I’ve always hated that condo, ever since I was a child. There was no part of it that was normal: not its narrow and stuffy elevator, not its long dark corridors, not its decrepit hall or its basement filled with the smell of death. Every corner made me sick in my stomach, every shadow sent a shiver down my spine, every noise made my heart jump. Entering it was always a torture, even my parents seemed to despise that place, but my grandmother lived there and since she could not go out due to various complications we had to go and visit her.
There was also no way to make her move out of that condo, she seemed to feel a bizarre affection for that cursed place even though she had moved there just ten years earlier and whenever my parents tried to convince her to move somewhere closer to us she would refuse without giving explanations. So every Christmas, every Easter and when it was necessary my parents had to drag me there against my will. I still remember the despair I felt seeing that building standing high above the surrounding houses.
Eventually growing up things got easier, over the years I learned to be indifferent to that place, to fight my fear, to joke about it, about how foolish I was to believe the nonsense my friends used to tell me. I had even begun to feel guilty about how I behaved with my grandma as a child. Poor granny, how long must she have thought those tears of mine were caused by her? Perhaps it’s this that led me to go and see her more, as far as my high school life allowed it.
Sometimes I smiled thinking about how the younger me would have been angry seeing me enter that condo of my own free will. However if the fear of that place had diminished to the point of disappearing, a certain disgust still persisted in me now mostly caused by the surprising amount of rubbish and grime that filled every part of the condo. So it didn’t surprise me to see my grandma’s neighbors leave. It appeared I wasn’t the only one who found that place bleak and depressing after all. Some packed and left in a few days while others struggled more to move out, but it seemed like everyone was running away. Who could blame them? I myself would not have lived there for any reason. So the more time passed the more the place became empty.
One day I went to visit my grandmother, it was a winter evening. It had just snowed and it had been quite difficult to find parking. We had dinner together as we had done so many times talking about how my studies were progressing and how monotonous her days were becoming. I stayed there for some time until a quick glance at my phone reminded me that it was time to go home. I would have stayed longer, but I couldn’t risk being late, the next day I had an important entrance exam for a certain university I wanted to attend and I wouldn’t have missed it for the world. So after we said goodbye I found myself alone on the floor.
The lights had not yet been turned on even though it was already past ten P.M. leaving me in complete darkness. I had to use my cell phone flashlight to find the way to the elevator, but no matter how much I pressed the button it didn’t seem to arrive.
This did not bother me much, on the contrary, it was almost funny the state of complete disrepair in which that building was left. Didn’t they have a way to ensure that at least the minimum services were guaranteed? In any case, it was strange that the electricity did not work, especially considering that in my grandmother’s apartment all the lights were on and just before I left we had listened to the radio for a few minutes.
It wasn’t much of a problem though, I would just have to go down the stairs. As a child they were the only part of the condo that was at least bearable to me. The windows let in some sun rays that were able to drive away those shadows that always seemed to wait at the edge of the light, as if waiting for someone.
I began to walk calmly, passing first one floor then another. My grandmother’s apartment was at the tenth floor, the last one, so I knew well that it would take a few minutes before reaching the ground. I had no desire to run like crazy jumping the steps as I did as a child, not with the dinner on my stomach. Throwing up was not really one of my goals for the night, although it seemed to me that a nice smear of gastric juices and pasta on the wall would complete the unkempt look of the building.
I continued to go down, holding on to the handrail with one hand and the phone with the other. I quickly lost account of the level I was on, each one was so similar to the previous one, they seemed almost made with a stencil, all with the doors placed in the same position, with the same doormats and umbrella stands, damn it must have been the dark, but it seemed almost as if I wasn’t moving from the same floor.
I looked up to try to understand where I was. I turned up the phone light, but the stairs were built in such a way that there was no space between one flight of stairs and the other, thus making it impossible to see up and down.
This shocked me. I cursed to myself trying to calm down. I knew very well that I was imagining things and I had no intention of falling back into that childish fear that impregnated each and every memory of that building. I scratched the back of my neck a little embarrassed. It seemed just the kind of thing I would do as a kid. I shook my head determined to resume my descent and let go of that unpleasant incident. I was not afraid of the shadow, not anymore and I wasn’t gonna let those fears get the better of me.
So I went down and down, but there was no trace of the exit, each time I ended up on a new floor. I went on for who knows how long, pushing away with all my strength the feeling of unease that continued to oppress me. I kept going, but the thought that something was wrong began to become more and more insistent. I started to breathe with difficulty and hastened my pace, my eyes moved rapidly in search of that exit that never seemed to appear.
