Meet Quinton Lucas, the kind of guy you love to hate. He has a beautiful wife, lovely kids, and so much money that he can afford a summer home and a winter home. Quinton is rich, but Quinton is a jerk. No, jerk is too nice a word. I am sure you can think of other things to call him on your own. Quinton, because he thinks he owns life, cheats on his wife regularly, neglects spending time with his kids for both “work” and “pleasure”, and treats his employees like dirt. But Quinton is a great actor. His wife has no idea that he cheats on her because he knows just what to do to make her feel special. He buys his kids everything they want in order to get out of actually spending time with them, and makes them promises that he never intends to keep. Quinton does not appreciate life. But all that is about to change…
“Welcome to the Grand Casino and Hotel Mr. Lucas, glad you will be staying with us again.” The man behind the front desk gave Quinton a familiar smile.
Quinton Lucas told his wife and kids that he would be out of town this weekend for work. But as you can tell, he is not. Mr. Lucas has a big weekend of gambling, drunkenness, and adultery planned.
“Thanks Raul, always good to see you.”
“Mr. Lucas, if you would, please follow Joshua. He will take your bags and get you on the elevator.”
“Joshua?” asked Quinton. “What happened to the smokin’ hot girl you had….oh, what was her name…oh yeah, Channing?”
“I’m sorry Mr. Lucas,” said Raul. “We had to let her go last week. It seems that her extra- curricular activities were carrying over into her job.”
“What does that mean, Raul?”
“Take it to mean whatever you wish, Mr. Lucas.”
Quinton snickered and followed Joshua onto the elevator.
“Joshua huh?”
“Yes sir, at your service.”
“Well, you’re not as nice to look at as your predecessor, but as long as you get me to the right floor and don’t tear my stuff up, we will have a great relationship.” Quinton chuckled like a buffoon and put a cigar in his mouth.
“Of course sir,” answered Joshua. “I will make sure you get exactly what you need.”
“Well, right now I need you to get me up to the 21st floor so that I can get ready. I got a big night ahead of me.” Quinton again chuckled with his obnoxious laugh.
Joshua loaded Quinton’s bags onto the elevator, and then pushed the button for the 21st floor.
“So how do you like this gig?” asked Quinton.
“It’s good,” Joshua responded. “I get to meet a lot of people and hear a lot of interesting stories.”
“Seen any crazy stuff yet?” Quinton inquired
“Oh, nothing out of the ordinary yet sir, but I have a feeling that that will soon change.”
Quinton gave a huge belly laugh then patted Joshua briskly on the back.
“Hehehe, you’re right about that boy.” Quinton had this annoying habit of calling every male whom he did not esteem as the same social status as him, “boy”. It didn’t matter if they were older than him, younger than him, or the same age as him.
The elevator then stopped, and the bell dinged.
“Looks like we’re here Mr. Lucas.”
“Yeah, yeah.” Quinton reached into his coat pocket to grab a few bills to tip Joshua with.
The doors began to open, so Quinton turned around to exit the elevator.
“What the...” Quinton was speechless. “Is this a joke boy, ‘cause if it is, it ain’t funny.”
As Quinton peered out the elevator doors, he saw the front steps of his summer home.
“This is no joke, Quinton,” Joshua said calmly, as he watched Quinton run his fingers through his hair out of frustration.
“Ha Ha Raul. Very funny!” yelled Quinton as he raised his hands to the ceiling. “What, is this some new state of the art crap for some new security system or something! And how did you get a picture of my home?!”
Quinton was getting highly agitated. “Not funny! I have to meet someone across the street in 45 minutes! I ain’t got time for this boy!”
Joshua gently placed his hand on Quinton’s shoulder, “Quinton, this is no joke.”
“Watch, Quinton.”
The elevator seemed to move as if it were the elevator on the Tower of Terror in Disney World. That, or the elevator was still and the events happening in front of them were moving like they would on a television screen.
They approached the front door, which opened to reveal a sitting room to the right, a dining room to the left, and stairs straight ahead.
“Quiiiiiiiinnnnnttttttooooooonnnnn!” a voice called out. “Time for me to feed you your lunch.”
Quinton and Joshua went through the dining room and then into the kitchen. There stood Quinton’s wife, Cecilia, stirring a bowl of tomato soup. She turned around and walked straight towards them.
“Cecilia,” Quinton cried out. But she walked right through them as though they were not there.
They followed her back into the dining room, then up the stairs. Once they reached the top of the stairs, they took a left, and headed down the end of the upstairs hallway and went into the room on the right.
“Why, that’s my room.” Quinton was perplexed.
“Here honey, it’s time for your lunch.” Cecilia said in her sweet, charming voice.
