Going Up

“Mom, I’ve got to go, I’m getting in the elevator.” Catherine rushed to push the button, having just missed the only elevator that takes her up to the 45th floor.

“Ok.  Call you father when you get a chance, he misses you too.”

“Will do, Mom.  Love you.”

Catherine heard the phone disconnect in her ear after her mother said she loved her too.  Her arms were weighed down with groceries as she stood waiting for the elevator to come back.  There were three over elevators, all chiming and moving between the lower floors, but this one would take her straight up to her place on the 53rd floor without having to stop at the floors below.

Her penthouse near the top of the building was most easily accessed with this elevator.  You needed a key to get it to run at all, and your key told the elevator which floor to stop on.  There was no access to the elevator on the floor below 45, and the only way you could get a floor to open besides your own was with the emergency call button, and a floor had to answer your emergency.  

She put her phone into her back pocket after carefully contorting her body to reach it, as the groceries in her arms prevented her from getting there gracefully.  In the pocket, she had stuffed the torn and ripped pieces of a letter that was in her mailbox this morning.  Catherine quickly put the letter out of her mind, and would shred what remains and throw it away once she was safely in her home.

The elevator dinged and Catherine stepped on, setting her canvas grocery bags down on the floor before reaching into her purse to retrieve her key.  Once it was inserted into the hole, the doors shut and the elevator started climbing up to the top floor.

The music playing above her head was soft and peaceful as she felt gravity hit her shoulders.  Today though, the speed seemed off.  As she passed the sixth floor, she felt the elevator speed up, and after the tenth floor, it slowed down.  The lights flickered and just past the 17th floor, the elevator stopped entirely.  

Catherine froze in place as the lights flickered on, off, on, and then finally shutting off entirely.  The elevator was dark, still, and continued to play the soft violin music above her head.  Her heart was racing in the dark as she tried to calm down enough to make her next move.  Elevators usually have emergency call boxes to let someone know that you are stuck.  Catherine needed to find the call box, but in the dark knew it would be impossible.  She needed a light.

Just as she remembered her cell phone was in her pocket and had a cell phone attached to it, the red emergency flood light turned on and bathed the elevator in a dim red glow.  The emergency box was quickly discovered under the keyhole and, as Catherine made her way to open it and get herself moving again, a voice came from behind her.  Her hand was on the box, and the sound of a man’s deep voice sent a terrified chill through her body. 

“You did not answer our invitation.”

Catherine spun around so quickly that she lost her balance and fell to the ground, the whole elevator giving a small shake as she fell.  No one was there, of course no one was there.  Now the only noise in the elevator besides the music was the creaking swing of a partially open help box.  The voice was only in her head, and she was manifesting something terrible due to fear.  She took another moment breathing on the floor of the elevator before pushing herself back to her feet so that she could get herself out of there.

Her head chanted over and over again that no one was there as she composed herself.  From behind her, she heard the voice again, as well as the partially opened help box door slam shut.

Catherine spun around again to find a man in a black business suit with slick black hair and a thick beard and mustache.  He adjusted his sleeves, eyes fixated on a very clean cufflink on his jacket.  

“If I can recall correctly, it was not an optional invitation, but rather an informational letter explaining that the time to repay your debt has come. 

Catherine backed herself in the furthest corner away from the man.  The elevator was empty when she entered, and no one else could have entered the elevator after the doors shut. 

“I am not in debt.”  Her voice was shaky as she spoke.  The man lifted his dark eyes to meet her gaze, and she felt the need to look away.

He took a step closer. “Oh, but you are.  I’m sure you owe on your lovely penthouse up there.  How about what was spent on your groceries today?”  He gestured his hands appropriately as he spoke and let his sentence taper off towards the end.  

When Catherine lifted her eyes again, he stood so close to her corner that she couldn’t help but let out a small and breathy scream.  The man yelled as he continued to approach her

“How about the success you’ve had in your career.  How about your relationship with the man you’ve admired your whole life.  All the things you’ve always wanted to be good at and now you succeed at them with flying colors.  How about those debts?”

His eyes burned as read as the lights above and in that moment Catherine could have sworn she saw fangs and the snout of a pig on his face. She shut her eyes while he yelled, and when she opened them, he was standing back against the door, this time adjusting his tie. 

“Allow me to introduce myself.”  He said, his voice back to what Catherine assumed was his normal speaking voice. “I am the Earl Bifrons, demon of war and peace.”

“Demon.” Catherine mumbled under her breath.

“Please do not play dumb here, there is no one around for you to fool.  You know as well as I do that you sold yourself for all the riches you have in this life.  No one can cast judgment here.

“It is time to repay your riches.”

Catherine’s heart raced into her chest as she put her hands to her neck in fear. “No, I’m not ready to die.”

Bifrons laughed and rolled his head from side to side.  “We are not in need of your soul.  We are in need of a war.  Did you read your letter?”

Catherine shook her head no, and felt herself relax ever so slightly.  He wasn’t going to kill her.  

“The Redeemer will come to Zion, to those in Jacob who repent of their sins” Bifron quoted the bible.  “It is a honorable quality to forgive those who have done evil, but what if you forgive someone with such evil in their heart that they can never truly be free of their sin?”

Catherine spoke, her voice still a bit shaky but finding strength with each passing minute. “Part of repentance is to make a change, if you do not change then you did not repent.”

Bifrons smiled and said “You make a great argument, except that I have found a loophole, it’s what I do.” 

“Your letter gave you the names of five men who have not repented their sins.  Your job is to lead them in prayer, help them repent so that they will gain access to the kingdom of heaven, and then take their lives before they are able to act on their change.  They will start my war. “

Catherine shook her head.  “That will never work.”

“It has to work, Cathy Baby.”  Bifrons rushed to her, his face changing back to form that of a beast.  He slammed his right hand into the wall of the elevator, causing the whole thing to rock and shake side to side.  In his left hand was a contract containing what Catherine only assumed could be the information on her debt. “Now, sign and agree to the terms of your contract, or I’ll pull the elevator down so far that you’ll be sent straight to your realm of hell.”

Kill or be killed.

Catherine felt tears roll down her face as she let out a scream.  She reached forward and touched the contract with her hand.  The elevator rumbled, the lights flickered again making the room black and red with the demonic laughter of Bifrons filling her ears.

In an instant, he was gone and the lights were back.  The violin music was playing above Catherine’s head, and her groceries were laying at her feet.  The elevator gave a soft ding to represent that she had arrived in her home on the 53rd floor. 

On her entryway table, sat five red envelopes.