Patterns of red, blue and green were my main focus as I was walking through the halls of a grand five star hotel that was known for it's unorthodox features such as paintings of dead animals decorated the halls and every room had a toilet paper on its door handles, it was safe to say that the hotel was able to surprise everyone which is why it was one of the most booked hotel in the world. The tips of my worn out converse would welcome my vision every once in while seeing that I was trying to avoid any eye contact by the ones who would pass by ,since half of the ones who already passed me were either drunk or were giving me the evil eye for the way I'm dressing, probably already coming up with some spiteful words to throw at me.
As I was walking down the hall to the elevator, participants of the conference I am attending would pass by me, chatting happily about the places they are about to visit in this foreign country, yet I wasn't really feeling the spirit of exploration or had the energy for it as a matter of a fact. These past few days have taken a toll on me for a mysterious reason and the outcome of it was raging feelings of loneliness and depression, feelings that would knock on my door from time to time.
I raise my head to see that I am about 10 feet away from the elevator, silently thanking god for finding quickly this time as I am horrible with directions and asking for help was the last thing I wanted to do. I pressed a shiny round button and waited as the elevator took the long trip all the way to 78th floor. My eyes were trained on the green numbers as the continuously keep alternating to reach my floor, I kept hoping that I don't run into anyone I know, I mean there are 95 floor in this hotel and everyone was basically scattered around the hotel, and I wasn't exactly eager to know where my teammates were stationed, as a matter of a fact I tried to distance myself from them. I mean what are my chances of running into someone at this time of the night at this floor to be exact?
A man with a dark complexion, wearing casual clothing with the name tag "Adam" stood beside me and asked me "you're going down?" and I noded with yes.
We both stood there, side by side, silently waiting. You would think that since this is a five star hotel that multiple elevators would be installed, but whoever built this hotel was everything but the usual.
Ding.
The elevator is here.
The doors open and reveal a couple who seemed to have more than a few drinks and are having a bit of trouble standing still.
"we are going up. you want in?" slurred the man. I wasn't willing to wait any longer in these halls so I just walked in hopes to get rid of the couple and get to the reception area. Apparently "Adam" had the same idea because we simultaneously went in and turned our backs to the couple and watch the doors as they close.
The elevator went silent as it made its way upwards, expect for the occasional hiccup and giggle that comes from behind us. The numbers flash 93 and the doors open to reveal an identical hallway to the one we were just standing in. The couple stumble forward and start going down the hallway to what I'm guessing is their room and another group of people joined in.I tried to hold my annoyed sigh as the elevator became a bit too crowded for my liking. The doors close and Adam presses the R button which leads to the reception, while the other man pressed 85 as we were going downwards, the elevator started rumbling and shaking a little bit, I didn't think much of it, as I thought it was a minor malfunction.
The elevator stopped at 85, however it started rumbling again and shook a bit more violently, we started looking around to see if there was any cause for this strange action. The doors opened and revealed the group of people left the elevator in a hurry as it kept shaking. the doors closed but the elevator stood still, Suddenly the elevator jerked downwards a little bit , my heart skipped a beat as I shot a worried look and a frown towards "Adam" to see that he had the same expression on already. It was a second before the elevator jolted fiercely and started falling downwards.
As the elevator was falling freely downwards, we started levitating and with a blink of an eye were suspended in air. I didn't realize I was screaming as my screams were drowned by the sound of steel grinding from the outside the elevator, it wasn't until I was slapped in the face that I realized that I needed to find a quick way to push myself into a corner to avoid being splattered into the ground.
"Hold on to the metal bars and squeeze yourself into a corner!" Adam screamed my thoughts out loud, or that's what I thought I heard and I didn't waste time as I quickly got in position and held on tight to the gold bars on the sides of the elevator. My eyes was on the small screen that beeping loudly was rapidly changing numbers that indicated that we are about to hit the ground in no time. I kept my eyes closed and started saying my final prayers, as the was going to be end.
What has taken both of us by surprise is the fact that we have bypassed the reception and kept going downwards as the numbers started appearing negative. The journey was short lived. Abruptly, the elevator came to a stop and both of us were knocked to the floor and were groaning slightly in pain. As much as we were in pain, the adrenaline was running high and both of us were on edge. I heard a Ding as the elevator doors opened and showed a black hallway with an open door at the end of it. Before we can even register what happened, a crackling sound came from the elevator speaker and then an eerie voice that brought a chill to my whole body making the small hairs at the nape of my neck stand.
