This short story is based off the urban legend game Elevator to Another World. I changed some parts of the instructions so a wandering eye won't get any ideas.
Chapter 1: The Elevator
It was a normal day that started like every other monotonous day. This was something that Margo dreaded.
Work, sleep, wake up, work, go get groceries, stay inside, sleep, wake up, work, grab the mail, go home, sleep. She hated this never-ending cycle that she was forced to call a routine. Margo had few friends, and was mostly a shut-in if she wasn't working at the restaurant downtown in the kitchen all day. It was a predicament; she wished to have had a more exciting life than her current one, but was too exhausted to do much more than fulfill her daily tasks.
I don't want to be doomed to a life of monotony forever; but at the same time, I hate the idea of going to places filled with strangers to make friends.
Margo hated these thoughts that she would only get when she was alone, very late at night. It made her loneliness much worse, and she often would put hours into trying to put her complicated feelings into words. Hours into the night would pass by where Margo put countless search entries and come up with only a mixed bag of answers. She ended up neglecting to take her insomnia medications for several nights in a row, which she strangely didn't notice for the first few days.
On her days off, she would sleep excessively and indulge in the internet. These days weren't usually productive, which exacerbated her feelings of inferiority to anyone ‘normal’ by comparison, due to being left with her own thoughts. But recently, she had found interest in mysteries. Mystery novels, debunking urban legends, reading about urban legends, participating in blog discussions that picked apart years-old mysteries that remained unsolved. It kept her mind busy, but it made her mind wander about what couldn't be explained by cold hard facts alone.
That was when Margo began to read more about urban legends. At first, she read about simple ones like the more common cryptids-- Mothman, the Lochness Monster, Wendigos, the Chupacabra. Then she explored urban legends like The Crying Woman, the woman with a surgical mask, Futakuchi-onna, Yuki-onna. Eventually, she stayed up late solely to read as many urban myths as she could before eventually falling asleep. But she wanted to read something.. more. Something that would give her some real interest. These urban legends didn't really intrigue her past wondering what they actually look like, and how well they can become debunked under the right magnifying glass.
One night after work, she read up on the most recent discussion posts for the mystery-lovers’ website she frequented as of late. Margo found a thread that caught her eye-- it was a thread with links to ‘rituals’, or supernatural games one can play. She wasn't a pious person by any means, nor was she exactly a believer in the supernatural; she simply found it as interesting as a fantasy novel would be to an escapist daydreamer.
Some ‘games’ were interesting to read, but Margo found as utterly pointless besides giving someone a reason to revisit their fear of the dark. Some rituals, she picked apart as she read along. If any of these were particularly real, she didn't see any direct benefit from inviting some supernatural entity to your home. The last one she had read on the list, however, was one Margo found the most interest in.
“Elevator to the Alter-World.”
The Alter-World? Margo clicked the link, and was led to what seemed to be a blog site that archived multiple ‘games’ that toyed with the paranormal. This page, titled the same as the web link, but detailed full-length instructions. Margo felt her heart rate increase. She couldn't understand why-- perhaps it was because the title was an eerie parallel to the phrase “Stairway to Heaven?” She continued reading, feeling compelled to do so, now much more awake than the last links she had boredly skimmed over.
“Before you begin, you must procure 2 things; otherwise, the game will not work.”
“Venturing Out:
Enter the building and get into the elevator on the first floor alone. Do not proceed if anyone else is in the elevator.
Press the button for the 4th floor.
When the elevator reaches the fourth floor, do not get out. Remain in the elevator and press the button for the 3rd floor.
When you reach the 3rd floor, remain in the elevator and press the button for the 6th floor.
When you reach the 6th floor, remain in the elevator and press the button for the 2nd floor.
When you reach the 2nd floor, remain in the elevator and press the button for the 10th floor.
When you reach the 10th floor, remain in the elevator and press the button for the 5th floor.
When you reach the 5th floor, a young woman may enter the elevator. Do not look at her and do not speak to her.”
