literature

Elevator by -Senor-

Deviation Actions

senorrandom's avatar
By
Published:
343 Views

Literature Text

James stood in the corner of the elevator, chewing on one of his many unsharpened pencils. He felt rather warm in his charcoal suit, and nearly strangled by the navy blue neck tie. His hair was gelled down to keep the rooster tail from flying up, and his chocolate brown eyes were focused on nothing. The HB rolled on his tongue, the lead seeping into his system, and the paint, chipping ever so slightly, managed to make it's presence known on his tongue. He had always ridden the elevator to calm his nerves after a service, especially since this one, would be his last.
The thought had crossed his mind over the week leading up to his final eulogy. He found many similarities in the job he did and his eulogies. He constantly spoke of being in a better place, moving on, remembering fondly, and of course, that you'll never be forgotten. He always said that, and though you believed it, to him, it was just routine. The words had begun to lose meaning, like when he first said 'I love you.' But, that was a long time ago, and ever since, they had changed in meaning too.
The elevator stopped at the ninth floor of his apartment building. The halt startled him slightly, but he then resumed his self poisoning activities, ignoring the footsteps coming on to the elevator.

"Hey, buddy, can you hit the button for the basement?" said the voice next to him.
James mindlessly pressed the button marked with a bold letter 'B' on it, and continued with his thoughts. He heard a cough from the figure next to him. He turned his head slightly, and caught a glimpse of his fellow passenger.
She was approximately five and a half feet tall, bronzed skin, and dirty blonde hair that covered the majority of her face. She had a broom in her left hand. She wore a white tank top, and baggy bluejeans with sneakers.

"Hello, I'm James."
"Cassie." she extended her hand, and James took it and shook.
"You new here?"
"Yep."
"Cool." he leaned back, his head hitting the fake wood interior of the elevator, making a loud, but hollow sound. "Ow." he said, rubbing the back of his head, causing Cassie to giggle.
"Nice work."
"Oh yeah? Well, it so happens, I planned that."
"Really?"
"Well, yes."
"Oh. Why?"
"Why? Because, um... if I didn't, I wouldn't be having this conversation with you."
"Oh really? Well then, I suppose it's all for the good of things then?"
"Damned right!" he said proudly, which resulted in mad laughter. Cassie's laugh sounded like a wheezing seal, and oddly enough, it turned James on.
They stopped at the basement. The doors opened, and James saw the most beautiful sight ever. The entire room was converted into an apartment, complete with stove, and working washer and dryer.
"How'd you score this?"
"What do you mean?" She said, half out the door.
"Well, my place, on the seventh floor, it's a quarter the size, and I still have to go to the laundrymat. How'd you luck out?"
Cassie shrugged and said, "I know people."
"Oh, and what kind of people?"
Cassie turned and faced James, her eyes, a deep blue glared at him, piercing his soul.
"You don't want to know."
"Sure I do, I'm interested in you. Oops." James slapped his forehead and shook his head back and forth. "Sorry, that was out of line. I'm really sorry." He turned to the doors and pushed the button for the top floor. He started toward his corner, but was stopped by Cassie's hand on his wrist.
"Wait."
Cassie set the broom beside the door and pulled James into her room and led him to her bed. She sat down on the soft, cardinal sheets and patted the area beside her. James looked into her eyes. Past, present, and future melded. She looked at his hand, sitting on the mattress, alone. She placed hers hand on his and squeezed.

"I... I have to go." James said, dropping his pencil on the way to the elevator, stopping the door just before it closed. He rushed in and hit the button to close the door. Cassie got up and ran toward the elevator doors only to see his face, blocked by two steel doors.
Cassie bolted toward the stairwell, and rushed up the first two flights of stairs. She shoved the door open to see the elevator lights indicate that it was bound for the top floor. She called up all the courage she'd ever need, and ran like a madman up the stairs. Turning at the end of each flight, almost knocking over Mrs. Phillips from 412. She stopped at the seventh floor to see if he had stopped there, but he was going to the top.

James got out of the elevator, on the roof. The entire city lay before him, the wind snapping against his frame. Then, he wept.
He had ran away from a woman who could have been the only one to ease his mental pain. She could have been the one person who understood him, and he blew it. Tears streamed down his face as he screamed the first word that came to his mind.

"FUCK!"

It echoed across the rooftops, and into the alley ways. Suddenly, behind him, he heard the door from the stairwell open loudly. There Cassie stood, panting from running her guts out.
She glared at him with longing eyes, and she saw his tears. She fainted. James rushed over to help her come to, he fanned his hand over her face, then did the same thing with his coat. The sheer idiocy of it all hit him. Fanning air on her, when the very atmosphere was windy. He kneeled down and looked at her face. It was the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen, like it was a dream. He knealt down and kissed her pale lips, putting one hand under her back to lift him to her. He scooped her up in his arms and went back to the elevator.
He pushed the button for his floor with his toe, the doors closed. Cassie started to come to, tears from James' eyes splashed on her cheek, and ran off into her ear.

