Page 47 of Savage Roses

Everyone steps off confidently and sets off down the hall. I hover, staring down the passage lined with different doors and crushed velvet carpeting, debating if I want to go back.

It’s not an option.

The elevator’s already departed, sliding down the cables to go transport whoever else in the building has called upon it.

Cheers echo from the first door down the hall. I follow the sound only after I’m sure the elevator isn’t returning for another minute or two.

People gather around a game table watching as two players toss chips and wage their bets. One man with a handlebar mustache loses the pot and slams his fist down in a fit of rage. The other man, half his size, earns the applause of the audience as he wins the hand and collects the chips.

This must be some sort of gaming floor.

Wandering a few doors down confirms this. Each room features a different game. Different players gambling and spectators watching them do so.

It seems harmless enough.

I turn and hurry back as the elevator finally returns.

Thankfully, it’s empty.

“Jon,” I say.

“Yes?”

“Where are you?”

“Looking for you in the main room. You’re gone.”

“I got carried away. I’m upstairs on the game floor. I’m coming down now.”

“Geno’s still nowhere to be found. That’s concerning.”

I hear his words, though they fall on deaf ears. I’ve become distracted by the buttons on the elevator panel.

None of them make sense. They’re all symbols that can’t possibly be the floor we’re on.

“Jon,” I say slowly. “What floor is the main party room on?”

“The ground floor. Level one.”

My stomach lurches with unease. “That can’t be.”

“Phi, what’s wrong?”

“There is no level one.”

“What do you mean?”

“In this elevator. There isn’t a level one on the panel.”

“Choose ground floor.”

“Jon, the levels aresymbols. There’s a triangle and a star. An X.”

“What kind of elevator did you take? Get off right now. I’m coming up for you.”

I hurry to push the button that’s supposed to open the doors, but the elevator’s been called elsewhere. With a mechanical crank noise and the X button lighting up, it begins to move. The glass box drops, taking me down.

“Oh my god, Jon…. I don’t know where I’m going. It’s taking me to the X level,” I say. “Where is that? Could that be the ground floor?”