Margo furrowed her eyebrows at this sentence. Was the woman just not human, or what? Does this game just summon a demon woman into riding an elevator with you? She scrolled down the page.
“Press the button for the first floor. If the elevator ascends to the tenth floor instead of descending to the first, then proceed. If the elevator descends to the first floor, exit as soon as the doors open. Do not look back or speak. If you reach the tenth floor, you may either choose to get off the elevator or to stay on it. If you choose to get off, and if the woman entered the elevator on the fifth floor, she will ask, “Where are you going?” Do NOT answer her or look at her. You will know whether you have arrived at the Alter-World by one indication, and one indication only: The only person present in it is you.”
So you go through all that anxiety just to be in some other dimension by yourself?... Margo thought it was a relatively good deal. No blood sacrifices, you only need to avert your gaze (which she was already good at), and you can go to a world where it's just you, all for yourself. Margo wondered what it would all look like. The description was quite vague, so this was either to let your imagination run wild, or to draw people into playing. So far, Margo saw that there wasn't really a ‘catch’ to any of this besides the woman. But how do you get back?
“To Return:
If you chose to stay on the elevator at the tenth floor: Press the button for the first floor. If it doesn’t work, keep pressing it until it finally does. When the elevator reaches the first floor, exit as soon as the doors open. Do not look back. Do not speak.
If you choose to exit the elevator at the tenth floor: You must use the same elevator to return as the one in which you arrived.
When you enter the elevator, press the buttons in the same order you did in steps 2 through 8. You should finish at the fifth floor. When you reach the fifth floor, press the button for the first floor. The elevator will again begin to ascend to the tenth floor. Press any other floor’s button to cancel the ascension before you reach the 10th floor.
After you reach the first floor, check your surroundings carefully. If anything seems off—even the smallest detail—do NOT exit the elevator. If you detect something wrong, repeat step 2 until your surroundings look as they should. Once you are confident you have returned to our world, you may safely exit the elevator.”
Margo drummed her fingers on her desk. She couldn't believe she was actually considering playing this foolish game. But then again, what is there to lose? If she thought about it rationally, the worst that could happen was that she'd have wasted about 20 minutes in an elevator. The best that could happen was that she managed to travel to a different dimension altogether.
But what if she accidentally looks at the woman?
“Additional notes from the author: I have only managed to find these scattered about the internet to translate, and have found no concrete proof. So feel free to take it with a grain of salt.
Should you reach the Alter-World, the floor onto which you will emerge will look almost identical to the one from our world. However, the lights will be off, and the only thing you will be able to see from the windows is a red cross in the distance.
Some say that electronics don’t work in the Alter-World; others say they do. Getting back to our world may be more difficult as you may become disoriented and forget which elevator in which you arrived; the elevator may seem to get further and further away from you, et cetera. Be vigilant; if at any point you faint, pass out, or otherwise lose consciousness, you will likely wake up in your own home. However, be sure to carefully examine your surroundings upon waking—the “home” to which you have been returned may not be the one you left when you first set out to attempt this ritual.
Concerning the woman on the Fifth Floor: Do NOT speak to her. Do NOT look at her.”
At this moment, Margo’s mind completely ignored the weight that the word ‘ritual’ carried. She felt fascinated by the elevator game, lured in by the promise of a chance to visit a completely different world than that of the one she knew. This was the excitement she was looking for! Margo’s mind was set-- she would play the game. Perhaps in this newfound knowledge of a possible nexus opening to another dimension, she unconsciously undermined the ominous warnings heeding the player to avoid the elevator woman at all costs.
I should only do it when I have the next day off and I'm not totally exhausted. Margo yawned as she bookmarked the links regarding the game and shut down her computer for the night. I'll just write down the instructions tomorrow before I head to work.
. . .
The next morning, Margo showed up to work about an hour before the opening shift would start. Her shift slogged by slowly due to her mind constantly wandering to the outcomes from playing the elevator game. She wondered what the woman would look like. A normal person? A creepy zombie? An apparition?
“...Hello? Margo! Hey! You're holding up the orders!”
