The building was incredibly tall. Shaped like an inverted “V”, it reached for the dark night sky. Even amongst the other tall buildings of the big city, pulsing with light and color, it stood out. Illuminated by a pink hue, to say it was imposing is a severe understatement. I finally decided to walk in. The opening hall was just as impressive as the construction that contained it, being bathed in intense luminosity, which was well reflected by the abundant white marble.
Mere words cannot the grandness of what I witnessed. Maybe it would not pick the attention of some, but it left a deep impression on me. Either way, I made my way to the elevator, as luminous as the rest of the space it was inserted in. After pressing a random floor, its doors closed and the entrance disappeared from view. I was being lifted up and up. To where? I did not know, yet. After some seconds, the doors opened and the contrast could not be greater: I was now in a gloomy room, poorly lit by an ominous blue glow. Covered in metal and pipes, it did not give off a receptive atmosphere.
As I walked into it, the elevator closed shut behind me. A sense of familiarity, amidst all the strangeness, hit me. It was then that I saw a compartment of sorts. I opened and then rapidly closed the door that led to its interior, since I got an unnerving perception of danger and dread. A glass panel concealed it from the rest of the room, allowing me to watch whatever needed to be watched from a “safe” position. There also was a control board of sorts, encrusted with levers and different buttons. One of these in specific caught my attention, it had a little lightning symbol on it and, under the symbol, “Push to administer a controlled shock” was written.
My mind buzzed with questions: “To shock what? There’s nothing here! To shock what?!” And so, I stayed put, intensely gazing at the exterior from the other side of the glass. Some time passed and simply nothing. Nothing to speak of. Just the metallic room with its blue hue. Just that and nothing more. It felt anticlimactic. I was expecting something to emerge from the shadows, but the shadows did not reveal any hiding threats. Either way, I decided I did not want to spend any more time in that eerie space and opened the door, quickly making my way to the elevator.
As I did, I heard something, the sound of pieces of metal banging against each other. I rapidly pressed the elevator button multiple times, while frantically looking at my surrounding, seeing nothing I hadn’t before. The banging continued and I could feel myself getting light, almost as if my mind was drifting from my body due to the sheer terror I was experiencing. Finally, the elevator doors opened and I squinted at the intense light that emanated from its interior as I got in. Immediately, I almost punched to get to the ground floor, with extreme eagerness for the door just to close already. And when they were almost shut, I saw something else: a shadowy figure too blurry in its details. Soon, though, I was being carried down.
After some time, longer than it had taken for me to go up, I found myself in what definitely was not the ground floor. A wide corridor covered in green tiles and bathed by a yellow-greenish light emitted by numerous fluorescent lamps presented itself before me. I hesitantly moved forward and, once again, the elevator closed behind me. I noticed a pair of dark-colored glass doors and ran up to them, hoping to get out of that crazy place. However, they just would not open and I couldn’t make out anything outside. Frustrated, I made my way back and only then did I realize there were two bifurcations in the corridor. One of them led to a glass panel, very similar to the one from before, and another control board, in which there also was a “controlled shock” button, for whatever that could be used.
I tried so hard to see what was in the other side that even my eyes began to hurt: it was just total and complete darkness. Then I finally realized that, above the control board, there was a collection of strange wooden dolls attached to the ceiling via frail-looking wires. They all seemed to be circus themed, as could be noticed by the shape of their clothes and bright, saturated colors. To say I was creeped out is a euphemism and soon I turned back to see what awaited me in the other bifurcation.
And what awaited me was a simple black door. Just that and nothing more. I opened it cautiously and was surprised to find a long and narrow stairway, which I could not even see the end of. Begrudgingly, I started going down and down. Eventually, after what seemed like an abnormal amount of time, I found another black door. Entirely unsure of what to expect, I opened it only to find myself in the metallic room once again. I closed the door fast and took a minute to recompose myself. “How was this possible?” I asked, feeling the confusion and despair overcoming me. Maybe I could find the elevator again and, this time, it would lead me to the right ground floor, I thought to myself. Fun fact: it did not and I have done the same path six times now. I do not know what to do. Thankfully, there is some sort of signal down here so I can write this. I am going to open the door again. Wish me luck.