at something other than this stale air.

The minute the doors began to slide open painstakingly slowly, I bolted. Without so much as a backward glance, I weaved through the crowds into the night, gasping. When I felt my pulse begin to calm, I began walking, glad to be out, free, no longer the drunk’s prey.

I was free.

I was safe.

If only I had looked behind me, I would have realized that this hunter wasn’t ready to let me go.