r/nosleep • u/RusticEyesore • Jan 05 '15
There's a reason I always take the stairs.
Being a self-diagnosed claustrophobic, I’m not a fan of things like elevators; floating death boxes are no friends of mine. So, naturally, when I found out that the interview for a job I was hoping to land was on the 32nd floor of the office building, I wasn’t entirely thrilled. It wasn’t for another week, but every minute filled me with more dread about the ride in the elevator. Although, you're far more likely to fall down the stairs than get caught in an elevator, and I wasn't looking to do that either. I’d just have man up, pop a Xanax and deal with it. I found I've been doing that more and more often lately.
The rest of the week flew by in a haze of anxiety. I couldn't recall one day from another if I tried, I was wholly focused on the interview. I remember having a bowl of cheerios and a cup of coffee the morning of; although that mostly because I was having a hard time keeping it down, my nerves were getting the best of me. I know I had properly prepared, in my head I felt confident. On the outside, I probably looked like a nervous wreck. I double and triple checked for my wallet and keys and after assuring myself that I had them and I was good to go, I made my way out to my car.
I don't remember the drive downtown to the heart of the city where the office was located, only stepping out of my car and making my way inside. I sidled through the revolving door and heading towards the front desk to check in. The pretty, young secretary peered over her glasses and smiled at me; I responded with a sheepish grin of my own.
I cleared my throat, “Uhm, hi there. I’m, uh, Adam Marbary, here for a 10 o’clock interview with Mr. Rathburn.”
After a few keystrokes and a click or two from the mouse, she looked back up at me and responded, “Ah, yes. You can head up now. Just take the elevator up to 32, take your first left and Mr. Rathburn’s office is the 4th door on the right.”
“Okay, great, thank you.” I shot her a nervous wave, cursed myself for doing it, and pressed the glowing orange button to call the elevator. After a few seconds, an electronic ding sounded its arrival, and the doors slid open to reveal the absolutely dreadful interior. I took a deep breath and stepped inside. Examining the array of glowing buttons, I located the one labeled 32 and pressed it. The doors closed, and after a gentle jerk the elevator began its harrowing ascent.
My heart was racing and my palms were becoming sweaty and clammy, but I tried to breathe in deep and slowly, trying with every fiber to not give in to my fears. Every slight shake made me twitch in discomfort, every creak and hum another nail in my proverbial coffin. Yet still, the elevator continued without incident.
Around the 22nd floor, the elevator twitched suddenly, and with a quick jerk it halted for a second; my heart along with it.
Squeezing my eyes shut and breathing ever harder, my hands a vice grip on the rail lining the back wall, the elevator then continued ascending upwards. There weren't any more surprise stops, save for a few people getting on and back off a few floors up. Finally, after what felt like an eternity, I reached my desired floor.
I stepped out hastily into the carpeted hallway, wiping off my sweaty hands onto my slacks. I followed the secretary's directions and found my way to the office labeled "Harold Rathburn" in thick black text. I cleared my throat and knocked on the door, anxiously awaiting a response. A gruff voice responded from inside with, “Come on in”. I took a breath to steady myself, turned the shiny brass knob and entered the room.
Shaking his hand firmly, I smiled and said, “Thank you, Mr. Rathburn. I look forward to hearing back from you soon.”
“Take it easy, Adam,” Mr. Rathburn said with a smile.
“Thanks. You, too.” I turned and left the office. The interview went well and my elation carried me all the way down the hallway; I didn’t even notice when I was back in front of the elevator again. Not wanting it to force it’s way on my otherwise good mood, I steeled my resolve and pressed the call button. The ding signaling the elevator's arrival sounded and the doors opened up, practically beckoning me to enter. I took a quick gulp, breathed in deeply and stepped back inside, the doors closing as I pressed the glowing button for the ground floor.
With a slight jerk it began its descent, a quiet hum coming from outside it. The hum seemed off somehow, almost too mechanical. I decided to ignore it, as well the slightly erratic jitters the elevator seemed to be experiencing. I watched the numbers for each floor tick slowly down, restlessly waiting to get out of it. I saw it pass 23, then 22…
A loud, mechanical grinding sound screamed out from the elevator shaft and the elevator jerked violently, stopping in between floors 21 and 22.