On a few occasions I tried to see if by chance the elevator had started working again, but always in vain. I even thought of going up to my grandmother’s apartment, maybe asking to stay there for the night. But how could I make up all that climb again? It would have taken me who knows how long to go back, if I ever was even going to get somewhere in the first place.
I resumedmy decent, calmly this time, trying not to think about anything, trying not to fall into that irrational terror that I felt clinging to the back of my neck. I put my watch in my pocket and forced myself not to turn on the mobile phone screen, pushed away any possible distraction, everything that reminded me of what the hell was happening to me, and forced
myself to continue.
I went down a few steps to yet another floor and without paying much attention to where I was I turned to the next flight of stairs. Then I heard something. Was I really going crazy? I pointed the flashlight in front of me. The sound I heard was like a creak. I looked around trying to understand what could have caused it, then I understood it very well.
One of the doors was open.
My heart stopped, I felt observed. I pointed the light inside the apartment and saw it: an anthropomorphic figure stood out in the shadows with a pair of scarlet eyes staring at me. The thing did not seem disturbed by my flashlight. When our eyes met it seemed almost as if it was smiling at me, even if it appeared not to have a mouth.
I stood still for a few moments, then the thing began to move towards me. The closer it got, the more the light outlined its grotesque features. I don’t know how to describe it, it seemed at the same time a shadow and a being in flesh and blood.
Its sight left me petrified. It wasn’t true, it couldn’t be true. I had spent my whole childhood convincing myself that there was nothing in that goddamn apartment building and now? Now how could I explain that?
I didn’t even notice when I started running, I guess at a certain point the survival instinct got the better of me and I found myself sprinting down the stairs. I ran and ran, jumped steps and darted forward as fast as I could trying to process what I had just seen. It couldn’t be true, it couldn’t. And the more time I spent darting between the flights of stairs the faster I went. All of a sudden, however, I stumbled and fell tumbling to the ground, I rolled for a couple of meters and crashed with a thud against the door of an apartment.
It was at that moment that I realized that the lights were on. I layed there for God knows how long. My head was spinning like crazy. I was scared and angry, I felt defeated and helpless, I didn’t know what to do and the thought of never being able to find my way home was growing stronger in my mind, leaving me terrified and discouraged. Maybe it was better for me to wait until the morning, maybe that would have solved everything,but how was I gonna attend the exam?
The tiredness from my long run began to hit me, so much so that for a few moments I caressed the idea of falling asleep right there on the spot, but part of me didn’t want to. Something told me I had to stay awake, I couldn’t explain what had just happened to me, not rationally. I did not know if the thing had decided to chase me and I certainly did not want to find out, I couldn’t even be sure that there were no similar beings in the other apartments.
I didn’t know what to do, but I was starting to get really sleepy.
“Oh young man, what are you doing on the floor at this hour?”.
I looked up slowly, then rubbed my eyes. In front of me was an elderly man probably in his seventies, short and bald, looking at me perplexedly through a large pair of spectacles.
I hadn’t even heard his door open. I must have made a big mess when I fell into it.
“Don’t worry” I managed to say “I just tripped and fell, nothing special.”
The man smiled at me and held out his hand as if to help me stand up. The situation seemed a little strange, but finally talking to someone normal was so relaxing.
“Well it’s a pleasure to meet you, we haven’t seen new tenants for a while. You know, people here tend to leave. ”The man slowly ran his hand over his long white mustache.
“Who knows why” I muttered ironically as I struggled to get up.
“Who knows why” repeated the old man “Yet this is such a beautiful apartment building”.
“You don’t say” I had to use all my good will to keep myself from starting my own ted talk about why that place was worse than hell “And don’t you think that in these last few years the building has been left to itself?”.
“Oh no, the building is perfect. Like when it was inaugurated ”.
I shook my head disconsolately. It was nice to talk to him, but his views on the condo were just like my grandmother’s.
“What’s the matter with you old men and this place? Even my grandmother seems very fond of this hellhole. She has lived here for just ten years and yet it’s like she has never lived anywhere else. I’m not sure how long you’ve lived here, but damn do you both like this dump” I said and immediately felt a little bit embarrassed. It felt weird, but I just had to rant about this with someone and with my grandma, well I never would have dared to do so.
“Oh I’ve lived here since 1948, but I understand why your grandmother likes this place so much”
His words hit me like an uppercut to the face.
“Since 1948?”
The old man did not listen to me.
“The place is so pleasant, so beautiful. I really must say that the architect has outdone himself with this building”.
