"I have to go meet up with someone. You can wait in the car or come along. Whatever suits you. I shouldn't be long."

I decide to wait in the car. I unbuckle and lean back, watching as Elias disappears into the building without looking back at me once. Of course he wouldn't look back. I look out at the sky and the setting sun, there are some clouds passing by overhead. A shadow falls over us as the sun vanishes for a moment, and goosebumps rise on my arms. A branch of frost splays over the dashboard. Was that me?

I wonder how long he will be.

The clouds drift, cottony rabbits floating in the wind swirling into balloon animals. The clouds continue to move, and the shapes before me are not at all what they were five minutes ago. The animals I saw crashed into each other before leaving my sight. Windy today. The longer I watch the clouds, the more I become convinced that something isn't right. The wisps of clouds in the wind racing and crashing blur into a likeness of the ocean almost.

It's been too long, I can't be alone in here anymore.

The car door slams shut behind me, louder than I expect it to. Something is definitely not right. I should find Elias. I make my way into the dark building, nerves tingling. Why didn't I just go with him? I don't like being alone. I should have gone.

There is nobody when I enter through the door, and it falls closed behind me raising a puff of dust as it does. This is disgusting. A fly buzzes past my ear. Everything is louder than it should be, my blood races in my ears like the ocean I saw in the sky. An empty front desk with a dusted over bell lies static to my left. A bleak hallway stretches out before me, and an elevator lies in wait at the end. I guess I don't have many options, do I?

Elias, where are you? I try to know it, a feeling sparks at the back of my head for a moment, drawing a blank. I really do need to find him.

I approach the elevator with a plan. I will just take it one floor at a time until I find him. It's fine. There can't be that many options. The elevator door clunks shut behind me and shudders up a floor at a snail's pace. This is going to take longer than I thought. A ding and it stops. When it opens, there is a disheveled woman standing no more than an inch from my face, and she wears a sly smile. I don't like when I feel like others know things that I don't. There is a secret at her lips. I take a step back, and she shuffles in, pressing the button for the fourth floor. In her hands is a small box.

She looks me up and down, the smile never leaving her face. "How's your day going?"

"It's alri-"

She doesn't even let me finish. She blinks several times as if staring into a bright light, "Can you do something for me?"

"Sure, why not?" Might as well happen today. I don't have anything else going on. I was just going to go home and make some tea.

"Will you give this to Elias for me?" Her arms move with a stiff and lurching jerk forward, offering the box to me. Oh, is this who he was supposed to meet? Wonderful! I can find him, then we can leave.

"What is it?" I take it from her with light fingers, and her touch slips away.

"You'll figure it out." The elevator dings, its doors shivering open. She strides out, and there is an uneven lilt in her pace. It isn't quite a limp, but she walks as if her limbs have more bones than one would expect. Curious.

"Have a nice day!" I say to her shrinking figure. I am working on my social skills.

The elevator doors squeak shut, and a button lights up for the next floor. Just my luck, maybe it's him! After a torturously short crawl up a floor, the doors open once more. It is him. I don't think I have ever been more relieved to see his stupid face. I can't help the corny smile that I break out into. He steps into the elevator, but the doors do not shut quite yet. "Were you expecting something, 'Lias?" I hold out the box for him. Something rattles around in it with the motion

"I expect many things. Why?" The look he gives me raises my goosebumps once more.

"Someone asked me to hold onto this for you." I guess I did the wrong thing. I didn't mean to. I was just worried about finding you. I don't want to be here anymore. The ocean in my skull roars.

"And you just took it?" The door crunches shut behind him. This is such a sketchy place. Why did I take it? She seemed nice!

"She said it was for you." Maybe I should have just stayed in the car. He is looking at me with narrowed eyes. I don't like the way he looks at me at this moment. I wish he would turn away. Please, I'm sorry. I'll do better.

He presses the button that should take us back to the first floor. "Are you an idiot?" My grip tightens on the box, the material crunching a bit beneath my fingers, the waves of my blood are overpowering. I notice out of the corner of my eye that we are going up.

I knew something was wrong. I shift away from him, so I can claw open the box with shaking fingers. It is not just that I cannot match his gaze right now, but I don't want him to see how badly my fingers tremble."Oh, hm." The box is empty, but something used to be in it. I don't like this. We're still going up.

"What is it?"

"There's nothing here."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, I'm sure, look for yourself!" I drop the empty box, my knees giving out beneath me like an old tree in a thundering storm. We're stuck in a fucking elevator. No. No way. Why are we still going up? How could I fuck this up so poorly?

Elias crouches down across from me, his voice barely a whisper over the sound of my own panic. "Helen, breathe." He takes a deep breath, his eyes locked on mine, motioning me to do the same. I am trying. I am. "Slow. It's alright."

He reaches toward me, standing up with his hand outreached. "It's going to be fine. Helen, I need you to breathe, can you do that?" I take his hand, leaning into his arm for support, and he taps at the back of my hand with his thumb. "You can get us out of this." Having tested the waters with his last few gestures, he drags me into a crushing hug. His grip on me is tight. "I need you to calm down and do what you've been working on these past few weeks." Right. He's right. It's alright.

"What if it doesn't work?"

"It can't hurt to try." His voice is quiet, but the sound of my own blood is dying down.

"Take a few moments, gather yourself, and then I'll guide you through it. You've done so well. This isn't any different than what you have been doing." I wish his voice wasn't so calm. I wish he wasn't being reasonable. It's making me feel stupid.

In. Out. In. Out. He's here at least. At least I am not alone. This is fine. The box is empty, but I don't think it was before. There was something in it. Something small, round I think. I close my eyes, a small white circle takes shape in my mind's eye. It flashes on, a pale sickly yellow.

"It's an elevator button." It wasn't here before. I look at the panel of buttons, and sure enough there is a button that is slightly different than the rest. It isn't spaced as evenly as the others, though I hadn't originally noticed it. There's no label. We keep going up, but the elevator lurches with a quickening pace.

I stumble back, and Elias's hands find me again. He catches me, his arm secures me to him for a moment before loosening just as quickly as he had caught me. The elevator continues upward, but it is slower.

"Keep on," he whispers.

We keep going up. This place only had thirteen stories. If getting out is really a concern, I could take us somewhere, and then out, but I would prefer not to. "If I can't get it to stop, I could move us by-"

"Don't. You work for me now. Is that really what you want?"

"No."

"You're doing fine, keep going."

We should have taken the stairs. This is stupid. You're stupid. I will not be subjected to this ridiculous scenario. Is that the best you can do? A fucking elevator button? I hover my fingers over the button, and the warmth sinks out of my hand. It's…cold. Right, of course. That's why I was freaking out earlier, no other reason at all. Sure, I get anxious and all that, but the Lonely has always made those things so much more. I really should have known better. I just thought it was a bit drafty at first.

I know you. You're not a big deal at all in the end. A marvel of inconvenience, but an inconvenience is all that you are. A one-way trip to the Lonely with no way out. It's a bit like a bad metaphor, ascending forever while the rest of the world continues on its merry way. Who even came up with such an idea? Talk about a button that pushes all the wrong ones!

The button flickers and vanishes. I almost had it all finished too. I shouldn't have taken so much time with it. Ridiculous. I do feel a bit silly when I get to the part where I ridicule artefacts. The act of knowing and ridiculing them is the final straw usually.

The elevator dings, the door creaks open with a scream of metal. Elias's hands find my shoulders, steering me out of the elevator. "Good job, Helen."