Action Short Stories

7. Velocity

"Oh, it always comes out to that," the man in the gray suit said, nodding. "No matter what you choose—"

The elevator suddenly rocked, then fell still again.

"Don't move," Dani whispered, her voice barely above a breath.

The man in the gray business suit fervently nodded, his mouth slapping shut as his eyes grew wide and panicked.

Dani pushed the button.

The elevator instantly released—Dani and the man in the business suit were thrown into the air as the car plunged down the elevator shaft, gathering speed as it whizzed straight downwards towards the bottom of the building. Dani was thrown into complete confusion; she was violently bounced into the top of the elevator, breaking one of the lights as her hands reached out, hands scrabbling for purchase on anything they could—

The elevator car suddenly stopped.

Dani and the man slammed back down onto the floor, thudding heavily. There was a thunderous POP! that exploded through the elevator shaft, echoing and ricocheting up and down the metal walls before falling silent.

The red-lit number above the door read "23."

Hell of a lot better than the 34 we started at, Dani thought.

She sat up, adjusting her ballistic vest and picking her pistol back up. Thirty-four minus twenty-three—that was what, 11 floors in one straight shot?

Almost home.

Of course, that was all on dependent on if he let them.

He's a madman.

"I see you've survived again, Danielle," the voice floated from one of the speakers in the ceiling above them. "As usual... but I'd expect nothing else, of course."

His voice was the same as always. Deep, guttural... even over the tinny elevator speaker. Slow. Dani felt that familiar pang began to rise in her heart, a pang that made the skin of her chest tingle and rise in a way that had nothing to do with fear—

A pang that had already almost cost Dani her life once before.

Crush it.

"You okay?" she whispered instead to the man in the gray suit. He was face-down on his knees, his nose and lips mashed into the carpet of the elevator floor while his butt stuck high and proud up in the air.

The briefcase was still handcuffed to his wrist.

"Fine," he groaned, collapsing weakly to his side. "But if you could work things out with your boyfriend on your own time, that'd be great."

"He's not my boyfriend," Dani said, slightly pulling the slide on her pistol back until her eye caught a flash of brass. "Anymore, at least."

There was a burst of static from the speaker above.

"Ready for your next riddle?"

His voice seemed to fill the elevator. A slight twinge of distortion danced at the very edges of his voice, razing away any softness it may have once held until it lay comfortably on a field of static.

"You've done so well up until this point," he said. "Floor 23 is always impressive, but the next challenge is your last—one way, or the other." Dani heard him loudly swallow. "I do admit to feeling a touch of apprehension myself, but... I really do hope you get this one. You're the only one who can."

Madman.

Dani's eyes frantically searched the elevator—again. The walls were bare, the floor carpet. She had already tried breaking through the ceiling, but he had punished them for that one; the security camera sat up in the corner. There was nothing...