Margo blinked, snapping out of her distracted trance, before looking at her coworker. “Oh, uh, sorry…”
Her coworker, Lindsay, glared at her from her station. “We’ve got a rush going, get with the program and wake up!” She finished a plate and sent it out. “Are you sick or something? You aren't usually so spacey.”
“I-I’m fine,” Margo ducked her head and buried herself in her work, hoping Lindsay wouldn't notice the dark rings under her eyes...
“You need to actually go to bed instead of staying up doing whatever it is hoping you’ll fall asleep. I thought you ditched that habit?” Lindsay asked, in a low tone to avoid drawing attention to her friend.
“S-sorry, I am taking the capsules for my insomnia, but… my memory has been getting bad, so I forgot to last night. And didn't notice until it was too late,” Margo explained. “Don’t worry…”
The work day was uneventful from that moment on. When the next night drew near, Margo made sure to have gotten 9 hours sleep the night before and wrote down the instructions from her bookmarks on some index cards she found lying about. She almost couldn't believe she was actually going to do this. Although she had the next day off, she decided to board the elevator at 1:30 a.m., and had brought an analog watch with her to keep track of the time. Since her apartment was on the 7th floor, she had to ride it down to the lobby floor before actually beginning the elevator game.
Margo decided to take in the sights of the lobby of her apartment complex before she began. Her apartment building was fairly old, and was renovated in the early 80s, which was evident by the retro feel of the lobby.Only a few people were there, and one of them was the building manager who took the night shift with the security guard at times. If they were gone when she came back, then, according to the game’s rules, she should not get off of the elevator just yet.
Time to get this over with. Margo pressed the call button, and stepped in the middle elevator of the three to press the button for the fourth floor. Surprisingly, she didn't feel herself shaking with anxiety, nor did she feel her hands begin to sweat. At least, not then. Nobody was waiting to board the elevator, to Margo’s surprise.
From then, she looked at her paper and began the sequence. Up to the 4th floor, down to the 3rd, up to the 6th floor, down to the 2nd floor, then up to the 10th floor. While this was rather uneventful as the doors opened to empty hallways, Margo didn't feel any anxiety up until the elevator began going to the 10th floor, because then, is when she had to go to the 5th. The fifth floor was where she would possibly encounter the woman.
Her hands shook as she pressed the button for the 5th floor, and she instinctively began scooting for the corner so she forced herself to be looking only at the button panel. Margo snuck glances at the screen that displayed the floor number; it felt like eternity during this descent, but as the number was lowering down to 5, she felt her body shake more, her hands becoming clammy, and could feel her fingertips go numb as her nervousness built up.
Margo sucked in a breath when she saw the screen reach ‘5’, and immediately kept her sight focused to the button panel.
No matter what…
The elevator dinged, the chime sounding much louder this time to her distracted mind, and she heard the doors slide open. Margo heard soft clicks of heeled shoes and felt them move past her to the middle of the elevator. Her breathing grew shaky.
Shit shit shit! Don't look at her, don't speak to her… don't even think about it. Just press the button.
Margo shakily aimed her finger at the button for the first floor, almost opening her mouth to ask what floor whoever entered wished to go before forcing it shut. Hesitantly, she pressed the button.
“Oh? Going down?” The sound of a young woman echoed inside the elevator, making Margo’s heart rate accelerate. As if she expected Margo to ignore her question, she heard the woman chuckle softly.
Margo couldn't resist to look at the woman before long. She knew she couldn't look directly at her, and the rules never said anything about sneaking a peek through your peripheral vision. Margo straightened her back and let her eyes scan the floor. Not far behind her, she saw a pair of black Mary Jane shoes standing perfectly still. The woman was wearing scarlet tights, and cast an oddly shaped shadow. Margo didn't dare try to look any further, fearing she would see something terrifying. She allowed her mind to fill in the details instead; judging by the sound of the woman’s voice, she had to be no older than the early thirties, probably nicely dressed if she were wearing tights and dress shoes.
