Chapter 14: Beneath the chaos

Looking at that button panel in the lift that didn’t lead home I felt a knot form in my stomach. Why hadn’t Albert appeared, and which button was I supposed to press?

“Where are we going Kat?” Ellie asked; she had stopped crying but every word was heavy with fear. In truth, I didn’t really know the answer to her question. I stared at the panel, taking in every number and noting it’s inclusion of a -9.

“We’re going to see if there’s anyone else around.” I answered.

I didn’t like my chances with whatever might inhabit that floor. If wherever we were was a reverse of the building then number 9 could be nasty, so I started cautiously, pressing the -2 button.

Mechanics whirred and the large metal doors clapped shut. I wished that I had been behind the real lift’s doors, before it disappeared from sight. The lift that we stood in was as identical to the original as possible, even the shiver it sent up my spine just being inside it felt the same.