 It seems really weird now, five years later, out of all the games Alex and I made up. This one was the strangest by far, I don't even know how we came up with the idea. It was probably Alex that thought of it. He was always the one thinking up the new cool thing we'd do. He was the finneas of this friendship, if you will. No. Now that I think about it, it was my idea. No wonder it backfired. The game was actually pretty simple. I think it was the placing of the new elevator in our apartment block that played a part in the making of the idea. It was one of those elevators that are designed to look super smart and classy, but in reality are really cramped and hard to get from point A to point B with. You've seen the type, metallic doors, metallic buttons, soft red lights shaped like triangles above the doors that indicated if it was going up or down. Generally very uncomfortable and inconveniencing. The annoying ping sound made whenever it stopped on a floor somehow made it that much worse. At least it didn't play cheesy music. Long story short, the elevator sucked. Alex was quick to point this out when he first saw it. Dude, this elevator is stupid as hell. He looked very proud of himself for having used a bad word like any self-respecting 10 year old would still better than your place. I returned and pressed the annoying metallic button on the left side of the door. The obnoxious red light for down lit up in an instant. And that's about when I got the idea. It started as something a kid would ask themselves. What would happen if we could make both the lights shine? I thought to myself at first somehow it turned into what if someone inside the elevator and outside the elevator on different floors pressed different buttons at the same time. I offered my earth shattering ground breaking question to Alex. I proposed we try it and so the game was born. We used to be the cool kids that had decent smartphones in fourth grade and we use them for the game. We would make a call and one of us went in the quality of an elevator call is atrocious as you may know, but it was just good enough to count down from three to know when the other is pressing their button. Usually the one on the outside counted. The deal was your finger had to be on the desired button so you could press it immediately. The one on the outside, me more often than not would be on the seventh floor. We decided decision may or may not have been influenced by me living there. While the one on the inside would call the elevator down to the fourth floor, then attempt to press the button to the third. It worked well enough for us, I guess. It was almost uncanny how determined we grew to sync up perfectly and make it happen. In the beginning, we only gave it five tries before we grew bored with it. The next day, however, Alex himself wanted to go back and try again. I teased him, but I had to admit to myself that I was pretty hooked too. We gave it 10 tries, then 15 the next day, then 20. Eventually we would spend up to two hours just trying to time it perfectly. The neighbors hated it. The ping was horribly loud and it irritated them understandably. We were huge jerks now that I think about it. We usually did this crap starting around three o'clock and anyone who was taking time off of work to enjoy summer was thwarted by two dumb kids. Sorry. Obviously, nothing ever happened. Whoever was inside the elevator usually just ended up either on the seventh or on the third floor. Once, Alex succeeded in stopping on the fifth floor. I remember we also somehow caused the elevator to block in between the fifth and sixth floors. Both events are separate from what I'm talking about. Hell if I know how we managed that. At first I was scared to be the one in the elevator. I didn't want it to break down with me inside. But after seeing how much fun Alex was having and how nothing ever came up, I agreed we should take turns. But twice, something did happen. The first time was about a month into us doing this ritual. I was to be the one in the elevator. We hadn't gotten yelled at today, which was unusual, seeing as we had been doing this for a little over two hours. Actually, it was deserted in the building. Ready? Asked Alex in a comical serious tone. Copy that. Ready. I returned in mock talk and I could hear him giggling along with me through the phone. Alrighty then. Get in. Alex stifled laughter. Idiot, I thought, affectionately, and went in. The inside of the elevator was dimly lit by three barely functioning lights. When facing the door, once inside, the buttons for the different floors were to your right. There was one of these big mirrors that seemingly don't really belong on the far wall. Otherwise, the space was super tiny. My mother and I barely fit in there side by side. What goes for groceries? I positioned myself in front of the buttons. I put my finger over the number three in position, Sarge, I said, mockingly. Alex burst out laughing, but he contained himself quickly. I was snickering too. It's hard not to laugh at your own joke sometimes. Okay. He got serious. The quality of the connection was getting worse fast three static. I hope he