Residential Elevator

The Residential Elevator is a short scary story about a boy who has an overpowering fear of the elevator in his apartment building.

There was a young boy named Kenneth who lived with his parents. When his father got a new job in the city, the family moved into the top floor apartment of an old residential building. Every evening, when Kenneth came home from school, he had to take a long elevator ride to the 25th floor.

After a few days, he began to get a horrible feeling whenever he stepped into the elevator. He couldn’t quite explain why, but for some reason, he had the distinct impression that he was being watched. He also thought he could hear strange whispers and mutterings as the elevator ascended to the top floor.

One evening, when he arrived home from school, he saw some other boys who lived in the same building. They were a few years older than him and he noticed that they avoided the elevator altogether. He caught up with them as they walked up the stairs.

When he asked the boys why they weren’t taking the elevator, they told him about some rumors that had been circulating among the kids who lived in the building. Apparently, all of the other children who lived there thought that the elevator was haunted. They said they heard disturbing shrieks and moans coming from the elevator shaft.

They also told him about a kid who had gone missing in the residential building only a few months before he and his parents moved in. Kenneth had a sinking feeling in his stomach as he listened to the story the older boys told him. They said the kid had mysteriously disappeared and nobody was able to find him. He was still listed as a missing person. The adults thought he must have been kidnapped and the police were still investigating, but the kids suspected that it had something to do with the old elevator. That was why they avoided using it whenever possible.

When Kenneth reached the top of the stairs, he ran into his apartment and breathlessly told his mother about the unsettling stories the older boys had shared with him. She just laughed and dismissed them as the typical rumors and legends that kids and teenagers always like to use to scare each other. His mother said that there was no such thing as a haunted elevator and it was childish to believe such outlandish tales.

Still, Kenneth couldn’t help being terrified of the old elevator. He took to using the stairs as much as possible, even though it was a very long climb and it left him tired and out of breath. The only time he would use the elevator was when his mother or father were with him. He figured that nothing would happen to him as long as one of his parents was there to protect him.

One evening, Kenneth came home late after football practice. He was deathly tired and was really dreading having to climb the stairs. He walked into the lobby of the residential building and breathed a sigh of relief when he saw his mother standing there, with her back to him, waiting for the elevator. The doors opened and she stepped inside. Kenneth jumped in after her.

The elevator doors closed and that’s when he realized that the light wasn’t working. They were in complete darkness. Kenneth broke out into a cold sweat. They started to go up. In the darkness, the frightened boy heard an eerie chuckling sound.

“Mom, did you hear that?”, he asked nervously.

As the elevator ascended, the chuckling grew louder. It sounded like evil laughter.

“That’s the sound I told you about, Mom!”, he said, shaking with fear.

A chill ran down his spine when he heard a deep voice reply “You really believed I was your mother?”