Suddenly, Margo registered that she was not feeling the elevator go down, but up. She looked up again and the display confirmed her fears-- she was heading for the top floor according to the instructions. Rather than feel excited that she played the elevator game correctly, she felt more anxious.
“Oh my god,” she whispered to herself in shock. Before she knew it, she heard the dreaded ‘ding’ of the elevator again. Slowly adjusting her position from her spot, she saw the 10th floor of the apartment building, but…
All the lights had looked nearly shut off; as if someone had dipped the light fixtures in some transparent murky film, giving the hall a severely dimmed light. The air in the elevator was suddenly freezing cold, making Margo shiver uncontrollably.
I can choose to leave, or stay in here. No way in Hell am I staying with this freaky lady. Margo thought before quickly exiting the elevator. She made it two steps out when the young woman spoke up.
“Where are you going?~”
Margo walked faster into the dimly lit hallway as the woman’s voice echoed into a sinister jeer. Margo didn't wish to turn around or stop running until she heard the elevator doors close.
She was alone now and felt like she stood inside a run-down freezer. The only living soul in the Alter-World, accompanied solely by the buzzing of what she assumed to be the complex’s ventilation unit. Time didn't matter here; the second-hand on her watch seemed to move incredibly slowly. Margo knew it would probably be a matter of time before she passed out, which she guessed was from how difficult it was to actually breathe. The air was freezing cold, and felt incredibly heavy to inhale. Like her lungs couldn't stand the foreign air she now breathed. Perhaps the Alter-World was perpetually draining the life force of anyone who entered it.
She was already outside of the elevator, so she may as well take the time she had to explore the Alter-World. Margo continued walking to the end of the hall, toward the window she knew was there. The city beyond the building just seemed to be a dead one-- there was no true light in sight, just as there were no stars in the sky. The sky and the clouds were mismatched in hue-- like the clouds were of a different color than the black sky.
Then she saw it. The red cross in the sky, looming over the dead city and emitting an unsettling red light as if it were the moon itself. She felt her stomach sink as the temperature of the hallway suddenly changed drastically. Her breath was no longer visible.
She wasn't alone anymore.
Work, sleep, wake up, work, go get groceries, stay inside, sleep, wake up, work, grab the mail, go home, sleep. She hated this never-ending cycle that she was forced to call a routine. Margo had few friends, and was mostly a shut-in if she wasn't working at the restaurant downtown in the kitchen all day. It was a predicament; she wished to have had a more exciting life than her current one, but was too exhausted to do much more than fulfill her daily tasks.
I don't want to be doomed to a life of monotony forever; but at the same time, I hate the idea of going to places filled with strangers to make friends.
Margo hated these thoughts that she would only get when she was alone, very late at night. It made her loneliness much worse, and she often would put hours into trying to put her complicated feelings into words. Hours into the night would pass by where Margo put countless search entries and come up with only a mixed bag of answers. She ended up neglecting to take her insomnia medications for several nights in a row, which she strangely didn't notice for the first few days.
On her days off, she would sleep excessively and indulge in the internet. These days weren't usually productive, which exacerbated her feelings of inferiority to anyone ‘normal’ by comparison, due to being left with her own thoughts. But recently, she had found interest in mysteries. Mystery novels, debunking urban legends, reading about urban legends, participating in blog discussions that picked apart years-old mysteries that remained unsolved. It kept her mind busy, but it made her mind wander about what couldn't be explained by cold hard facts alone.
That was when Margo began to read more about urban legends. At first, she read about simple ones like the more common cryptids-- Mothman, the Lochness Monster, Wendigos, the Chupacabra. Then she explored urban legends like The Crying Woman, the woman with a surgical mask, Futakuchi-onna, Yuki-onna. Eventually, she stayed up late solely to read as many urban myths as she could before eventually falling asleep. But she wanted to read something.. more. Something that would give her some real interest. These urban legends didn't really intrigue her past wondering what they actually look like, and how well they can become debunked under the right magnifying glass.
