Short stories

The Elevator

You woke up as you heard the loud banging sound coming from upstairs. It's been a week since you shifted to this apartment after you were unable to pay the last apartment rent which was too high, and your last few books aren't doing you any better. And the scratching sounds coming from the above room every night at 3 makes it difficult for you to sleep. This apartment is half the price but it's also half the quality. You have filled in the noise complaint but it doesn't help at all. The voice and creek noises are constant and it's getting tough to write and think of any story ideas when you are unable to even get proper sleep. The voices continued till 5 in the morning when it suddenly became all quiet. It was never this quieter before and now you can hear the slightest raindrops that just started to fall. You look out the window to see the mist and cold breeze as it touches your face, and you can still feel the darkness in your eyes. Looking up in curiosity you want to check what makes it so quiet. Normally the voice would stay until 7 in the morning when everybody starts to wake up. But sadly, you are the only one on this floor and the above floor is the topmost flat and above that is the terrace that's left so at night it's only you who can hear those noises.

As you are the work-from-home author staying at home all day and thinking is all you have been doing for the past few weeks. You don't even remember when the last time you had enough vitamin D. But now you are accustomed to this habit as you walk to your kitchen to make some coffee as it is almost 6 now and the coming deadlines make it hard for you to sleep back. Sitting at the table with the laptop and a cup of coffee you try to think of anything that will come to your mind. But it's just disappointment and fear, fear for not getting any idea or story. But then you heard the door knock. It's been 2 weeks since you moved to this place, and this is the first time you have heard the door knock. You shouted..." Coming" as you made your way to the door to let the person that you are in. You opened the door and it's the owner of the apartment. He said,

"I looked up the noise complaints the owner who lived above kept a few dogs without my knowledge, so I asked him to leave or keep his pet at the shelters as they were making noises. He said he will take them to the shelter and the noises won't be a problem for you anymore." He is calm and composed as he speaks. You acknowledged his actions making efforts to resolve the noise issue and closed the door as he left. All the time you went in thinking for a storyline, and it was almost afternoon and you started to feel hungry. But all the food you bought 2 weeks ago has been finished and there is nothing to cook or eat. So, after 2 weeks you decided to get out of your room to get some groceries. But as you went out you saw the stairs had been broken and out of order, when you first moved in you used those stairs as the lift doesn't look promising enough but now the stairs are out of order and the only way down is that elevator that's as scary as the noise is made. You pressed the button not sure wanted to use it or not. But you have made up your mind to go out, it has been 2 weeks after all. The lift came down the door opened, and you saw a man standing inside wearing an old denim jacket and faded jeans with a black tee. That person seems not so normal, the white beard covering half his face and it looks like he hasn't been out for a while. But he still looks calmer and more composed than you are, like he is comfortable going even though it's been a while since he's been out. At that moment you heard this dark voice, "Are you getting in or not? They don't bite." your focus moved to the elevator down at the corner, one grown and a young pit bull. They looked scary, you said nothing and stepped in, standing at the other corner, still looking at them. They don't look like they won't bite, they have chains around their mouths just so they won't bite anyone, and it feels like if the chains would disappear, they can rip the man off in a split second, even the one who is feeding them. "Don't worry they won't bite." Still looking at them you said, "I am not worried I am just not very dog-friendly.", there's a kind of disappointment in his sigh, "That's sad" he said. Not wanting to have a conversation you ignored his words, as you kept staring at them, just in case. The door opened, and on making his way out he said, "I am going to leave them at the shelter today, the noises won't disturb you at night." and he disappeared out the front door after he said that.

No matter how hard you think about it, it is hard to accept the fact the noises upstairs were those dogs. You grabbed a handful of cheap vegetables and fruits that you can cook easily as you are not a fan of cooking. On the way back, you see that the owner is at the reception talking to another person. No matter how hard you think the calmer the person is the creepy he looks, like there is something about him that doesn't shake off. You stood there making a signal that you would like to have a conversation. He made his way to you, asking what happened. "I am sorry to disturb you." you started your conversation not to look like a nuisance, and he said, "It's okay. It is no trouble. Tell what it is."

"The stairs are out of order, can you fix that." you asked politely, "Sure, I will fix it, but you can use the lift in the meantime." He replied politely,

"Sure, it will be great if you get repaired early. You see I can't use the lift much. I suffer claustrophobia and I can't stay in close places for too long." It's not like you would use those stairs much but still, you are trying to speed up the process. He nodded in agreement and went back to the person he was talking to. You went back to the lift and pressed the button, just when the lift arrived you heard the noise as you stepped in it, "Wait for me," You turned around and it was the same guy as before. You hold the elevator door open, you never intended to, but his sudden shout makes your brain do exactly what he said, he slipped in as he thanked you for keeping it open when you know you don't want to.

"You went on grocery shopping." He pointed at the plastic bag in your hand. You nodded in response. "You don't talk much?" He asked you in confusion,

"I don't talk to strangers." You replied and you were on your floor now, the lift opened but the man stood before you as he said, "We are not strangers, we are neighbours." Why is he trying hard to make a conversation when you know he can see the anger builds up, but you hold it in as you said "We are still strangers" because you don't have any intention to create a scene or to stand in his sight a minute more, so you made your way out pushing him aside. The lift door closed behind you.

You spend the rest of the day as usual, from taking notes for your upcoming thriller novel to making dinner and cleaning the apartment a little. And it's almost 11 and you are done outlining the protagonist character, which doesn't look as promising to you as it should be. And it's almost past 12 when you fell asleep while deciding a name for the character from Google Suggestion, but then those weird scratch sounds wake you up again. And you looked up at your phone, it was 2:30. And then you were completely awake when you realised the voice wasn't coming from upstairs anymore. They are loud and clear as if those voices are trapped in the room coming from under the bed. The intensity in the scratch is increasing every second which freezes you and now you are unable to move.  And all you can think now is "What are those voices? and are they coming from under your bed or it's just a nightmare, you would wanna wake up any moment, and thinking of it as a nightmare you hide under your blanket hoping it would go away but only the voices are beginning to be louder and the other voices of shout and cry joined the scratches noises making it worse. Leaving you no choice but to check on them.