The Elevator’s Descent Into Chaos

Untangling the Dead

Weave #13, Thread #III

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“There you are.” The sound whispered again. This time it was colder. More sinister.

The brass pocket watch in my pocket pulsed violently. It grew warmer and warmer until the heat began travelling through my coat.

My skull also throbbed harder. I need to find the owner of that cologne before we reach the ground floor.

I glanced at Nagari. She was staring at me. I couldn’t tell if it was concern or suspicion.

Floor fifteen.

This wasn’t the time to be prideful. I leaned closer to her, intending to whisper —

The woman beside me poked my arm. “Are you okay?”

The woman with two souls. This time, there was no forced soul binding. Just some genuine concern on her face.

“Yeah. Just a headache,” I replied, still cautious.

I suddenly felt a dip in pressure. Cold. Unnatural. I could feel the coldness of the floor beneath my bare feet.

I realised something was wrong.

The creepy guy standing by the elevator panel was gone.

My stomach tightened.

Shit. Where did he go? The elevator didn’t even stop.

At the same time, the scent of the cologne grew stronger. The sweet amber smell. It took everything I had not to throw up.

“Hey, stop fidgeting around,” Nagari said.

I ignored that and asked her, “Hey, Nagari. There was someone near the elevator panel, right?”

“Who? That suited guy?”

“No. Not him…”

Someone tugged at my arm. The woman with two souls. She was smiling. Not a normal smile.

Her lips curved into a crescent moon, both corners stretching upward as though there was no gravity.

My blood ran cold.

It was the same smile. The same one the creepy guy had been wearing.

The sweet smell of amber shot through my nose like a bullet. At the same time, the brass watch burned hot against my body. As if it was telling me that something was nearby.

“There you are.” The words emerged from her mouth.

A sharp pain pierced through my skull.

“Aaah!” I collapsed.

My eyes began fading. I could see the shocked faces of elevator occupants. Even Nagari looked alarmed. It had been a while since I’d seen that expression on her face.

But the woman beside me never stopped smiling.

Then I was forced back into a soul-binding. Again.

But this time, there weren’t two souls. Only one remained. And it felt wrong. Darker. More sinister.

The soul whispered. Soft. Commanding. “I’ve found you. You shouldn’t have been involved with Veyr. And you’ve even brought her with you.”

Her?

Before I could react, my soul was suddenly shot backwards, like something was pulling me into an endless vacuum.

Pain exploded behind my eyes.

My eyes shot open. My vision lagged for a second before stabilising. It was getting harder each time.

Nagari was pointing a gun at me. There was a bruise forming on her forehead.

“Nagari?”

“Don’t move, Elias,” she said firmly.

Ding.

The elevator reached the ground floor. The doors slid open.

The other occupants were running out of the elevator in panic, shoving past one another.

That’s when I noticed the blood.

Something wet dripped from my hand. The brass pocket watch was clenched in my fist like a knuckle duster. Crimson liquid covered my fingers. Blood.

A chill ran down my spine.

Beside me, the woman who had two souls lay on the floor, collapsed. Her face was horribly disfigured and bloodied. Her bag was also scattered around. And a photo fell from the purse.

My eyes went wide.

It was her and… Veyr. Were they both together?

I could sense other guards approaching.

I tried to remember what happened. But a throbbing pain pulsed beneath my eyes.

“Nagari, look…”

“Stop right there. One move and I will shoot.”

She was serious.

But something was wrong. Her lips trembled. Her hands were shaking. As if she were resisting something.

The scent of amber no longer lingered in the elevator. It lingered around Nagari. The brass watch continued to pulse in a steady rhythm.

Then I noticed the journal lying on the floor, its pages torn and scattered across the elevator.

It contained names. Some crossed out, some didn’t.

But my eyes were fixed on one of them: Shinta Nagari — half crossed out.

Thank you so much for reading 😄😄😄. And the weaves so far:

**Thread I **by Vipul Maurya: A soul-binder endures the harrowing psychic toll of reliving a tech mogul’s final moments, searching for clues to his murder. While the ritual only yields the phantom scent of expensive cologne, the victim’s final physical act leads the binder to a hidden compartment containing a brass pocket watch and a mysterious journal — just as the estate’s security override begins to chime.

Thread 2 by Meta Marvelia: Detective Shinta Nagari finds Elias Morrissey beside the corpse. She secures the scene and brings him in for questioning. Inside the elevator, Elias catches the same expensive cologne he sensed in Damien Veyr’s final memories. A woman stumbles into him, and an impossible soul-binding is forced upon him, and he discovers the woman possesses two souls. As the connection breaks, the pocket watch taken from Damien’s hidden compartment grows warm in Elias’s pocket.

Thread 3 by Sudarsan K Das: Elias is in an elevator where the scent of amber cologne intensifies, a brass pocket watch reacts violently, and a man near the elevator panel suddenly disappears. The woman with two souls interacts with him, after which Elias is forcibly pulled into a soul-binding, during which a single dark soul speaks, referencing Veyr and another woman, before he gets pulled back. He regains consciousness as the elevator reaches the ground floor and the situation turns into panic and chaos, with Elias finding blood on his hand, Nagari pointing a gun at him, and the collapsed woman beside him with a photo of her and Veyr. A journal is found scattered on the floor, containing names, including Shinta Nagari, partially crossed out.

Think you know what happens next? Write Thread IV. Drop a comment with the magic words, “I’m claiming the next Thread,” and you’re up!

Tagging: Stephen Dalton, Karen Schwartz, Anna Soldenhoff, Michael John Scott, Val Francis, Maria Rattray, Mary Acton, Robbi Walls, John Hansen PAL, Noriko Yanyan, Holly Emery, Clarity, Sunita Chakraborty, Kaili Bisson, Claire Noire♡ and anyone else who is ready to deal with a fantasy multi murder chaos.😉😉😉

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