I know I know. There are a lot of people warning against this. The issue with me is I didn’t believe any of it was real, and it kept eating away at me. I told myself for a long time “why test it? If it is real, what if I die?” But at the same time there was something just gnawing away at me. Anyway, I decided to, against my better judgement, test it out. I really wanted to have my husband with me, but I know you’re not supposed to play with anyone else there. I have two small children too, so this was very very hard for me to ultimately decide to do. I read the rules over and over until I memorized them and remembered how to nope out of the game if it goes wrong, not to look at or talk to the spirit that might come in with you on the 5th floor, etc etc. I got in my car on a Sunday afternoon. I let my husband know I was going to test this out. He knows I’m into true crime and the paranormal has always intrigued me, however, he doesn’t believe in any of it so he wasn’t worried. He just gave me a kiss and told me to have fun. Him acting like that gave me a surge of confidence that nothing would happen, I would ultimately find nothing, prove all the warnings to be wrong, and go back home to my family feeling accomplished.
That’s not what happened.
I made it to the tallest building downtown. It was busy when made it there, so I decided to kill some time. I went to a McDonald’s, sat down with my food, and video chatted with my husband to update him. I told him I couldn’t do it yet because there were tons of people going in and out of the elevator. He asked “well how long do you think it will be until it dies down?” I said “I don’t know, but I’ll definitely keep you updated. You don’t work tomorrow so, if it ends up I have to do this thing at night, just don’t wait up for me.” He urged me to come back home. Not out of fear for my safety, but because he didn’t want to be away from me all day and possibly not see me until the following day. I told him “I’m sorry but I have to do this. If I don’t, how will I ever know?” He just told me I was being silly, that “this was as real as the earth being flat”. To which I told him “if that’s true then you’ll see me either later tonight or tomorrow morning. Chill”. He pouted a little longer but I promised him I would keep updating him and to return as soon as I could. And with that, the rest of the waiting period felt like years slowly going by. Around 5pm I went back to the building. It wasn’t as busy, but there were still quite a bit of people going on and off the elevators. I decided to go into the lobby and just watch some YouTube videos to make time go by faster.
The receptionist at some point came up and asked if I needed help or anything. I’m autistic so I’m just brutally honest. I told her exactly what I was doing there. Her eyes got wide and her skin turned pale. She then told me in a shaky voice “please don’t.”
I put my phone down and asked “why? Has someone done it before?”
She refused to answer and she looked horrified. All she did was repeat herself but was quieter. Before I could say anything else she scurried back behind the counter. I immediately called my husband and in a hushed tone, told him what happened. He laughed on the other end and said “she’s just playing it up to try and scare you. Maybe she really just doesn’t want you to mess with the elevators and is trying to scare you out of it.”
It seemed plausible, and with me being nervous, I latched onto that idea like it was my life line. At around 10pm the activity in the hotel really died down. There was one person going in/out of the elevators very rarely now. I was starting to get tired too so I wanted to just get this done and over with.
I made sure no one was coming in when I walked into the open elevator before pressing 4. Nothing of note happened. Making sure no one was coming on, I then pressed 2. Again, nothing happened. I started to relax a bit. I looked at my notes I had previously written and put in my pocket, and pressed the 6th floor. At this point in other stories I read, people said they felt a cold chill. I didn’t feel that so I started to feel safe. With a bit more confidence and a relaxed posture I pressed 2, thinking to myself “this is almost over. I can’t wait to hit the bed when I get back home.” Next I pressed the 10th floor. Upon the doors opening, I felt a slight chill. I wrote it off as that specific floor just being chilly. Told myself that maybe a window was left open. But my confidence started to fade, and my heart pounded as I pressed the 5th floor. The floor that a demonic entity might enter with me. I’m good at ignoring people so I wasn’t doubting myself, but I was still getting more and more anxious the closer the elevator got to the 5th floor. Then… ding!
The doors slid open, and a woman did indeed walk in. I immediately focused on the buttons in front of me and nothing else.
She said to me “hello there. Nice night we’re having.”
I said nothing and I kept focused. i pressed the rest of the buttons as written down while the demon rambled on about whatever she could think of to try and get me to talk. i didn’t talk, and i didn’t look at her. when the doors opened on the 10th floor, i stayed, because i did not want to accidentally get lost in another dimension. the lady asked me if i was going to get off. i remained quiet and began punching in the numbers to get back safely. as soon as we reached the first floor i ran as fast as i could, thanking my life for adrenaline. i got inside my car and immediately drove back home. i made it back home and my husband was still awake. he saw i was visibly shaken up. he asked “are you okay?”
i wanted to cry and tell him right then and there that everything was real, but i held myself together and just went off to bed. he was confused and kept asking me what was wrong. it was clear my husband was worried about me, but i knew i couldn’t talk or else something bad might happen. the rules didn’t say anything about writing or texting though, so i just shot him a text that explained, “the rule says i cannot speak for the rest of the night. i’m not ignoring you, i just don’t want anything bad to happen. i can talk in the morning.” that seemed to please him and he left me alone. i made sure i didn’t look at the woman, and i definitely didn’t talk to her. but when those doors opened on the 10th floor i could faintly see a red glow coming from the distance. that was more than enough confirmation for me that i had indeed made it to the other world. As far as I can tell, I had successfully made it back home. but it was not worth the trauma. please, if you’re considering doing this yourself, do not do it. it is real, and it isn’t fun.