“No excuse me” I said trying to interrupt him “You’ve lived here since 1948?”.
“ Also on the upper floors the view is just wonderful”.
“Excuse me,” I repeated irritated by his decision to ignore me.
“And the prices at which they sell the apartments are very low and affordable”.
“Excuse me” this time I raised my voice a little starting to feel much more annoyed than scared.
“Then there are so many people in this place and they’re all good people”.
“WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?” I yelled in his face in a burst of anger “There is nobody around here, we’re alone”.
“Alone?” he said quietly “We’re not alone”.
My heart was pounding so much I thought it was gonna rip my chest open as I gazed after him as he stood up to point to the opposite door.
It was open.
It was pitch dark inside, but I could feel them, those eyes, watching me. Then from the darkness began a soft sound of footsteps.
I didn’t even look back, I just sprinted and started running downstairs. I already knew what was behind me.
I didn’t know what to do. It seemed to follow me wherever I went, how was I gonna escape?
I began to breathe with difficulty again. I had to stop on a landing to catch my breath.
I wiped my sweaty forehead with my wrist. I could hear footsteps above me, slow but inevitable, it was as if someone was crawling down the steps.
I was feeling tired, very tired, but the sole thought of waiting for that thing to catch up with me filled me up with fear so I started running again. My lungs burned and my legs ached like never before. I no longer even looked where I was going, at that point I knew too well when to turn and where to go.
You have to imagine my surprise when I bumped into something.
I fell tumbling to the ground. I must have been very lucky, because I ended up on the floor and not on the steps, not that it lessened my pain much.
I sat up confused and in pain. My head had started spinning again and for a few moments I had to sit still without being able to get back on my feet. I didn’t bother for a moment trying to figure out what I had crashed into. Had I perhaps thrown myself against the door of the exit of the stairs?
Then I looked up and saw it in front of me.
The thing stood a few feet away from me staring at me silently. It was smiling, I could feel it.
I backed away until my back hit the solid stone of the wall.
It was then that I started to panick. I began to pray and plead as it moved towards me. I begged for mercy, but whatever it was that stood in front of me didn’t seem to listen.
It stopped a foot from me, still staring at me, then it raised an arm. Its hand extended to me.
I stood still, slumped on the ground, not knowing what to do, not knowing how to react.
The thing didn’t move as it continued to stare at me with those scarlet eyes of his.
Then it said something.
At first it seemed like a kind of meaningless gurgle, then the more it went on the more it began to take the form of words, until at a certain point I could understand what it was saying to me.
“Welcome”
I shook my head in confusion.
“Welcome” the thing repeated.
Then seeing my obvious confusion it took my hand and shook it.
“Welcome to the apartment building”.
Having said this, the being turned and started to walk away.
My perplexity had only increased. Did it want to kill me? It appeared not. I didn’t know whether to be relieved by the news or whether to worry about what he had just said.
“Wait” the words came out of my mouth without a thought.
The thing stopped and slowly turned to me.
“What do you mean?”
It stared at me without giving an answer.
“Why are you welcoming me?”
“You just moved in” the guttural voice seemed to become more and more understandable.
I shook my head “No, it’s not possible, you must have confused me with someone else, I live elsewhere. You see I was simply … “.
The being suddenly interrupted me.
“The apartment building is your home. You just moved in, don’t you remember? That is your new apartment”.
Then it raised a shapeless arm pointing behind me.
I turned slowly, the lights on the floor came on allowing me to see better. All the doors were closed, except for one, one was wide open to reveal a large living room.
“It’s not possible … I … I” I muttered confused.
“The apartment building doesn’t want to be alone, it wants to be inhabited. You’re the next one”.
The creature said this, then it went away disappearing up the stairs.
Now I sit in my new living room in front of my new computer writing. I don’t know if I’ll get out of this place anymore, but it appears I can’t do anything about it.
The apartment building wants to be inhabited it doesn’t care by whom or if they want it or not, as long as there is someone it seems to be happy. I don’t know if my grandmother is also a prisoner of this place, I don’t know if she is being held here against her will, I don’t know why she never told us anything. God I don’t want to think about the fear that she must have felt, who knows maybe if she said something this place would have caused her harm.
In any case, I am afraid that I will find out soon. I tried to go down the stairs one last time, but I had to stop pretty soon. I was too afraid I’d get lost in that infinite staircase and I wouldn’t be able to come back nor to leave. At least now I’ve got somewhere to stay. The apartment building has taken me and it won’t let go. So I fear that if this is what it wants I will live here for the rest of my days.