hadn't said two yet to this time it sounded more solid. I drew in a breath and held it one. I pressed down too hard. My finger sort of slipped and I only managed to hit the side of the button. I cursed myself and the elevator started going up to the seventh floor. I sighed, maybe we should stop soon. Suddenly, the elevator shook violently and groaned. I almost screamed, but the sound caught in my throat and all I managed was a muffled moan. The elevator screeched to a halt. The shaking stopped. I shivered. The stupid machine had scared me half to death. Hey, Mike, you all right? Alex yelled into the phone startling me 75% to death. I'm fine. Don't shout so loud. I looked around nervously and suddenly felt terribly claustrophobic. It was eerily quiet. I decided cheesy elevator music isn't that bad at all. I'm sure it'll be fine. Five minutes. These things are stupid. We probably overheated it or something. Alex sounded slightly anxious, but he seemed to manage to convince himself he was right. I, however, wasn't so sure. Um, should I press a button? What? The connection was very bad. Do I press a button? Okay. Do it. Alex decided. I hit number six. It should have been the next floor by my calculation. This proved to be a mistake. The lights turned off with a loud click that frightened me and caused me to yell. Are, okay, what, Mike? I barely made out anything under the static. Although I understood the question, I didn't answer. I stood trembling like a leaf in the dark confines of the elevator. The button for six cast a soft red light that reflected off the mirror. This meant that it wasn't a power outage. After some time, my eyes got used to the darkness and I made out my shape and the dial with the buttons in the mirror. I couldn't really see the doors, but even the things I did see calmed me down a little. This calm was soon replaced by dread. After two minutes of occasionally pressing the button, I began feeling it. The feeling that I'm not alone, that someone is in the elevator with me. I began sweating and pressed down the button again. I could feel tears welling up in my eyes. Alex, I had no idea why I was whispering. There was nothing but static from the other line. Shouldn't I have heard something? Anything? Alex? I hissed in the phone. Nothing. This had been my fear all along, that I would get stuck in the dumb thing. Tears began running down my cheeks and I pressed the button once more. It wasn't working. Why wasn't it working? It felt like three hours had passed already. And where was Alex? What was he doing? Shouldn't he be going down the stairs looking for someone who can help? My eye caught something in the mirror and my train of thought halted. I looked and couldn't believe my eyes. It was impossible. Not only because of how cramped the space was, this thing I was seeing, I'll try to describe it as best as I could. It was tall, inhumanly tall. It was thin, impossibly so. Had it been any creature from this realm, it would be so malnutritioned that it wouldn't be alive if it was alive in the first place. It had dark skin, almost black. It seemed the light stopped dead around it, like the shadows surrounded and or emerged from it. It had two huge bright eyes, but somehow their brightness was, well, dark. Much like the shadows. They seemed to burn holes in my head from the reflection. I was frozen in place, under the things gaze. My finger was still over the button, but I realized at once that I wasn't ever getting out of here. I would remain in this creature's realm forever. I began weeping, frightened as I finally regained control of my body and pressed the button as fast as I could manage. The creature stood, unmoving. The elevator was just as still as it. I'd never get out of here. I'd known it was a bad idea all along, hadn't I? I closed my eyes tightly. Suddenly, the doors opened. I could tell because of the light that crawled in the shadowy inside of the elevator and shone on my eyelids, the annoying ping that sounded whenever the stupid machine filled my ears. I opened my eyes widely with a gasp. The mirror only reflected a very scared me in the open doors, showing the seventh floor and a petrified, wide-eyed Alex. I couldn't believe it. I was alive. I should have heard the elevator moving, though. I don't know what saved me. Maybe it was the fact I'd hit the button wrong, even though that makes no sense. I have no idea. My guess is as good as yours. All I know is I got a hell of a lot luckier than Alex. After I exited the elevator, sobbing, Alex asked me what was wrong, and all I could manage to tell him was I'd seen a monster in the elevator. We obviously stopped playing then, even though Alex wanted to see the creature for himself. I didn't know why. He was just always an adventurer, I guess, or maybe he just didn't believe me. He couldn't really get anything else out of me. I was still very scared, so we went outside instead of just sitting on the stairs. The warm weather barely did anything to calm me. We sat on a park bench, and I made Alex promise we'd never play the game again. He scoffed at that. But seeing it was the only thing that would get me to relax, he