As they followed her into the room, Quinton saw himself. He was sitting in a wheelchair, unable to speak; unable to move; unable to go to the bathroom by himself; and unable to communicate.
“Joshua! What is this?! I have had enough! This ain’t funny boy! I’m ‘bout to whip your…”
“Quinton, I know this is upsetting, but if you will please calm down, I will explain everything to you.”
“This is not a joke; this is not a projection from some fancy state of the art equipment. This is real.”
“But that was me, that was my house; my wife.” Quinton’s breathing got heavy and he began to pace back and forth through the elevator.
“Get me out of here Joshua. Take me back to the lobby.”
“You can’t go back Quinton.”
“What do you mean I can’t go back, boy!”
“Let me explain. Are you ready to listen, Quinton?”
“Yeah boy, you best start talkin’.” Quinton stopped pacing and looked Joshua in the eye.
“I know all about you Quinton. You have an amazing wife, amazing children, and loads of money. Yet, you cheat on your wife, neglect your kids, and treat people like scum. You come here at least twice a month to engage in a lifestyle that would make Caligula blush.”
Quinton’s eyes started to narrow.
“Quinton, you do not appreciate life. So, here’s the deal: Each of these 25 floors contains an alternate reality; a reality that you must choose. You cannot go back to the life you had. Your wife, your kids, your job, all will be different. In some of these realities, there will be no Cecelia and no children.”
“Oh, and Quinton, you have one hour to make your decision. If you do not make a decision, one will be made for you.”
“This is bull, boy. This is a crock. This is not real. This kind of crap doesn’t happen. Get me off this elevator now…give me that phone, I’m calling the front desk.”
Joshua handed Quinton the phone. “Go ahead, Quinton, call. See what happens.”
Quinton picked up the elevator phone and called the front desk. Nothing but static.
“You disabled the phone didn’t you, you sick…”
“Now, now Mr. Lucas, there is no need for name calling. Try your cell.”
Quinton pulled out his cell, and dialed 911.
“Well, Quinton?”
“Nothing, I got nothing!”
Quinton lunged at Joshua with his hands outstretched, going for his neck. Joshua stepped out of the way, jumped on top of Quinton and stuck a knee in his back and placed a forearm on his skull.
“Mr. Lucas, violence will get you nowhere. This is the way it is. The only way out is to choose a floor. No amount of yelling, cussing, screaming, or fighting will make it any different.”
“Quinton, I know you are so used to getting your way that this is hard for you to come to grips with, but this is not going to be your way. It is going to be as I say, understood?”
Quinton let out a grunt, “Understood.”
“Now, Quinton, calm down, and I will let you up.”
Joshua felt Quinton’s body yield to submission, so he let him up.
Joshua cleared his throat, tightened his tie, and straightened his hat.
“So, what was that?” asked Quinton.
“That was one possible reality that you could choose,” informed Joshua.
“What happened to me?”
“Well, Quinton, Your arrogance got you in trouble.”
“What do you mean, Joshua?”
“One evening, you were getting ready to leave work. You just got finished cheating on your wife with one of the new girls that you hired, and you were trying to make it home in time so that you and your wife could go out for dinner. You had to keep up appearances, Quinton.”
Quinton glared at Joshua.
“Then, before getting into your car, you decided to snort a few lines of coke and finish it off with four shots of Jack.”
“On your way home, someone pulled out in front of you and you rear-ended them. You were irate. You jumped out of the car in your drunken and doped up state, and without thinking, tried to pull the man from his car and teach him a lesson.”
“Unfortunate for you, this man was gang member and a drug dealer, and had three of his friends with him in the car. They beat you to a pulp, smashed the back of your neck with a bat, and then shot you in the head and left you for dead.”
“Oh, but Mr. Lucas, you were so fortunate. You did not die. Someone called 911 and help arrived in time. The bullet angle was just right…or wrong, depending on your perspective.”
“And loyal Cecilia? She took care of you, having no idea of what you had been doing to her.”
“Enough Joshua! Enough!” Quinton put his hands over his ears.
“Oh no, Quinton, I am not finished yet.”
“You see, Quinton, your memory still functions, and cognitively, you are all there. But, you can’t talk and you can’t move. You just have to sit there, living with your guilt as you watch the woman you have been mistreating and cheating on for years express the depths of her loyalty to you by feeding you, wiping your butt, and bathing you.”
“But you, you can’t say anything to her. You can’t apologize; you can’t be intimate with her again; nothing.”
“And your kids, you get to watch them grow up before your eyes without ever talking with them or interacting with them again. You will never get to apologize to them or get to spend quality time with them or tell them that you love them. You are a spectator. Your wonderful life is right there in front of you, in your reach, yet you cannot enjoy it.”