"Wha? What happened?" she said groggily.
"Shh, don't worry. I'll take care of you." he said, pressing his index finger to her lips.
Cassie leaned into his chest, feeling the expansion and contraction of his lungs, she could hear his heart beat. The 'LUB-DUB' made her smile. She glanced up at James and saw his eyes were red from crying.

"Why were you crying?"
"Oh, um... " James trailed off, hoping that would answer her question.
"Well?"
No such luck. "When we were on the bed, and I looked at you, I saw things."
"What kind of things?"
"Lots of things. Weddings, children, christenings, birthdays, everything."
"Wow." she muttered, raspily.
James brushed the hair away from her eyes, and kissed her forehead. "Don't worry, I'll take care of you."

The elevator stopped at the basement again. James, with Cassie in his arms, moved amid the cleaning supplies toward the bed. He set her down on the right hand side and kissed her, softly on her neck. She moved her blonde mane from neck and revealed a large, brown, birthmark.
James stopped and looked at it.

"I've never done anything without showing someone this."
"Cassie, I could care less about that, it's YOU I've been longing for." and with that, he peeled the straps from her tanktop, down past her shoulders, revealing her chest. The mounds of flesh met his touch and Cassie ached for him.

She grabbed his shirt collar and removed his tie, then continued with the buttons. James took his jacket off in haste and accidentally threw it into a bucket full of mop water. Cassie thrust open his shirt to reveal his body. She kissed his navel and began moving upward toward his neck. James fumbled with his belt and suddenly, he felt a vibrating in his pocket. He stopped. She kept going.
"Shit! I've gotta go, but..." He kissed her left breast softly, "I... don't... want..." he slid her jeans down, exposing her pelvis, clothed in the kind of briefs you'd wear if you were a ten year old boy. He found his pager and looked at the number. It was the office, they needed him.

"Cassie, promise me you'll wait. I'll be back in just a second. Where's your phone?"
She sighed lightly and pointed to the wall by the elevator door.
"This will only take a second." he left her there, semi-clothed, on the bed, wanting him. As he moved toward the phone, she began to shed what clothing she had left. James turned around, and nearly stumbled on a mop bucket. He walked backward, toward the telephone, staring at Cassie's gorgeous body. The muscle tone, the curves, they all aroused him further.
He clutched the pager in his hand, and felt the vibration. He looked at the display and then thought again. He smiled coyly and started to walk forward again. Then, the vibrating turned into buzzing. He had to take this call.
"Don't go anywhere." he said, jokingly, as he turned around and looked for the phone, he had barely moved three feet from the bed. He walked faster toward the phone, and kicked a the bucket he nearly tripped over's twin.
"Shit!" he said, while Cassie giggled.
The bucket travelled slowly toward the wall, as did James. James was three feet away from the phone.
The bucket hit Cassie's broom, it started to fall.
Jacob, in a rush, tripped on his own feet. He began to fall.
Then, Cassie heard a loud noise that sounded like a squish and a crunch at the same time, like a melon being hit with a Louisville Slugger.
James had become empaled by the broomhandle. It's end stuck out of his back, covered in crimson. Life poured from the other end.

"NO!" Cassie wailed. James rested there, supported by the broom, he was neither standing, nor kneeling. No words exited his lips, only the sound of blood dripping on the cement floor, and air escaping his lungs.
Cassie sprang from the bed, trying to keep a sheet clung to her frail frame. The handle snapped, and James fell to his knees. Cassie rushed to get the phone, but it was broken, crushed underneath James' knees. She ran to him, and wrapped the sheet around his body. His face had taken a ghostly shade, his lips were blue, his pupils, dilated.

"You can't die. You can't. I've never loved before. I want you! DON'T DIE! DON'T!!!" she pleaded with whichever diety was listening. She held him close, the blood soaking through the sheets, his mouth agape, her tears streaming.
"All... I... wanted...." he struggled.
"Shh... save your strength."
"Was... to..."
"Shh. Just be here, with me." her tears fell, like a thousand prayers on deafened ears.
"Love..."
"No. You can't go."
"You." he said, and smiled.
"Hold on, you'll be okay, don't worry." these words brought her no solace. She took his head in her hands, and kissed his quivering lips.
"I... love... you." a single tear fell from his cheek, and landed on her blood stained hand, clearing that single spot. Cassie held his limp corpse in her arms as best she could, and lay him on the floor, wrapped in her sheet.

A week later, the funeral was held, and Cassie delivered the eulogy, of a man, she only knew as James, the guy from the elevator.
I haven't submitted much in the way of prose lately, so... with the help of my girl 's suggestions (Characters, Setting, Occupations, Genre) This was born...
Done in approx. 2 hours..
Dedicated to Kel...
© 2002 - 2024 senorrandom
Comments14
Join the community to add your comment. Already a deviant? Log In
tk-nvme's avatar