The morning sky was painted a soft, pastel pink as Charles Albright stepped out of his sleek black car. Dressed in a tailored suit and polished leather shoes, the 43-year-old CEO radiated wealth and power. With a phone pressed to his ear, barking orders to a junior executive, Charles barely noticed the man sitting on the sidewalk near the towering glass building that housed his empire.
The man on the sidewalk, a wiry beggar with hollow eyes and a tattered coat, lifted a trembling hand. “Spare some change, sir?”
Charles sneered, stopping only to glare at the man. “Change? Here’s some advice: stand up and get a job instead of rotting on the street.”
The beggar’s eyes met Charles’s, unblinking and dark, as he muttered something Charles didn’t quite catch. But Charles was already striding away, dismissing the encounter as irrelevant. The world belonged to men like him, not the dregs of society.
The Elevator Ride
Charles entered the marble-lined lobby of Albright Enterprises and made his way to the private elevator reserved for executives. He adjusted his cufflinks as the doors slid shut, the faint sound of classical music playing overhead. He pressed the button for the 30th floor, where his office overlooked the city like a throne above mere mortals.
The elevator hummed as it ascended, but at the 12th floor, it shuddered and ground to a halt. The lights flickered, and the music cut out. Charles frowned, jabbing the button panel. “Piece of junk,” he muttered, pulling out his phone, only to see there was no signal.
Before he could summon maintenance, a crackling sound came from the overhead speaker. A deep, distorted voice spoke, each word deliberate and heavy.
“Going up, Mr. Albright?”
Charles froze. “Who is this? Some kind of prank?”
The voice ignored his question. “Tell me, Mr. Albright, do you remember what you said this morning? To the man on the street?”
Charles’s pulse quickened. He forced a chuckle. “This is ridiculous. Consider you’re already fired!”
The voice laughed—a chilling, guttural sound. “Oh, I’m not an employee. I’m here to help you ascend. But first, let’s take a look at what you’ve built.”
The elevator jerked violently, and the walls seemed to dissolve into a swirling fog. Images began to appear around Charles, flickering like a twisted slideshow.
The Visions
Charles saw his younger self berating a frightened secretary who had mixed up a report. He saw a factory where underpaid workers toiled in dangerous conditions, producing the luxury goods that fueled his fortune. He saw families crying as eviction notices were nailed to their doors, properties owned by his sprawling real estate empire.
“Stop this!” Charles shouted, pounding on the walls.
“Why?” the voice asked mockingly. “This is your legacy. You’ve climbed so high, but at what cost?”
The fog shifted, and the beggar from the street appeared, his gaunt face filling the space.
“Do you know who I am?” the beggar asked, his voice no longer weak but powerful and resonant.
Charles stammered, “How… how are you here?”
The beggar’s face began to change, the flesh peeling away to reveal a hollow skull. His voice grew deeper, reverberating through the elevator.
“I am every soul you’ve stepped on to reach the top. Every worker you exploited, every life you destroyed. I am the weight you thought you could leave behind.”
The Descent
The elevator began to plummet, the numbers on the display counting down rapidly. Charles screamed, clawing at the walls as the air grew colder, the sound of rushing wind deafening.
“You wanted to rise above everyone else,” the voice bellowed. “Now, see where it takes you.”
The elevator jolted to a stop at the basement—a dark, endless void stretching beyond the open doors. From the shadows, figures emerged: spectral shapes of the people Charles had wronged. Their faces were pale, their eyes empty, and they reached for him with skeletal hands.
“No!” Charles screamed, backing away.
The beggar’s voice echoed one final time. “You asked me to stand up and work, Charles. So here I am, working to collect what’s owed.”
The figures surged forward, pulling Charles into the darkness as he screamed.
The Aftermath
When the elevator doors opened in the pristine lobby, it was empty. Charles Albright was never seen again, and his company crumbled within weeks, plagued by scandals and debts no one could explain.
On the sidewalk outside, a new beggar sat in the spot where Charles had mocked the man that morning. He wore a tattered coat, his gaunt face eerily familiar.
When passersby offered him change, he would only smile and say, “Be careful who you mock. You never know who’s watching.”
Rate the level of creepiness in the forever house using the “Creepy Meter” below.
Join the Bonfire Reddit Community to find more Horror geeks to discuss, or write your own creepy stories and send them to us at creepybonfire [at] gmail.com
Meanwhile, don’t miss: A Radio Broadcast from the Unknown
-
Creepy Meter | How Creepy it was