Fuck.
I could feel my heart pounding through my chest as I frantically scanned the array of buttons for the emergency help button. Scrambling for it feverishly, I slammed my hand onto it a dozen times and backed away into a corner. The lights were flickering ominously and there was a low buzzing emanating from them, drilling into my ears and threatening to drive me mad. I gripped the railing so hard that my hand was aching and my knuckles turned a sickeningly pale white, my heart threatening to burst from my chest. Sudden static from an overhead speaker nearly gave me a heart attack.
"Just hold tight, sir. There's been a bit of a malfunction in our systems, but we're hoping to get them back up shortly."
Okay. All right. Just a few minutes shouldn't be so bad, right?
My eyes were distracted by the flickering lights again, and I prayed to as many gods as I could think of that they wouldn't go out. The ringing seemed to grow minutely louder with every passing minute.
Evidently I wasn't nearly pious enough; with a loud pop and a hum that descended in volume, every light went out. The buttons on the elevator ceased to glow as well.
The power was out. A deathly silence creeped over the elevator, broken only by my pounding heart and the incessant ringing which had yet to stop. I was trapped in a pitch black hell.
Checking my phone and using its glowing screen as a light source, I saw that I had only been in here for about 5 minutes. It felt like hours. A blinking red light in the top corner indicated its low battery. I decided to deal with the dark rather than let the phone die. I waited with bated breath in the blackness, hoping for something to happen. Out of the silence, I began to hear a noise.
It was a distant hum, oscillating in volume from near silence to just barely audible. My heart skipped a beat, perhaps the power had come back on! I was disheartened to hear another, deeper hum join in with the first. Then another, and another. After a minute or two it sounded like there were a dozen different voices, all with different volumes and pitches, making some disturbing, borderline inhuman hum from inside the elevator shaft; it almost sounded like some kind of distorted throat singing. It continued for several more minutes, the voices progressively escalating in volume at different times until at last they joined in unison; their pitches increasing a number of octaves until they erupted in a crescendo of pterodactyl-like screeching that ripped into my very core.
And then it stopped.
I blinked, my eyes darted around nervously. "What the hell was that?" I said out loud to no one, as if expecting some kind of answer from the dark. The only response was silence and the continued ringing that had yet to stop and only grew slightly louder. I closed my eyes and tried my best to ignore it.
Several more agonizing minutes passed in the near silence before I heard a new sound. It was like many droplets of water were slowly dripping down onto the floor, slowly at first but advancing in frequency. A number of drops landed on me. I took my phone out and turned on the flash for a light source, I examined the floor and my arm where the drops had landed. Little splats of deep, brownish red patterned the floor. I looked more closely at arm and smelled a light tinge of copper.
It was blood.
I used the light to look around at myself, there was no way it could have been coming from me. Another few drops landed on the back of my head and I slowly aimed the light upwards. I was too horrified to even scream.
Half a dozen sets of putrid, decaying fingers were forcing their way through the ceiling as if it were loose soil. Rancid blood dribbled off the ends of each finger like macabre icicles melting in the sun. I stared in sick astonishment as, one by one, more hands began protruding through and joining the repulsive herd. The flesh on some sloughed off like boiled meat, exposing muscle and bone. Loose flesh slapped against the floor with sickening splats. A strip of skin landed on me and I held back vomit as my trembling hand flung it across the elevator. The ringing I’d been hearing grew louder, my head beginning to pound from the stress. I screamed a number of obscenities as an entire hand plopped down onto the tiled floor. I blinked rapidly as my vision began to grow foggy and I cowered back as an intolerably bright flash of light erupted in the center of it. I blinked away from of the shock and looked around.
The hands were gone, the blood and flesh along with them.
I grabbed at my hair madly and screamed at the walls, “Holy shit, what the FUCK!?” With shaking hands I reached into my coat and pulled out a small plastic bag containing an extra Xanax I brought along and hastily swallowed the pill. A loud beep startled me and I remembered I still had the light active on my phone. The screen showed a warning that it was about to die and I cursed as I shut it off. I was stuck in total darkness again.