One night after work, she read up on the most recent discussion posts for the mystery-lovers’ website she frequented as of late. Margo found a thread that caught her eye-- it was a thread with links to ‘rituals’, or supernatural games one can play. She wasn't a pious person by any means, nor was she exactly a believer in the supernatural; she simply found it as interesting as a fantasy novel would be to an escapist daydreamer.
Some ‘games’ were interesting to read, but Margo found as utterly pointless besides giving someone a reason to revisit their fear of the dark. Some rituals, she picked apart as she read along. If any of these were particularly real, she didn't see any direct benefit from inviting some supernatural entity to your home. The last one she had read on the list, however, was one Margo found the most interest in.
“Elevator to the Alter-World.”
The Alter-World? Margo clicked the link, and was led to what seemed to be a blog site that archived multiple ‘games’ that toyed with the paranormal. This page, titled the same as the web link, but detailed full-length instructions. Margo felt her heart rate increase. She couldn't understand why-- perhaps it was because the title was an eerie parallel to the phrase “Stairway to Heaven?” She continued reading, feeling compelled to do so, now much more awake than the last links she had boredly skimmed over.
“Before you begin, you must procure 2 things; otherwise, the game will not work.”
- You must find an elevator in a building with at least 10 floors.
- You must be the sole rider of the lift-- the game will not work should others enter the elevator."
“Venturing Out:
Enter the building and get into the elevator on the first floor alone. Do not proceed if anyone else is in the elevator.
Press the button for the 4th floor.
When the elevator reaches the fourth floor, do not get out. Remain in the elevator and press the button for the 3rd floor.
When you reach the 3rd floor, remain in the elevator and press the button for the 6th floor.
When you reach the 6th floor, remain in the elevator and press the button for the 2nd floor.
When you reach the 2nd floor, remain in the elevator and press the button for the 10th floor.
When you reach the 10th floor, remain in the elevator and press the button for the 5th floor.
When you reach the 5th floor, a young woman may enter the elevator. Do not look at her and do not speak to her.”
Margo furrowed her eyebrows at this sentence. Was the woman just not human, or what? Does this game just summon a demon woman into riding an elevator with you? She scrolled down the page.
“Press the button for the first floor. If the elevator ascends to the tenth floor instead of descending to the first, then proceed. If the elevator descends to the first floor, exit as soon as the doors open. Do not look back or speak. If you reach the tenth floor, you may either choose to get off the elevator or to stay on it. If you choose to get off, and if the woman entered the elevator on the fifth floor, she will ask, “Where are you going?” Do NOT answer her or look at her. You will know whether you have arrived at the Alter-World by one indication, and one indication only: The only person present in it is you.”
So you go through all that anxiety just to be in some other dimension by yourself?... Margo thought it was a relatively good deal. No blood sacrifices, you only need to avert your gaze (which she was already good at), and you can go to a world where it's just you, all for yourself. Margo wondered what it would all look like. The description was quite vague, so this was either to let your imagination run wild, or to draw people into playing. So far, Margo saw that there wasn't really a ‘catch’ to any of this besides the woman. But how do you get back?
“To Return:
If you chose to stay on the elevator at the tenth floor: Press the button for the first floor. If it doesn’t work, keep pressing it until it finally does. When the elevator reaches the first floor, exit as soon as the doors open. Do not look back. Do not speak.
If you choose to exit the elevator at the tenth floor: You must use the same elevator to return as the one in which you arrived.
When you enter the elevator, press the buttons in the same order you did in steps 2 through 8. You should finish at the fifth floor. When you reach the fifth floor, press the button for the first floor. The elevator will again begin to ascend to the tenth floor. Press any other floor’s button to cancel the ascension before you reach the 10th floor.
After you reach the first floor, check your surroundings carefully. If anything seems off—even the smallest detail—do NOT exit the elevator. If you detect something wrong, repeat step 2 until your surroundings look as they should. Once you are confident you have returned to our world, you may safely exit the elevator.”
Margo drummed her fingers on her desk. She couldn't believe she was actually considering playing this foolish game. But then again, what is there to lose? If she thought about it rationally, the worst that could happen was that she'd have wasted about 20 minutes in an elevator. The best that could happen was that she managed to travel to a different dimension altogether.
