The Mind Plays Tricks

Myka rummaged through his bag, trying to find his keychain within the chaos of items he kept in it. It was too dark outside to see into the bag, so he had to feel around until he found them. There was no way to get into his apartment building without his key fob. And because it was 3 A.M., there probably wouldn’t be many other residents trying to enter at this time of night. 

Usually, a security guard sat at the desk in the lobby, but the desk was empty. Myka assumed that the man must have gone to the bathroom or was off doing something else in the building. So, he was going to have to let himself in either way. 

Myka set his bag down on the ground, giving him better access to really rummage around so he could find his keys. Out of the corner of his eye, he thought he saw someone walking through the lobby. He jerked his head up, ready to flag them down so they could let him in. But when he looked around, the lobby was still empty. 

Was that light off before? Myka stared curiously at the light above the elevator vestibule. He could have sworn that it was on just a moment ago. I guess the bulb went out.

He went back to rummaging through his bag. And after a few more minutes, he finally found his keys. As he stood up to face the door, he came face to face with a man standing just on the opposite side of the glass, staring blankly at him. Myka flinched, letting out a quick gasp. 

It took him a moment to realize that the man was the security guard. Myka waved and pointed at his keys, hoping that the security guard would realize that Myka wasn’t just a random man sifting through a backpack outside the entrance for no reason. The security guard barely reacted, only moving his eyes to look at the keys and then back at Myka’s face. 

Myka felt awkward still standing there, getting no reaction from the security guard. So he reached over and touched his key fob to the receiver. The door clicked, and Myka reached over to grab the door handle. Just as he did so, the security guard quickly turned around and walked back over to his desk, moving so swiftly that it barely looked like his feet touched the ground. 

Myka opened the door and walked into the lobby. The security guard sat down in his seat and stared at Myka as he passed. The whole encounter was awkward, so Myka figured that saying something cordial would at least ease the tension a little bit. “Uh, have a good night.” 

The security guard blinked his eyes a few times, but eventually gave Myka a small, curt nod and hum in return. Though it was barely a response, it was enough for Myka to move on and get out of there so he could just go home. 

He entered the elevator vestibule, taking note of how dark it was without the light on overhead. In the two years he had lived in that apartment building, he had never seen that area without lights on. The only source of light was coming from around the corner in the lobby and the small glowing circle around the elevator’s “up” button. 

While he waited for the elevator, Myka looked around aimlessly at the environment around him. The abstract pattern on the carpet and the wallpaper covering the accent walls almost seemed to be pulsing as Myka tried to focus his eyes on them in the dark. He blinked. 

Damn, I’m way too tired for this. 

There was a soft dinging sound and the doors to the farthest elevator on the right opened. He entered and pressed his key fob against the receiver above the floor buttons. Once it was glowing green, he pressed the button for the 29th floor. He settled against the farthest wall within the elevator. And just as the doors closed, Myka thought he saw the security guard standing at the entrance to the elevator vestibule. 

“The hell is his problem today?” Now that Myka was completely alone, he didn’t feel any need to keep his thoughts to himself. He had never had any issues with the apartment building staff before. As far as he could tell, they had always been very nice to everyone, both residents and guests. Myka had even had a conversation with that very security guard before on a random rainy night while he waited for a car to come pick him up. 

Myka shook his head. Whatever it was that was causing that man to act strangely, it wasn’t any of his business. 

He looked up at the screen that showed the glowing numbers for the passing floors. He couldn’t be certain, but it seemed like they were moving a lot slower than usual. Myka always worked late, so he was familiar with how the elevators ran at this time of night. And never had they moved this slow. 

Really? Did I really have to get the broken elevator today? Of all days?

It felt like it took twice as long to reach his floor. And it wasn’t until he was about halfway up that Myka realized that the elevator was silent. There was usually instrumental music quietly playing in the background. But, for whatever reason, it was off that night. The lack of music made the sweeping sounds of the elevator slowly going by each floor seem even louder. 

Eventually, the screen glowed 29 and the bell dinged again. Myka had gotten into the farthest elevator on the right, so he should have been able to turn left out of the elevator toward the hallway. But as the doors opened and he left the elevator, he noticed that to his left was a wall, and to his right was the hallway. 

Myka paused, standing for a moment in the center of the 29th-floor elevator vestibule. He could have sworn he got into the farthest elevator on the right. But he had just exited the farthest elevator on the left. 

Am I just misremembering? That was really the only explanation. He shook his head. I really gotta go to bed. 

He turned and walked down the hallway toward his apartment. Myka walked up to his door and started to unlock it, not noticing that the number card reading 2904 was tilted a few degrees to the left. 

Myka entered his front hallway and took off his shoes, setting them on the shoe rack next to his door. He turned around to hang his backpack on the hook on the wall. This was something he did every day after work, so he was doing so without paying much attention. But as he reached up to hang the backpack, it missed the hook by a couple of inches and fell to the ground. 

Myka startled, looking first at the backpack on the ground and then back up to the hook. He stared at the hook for a minute. He could have sworn it was always lower on the wall than it was now. 

