| Fan Fiction |
by DTLCT
“That was something, huh?” Kevin asked, looking at the group.
“That poor cat!” Alice exclaimed, her voice filling with injustice. “Who would do such a thing?”
“Some people just don’t appreciate pets,” Charmaine said, her voice mirroring that of Alice’s tone.
Kevin shakes his head in disgust.
Mandy has somehow forgotten that she's scared of elevators. She has been listening to the others voicing their opinions. Now she speaks up. “Do you guys think someone in this building could have done it?”
“I'm sure it's not the two people the others were murmuring about before,” Charmaine said.
“Who were they talking about before?” Alice asked, staring at the others. “I noticed how shocked they were when Annie first appeared in the lobby. Was she one of the two they suspected?”
Charmaine nods.
“Who's the other one then?”
Everyone goes into a silent mood. Kevin stares at the wall to his right and pretends that it's the most interesting thing he ever seen in his entire life, but is careful enough not to look at Wallace. Mandy looks to where Kevin's staring at but she diverts her eyes to Wallace instead by accident. Charmaine, who's standing next to Mandy, just looks down to the ground.
Alice, who has been studying their strange reactions the whole time, exclaims out, “Ooohhh! They think Wallace did it! How could they?” She steps forward to punch the elevator button to the lobby. “I'm going to set them straight.”
Wallace steps forward to grab Alice's hand. “Forget it. They can think whatever they want. I'm used to it.”
“But ge!”
Wallace shakes his head.
Alice knows better than to upset Wallace at a time like this. She steps back into her place between Wallace and Mandy. She turns to Mandy again. “You and Charmaine don't think he did it, right?”
“Of course not,” Mandy said. “We don't know what other people do around here besides gossip, but we do know you guys are nice people.”
As if feeling like she needs to show her support through Mandy's words, Charmaine turns her focus to Kevin giving him a disapproving look that said he isn't helping either by spreading rumors about Wallace also.
Kevin feels guilt traveling through him due to Charmaine's threatening eyes. “I'm really sorry, man.” He forces himself to look at Wallace while he’s saying the next few words. “I should have known better than listen to the way those people talk. I should have come over and visit you instead of assuming stuffs.”
“Did you start the rumors?” Wallace asked.
Kevin shakes his head.
Wallace smiles, extending his hand towards Kevin. “Then no need to apologize.”
Kevin grins and shakes Wallace's hand without any hesitation.
“Now we're really neighbors!” Alice exclaimed cheerfully.
Before anyone could say anything more, the elevator makes a loud clanking sound and rocks up and down. Alice clinks to Wallace, who's balancing himself against the wall. Mandy goes into a panic mood. Charmaine tries to calm her down and gets her to breathe in and out slowly. Kevin's trying to keep steady with his right hand on the wall. A minute later, the elevator stops rocking, but the lights flick off. Mandy and Alice let out a scream at the same time. Charmaine feels a strong grip on her left hand, Mandy’s. She pats Mandy's hand, calming her down.
“Is everyone all right?” Wallace asked in the dark.
“Yes,” Charmaine answered.
“Ge, what's going on?” Alice asked in a worried tone, still holding tightly onto Wallace right arms.
“Probably just technical problems,” Wallace reassured her.
“Where is Kevin?” Mandy asked, her voice wavering.
They realize that he hasn’t spoken up after the elevator stops moving. The others feel around the car, calling out his name.
“Everyone, stop moving,” Wallace commanded. “We might step on him in the process.” He gets down on his knees, dragging down Alice too because she's still clinging onto him.
“Ge, what are you doing?” Alice asked.
“Trying to feel for him in case he's laying unconscious nearby.”
Charmaine and Mandy understand so they get down and do the same.
The four inch slowly, making it around in a circle in that method. They end up in opposite sides of the car, but still couldn't locate Kevin. Alice had let go of Wallace's arms while they were searching for Kevin.
Wallace finally stands up when he's near the door. He feels his way around for the buttons. Before he calls in, he has to ask the others an important question. “Anyone remembered which floor we were on until it happened?”
“It was 6th floor since I remembered glancing at the number right before it happened,” Mandy replied.
Wallace makes the call, reporting what happened, and hangs up afterwards. He leans against the wall where Charmaine and Mandy were standing before, waiting patiently.
