The interview went well. At least in my mind it did. I had cohesive answers to the questions I was asked.
I smiled (a more difficult task than you would think) and my handshake was firm but cordial. I needed this job. I wanted this job.
I was going to get this job.
With this manifestation firmly planted in my mind, I made my way to my car.
The whole elevator ride down, I was replaying the whole scenario in my head.
Thinking of things I should've said, and things I now deemed unnecessary and stupid.
I walked over to the elevator, eying it suspiciously. They made me nervous. I don't like that weightless feeling, the sensation of your stomach dropping into your knees. It feels...unnatural.
I quickly stepped in, hit the buttons, and closed my eyes, waiting for it to be over.
It jolted to a stop, and I almost jumped out of my skin.
The doors opened into an empty, cavernous parking garage, splotched in beiges and grays. An eerie feeling washed over me.
The emptiness, the monochromaticity, the echoing silence...
Unnerving.
I stepped over the threshold (holding my breath for some reason) and felt like I was being swallowed whole.
The sound of my heels on the concrete was the only sound as I walked towards where my car was parked.
I glanced down at my phone as it vibrated, a text from my mom asking how it went.
I glanced back up, expecting to be looking at my car, but it wasn't there.
Shrugging off my confusion, I looked up at the wall, which had the floor number painted upon it. G4.
I had gotten off two levels higher than I was supposed to. Rolling my eyes at my own incompetence, I spun around towards the elevator once again.
Confusion swam in my mind as my eyes could not seem to locate those unsettlingly familiar chrome doors.
Convinced they were betraying me, I closed then opened my eyes again.
It was gone. Fully gone. Just minutes ago, it had been there. I'm not crazy, (at least not in a medical diagnosis kinda way) it was there.
And now it wasn't.
Needles prickled at my skin as tv static washed over my body. Something wasn't right. I don't like this.
"Enough!" I shouted to the cavern around me, mentally slapping myself across the face.
Mentally grounding myself, I began to walk. As I reached the lower level, I sensed a sudden change in atmosphere.
The yellow glow of the lights seemed to take on a redder hue, and the air was heavy with moisture. A sudden buzzing in my ear caused me to jump as a fly whizzed past my ear.
A cold and clammy sensation formed in the pit of my stomach. The sound of slithering and hissing issued from every shadowy corner.
Nope.
I spun on my heels, and came face to face with a SOLID. CONCRETE. WALL.
Stumbling backwards, I could feel something behind me.
Could hear it breathing heavily.
Felt its grasp around my ankles, my knees, my wrists, and then my throat.
Struggling to breathe, I felt my eyes closing as the grip tightened, cutting off my airway.
And I drifted away into the nothing.
"Ma'am...? A voice came from the ether, shaking me from the shadows.
Pale fluorescent light flickered into existence as the world once again became solid.
I was still stood in front of the elevator door, fists clenched, teeth bared.
I inhaled sharply, surprised that my lungs still worked.
"Ma'am, are you ok?" A man stood beside me with a look of concern on his face.
"Yes. Yes, I'm ok. I just get panic attacks sometimes."