He lifted a shaky hand to touch the hook, feeling it with the tips of his fingers. He wasn’t sure what he expected it to feel like, but it just felt like a normal metal hook. He shook his head and bent down to hang the backpack again, making sure to watch where he was placing the loop this time. 

He made his way to his bathroom and turned on the shower. As the shower warmed up, he went to brush his teeth but found that his toothbrush was missing from the holder. He looked around the counter, in the cupboards, and under the sink. The toothbrush was nowhere to be found. 

Myka furrowed his eyebrows, trying to remember back to that morning when he brushed his teeth after waking up. But the mundane action was something he did every day, so he couldn’t remember anything specific. Misplacing random things wasn’t out of character for him. And since it was so late and he was already very tired, Myka decided to just move on and continue with his shower. 

After washing off, Myka got out of the shower and started to dry off. But just as he was about to leave the bathroom, he noticed that his toothbrush was sitting right where it should have been, in the toothbrush holder. “What the…” 

Myka took the toothbrush in his hand and inspected it, half expecting it to disappear as if it were just a figment of his imagination. But sure enough, it was real, and nothing about it was out of the ordinary. 

Myka put the toothbrush down and left the bathroom in a hurry, making his way to his room. Too many odd things had happened, so he just wanted to go to bed and get some much-needed sleep. 

But just as he was about to get into bed, he heard a sharp knock on his front door. 

Myka froze. It was way too late in the night for him to expect someone to come to his door. The only thing he could think of was that there was a problem with a neighbor. He walked slowly and quietly to the door, trying to make as little noise as possible so that they wouldn’t automatically know he was there. 

He leaned forward and looked through the peephole. On the opposite side of the door stood the security guard, standing incredibly close to the door, making his face appear giant in the peephole. Myka gasped and jerked back, unsure if the man was actually standing there or if his mind was playing tricks on him again. 

Myka began to slowly lean forward again, not wanting to look a second time but feeling like it was his only choice. But once he was close to the peephole again, he found that there was nothing on the other side of the door. He straightened up, looking blankly at the door, then leaned forward to look through the peephole again. Just as before, there was no one on the other side of the door. 

Feeling that maybe the man was crouching down or just out of sight, Myka stayed at the peephole for a while, expecting to see something, anything, that would explain the knock he heard or the man he saw. But after about 4 minutes passed, and nothing had happened, Myka straightened up and sighed. 

“I’m losing my mind. I’m actually losing my mind.” 

Myka made his way back to his room, got into bed, and turned off the lamp. The hum of the central air running filled the room. That sound was usually the only thing Myka needed to fall asleep. And he was feeling so incredibly exhausted. But the odd events of the past half hour were making him feel a bit more wired than he would have liked. 

He tried his best to calm his mind, counting up from one to one hundred in an attempt to keep his thoughts focused instead of wandering. He was just about to finally fall asleep, reaching that hazy limbo between dreaming and consciousness, when he heard the clear sound of someone taking in a breath, and then slowly exhaling. 

Myka’s eyes shot open and he quickly sat up, reaching over to turn on his lamp. He looked around his room, seeing nothing but his own belongings. He got out of bed and threw open his closet. He pushed apart the hangers with all his clothes. Nothing was there. 

He turned and dropped on all fours, leaning down to look under his bed. Nothing was there. 

He walked over to the door and opened it, looking out into his hallway. But nothing was there. 

Myka let out a long frustrated groan. Either someone was in his apartment or his mind was playing tricks on him. Neither thing made much sense and only irritated Myka further. In a frustrated daze, he went through every nook and cranny of his apartment, searching for something he wasn’t even sure was there. 

He checked every closet and every cabinet. Behind his couch, in his shower, on his balcony. And by the end, his apartment was torn apart and he had sweat on his brow. It was well past four in the morning, and his exhaustion was only getting worse. So, finally accepting his defeat, Myka figured it was just his imagination. So he went through the apartment to turn off all the lights he had turned on in the process so he could finally get some sleep. 

Myka walked down the hallway back to his room. He turned the corner through the doorway and froze. 

Sitting crouched on his bed was the security guard, staring blankly at him with wide eyes and an open mouth. The only light still on was Myka’s lamp, which was behind the man, so his features were cast in shadow. The lack of light and the way he was positioned almost made him look inhuman. 

For a moment, neither of them moved. Myka was just trying to make sense in his mind how the man could have gotten into his apartment and hadn’t been noticed till now. He had checked everywhere. It just didn’t make sense. 

Myka slowly took a step backward, figuring his only move was to run. But just as his foot hit the ground, the door behind him slammed shut. Shocked by the loud sound, Myka turned toward the door. He was immediately filled with fear and panic as he quickly fumbled with the doorknob, trying desperately to get it open. But it was locked, seemingly from the outside.

Breathing erratically, Myka’s head whipped around to see if the man was still there. He hoped with all his heart that this was still just another trick of the mind and that the man wouldn’t be there like he had been at the front door. 

But as he turned, he came face to face with the man, who was now standing only a few inches away from him, his body lumbering over Myka, with his eyes still wide and mouth still open. 

Just as Myka was about the scream, the lights went out, and everything went silent.