But what if she accidentally looks at the woman?
“Additional notes from the author: I have only managed to find these scattered about the internet to translate, and have found no concrete proof. So feel free to take it with a grain of salt.
Should you reach the Alter-World, the floor onto which you will emerge will look almost identical to the one from our world. However, the lights will be off, and the only thing you will be able to see from the windows is a red cross in the distance.
Some say that electronics don’t work in the Alter-World; others say they do. Getting back to our world may be more difficult as you may become disoriented and forget which elevator in which you arrived; the elevator may seem to get further and further away from you, et cetera. Be vigilant; if at any point you faint, pass out, or otherwise lose consciousness, you will likely wake up in your own home. However, be sure to carefully examine your surroundings upon waking—the “home” to which you have been returned may not be the one you left when you first set out to attempt this ritual.
Concerning the woman on the Fifth Floor: Do NOT speak to her. Do NOT look at her.”
At this moment, Margo’s mind completely ignored the weight that the word ‘ritual’ carried. She felt fascinated by the elevator game, lured in by the promise of a chance to visit a completely different world than that of the one she knew. This was the excitement she was looking for! Margo’s mind was set-- she would play the game. Perhaps in this newfound knowledge of a possible nexus opening to another dimension, she unconsciously undermined the ominous warnings heeding the player to avoid the elevator woman at all costs.
I should only do it when I have the next day off and I'm not totally exhausted. Margo yawned as she bookmarked the links regarding the game and shut down her computer for the night. I'll just write down the instructions tomorrow before I head to work.
. . .
The next morning, Margo showed up to work about an hour before the opening shift would start. Her shift slogged by slowly due to her mind constantly wandering to the outcomes from playing the elevator game. She wondered what the woman would look like. A normal person? A creepy zombie? An apparition?
“...Hello? Margo! Hey! You're holding up the orders!”
Margo blinked, snapping out of her distracted trance, before looking at her coworker. “Oh, uh, sorry…”
Her coworker, Lindsay, glared at her from her station. “We’ve got a rush going, get with the program and wake up!” She finished a plate and sent it out. “Are you sick or something? You aren't usually so spacey.”
“I-I’m fine,” Margo ducked her head and buried herself in her work, hoping Lindsay wouldn't notice the dark rings under her eyes...
“You need to actually go to bed instead of staying up doing whatever it is hoping you’ll fall asleep. I thought you ditched that habit?” Lindsay asked, in a low tone to avoid drawing attention to her friend.
“S-sorry, I am taking the capsules for my insomnia, but… my memory has been getting bad, so I forgot to last night. And didn't notice until it was too late,” Margo explained. “Don’t worry…”
The work day was uneventful from that moment on. When the next night drew near, Margo made sure to have gotten 9 hours sleep the night before and wrote down the instructions from her bookmarks on some index cards she found lying about. She almost couldn't believe she was actually going to do this. Although she had the next day off, she decided to board the elevator at 1:30 a.m., and had brought an analog watch with her to keep track of the time. Since her apartment was on the 7th floor, she had to ride it down to the lobby floor before actually beginning the elevator game.
Margo decided to take in the sights of the lobby of her apartment complex before she began. Her apartment building was fairly old, and was renovated in the early 80s, which was evident by the retro feel of the lobby.Only a few people were there, and one of them was the building manager who took the night shift with the security guard at times. If they were gone when she came back, then, according to the game’s rules, she should not get off of the elevator just yet.
Time to get this over with. Margo pressed the call button, and stepped in the middle elevator of the three to press the button for the fourth floor. Surprisingly, she didn't feel herself shaking with anxiety, nor did she feel her hands begin to sweat. At least, not then. Nobody was waiting to board the elevator, to Margo’s surprise.
From then, she looked at her paper and began the sequence. Up to the 4th floor, down to the 3rd, up to the 6th floor, down to the 2nd floor, then up to the 10th floor. While this was rather uneventful as the doors opened to empty hallways, Margo didn't feel any anxiety up until the elevator began going to the 10th floor, because then, is when she had to go to the 5th. The fifth floor was where she would possibly encounter the woman.