agreed. For a month, we never played again. I'm sure the neighbors were happy as could be. In this time period, I stopped using elevators, and to this day, I don't. I'm sure that creature is just waiting for an opportunity. After a little under a month, Alex proposed we play again. I looked at him, horrified he'd even say something like this, and he just shrugged at me. What? He asked, like an idiot. I'm not going back in an elevator. I returned baffled at his confusion. Oh, it's that thing. He saw I was about to interrupt, insulted, and continued. Listen to me. It was dark and you were scared and stuff. It was probably nothing. And even if it was something, I'm not making you go back in the elevator. I just need someone to press the button for me. He was getting all pumped up for an argument, but I thought his words through. I never had really thought about the events that occurred on that day much, mainly because I was too scared to think. I realized he had a point. The thing never moved. Maybe it was my eyes playing tricks on me. I sighed. Okay. I said. Defeated. But I just pressed the button outside. I'm not going back in. Alex gave me a wide grin and led the way to my place. I was actually somewhat excited too. I should have never agreed to go back. Why you ask? Because that day we did it. We timed it perfectly. It took an hour. Sure. At first my heart was racing, and I could barely bring myself to press down, but after a while I started doing it with ease. I was still wary of the game, but some time passed and actually began enjoying myself. And then it happened. Ready? I asked. Always. Alex returned cheerfully. Good. I said. Three. Two. My finger tensed over the button. One. I pressed down. The other line went completely quiet. Alex. Did we do it? I asked in a hushed whisper, like he could have known anyway. No response. I looked up at the stupid triangular lights to see where he was headed, even though I couldn't hear the elevator moving. Both lights were shining. My breathing became uneven. I tried to convince myself all that had happened was the elevator broke down. Mike. I heard over the phone. I jumped about a foot in the air before realizing I should probably answer Alex. Yeah, I'm here. I said just over the normal speaking volume. Mike. Please. I'm scared. I didn't understand. How could he not hear me? This isn't funny. He said. And I heard him sob. Alex. Okay, all right, adult. I need an allowed bang sounded the sound of a very heavy metallic thing hitting something. My breath stopped in my throat. Alex. I managed after a minute. The call suddenly hung up on its own. Or maybe Alex hung up. The red lights turned off and everything went quiet. Alex was gone. That thing had gotten him. I'm sure of it. Neighbors soon pulled around trying to figure out what made the noise. Some lady exited the apartment to my left and immediately began lecturing me. I didn't listen. In a daze, I reached out and pressed the button. The light for up lit up. After three or four seconds, the elevator doors opened with a stupid ping to reveal the completely empty inside of the elevator. Alex was declared missing. The police never found a trace of him or his phone. I couldn't talk to them properly. And after the story I told them about our game, they took anything I said with a grain of salt. I didn't know what they thought my motives for potentially lying to them would be, but I couldn't blame them. Even I started questioning my own memory and sanity. My parents couldn't move. So we had to remain in this God-forsaken building with this elevator that is a portal to other dimensions. Today is the fifth anniversary of Alex's disappearance. I was alone at home. I got a call then. I never took the time to delete his number from my phone and guess who was calling me? It was his number. It was his voice also. Hey, Mike. You ready? He sounded weak. His voice was void of any emotion even though he seemed to be trying to fill it with some. It sounded like he hadn't spoken in a very long time. I was too surprised to respond. Mike, are you ready to press it? He sounded even weaker now. I knew what he wanted from me. That's why I'm writing this story. I'm writing it so that it's out here somewhere. He wanted me to go outside and press the button. He wanted me to count down from three so we could get it right again. He wanted to come back to this world. I could feel this in every bone of my body. But I also felt it wouldn't be him anymore. Mike, please. I want out of here. It's so dark. He didn't sound like he minded it at all. I hung up then and launched my phone across the room. I turned on every light in the house. I'm standing here now writing this. I don't think I have any time. He wants out and that creature also wants out. They're coming for me after I refuse to come to them. I heard a ping just now. The elevator doors opening. Damn it. Why do we live on the seventh floor? Hopefully I post this before it's too late. If you're reading this on a forum somewhere, take it I survived long enough to write it out. I want you to promise me something. Please, for the sake of everything you hold dear, never play this game.