City of IF

[misterbiz]

Victor Morello has never been accused of being a nice guy. In fact, the majority of people who knew him would rather describe him as a worthless piece of shit than anything else.Victor had climbed his way to the top of his father's company by viciously and maliciously running through anyone that stood in his way. Without a single thought or care, Victor managed to underhandedly make his way to vice-president before his father died mysteriously of some unknown cause. And as a sick twist of karma, his father's will couldn't be found so Victor was allowed to toke control of everything.

Months after seizing control of his father's empire, Victor had became more hated than ever. He was considered the lowest lifeform on earth. No one dared to say it to his face, however, as they had known from previous experience that he was prone to his own tantrums and grudges. Grudges that now could result in someone losing their job from just cause or one set up by the bastard boss. Victor got up from his desk and left his large office.

He stopped right outside his office and looked at his secretary's desk. The redhead who usually sat there was now absent as she had left earlier to go home. A red light was blinking on the phone that sat neatly on the edge of the desk.

"Stupid whore," he mumbled under his breath. "Probably didn't answer the phone just to be a bitch." He walked to the door and opened it. As he stepped out of his secretary's area, he let out a small sigh. The hallway in front of him seemed different tonight. It seemed dark and unnatural as if the walls held something sinister. Letting out a laugh, he managed to shake away the small sense of dread that had started to build

He started down the hallway, past the offices of several accountants and assistants. He strolled with his head held high until he reached the elevator. He pushed the up button and let out a small sigh as he waited for the elevator to make its 30 floor climb to the top. As he stood impatiently in the hallway, he looked over at the small sign pointing toward the stairs. For some reason, something told him that they would be better. That he could avoid something very nasty if he took them.

He again threw the idea out of his head and closed his eyes. he let out a sigh as he focused on the wait for the elevator. After a couple of minutes, it let out a small ding and the doors slid open. Already standing inside the elevator was a man dressed in a tuxedo. The fact that he was there shook Victor slightly.

"Who the fuck are you?" Victor barked.

"I'm a friend. The company is paying me to walk you to your car. So, come on and get in," the man said in a voice that seemed slightly off. It was too normal. Too smooth. Too uninteresting.

"I don't remember hiring you."

"Your secretary did. She received some odd phone calls about you so hired me as protection.

"Fine. Whatever," Victor snapped as he stepped inside and hit the button labeled P3. The doors slid closed and the elevator started its descent. The stranger stood behind Victor wearing a slick grin. After several floors the man let out a small chuckle. Victor looked over his shoulder at the figure. "What's so fucking funny?"

"I'm not really a bodyguard," the man replied. Victor spun quickly to face the unknown individual. He stopped suddenly as he faced the back of the elevator. The back and just the back. The tuxedo clad individual was gone. Vanished. The elevator dinged again and Victor could hear the doors slide open behind him.

"Fucking bitch must have put something in my coffee," he growled. He turned slowly around, quietly plotting his vengeance for the actions of his secretary. She had to have put something in it. Shrooms or some such shit. The train of thought suddenly derailed as he saw where the elevator had stopped. He was now looking down the hallway toward his office. "I must have...imagined hitting the button. That's it. I never went down. It was all a dream. I'm going to get that bitch for this."

He growled and reached to push the P3 button. As he glanced down, his hand stopped just short of the button. A small light was lit around the golden button. the button had already been pressed. He stood there his hand hovering above the active button. He pushed it again as he tried to fight back the growing terror that was weaving its way into his mind. The doors slid closed and after a brief moment, opened again. Releasing a loud growl, he punched the wall and looked down the hallway.

"Motherfucker," he growled. Standing in the doorway to his office was the man in the tuxedo. The mysterious stranger who had appeared then vanished. An animalistic grin sat on the man's face as he rose a single hand and with his index finger beckoned Victor near.

"Come get me, big man," the man said. His voice seemed to emanate from the entire hallway. It blared from the lights and seeped from the walls. Victor charged forward, furious at whatever sick games were being played on him. Mr. tuxedo grew closer and closer as Victor raced forward. Within seconds he was within range for his attack. He leaped forward with a loud roar, intent on taking down the mysterious freak.

Time seemed to slow down as he flew through the air. Slowed to the point that Victor felt like he was moving through jelly instead of air. Everything seemed to just go into slow-mo. Except the man in the tuxedo. He winked and turned starting to walk away, out of reach of the large blonde executive. Once the dark suited stranger was out of grasp, victor felt himself falling. falling farther than he should. Farther than he had jumped. He fell until he crashed onto a steel floor.