Charmaine, who's standing where Wallace was standing before, speaks up again. “Did you guys notice that we were moving really slow before?”
Wallace scratches his head. “Yes. We were busy talking that we didn't really care.”
Alice, who’s standing by the door, reaches a hand up to push a strand of lose hair out of her face before speaking up. “Was it because this car has been working overtime? 'Cause it has been carrying like 30-40 people tonight. And simultaneously too.”
“No, it couldn't be,” Wallace disagreed. “They had the elevators fixed for a month or so now. Ms. Yeung said she wanted to install new machinery so it would be safer.”
“Then it should be new,” Mandy said. “Hmm...” She starts to tap on her chin, thinking of a possibility. “Hey! I know!”
The others wait silently in the dark for her to continue.
“What if it's the people who installed the new machinery?”
“What would be their motive then?” Charmaine asked.
“Fraud,” Alice jumped in before Mandy could answer. “By doing that, they could be called back to fix it again and charge extra for additional work?”
“No,” Wallace said. “It's guaranteed to work or they have to give back half the money.”
“Ge, how do you know that?”
“I walked by when they were doing the installation last month and the crews were arguing. They were telling each other to be careful or they won't get money at all. I was curious and did some research on the company.”
At that moment, they hear a clanking sound. The strange thing about it is it's coming from the back wall and not the front door of the car – meaning it's not the people that are supposed to come and help them.
“Ge!” Alice screeched out in alarm, clinging onto Wallace again.
Charmaine grabs Mandy and pulls her to the other side of the elevator since the sound coming behind them is getting closer. She's in time because they hear a really loud clank next – like some metallic item just dropped onto the floor of the car – and then a thump follows. An "ugh" sound startles everyone a bit.
“Kevin?” Mandy asked.
“Ugh...That hurts,” Kevin managed.
Mandy kneels down and feels with her hands to where Kevin's voice is. “Are you all right?”
“Does he sound all right to you?” Alice jumped in.
“Alice!” Wallace shouted in a warning tone.
“Sorry. It was energy left over from nervousness.”
“It's okay,” Mandy said. “I understand.” She finally touches a hand in the dark. She helps him sits up and leans against the wall that Charmaine had pulled her to before.
The others couldn't help because they don't know exactly where Kevin is. Charmaine could only move out of the way when she could feel Mandy moving towards her.
“You feeling better now?” Mandy asked, still having her hand on Kevin's left shoulder.
Kevin breathes out a sigh of relief. “Yea. Thanks.”
Mandy smiles. Then she giggles inside because of her silliness because Kevin couldn't see it anyways. “No problem.”
Suddenly the lights flick on, causing them to close their eyes abruptly. They use their hands to shield in front of their eyes before opening it again. They blink several times before getting used to the light again.Their eyes do a quick scan around the elevator car. The scene before them is just bizarre. Wallace is standing next to the keypad with Alice on his left, still clinging onto him. Charmaine is standing with her back to the door. To her right, Mandy is kneeling on the floor – with her back to Charmaine, still holding onto Kevin's left arm with her right hand. Kevin is of course sitting on the floor with his back to the wall. To his right lays a flat silver, squared metallic piece. On the back wall, there's a hole in the middle. At the center, there are three grocery bags laying there, some contents had spilled out because of what happened before.
“Is everyone all right in there?” A man’s voice asked from outside.
“Kevin, are you in there, dear?” A woman’s voice asked.
Everyone takes a quick glance at Kevin.
Kevin tries to get up with Mandy's help. “Yes, Auntie! I'm fine. Everyone is fine also.”
“We'll get you out in a bit,” The same woman said. “Just stay calm, dear.”
Everyone stayed silent when Kevin was responding, but they couldn't any longer – especially Alice.
“Who's that woman?” Alice whispered, looking at Kevin. “I know she's your aunt, but do we know her?”
“Sounds like Ms. Yeung,” Wallace said.
“You mean the apartment owner? Our landlady?”
Wallace nods.
Kevin looks around before answering Alice's question. “She's my aunt.”
“What?!?!” The others exclaimed in unison.
© Saturday, April 7th, 2007
Re-posted: Friday, October 9th, 2009