"welcome, you are finally here."
Copyright © 2016 Yasmin Mohamed El Ali. All rights reserved.
As I was walking down the hall to the elevator, participants of the conference I am attending would pass by me, chatting happily about the places they are about to visit in this foreign country, yet I wasn't really feeling the spirit of exploration or had the energy for it as a matter of a fact. These past few days have taken a toll on me for a mysterious reason and the outcome of it was raging feelings of loneliness and depression, feelings that would knock on my door from time to time.
I raise my head to see that I am about 10 feet away from the elevator, silently thanking god for finding quickly this time as I am horrible with directions and asking for help was the last thing I wanted to do. I pressed a shiny round button and waited as the elevator took the long trip all the way to 78th floor. My eyes were trained on the green numbers as the continuously keep alternating to reach my floor, I kept hoping that I don't run into anyone I know, I mean there are 95 floor in this hotel and everyone was basically scattered around the hotel, and I wasn't exactly eager to know where my teammates were stationed, as a matter of a fact I tried to distance myself from them. I mean what are my chances of running into someone at this time of the night at this floor to be exact?
A man with a dark complexion, wearing casual clothing with the name tag "Adam" stood beside me and asked me "you're going down?" and I noded with yes.
We both stood there, side by side, silently waiting. You would think that since this is a five star hotel that multiple elevators would be installed, but whoever built this hotel was everything but the usual.
Ding.
The elevator is here.
The doors open and reveal a couple who seemed to have more than a few drinks and are having a bit of trouble standing still.
"we are going up. you want in?" slurred the man. I wasn't willing to wait any longer in these halls so I just walked in hopes to get rid of the couple and get to the reception area. Apparently "Adam" had the same idea because we simultaneously went in and turned our backs to the couple and watch the doors as they close.
The elevator went silent as it made its way upwards, expect for the occasional hiccup and giggle that comes from behind us. The numbers flash 93 and the doors open to reveal an identical hallway to the one we were just standing in. The couple stumble forward and start going down the hallway to what I'm guessing is their room and another group of people joined in.I tried to hold my annoyed sigh as the elevator became a bit too crowded for my liking. The doors close and Adam presses the R button which leads to the reception, while the other man pressed 85 as we were going downwards, the elevator started rumbling and shaking a little bit, I didn't think much of it, as I thought it was a minor malfunction.
The elevator stopped at 85, however it started rumbling again and shook a bit more violently, we started looking around to see if there was any cause for this strange action. The doors opened and revealed the group of people left the elevator in a hurry as it kept shaking. the doors closed but the elevator stood still, Suddenly the elevator jerked downwards a little bit , my heart skipped a beat as I shot a worried look and a frown towards "Adam" to see that he had the same expression on already. It was a second before the elevator jolted fiercely and started falling downwards.
As the elevator was falling freely downwards, we started levitating and with a blink of an eye were suspended in air. I didn't realize I was screaming as my screams were drowned by the sound of steel grinding from the outside the elevator, it wasn't until I was slapped in the face that I realized that I needed to find a quick way to push myself into a corner to avoid being splattered into the ground.
"Hold on to the metal bars and squeeze yourself into a corner!" Adam screamed my thoughts out loud, or that's what I thought I heard and I didn't waste time as I quickly got in position and held on tight to the gold bars on the sides of the elevator. My eyes was on the small screen that beeping loudly was rapidly changing numbers that indicated that we are about to hit the ground in no time. I kept my eyes closed and started saying my final prayers, as the was going to be end.
What has taken both of us by surprise is the fact that we have bypassed the reception and kept going downwards as the numbers started appearing negative. The journey was short lived. Abruptly, the elevator came to a stop and both of us were knocked to the floor and were groaning slightly in pain. As much as we were in pain, the adrenaline was running high and both of us were on edge. I heard a Ding as the elevator doors opened and showed a black hallway with an open door at the end of it. Before we can even register what happened, a crackling sound came from the elevator speaker and then an eerie voice that brought a chill to my whole body making the small hairs at the nape of my neck stand.
"welcome, you are finally here."
Copyright © 2016 Yasmin Mohamed El Ali. All rights reserved.
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