"Shit..." he moaned. His body creaked as he pushed himself up. His chest felt like it was ready to collapse with every breath that he took. With a loud grunt, he lifted himself off the floor and looked around. "No. No," he said as the realization of his location hit him. The elevator. The elevator where he had first seen the stranger. The same goddamned elevator he had left to attack his foe.

"Sorry, pal. You were just a tad bit too slow but maybe this will speed you up a bit," the stranger's voice sounded from a speaker in the ceiling of the closed, luxury elevator. A burst of cruel laughter erupted over the speaker as the elevator started plunging down the elevator shaft. Victor's eyes moved up and looked at the small list of numbers above the door. A light flashed on behind each one and moved down the list of numbers. It sped through them, each lighting then going off within milliseconds increasing the amount of fear that Victor felt.

As panic filled him, Victor started pressing the emergency stop button. Nothing. He continued to hammer away at the tiny button. the more he hit it, the more wild and crazy the laughter got. Victor closed his eyes and braced himself for a sudden and painful crash. The laughter above him turned into a massive roar before it stopped without warning. Everything stopped. The laughter. The elevator. Everything. Victor opened his eyes and found himself standing in front of the elevator again, waiting for it as he had before he had seen the man in the tuxedo. He let out a sigh and chuckled slightly. He had imagined the entire thing. The man. The fall.

After a brief moment of waiting, the elevator let out a loud ding. The doors slid open and revealed exactly what Victor had expected. An empty elevator. There was no well dressed stranger waiting for him. He let out a small chuckle at himself and stepped inside and pressed the button he needed. The elevator closed and started its descent again. After a short minute, it stopped and the speaker in the ceiling crackled slightly.

"So sorry to do this, Vickie but I'm gonna have to pull a slasher flick on ya," a recognizable voice said. "No happy ending. No sunset for you to ride into. Just the end where the villain returns to kill the hero. Except the roles are reversed here aren't they?"

"I'm no villain. I'm a decent person."

"Really? You really believe that? You are guilty of every deadly sin except gluttony. You are a man whose sole joy in life is taking it from others. You even destroyed your father's will just so you could take over. Which is why I'm extending to you this end-of-a-lifetime opportunity to come spend some time with me."

"Gladly. Just show me your fucking mug and I'll fucking waste you."

The voice laughed again and the floor of the elevator buckled slightly. Victor looked down in time to see a long line going across the floor, extending from wall to wall. As Victor looked at the line, he noticed it start to get deeper as the floor started to move. it started to bend at the line, moving down. Panic once again took over Victor's mind as he realized what was happening. The floor was opening.

He frantically felt along the wall looking for something to grab onto. Anything that might possibly save him from a long fall. There was nothing. The walls were smooth as marble. He looked around, searching desperately for salvation. Nothing. He punched the wall and looked down. The floor stopped moving for a moment.

"While you wait for the bitter end, why don't you check what floor your on?" the voice crackled, sounding as if Mr. Tuxedo was trying to contain more hideous laughter. Victor looked up and the golden meter above the door and his heart stopped. there were no numbers anymore. Instead there was only one word. A single word lit up to emphasize his location. Hell.

A loud burst of laughter sounded again as the floor opened up fully, sending victor plunging into an eternal tunnel of darkness. Victor let out a loud scream as he fell, vanishing into the blackness while laughter surrounded him. Hideous laughter from the sole being more evil than Victor.

The next morning, Victor's secretary stepped out of the stairwell. She was panting from her monstrous trek up the stairs to the top floor. She walked down the hallway, silently cursing her boss and praising the fact that it looked like he hadn't arrived. She sat down at her desk and pressed the blinking red light that signaled that she had a message. She cursed out her boss as the message started to play.

"Hey Mr. Morello," her own voice said. "just calling to say that the elevator is out. It won't work. You're going to have to use the stairs."

The phone beeped and the secretary let out a small sigh. "Bastard probably waited forever for that stupid thing. Yet, I should have known he wouldn't check a message to save his life."

[Thunderbird]

Very strong scenework here, Bizzy! I was a bit envious of the skill you employed here actually. I do enjoy such scenes where the dark man cometh. I got a feel for Mr Tuxedo as if he may have been a Jason Statham-like character. Perhaps it was the touch of the 'Transporter' filtering through.

My only niggle would be that there were certain places where you introduced a new though, such as when he suddenly opened his eyes and found himself OUTside the elevator, that threw me a bit since they weren't beginning a new paragraph there. Keep in mind that what is read at the beginnings and ends of paragraphs are going to be the most memorable so if a new thought is important, it should start a new paragraph. But yeah, this is a minor point really and mentioned just to assist in your continued meteoric growth here.