11/12/2025
TITLE: LEVEL 9
That night, Rafi sat inside the elevator of an office building undergoing renovation. He had been assigned to inspect the wiring system up to the top floor. All the contractors had already gone home. Only he and the ground floor security guard remained, along with the distant hum of machines.
The elevator stopped at Level 9. A pair of lights flickered on. He pressed the button for Level 8.
But the elevator doors opened by themselves.
Level 9 wasnāt supposed to be readyno lights, no installed walls, and no one was allowed up there.
But the floor was bright.
The lights were white and clean, though flickering faintly like an unstable generator.
Rafi glanced out, intending to close the elevator doors, but something in his mind whispered,if the lights were on, maybe a worker had been left behind.
He stepped out.
Level 9 was silent. The smell of paint, cement, and metal hung thick in the air. The walls were unfinished; sheets of plastic swayed slightly from a breeze that shouldnāt exist.
He walked slowly, tapping the metal studs of the wall frames.
āHello? Anyone still here?ā
No answer.
Until he saw a figure at the end of the corridor standing facing the wall, shoulders rising and falling as if breathing hard.
Rafi swallowed.
āHey, brother? You alright?ā
The figure didnāt move.
Rafi approached cautiously. The closer he got, the clearer it became that the man was wearing contractor clothes, but the shirt was filthy, as if dragged across the floor.
When he was less than a meter away, Rafi lifted a hand.
āBro..ā
The man turned.
His eyes were pitch black, like two hollow holes. His mouth hung slightly open, the lips torn. His expression seemed like an attempt to imitate a human face, but failing miserably.
Rafi stumbled backward.
Suddenly the man moved not running, but gliding, as if his body was being pulled by something unseen. Fast.
Rafi dodged sideways, his shoulder slamming into the wall frame. The man shot past the spot he had stood moments ago, scratching grooves into the floor with fingers that looked slightly broken.
Rafi bolted.
The corridor was long, the walls unfinished. He crashed through a hanging plastic sheet, the sound amplifying his panic. Behind him, the man moved again, bones cracking each time his body twisted direction.
Rafi glanced back,the man was getting faster.
He grabbed a metal handle rod lying on the floor and swung it at the creature just as it lunged. The impact was strong. Its head snapped backward, but the body did not fall. It merely corrected itself, as if it didnāt feel pain at all.
Rafi struck again, this time aiming at the knee. The joint cracked loudly, the leg bending inward. Only then did the creature drop.
Rafi sprinted toward the elevator.
The elevator stood in a brighter open area. He pressed the call button repeatedly. The doors still didnāt open.
Behind him, the creature was getting up, its leg still twisted, but the body forcing itself to stand, bones popping softly one by one.
Rafi cursed under his breath. He spotted the nearby electrical panel. He grabbed the wire cutter from his bag and severed a small fuse controlling Level 9ās lights.
The entire floor fell into darkness.
Rafi held his breath, stepping backward slowly. He heard the creature stop,
as if confused.
Thenā¦
A long breath filled the air. Not his.
The creature knew he was close.
It crawled toward the sound.
Rafi stayed silent. The elevator still hadnāt arrived. He understood one thing,he needed to distract it.
He picked up a small rock from the floor and threw it to the left, as hard as he could.
The rock clattered against the metal.
The creature instantly rushed toward the sound. Fast.
Rafi took the chance, crawling toward the elevator. He pressed the button again,this time the doors opened.
At the exact moment the elevator chimed, the creature froze.
It turned toward Rafi in the dark.
Rafi dashed inside and hit the close button repeatedly.
The creature started running.
Within seconds, it was less than three meters away.
The doors were almost shut.
The creature leaped.
The doors sealed just before it reached them.
Its body slammed against the metal with a violent thud.
The elevator descended.
Rafi collapsed to the floor, breath broken. His hand was bleeding, but he was alive.
When he reached Level 1, all the lights were normal again. The security guard stared at Rafi sweaty, pale, shaken.
āWhat happened?ā the guard asked.
Rafi had no idea how to answer. He just stared at the elevator doors closing again.
The elevator trembled slightly.
As if something above was coming down with it.
Rafi stepped back slowly.
And from the small speaker inside the elevator, the contractorās voice echoed.. hoarse, artificial, not human.
āYou made it down. But Iām not done.ā
The elevator doors opened. Empty.
But the air shifted.
And Rafi knew Level 9 wasnāt unfinished.
Level 9 was hidden.
And something in there wanted to get out.
The End
DESCRIPTION :
An office building that was supposed to be empty at night suddenly comes alive with something not human. Rafi, a technician, is assigned to inspect the wiring on a supposedly unfinished level. But that night, the lights on the floor turn on by themselves and something that resembles a man, but does not breathe like one, begins to chase him.
DISCLAIMER :
This story is not for the faint-hearted, not for people who enjoy staying alone at night, and not for contractors who love claiming overtime but never actually check the upper floors.
COPYRIGHT Ā© 2025 by MFI Collection. Do not copy or repost without permission/credit. Keep it here only just in case something follows you back.
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Thank you for reading until the end.