The Sixth Floor

Chapter 1: Mundane Routines
Mack was exhausted. It was 9:00 pm., and even at the office he began to fantasize over the comforts that his apartment yielded. He stayed around a couple more minutes and finished off the rest of his paperwork. That guy is such a monster, he thought. Mack's boss had been loading more and more work on him lately, with little thought to the fact that Mack was human and probably had a life of his own, too.

He stood up. The filing of the documents was complete, and he could now enjoy the rest of the night without the worrying about any incomplete projects. Mack picked up his keys, and started out his cubicle.

"Leaving this early, eh, Mack?" called out one of his coworkers.

"Yeah, David!" replied Mack with a sly grin.

His coworker returned the grin and continued typing.

Relieved to be finished with work at last, Mack stepped out of the office into the cool night air.

Chapter 2: Deadly Decision
Mack got out of the car, and started off towards the elevator inside the apartment building. Pressing the button, he waited impatiently for the elevator to arrive. These days it often seemed to Mack that he was handling too much pressure at one go. He was thinking of taking a trip to Hawaii, but never actually got around to planning it. Perhaps he felt it would never happen anyway. Money was scarce, and Mack was saving up every chance he had.

The elevator finally arrived.

Mack stepped into the tiny space, and the doors closed.

He reached out to press Number 5, then stopped in his tracks.

There was another button above it.

Number 6.

Mack would have found this ordinary, of course.

If it was an exception to the fact that there were only 5 floors in this building ever since he moved in, which had been from 6 years ago, to date.

Mack didn't know what to do.

Press Number 6 and be taken to who-knows-what floor?

Or press Number 5 and pretend like none of this was happening?

Although his instincts were screaming at him, yelling at him, urging him to go on home, and not have anything to do with the 6th Floor-

Mack pressed Number 6.

Little did he know about how much that decision would change his life.

Chapter 3: Dilapidation
Mack's heart pounded in his chest as the elevator rose one floor higher today than it normally did. He wondered what his wife Che'nelle would be doing right now.

Would she worry that he might be late today?

The elevator stopped abruptly, and the doors opened.

It was utter destruction everywhere.

This floor looked exactly like the 5th Floor, except that this floor was ravaged and destroyed and appeared to be ancient.

There was blood everywhere; splattered on the walls, ceiling, and even on all the apartment doors.

Worse still, it looked fresh.

An unpleasant odour permeated the air, and Mack could not recognize what the source might be.

Nor was he sure that he wanted to know.

Plaster was peeling off the walls, and there were claw marks all over the floor.

There were more claw marks on a few doors, and it was then that it occurred to Mack, that this killer might not be... Human.

Mack had a choice.

Either he could turn around, walk back into the elevator, and pretend he never saw this, or;

He could search for survivors.

Although the possibility that somebody might still be alive seemed bleak, Mack knew he had to try.

Walking down the corridor, Mack selected a door at random and threw his weight against it. It barged open. The mess in the apartment he barged into was almost as bad as the mess outside. There was shattered glass and china all over the floor, and the furniture was overturned. There were also claw marks from the overturned couch, and these along with some blood streaks lead to a bedroom. Mack's breath caught in his throat.

He summed up the shattered bits of his courage, and turned the knob.

He walked into the room.

There was a large bed in the middle of the room.

Mack gazed at a peculiar site in the corner.

Heart pounding faster and faster, he prayed it wasn't what he thought it was.

But it was, and his worst fears were confirmed.

It was a decapitated human body.

That was why there was blood leading to the room from the couch- The Thing might have ripped the person's head off his body, and then dragged the body by its feet to the bedroom, only to lay it in the corner to fester.

Just imagining the possible scenario made Mack gag.

Forcing himself to tear his gaze away from the grotesque sight before him, Mack happened to look in another corner.

There was a white, linen wrapped bundle.

The bundle was moving.

And there was blood on the linen, as well as on the floor surrounding the linen.

Mack walked slowly toward it, and emptied his mind. He tried his hardest to not visualise the possible outcomes of this move.

He stepped before the linen sheet, and pulled it off.

A pair of brilliant green eyes looked back at him.

Those eyes reeked of fear- pure, naked fear.

A girl.

He had just found... Another survivor.

Chapter 4: No Way Out
The girl began to whimper.

Mack tore his gaze away from the girl's eyes, and began staring at her leg.

Her foot had been cut off.

That was where the puddle of blood had come from.

With no time to lose, Mack picked up the seven year old, and she put her head on his shoulder.

Making his way out of the apartment, Mack kept having to step around huge glass pieces.

He walked out of there, finally.

He made his way to the elevator.

And what he saw made his heart sink to his stomach.

The elevator was bashed up.

Destroyed.

Their only means of getting out was ruined.

Whatever it was, it didn't want them to leave.

Chapter 5: Sickening Realization
Mack stood staring at the ruined elevator, his mind unable to process it all.

Since the girl's head was on his shoulder, she would be able to see the thing that was behind him all along.

She screamed.

Mack barely had time to react, and the last thing he felt was a baseball bat against the back of his head.

Mack woke up a few hours later.

He was in a dark room, a room so dark he wouldn't be able to see his hand even if he placed it inches away from his eyes.

He couldn't test that, anyway.

His hands were tied to the back of his chair, and try as he might, he wouldn't be able to free them.

As time began to pass, Mack felt his eyes adjust to the darkness and his ears were accustomed to the ringing silence.

And Mack was able to make out a figure in front of him.

The figure appeared to be sitting on a chair as well, and it also appeared that they were facing each other.

Mack couldn't speak. He was so emotionally and physically drained he thought it inpossible to socialize with whoever or whatever was sitting on the chair facing him.

He sat staring at the figure and waited for his eyes to adjust.

Mack suddenly knew.

As his mind processed what the sight was, Mack fought back a scream.

It was the girl, the seven-year-old girl.

She was missing her head.

A sickening but swift wave of Déja Vu swept over Mack as the baseball bat came in contact with the back of his head... Again.

Chapter 6: Dream
The clock on the table beside the bed read 6:42 a.m.

Mack opened his eyes, and immediately recognized his bedroom.

His wife snuggled up closer to him, her warm body pressed against his.

Mack was beyond shocked for a while.

He closed his eyes, and opened them again.

He was still in his bedroom.

Heart pounding so hard he was afraid it would wake the neighbours, Mack fought the urge to scream and cry with joy, he was so happy.

His life was back to normal... And everything was alright.

It was already time to wake up, and Mack didn't mind one bit.

But, he was wondering, should he tell Che'nelle?

No, she would probably laugh till her sides hurt.

Half an hour later, Che'nelle and Mack were ready to leave the house, as they worked in the same place anyway, except her shift got over way before Mack's did.

They waited for the elevator to come up, and it arrived with a DING!

Mack and Che'nelle walked into it.

As he was looking down at his foot, Mack noticed a speck of dust on his shoe, and bent on one knee to wipe it off.

"Wow!" His wife exclaimed.

"What's up?" asked Mack without looking up.

"Is this a new floor they've introduced? I've only just noticed it!'

Mack froze in his position.

"Let's check it out."

And Che'nelle pressed Number 6.

"NO, CHE'NELLE, NO!" yelled Mack.

It was too late.

They were now headed to The Sixth Floor.