I thought everyone experienced the world going quiet. I only learned they didn’t a few years ago. Then I realized I was special. I realized no one else was like me. This quiet was a time where everyone stays put as if frozen in time. And then, like a light switch has been flipped, darkness. It doesn’t last for long, only for a few minutes. Nothing ever happened to me until today.
I always dreaded going to work. I pulled up to my office and left my car. As I left, I heard the radio playing that “hello darkness” song. I went into the building and greeted the receptionist. “Hi, Linda,” I said. She nodded. She continued typing on her computer. I went to the elevator. I pressed the call button and waited. I got into the elevator. I was the only one in there.
It was a long ride to the 23rd floor. The elevator usually had to pick people up on the way and the whole ordeal generally took around 5 minutes. I did what I always did during these 5 minutes: I read the news. I took out my phone and read the headlines. However, before I was even able to start reading, I heard the elevator. Ding I looked up, expecting to see another person get onto the elevator. But no one got on. It was the 23rd floor. I stepped off.
As I went into my office, I received a text from my brother. “Heyy, how’s work? I’m gonna stop by Mom and Dad’s place. U wanna come? See ya.” This was kinda weird. My brother was always very formal in his texts, using proper grammar and punctuation. I shrugged it off. I got another text. “U should really come. We all miss you around here.” And another: “Come and see us Michael!” That text felt creepy. But our parents were getting older, so I figured I should pay them a visit.
My work day ended and I got on the elevator. This time it was packed full. I figured I should just wait for he next one to avoid the crowd. As I was waiting, the world went quiet. Everything around me stayed still. The lights turned out. Except this time, it wasn’t all quiet. I heard footsteps behind me. I tried to turn my head but I was stuck too. The footsteps drew closer and I heard a voice that sounded eerily similar to my brothers. Actually, I thought it was my brother. Yeah, It was my brother. His voice was just shaky. “We miss you, Michael. Come to see us!” I turned around and saw my brother. But he seemed… different. His hands were fidgeting and he was looking around frantically. I watched him as he collapsed to the ground. Oh my god. .y brother died in front of me.
The lights came back on as I opened my eyes. “Thank God it was all a dream” I whispered. But my intuition told me otherwise. I felt something horribly wrong happening. I got out of bed and searched around my room, trying to figure out what was wrong. I didn’t find anything, so I went to make sure my brother was there. I went downstairs and found my brother.
“Did you look under the bed?” He asked, a grin appearing on his face. I went back up and looked under my bed and saw a shadow. I got out my phone flashlight and stared underneath my bed and into my brothers eyes. And on the floor, written in my dead brother’s blood, I saw “Come to see us, Michael!” As I turned around, the person who I thought was my brother drew a knife from seemingly out of nowhere. “Come to see us, Michael!” He said as he slit my throat. “You can see us now!”