Her hands shook as she pressed the button for the 5th floor, and she instinctively began scooting for the corner so she forced herself to be looking only at the button panel. Margo snuck glances at the screen that displayed the floor number; it felt like eternity during this descent, but as the number was lowering down to 5, she felt her body shake more, her hands becoming clammy, and could feel her fingertips go numb as her nervousness built up.
Margo sucked in a breath when she saw the screen reach ‘5’, and immediately kept her sight focused to the button panel.
No matter what…
The elevator dinged, the chime sounding much louder this time to her distracted mind, and she heard the doors slide open. Margo heard soft clicks of heeled shoes and felt them move past her to the middle of the elevator. Her breathing grew shaky.
Shit shit shit! Don't look at her, don't speak to her… don't even think about it. Just press the button.
Margo shakily aimed her finger at the button for the first floor, almost opening her mouth to ask what floor whoever entered wished to go before forcing it shut. Hesitantly, she pressed the button.
“Oh? Going down?” The sound of a young woman echoed inside the elevator, making Margo’s heart rate accelerate. As if she expected Margo to ignore her question, she heard the woman chuckle softly.
Margo couldn't resist to look at the woman before long. She knew she couldn't look directly at her, and the rules never said anything about sneaking a peek through your peripheral vision. Margo straightened her back and let her eyes scan the floor. Not far behind her, she saw a pair of black Mary Jane shoes standing perfectly still. The woman was wearing scarlet tights, and cast an oddly shaped shadow. Margo didn't dare try to look any further, fearing she would see something terrifying. She allowed her mind to fill in the details instead; judging by the sound of the woman’s voice, she had to be no older than the early thirties, probably nicely dressed if she were wearing tights and dress shoes.
Suddenly, Margo registered that she was not feeling the elevator go down, but up. She looked up again and the display confirmed her fears-- she was heading for the top floor according to the instructions. Rather than feel excited that she played the elevator game correctly, she felt more anxious.
“Oh my god,” she whispered to herself in shock. Before she knew it, she heard the dreaded ‘ding’ of the elevator again. Slowly adjusting her position from her spot, she saw the 10th floor of the apartment building, but…
All the lights had looked nearly shut off; as if someone had dipped the light fixtures in some transparent murky film, giving the hall a severely dimmed light. The air in the elevator was suddenly freezing cold, making Margo shiver uncontrollably.
I can choose to leave, or stay in here. No way in Hell am I staying with this freaky lady. Margo thought before quickly exiting the elevator. She made it two steps out when the young woman spoke up.
“Where are you going?~”
Margo walked faster into the dimly lit hallway as the woman’s voice echoed into a sinister jeer. Margo didn't wish to turn around or stop running until she heard the elevator doors close.
She was alone now and felt like she stood inside a run-down freezer. The only living soul in the Alter-World, accompanied solely by the buzzing of what she assumed to be the complex’s ventilation unit. Time didn't matter here; the second-hand on her watch seemed to move incredibly slowly. Margo knew it would probably be a matter of time before she passed out, which she guessed was from how difficult it was to actually breathe. The air was freezing cold, and felt incredibly heavy to inhale. Like her lungs couldn't stand the foreign air she now breathed. Perhaps the Alter-World was perpetually draining the life force of anyone who entered it.
She was already outside of the elevator, so she may as well take the time she had to explore the Alter-World. Margo continued walking to the end of the hall, toward the window she knew was there. The city beyond the building just seemed to be a dead one-- there was no true light in sight, just as there were no stars in the sky. The sky and the clouds were mismatched in hue-- like the clouds were of a different color than the black sky.
Then she saw it. The red cross in the sky, looming over the dead city and emitting an unsettling red light as if it were the moon itself. She felt her stomach sink as the temperature of the hallway suddenly changed drastically. Her breath was no longer visible.
She wasn't alone anymore.