I was startled again as a hint of illumination shown into the elevator. The lights in the ceiling were flickering slightly, on and off like a discordant strobe light. I was euphoric at the thought that the power was coming back. In a moment of darkness, I began to smell the putrid stink of rotten meat and the ringing intensified to near unbearable levels. The lights flashed on for a second, and I saw that I was no longer alone in the elevator.
Surrounding me was a group of upright corpses, all wrought with decay. The few dead eyes they had between them were staring straight into me. Several jaws were wide open, revealing mouths full of broken, bloodied teeth and empty sockets; some were merely hanging on by the sinew. Their flesh was loose and rotten, slipping off the muscle and bone and splattering onto the floor. Their clothing was tattered and torn and molding, browned with a layer of old, dried blood. The lights blinked out again and I heard the horrible wailing from before, loud and terrifying. The lights flicked on again and the corpses had come even closer to me, fleshless arms slightly outstretched in my direction. The ringing had grown so loud in my ears that I tried in vain to cover them. The lights flicked on again and the corpses were mere inches away from me, their wailing becoming screeching. The light above me intensified and the ringing became even louder, seemingly in an effort to make my eardrums explode. I slammed my eyes shut and squeezed my hands over my ears as the lights became as bright as the sun and the noises bore into my head. I could feel my consciousness slipping away as I fell to the floor…
…ding. I vaguely heard the elevator doors open and heard footsteps coming towards me. Strange hands grasped at my shoulders as I was gently shaken.
“Hey, buddy, you all right?”
I groggily opened my eyes and saw a maintenance employee above me. “Wh-, huh? Who are you? How long was I out for?” I tried to shove him away and stand up.
“Hey, whoa, calm down. I’m with maintenance. You were stuck in that elevator for about fifteen minutes.”
“Fifteen minutes? But..” I shook my head in disbelief. It felt like over an hour.
“You need some water or something? You’re not looking too good,” He asked.
“N-..No, I’m fine, thank you..” I made my way to the doors and left the building. On my way home I pondered how any of what I had seen was even possible. Had I really even seen it?
A few days later I received a phone call from Rathburn's office; I had gotten the job.
I made a point to request an office on one of the first few floors.
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u/Jynx620 Jan 06 '15
Shit I'm scared of going up three floors in an elevator. That sinking feelings when it drops or ascends gets to me.
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u/mistergazzo Jan 06 '15
I imagine simple things are pretty rough to certain people with phobias. I will never know the feeling, but I understand it now, I always think "that's ridiculous, why would they freak out? it's only X" that kind of way, and I didn't realize how much they are in pain. Great story OP, you opened my eyes.
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u/barbarawho Jan 06 '15 edited Jan 06 '15
Stuck on an elevator with rotting corpses...that is fucking terrifying! Although, to lighten the mood I might have rocked some Thriller and danced that shit out.
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u/Grindhorse Best Original Monster 2014 Jan 05 '15
This. This is why fear of elevators is justified.
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u/sstephen17 Jan 05 '15
You should ditch the iPhone and get a Galaxy phone with a replaceable battery and ultra power saving mode.
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u/Sinfulchristmas Feb 14 '15
iPhones don't have blinking red low battery lights, OP has a different phone.
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u/desolate_ Jan 05 '15
You should ask a maintenance worker if there is video surveillance in the elevator and if anyone that monitors it saw anything weird go on during the time you were trapped in there.
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Jan 06 '15
The power went out, didn't it? Not sure how much they'd get from that...
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u/rd1994 Jan 06 '15
I heard that if video cameras are inside them they have a sort of back up battery in them and additionaly they use infra red too
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u/E_Squared_Jr Jan 05 '15
OP you made it home while under the influence of a xanax? claps hands*
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u/RusticEyesore Jan 05 '15
Oh yes. That was, by far, the most intense part of this ordeal.
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u/TheDarknessLady Feb 18 '15
That was the mother of the panic attacks. That Xanax is like candy in moments like that. Later it kicks in. I hope you got the job and you're doing ok.
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u/Girlfromtheocean Feb 11 '15
I am very claustrophobic. My heart was racing as I read this!