II

(trapped | in an elevator)

In Case of an Emergency, Please Use the Stairs

Traverse Town could always be counted on to be haunted.

Its walls were rotted, its ground was unstable, its numerous districts were slapped together from the corpses of other worlds, buildings changed for no other reason but presumably shits and giggles, but if nothing else the town could be counted on to shepherd the souls of the undead like they were waiting in line to get into a theme park.

Cloud stood in the middle of the warehouse basement, sword drawn and feeling all too vulnerable as he turned around in circles. Something still wasn't right, and something never would be right in the god-forsaken warehouse. The building had spent too much time alone without living things churning the air and running greasy fingers over the doorknobs. Cobwebs laced the rusting foundation and a sea of dust swirled at his feet with every step he took. It smelled of rotting things and forgotten memories, ripe with despair ready to fester in a person's heart and attract the writhing shadows of the world.

"Forget it, this place is done for," Cloud said. "We'd be better off doing a cut and run."

Leon seemed more agitated than before, pale and sweaty with a gray layer of dust clinging to his brown hair. Cloud could barely see his face for the shadow that was cast over it. A few dim bulbs were still flickering in the ceiling, casting a sickly light over the two of them.

"What's the matter with you?" Cloud raised his voice louder than he would have liked.

Leon just shook his head. "It's nothing. Did you find anything?"

"No. Did you?"

"Nothing."

The small frown that always bent Cloud's lips deepened. "So the past five hours we've spent down here…?"

Leon shot him a furious look. "Don't say that. We are not down here for nothing."

Cloud swung his blade to the side as if that could disperse the cobwebs that had attached themselves to the scratchy fabric he had wrapped around it. "Well, I definitely got my exercise for the day. What do you expect you're going to find down here?"

Leon wearily lowered his sword and trudged forlornly through the dust. "Answers."

"Heartless," Cloud said simply. "That's the answer. The workers here were consumed by them. What more do you need to know?"

Leon didn't reply. Normally, Cloud wouldn't have pushed him to talk. Leon was one of the few people he knew who could be in company with someone and not expect every single minute they spent together to be filled with any and every type of conversation that popped into his head. Cloud liked that. He was even less sociable than Leon, and he appreciated the sound of silence.

This was different, though. It seemed like Leon would spend the rest of the night in the cursed building if he had to, and Cloud wasn't just going to leave him down there alone, as tired as he was, even with nerves that were absolutely shot.

"What is it?" Cloud asked.

Leon had his back turned. "…nothing, forget it, you're right, this is stupid, let's just go."

Cloud shrugged and eased the Buster Blade over his shoulder. "What, is it funny? Will I laugh?"

Leon closed his eyes and pinched the scar in the place where it crossed the bridge of his nose, like he always did when he was agitated. "…I'm looking for a story."

There was a pause, like Leon was waiting for the laugh Cloud hinted at. Cloud just sighed.

"Oh, well…if that's all…"

"Yeah," Leon said. "That's all."

"…all right," Cloud began. "Once upon a time there was a factory of workers. The workers became very sad and fell victim to the darkness that was in their hearts. The Heartless came and consumed the hearts of everyone in the factory. Their human bodies shriveled and their souls were lost forever."

It was Leon who ended up laughing, a small, short hmph of indifference. "That it?"

"…sorry, I forgot," Cloud said. "The end."

Cloud tripped and nearly cut his own head off with his sword. He whipped around and saw something lying in the sea of dust he had been trying to wade through. His pants and dust cover had scattered the bits of gray to reveal a back, some hair, a pair of legs…

Leon immediately rushed to kneel by it, gently turning the body over so it was staring straight up at them, its face permanently twisted into a mask of horror and pain.

"…it's pretty well preserved," Cloud said awkwardly, shaking out his pant leg.

Leon didn't say a word. He seemed to be in shock, trying to check the body's pulse and brushing back its hair. Cloud examined the face. It couldn't have been anybody they knew.

A chill ran up his spine. Leon jerked his head. They both looked around, but they saw nothing different about the room. Leon's hand slowly crept back to his gunblade's handle.

"Let's get out of here."

"Right."

The stairs were broken and dangerous, they couldn't even support Cloud's weight. The two of them had gotten into the basement in the first place through the elevator, which was still in reasonable working condition. Leon jabbed the button several times with his thumb. It seemed to take a small eternity for the doors to open. Leon went in first and Cloud quickly backed up after him, the Buster Blade drawn in front of him, to get one last look at the basement before the doors closed.

"Which floor's back up on ground level?"

Cloud gave a blank look to the many buttons Leon had at his disposal. The paint was peeling off the numbers. A good deal of them were no longer legible.

"That one," Cloud said, pointing.

Leon punched the button. The whole compartment seemed to shift, as if the walls were stretching some rusty joints, before the cable began to pull them up. Cloud's stomach wasn't quite ready for the transition. A wave of nausea passed over him, his cheeks flushed from the sudden rush of heat. The compartment felt like a tiny oven. He glanced at Leon for some kind of reassurance, and indeed felt much, much colder as he looked into Leon's wide eyes.

"Cloud, don't look…"

Of course, Cloud did. He felt Leon seize hold of him and yanked his body away from his side of the elevator, the ceiling of which had inexplicably decided to start bleeding. Dark, red trails started to trickle down from the ragged cracks, slipping down the dusty walls.

"Shit!"

Cloud wrestled an arm out of Leon's death grip and furiously started punching the green button on the panel that was supposed to make the doors open. Now. Leon was trying to force the doors open with his bare hands. Cloud's blue eyes flickered to where the little black arrow was supposed to be pointing to which floor they were currently passing. It was pointing to a hole, where a round, yellow eye looked back at him.

"What is this?" Cloud backed up, trying not to step in the blood that was collecting on the floor.

"Shit!"

Leon kicked the door. Something reached through and latched onto his leg, knocking him down. He hit the sticky floor with a loud squish.

"CLOU-"

Without much thinking, Cloud punched the wall with his gloved fist. Whatever it was let go, but another pair of hands appeared in its' place. Then another. Then another. Leon and Cloud pressed against each other in the middle as countless pairs of hands and claws reached in through the walls. The fingers were groping them, touching their clothes and pinching at their skin. Cloud seized hold of Leon tightly, burrowing his face in the man's back so that the hands couldn't pluck out his eyes. There wasn't enough room in the tiny compartment to swing his sword. Leon was swearing and squirming as the fingers pulled out chunks of his hair. There was no way they could fight back, there were too many, and they all were hell bent on ripping them apart…

DING.

Just like that they disappeared, slipping back into the walls. Cloud dove for the empty hallway, dragging Leon with him. The doors to the elevator closed behind them. The doors in the ground-floor wall had been long gone. The elevator began it's decent, leaving them with an empty shaft to stare at.

Leon slowly stood up and walked over, standing in the doorway to look down at the empty black abyss. Cloud struggled to catch his breath, bending over one knee. His eyes met Leon's.

"Sorry," Leon said.

Cloud shook his head slightly.

An arm reached up from the shaft and grabbed Leon's ankle. With a quick yank, Leon's body was jerked back like a rag doll and he fell into the shaft. There hadn't even been enough time for him to scream.

Cloud slowly stood up, staring at the spot where Leon had just been. He walked over to the doorway and looked down, finding the same darkness Leon had seen.

It was a long way down.

My ending is that Cloud takes Leon's sword and goes home, but, hey, if you'd like to think otherwise don't let me put a damper on your day.