17 FLOORS DOWN - A short story by Ethan Jailer

"17 Floors Down"

-

I still see her sometimes. The warm, summer days we spent outside with the family, maybe with the Meyers. The cold winters we stayed huddled up in mom's apartment next to the window, watching as the drifting snow fell to the ground. And especially that terrifying night on the corner street 5 blocks away from us.
It's a flash of vivid yet blurry memories. I can see my hands on the wheel, the panic on her face, the impact from the truck, and then it just... stops. I was lying down, just in complete silence, staring up at the stars. There was shattered glass and blood covering me, and I could feel the heat of the paramedics reviving me. They didn't waste their time on her; I think they knew it was too late. And that was it. She was gone.
I'm not even sure if that was the way it happened, I always imagined myself swerving to the side or breaking before the crash, but it always ended the same way. Just a dark sky scattered with fluttering stars. Getting closer and closer... until...

-

6 A. M.

Issac woke up with a start, looking around the empty yet cluttered room he was in. He lifted his head, squinting at the alarm on his phone before shutting it off. A grunt escaped his lips, his hand coming up to rub his eyes.
It had been almost two months after the accident, but it still haunts him as if it had happened yesterday. He had been seeing regular therapy sessions since then, but they didn't seem to be working.
The toll it had taken on him was devastating. He couldn't bother to properly take care of himself, as much as he used to, anyways. It was as if he was an empty shell of a person, only capable of working and sleeping.
He stepped out into the hallway of the apartment complex, almost completely out of it. One step, then another, and another. He couldn't feel anything. He couldn't hear anything. Just look and the step forward. Again. And again. And again.
His mind wandered past his responsibilities for today and snaked their way to that night again. He tried to stop thinking about it, but it repeated over and over again like a broken video tape.
Her face was something he could never forget. The sharpness of her blue eyes stabbed into his, with an everlasting look of pure terror. And that was the last he ever saw of her.
Issac stepped into the elevator room, where two pairs of identical doors faced each other. He pressed the button to the ground floor and leaned against the wall, desperate to stop the memories barging into his head.
He pulled out his earbuds and lifted them towards his ear, but stopped mid-way.
Something caught his eye. There was a smoky shadow in the corner to the left of him. It looked like a figure, or a person.
The dark silhouette was just barely noticeable between the dim walls. It just stood there, completely still. He focused his eyes on it, transfixed by what he thought he was seeing.

-

Ding
He jumped at the sound, turning as the elevator doors began to open. Before walking in, he shot another glance at the corner, but the figure was gone.
"Oh- sorry,"
He turned to the inside of the elevator where the voice came from, spotting the girl shifting against the wall. He just as quickly looked down and stepped in without a word.
As he put away his earphones, the girl kept her eyes on him. He could feel her gaze sinking into his skin and coughed awkwardly.
"Excuse me?" She asked softly. He saw her hand from his peripheral vision motioning to the elevator buttons he was in the way of.
She watched him step to his side, then lifted her finger to click the button for the 2nd floor.
He couldn't help but glance up at her, and the sight of her face made his blood run icy cold.
It was a surreal sight. This girl he had never seen before looked as if he had known her his entire life. Her pale skin, her long brunette hair, her thin and dainty fingers...
She looked exactly like Lana.
He couldn't take his horrified stare away from her. She had her entire focus on her phone screen, but Issac kept noting every single one of her physical details, and all of them matched Lana's... except her eyes.
This girl looked as if Lana's sharp blue eyes were replaced with soft hazel ones. It was uncanny. Without a chance to stop it, he croakily spoke up.
"Hey- you... you look just like-"
Before she even had a chance to look up, the elevator jolted, startling them both. The LED light labeling what floor they were on simply shut off, and the elevator had come to a halt.
The girl's eyes widened and she gripped the handrail tightly. They both looked at each other, perceiving the message that something was really wrong.
"What the fuck?" He muttered, looking around as the lights flickered ever so noticeably. Panic encapsulated them both as they tried to click every floor button on the panel, but it was no use. They were stuck.
The girl dashed for the panel, pressing the emergency call button. There was silence for a second before a gritty voice emitted from the speaker.
"Long Grove Apartments maintenance, do you require assistance?"
She cleared her throat and nervously spoke back.
"Hi, yes, we're- we're stuck," she said.
"How many people are in the elevator?" The person on the other end asked.
"Two," she said, her voice having a noticeable tremble.
The cool overhead lights sharpened her soft features. Issac tried to calm down, but everything happening so fast in his brain made his heart race. The pale walls surrounding him felt like they would begin to draw in, slowly and steadily crushing him in the tight space.
The girl kept feeding information into the microphone in the wall, but it sounded like gibberish to him.
He raised his hand and tugged at his shirt, inhaling and exhaling at a steadily increasing pace. The blur of the lights and raising temperature sent pins and needles through his skin.
"Hey!"
Her voice shoved him back into reality. He wiped the sweat off his forehead and turned to her, pale in the face.
"What's your name?"
He opened his lips to speak, but nothing came out. He choked on air a little and inhaled, shakily speaking.
"Issac Young."
She repeated the name into the speaker and then her own.
"Maya Walker."
The person on the other end paused, and then began speaking again.
"Emergency services will be available in approximately 2 hours."
He sighed, looking down at his feet. The voice became less clear and more distorted by the second, almost breaking.
"Hello? HELLO?" The girl yelled into the panel, but it had suddenly cut to silence. She frantically tapped the emergency button, but nothing was happening.
Suddenly, the light presenting the floor they were on lit back up.