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The elevator doors shut, you’re the last one of your friends standing. The other one just got swept up in the flood at Squishy’s, two more dropped a few floors before in Rock Park, and the last one didn’t move fast enough to get out of the way of the turret that blasted when the doors opened.
It was expected, it was part of the attraction’s simulation. All of you knew exactly what you were signing up for, and had an absolute blast experiencing it and seeing all the weird oddities there were. You glance at the button panel, the display read “44”. Just a few more floors and you could head back to the lobby, regroup with your mates, and throw yourselves right back into the elevator. Your seemingly bottomless coin pouch was feeling a little light after this trip around, the counter tag a significantly lower number than before, but you won the bet with your friends for surviving the longest, so you were gonna be loaded on the next set of floors.
The next floors go by fairly uneventfully since you’re alone, the elevator was definitely designed for groups rather than single passengers. 45, 46, 47, you’re playing around a little, but mostly just waiting to step off. 48 goes by, 49, and then the floor indicator cuts out, displaying nothing but a black screen.
Ding!
You hear the shifting of the elevator doors opening, you stick your head out, looking out into nothing but pitch-black darkness. It’s cold, and there doesn’t appear to be anything? It doesn’t look like any floor you’ve seen or heard of before, maybe you got stuck between levels? Leaning back in to check out the button panel, none of them seem to be working as your fingers hit them, tap, tap, tap, absolutely nothing happens, as if they didn’t have any power to begin with.
Suddenly there’s a clicking sound, it wasn’t from your own pressing of buttons, it had a much more distinct and sharp sound. It wasn’t coming from the panel, or the vents, or the light on the ceiling, it was in front of you. On the left side of the doorway, there was a set of long, black claws, and the piercing glare of a red and yellow eye from the darkness. The claws looked very sharp, menacing, you take a step backwards, frantically hitting the buttons on the panel again in hopes one of them will shut the damn door and keep whatever that thing is out there away.
A light but entertained laugh comes from the darkness, very aware of the impact they brought to rooms, something cold, controlling, an overwhelming and oppressive presence. Like a dance, she steps forward into the elevator, you take one back. You can see the pattern of blood red eyes on her legs, facing in every direction. She takes another step, you follow the pattern, flinching as you bonk up against the wall, you could’ve sworn the elevator was much bigger a second ago. She’s fully visible now, a thick, pale white sweater covers her torso, a matching white beret on top of her outwardly pointed black hair, and a jagged mask in matching white color, covering the majority of her face, but keeping her intimidating eye exposed.
“Well, well, what do we have here? One little rabbit, all by yourself.” She hummed as she stepped closer, her eye drilling through you, scanning you over and assessing you. “Where did all your friends go?” she questioned, tapping the wall in a rhythmic fashion.
The elevator dings and shuts, light flickering and letting her illuminate the room briefly, the floor counter panel is still blank, the operating systems unmoving. The air feels freezing, much colder than before, like your clothes weren’t enough to hide you and keep you safe, and time feels pausedentirely. You’ve been warned about encounters with beings in or on the elevator before: to be careful, not to mess with them, that they brought a level of unpredictability outside of the floor system. You’d run into many of them on past trips, there was the banana lady who told a lot of jokes, I think her name was Split? There was the lamp guy who seemed uncomfortable and anxious, and didn’t really seem like he wanted to be there, never caught his name. But this was someone you hadn’t seen, but had been warned about, a supposed creature of nightmares and hate.
Supposedly she went by the name “Folly”, here you were, face to face, trapped in an elevator with her. She towered over you, about twice your height with hands the size of your face. You open your mouth, trying to say something, but the words get caught in your throat, you swallow, she leans down closer to get in your face.
“Well? Where’s that voice of yours gone?” she mused, entertained by your terror, and very uncaring about your thoughts on personal space. “I’ve had my eye on you for quite some time, you know. You’re an interesting one, how do I put it.” She tapped on the wall beside your head, staring deep into your eyes as she thought with a tilted head, a nervous bead of sweat that had formed dripped down the right side of your face.
She brushes a claw against your cheek, you can feel the sharp end poke into your skin, and it causes your heart to thump faster in your chest. “There’s something… unique.. about you. Did you know that?” Even when she was leaning down, her stature was imposing, you wanted to run, didn’t want to move lest you risk upsetting her. Besides, there was nowhere else to go anyway.
“You humans are so soft,” she notes. But I’ve watched your thoughts personally, I’ve seen who you really are, deep down in your very being.” She grabs your arm, inspecting it, turning it over and feeling it. “Have you noticed? The way the shadows dance and linger around you, the feeling when you lie down, maybe of being watched?” Her eye widens, boring into you, then turning away to watch as she traces a claw up your arm. “It’s been me the entire time, just out of sight, behind you, in the dark crevice you can’t see, maybe just around the corner.” It’s a horrifying thought: how long has she been watching you? Why did you have to be the one to catch her attention?
You open your mouth to speak, but she places a finger over your lips immediately, a sign she wants silence, and who are you to disobey? “You’re right to be afraid of me. I’ve done terrible things.” Her immovable and sharp claws wrap around your wrist, you wiggle helplessly, trying to pull yourself free. Looking at her with tears forming in your eyes, knowing whatever she plans to do, she’s very capable of doing. “Torn off limbs, bitten off fingers of those who get too… touchy, but I don’t have anything that bad planned for you. I have a blessing, instead.” Regardless, you still try to pry yourself free from her grip, how you’ll slip away afterwards you can figure out.
“Stop.” she demands, wiping a tear from your eye with her free hand. “This is a good thing, it’s only going to hurt as much as you make it.”
Her words are simple, her voice deceptively soothing, making you freeze, and are very effective combined with the squeezing force. You hold still and let out a small huff of frustration, but you don’t get to think about your situation much longer before you feel a sharp burning sensation on the inside of your wrist. And holy fuck does it hurt, the same feeling as pressing your arm against hot iron, it feels like your skin is on fire. Your knees shake and buckle from the pain, vision starting to blur as your body spikes with adrenaline, you cry out in pain, blubbering and trying desperately to pry your arm free to no avail. The searing feeling continued for what felt about at least 20 seconds before she released your arm, similar to throwing a piece of trash away, a light toss back to you as you were down on the ground. Supporting it with your other arm, you hold it close, fingers locked around, pressing your palm against the surface where it burned.
She looked down at you with a pleased expression, basking in your suffering. You suck a breath in through clenched teeth and move your hand off, inspecting the damage. Your eyes widen as you observe the mark left there, an eye, a crude replication of her eye. Any implications of this are mortifying. You tilt your head up from your position on the ground, terrified, her eye crinkles as she watches, satisfied with her work.
“You belong to me now, forever.” Your heart drops. “You'll get adjusted to it, I'll be watching you, always. You have my protection.” she pauses. “But you also have my wrath. Don't try to cover my mark, don't try to hide it. There will be dire consequences if you do.” she says, brandishing a claw. Your mind is spinning, so much happened so fast, you feel nauseous, like your body is going to throw up just to purge all the different emotions.
Ding
The door opens behind her, back to the black void. She leans down one last time, planting a kiss on the top of your head. She turns to leave but pauses, facing you once more and speaking. “Stay safe, and don't be afraid of the dark. If you need me, I'll find you, and remember, I’ll be watching.” She stares for a moment, letting you soak in her gaze.
And with that, she walks back into the darkness, the door shutting behind her. The elevator’s floor counter shines to life, resuming as if nothing happened at 49, turning over to 50, prompting you to scramble to your feet and head back out to the lobby, your friends still owed you those coins for winning, after all.