Four strangers are trapped in an elevator and forced to reveal details about their most malicious deeds within the hour to prevent a fall to their death. But as secrets are exposed, tension escalates, leading to a reality no one is prepared for.
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With all my strength, I lifted my leg and stomped all four inches of my high heel through the top of his foot. Before the giant could react with the knife, I sunk my teeth into the cockeyed dragon on his biceps and escaped his grip.
As I tried to flee, the heel of my shoe remained embedded in his foot, causing me to trip and land on top of Ms. Cardigan with a thud. The metallic taste of blood lingered on my injured tongue and for a second, I wasn't sure if the blood came from my mouth or the existing puddle.
His howls roared through my core and shook the walls of the cabin. "You bitch! I'll kill you—"
I scrambled over the body to put distance between me and the beast, and her thick, red fluid smeared on my palms and sundress. I took my other shoe in hand, tucking my fingers inside the tight toes of it to use the heel as the weapon as I had initially intended.
He aimed the tip of the knife toward my face, but the pain the heel caused became visible in the beads of sweat that streamed down his temples. With one step forward, he belted out in pain as the stiletto bobbed from the top of his shoe and foot, and stopped him in his tracks.
"Go on," I encouraged. "Finish your thought. You'll kill me, huh? Much like you killed those poor five women and the unfortunate man." I nodded when he attempted that menacing, crooked grin. "That's right, admit your sins."
"What do you think you're doing?" He chuckled through the pain, locking his eyes on me as if waiting for me to drop my awareness while keeping his up. "You may think you one-upped me, but you only made things worse for yourself. You know you're not getting out of here alive, don't you? I'm gonna do things to you that will have you begging me to take your life."
I tightened my grip on my makeshift weapon, readying myself in case my plans didn't work out. But I told myself to keep the faith that it would, and I held my ground.
I suspected he wanted to remove the high heel from the top of his foot, but didn't want me to catch him off guard, so he endured the pain and held his stance. "If only you knew the satisfaction I got from running down your dear Seb. I thought the thrill only came from watching the life drain from a woman's eyes, but good old Seb made me realize the thrill lies in taking a life no matter who's it is." He laughed manically, as if the adrenaline running through his veins provided a high. "It felt so good. I even saved the picture of his mangled corpse on my phone. Wanna see it? Come closer so I can give you an up-close-and-personal look. Come here." He limped forward, raising the knife.
I stepped back, nearly slipping on the bloody puddle beneath me. "Stay back or you'll regret it."
"Come on," he urged. "You made your bed. Now lie in it. Look around. There's nowhere to go. Might as well take pride in becoming the dragon's sixth red eye."
I backed away, raising the pointed heel of the shoe. "You're perturbed. Admit it."
He paused. "Now I applaud your determination, your investigative work about the dragon and all, but one thing you're wrong about is who I am. I'm no perturbed."
