Nightmares Alive

The Elevator

We continued to walk for a shorter amount of time. I was about to scream at one of the tattooed men to take off my ropes because my hands were completely numb and probably turning more purple by the second because of the loss of blood. But I bit my tongue and stayed quiet. I wasn't about to risk my life.

Finally, we came to another stop. Ripping the cloth off of my eyes, Bernie put his finger to his lips and gave a quiet nod to be silent. I was fed up with my silence but I nodded back but turned my head away from him.

"We're here," Chuck barely spoke.

"Are you sure He is ready to see us?" Bernie asked of Chuck.

"I can only hope. I mean, Darla said that He was ready."

"That's not very convincing Chuck."

"Well do I care?"

I peered around the area I was in. It appeared to be an underground parking garage that you would see near hospitals or big businesses in the heart of a big city. Only a few lights were on, but they appeared to be from where I think we had previously walked. Some were flickering. All of the other lights I assumed were burnt out or turned off. And whenever we walked, the concrete floor would echo below us when we walked from the emptiness of the garage.

And the smell was horrid! It was musty and damp, and reeked from the couple of rats I saw scurrying around. I assumed it was also because of the sewers that were probably only a few feet below my tired feet.

Not only that, there was an elevator right in front of me, and there was a big sign that said "B-1", so I assumed that we were in the basement, the bottom level.

Gathering up some courage, I muffledly asked the men, "Wuff ow we boih ere?" I meant to ask "what are we doing here?" but I forgot about the tight, scratchy cloth around my mouth.

Bernie slapped me on the back of the head and I yelped in pain. "I thought we told you to shut up, kid," he said, emphasizing how much younger I was than him. I mentally groaned as Chuck pushed the down arrow by the elevator door.

Down?!? Is he is insane? I thought. I don't think it is legal to have more than one basement for public parking, especially since the city is worried about the building collapsing on itself since it is so old...

We waited for only a moment until the creaky, rusted elevator made its way down to our level. Chuck motioned politely towards the open elevator and shoved Bernie in, saying, "Ladies first."

Bernie scowled and gave a blow to Chuck in the stomach, but he just laughed as he shoved me in as well.

The door shut closed just as Chuck got in.

"Kid, now do as we say."