“How does that reality suit you, Mr. Lucas?”
“No, NO, NO!” Quinton was starting to escalate again.
“What is this Joshua? Who are you?” Quinton backed into the corner of the elevator and slid down in a slow motion, placing his head between his knees.
“This, Mr. Quinton Lucas, is justice; vengeance.”
“What? Ok, so someone hates me…someone wants revenge for what I did to them,” snorted Quinton.
“No, no, no, Quinton. You misunderstand. I said justice; vengeance, not revenge,” retorted Joshua.
“Don’t play word games with me, Joshua!”
“It’s not word games, Quinton, it is an important distinction.”
“Revenge,” stated Joshua as he knelt down to talk to the hunched over Quinton.
“Revenge is punishing someone out of retaliation for a harm done. This is not retaliation.”
“This is vengeance. Vengeance is simply punishment that is inflicted in return for the wrong done. It is not retaliation, it is justice. It is receiving the consequences for your actions.”
“And you, Quinton, have come into the season of reaping. It is time for to you receive the reward of your actions.”
“Says who!” snapped Quinton.
“Says me,” countered Joshua.
“And who are you, God?”
“You will find out soon enough.” Joshua patted Quinton on the forearm and rose to his feet.
“Now, Quinton, get at hold of yourself, you have some decisions to make.” Joshua helped Quinton to his feet, and brushed his shoulders off.
“So, Quinton, is this the reality that you want?”
“Wha…huh…no, no.”
“Then choose another floor. You are wasting time. You have 45 minutes left.”
“Uh…let’s try down. Fourth floor, Joshua.”
Joshua reached out and pushed the button for the fourth floor. In a few seconds, the elevator stopped with a ding and the doors opened.
Before Quinton stood the doors of an abandoned warehouse.
“Are you ready to see what awaits you, Quinton?” asked Joshua in a polite tone.
“Do I really have a choice?” muttered Quinton.
“Of course you do. You can choose another floor if you like.”
“No, let’s go in.” Quinton took a deep breath as the doors slid open.
There before them were three chairs. In these chairs sat Quinton’s 9 year old son, Devin; his 12 year old daughter, Addie; and his wife, Cecilia. They were tied tightly to the chairs, with their mouth’s duck taped. In front of each of them was a stand with a shotgun bolted to it. The guns were pointing at their heads.
Quinton saw himself. In this reality, he was being held at gun point by a man in tattered jeans and a flannel shirt.
“Oh dear…wha…what is this Joshua?” Quinton turned to Joshua with a look of horror on his face.
“This, my dear Quinton, is a former employee you screwed over.”
Joshua continued, “He worked in the warehouse of your company for 15 years; never missed a day of work, except for vacation.”
“He was one of the best workers you had in your warehouse. But you wouldn’t know that, because you were too good to visit those, oh, what did you call them, ‘vassals’?”
Quinton gave Joshua a sorrowful look.
Joshua continued: “His name is Rick. He had a wife and four children that he loved dearly. Rick could barely make ends meet. His wife soon developed cancer and died, and he was stuck with all these medical bills and with raising his children on his own. He had no family either; no brother or sister; parents on both he and his wife’s side were dead.”
“He came to you asking you for a raise. Remember that?”
“Yeah, I do remember him,” replied Quinton.
“Do you remember what you told him?” inquired Joshua.
“No, not really,” shrugged Quinton.
“Well, let me refresh your memory.”
“Now, Rick has never received a raise, mind you. Not in fifteen years.”
“When he told you his story and asked you for mercy, do you know what you did? Do you remember?”
Quinton replied not a word.
“You told him no, Quinton. And that is not the worst of it.”
“He came back several times over the next few days begging you. And you know what you did then, Quinton? You fired him!”
“That’s right, you fired him. You told him you were tired of his moaning and complaining, so you fired him!”
A light bulb went off in Quinton’s mind, “Yeah, I do remember him now.”
“But he didn’t do this, Joshua. He just walked out the door and left, and I never heard from him again.”
“Right Quinton, in your world he did, but this is a different reality.”
“In this reality, Rick seeks vengeance. Your harshness and merciless acts send him over the edge.”
“He snaps, so he drags you, your wife, and your kids down to this warehouse one night to dish out justice.”
“Here’s the deal, Quinton. Rick is a smart man, a mechanical genius. He has those shotguns connected and synced to all go off at the same time.”
“So,” interrupted Quinton, “he is going to kill my family all at once and make me watch?” Quinton sniffed and tears started to fill his eyes.
“No, Mr. Quinton Lucas, it is much worse than that.”
“What could be worse than that?!” Quinton peered in anger at Joshua.
“You have to choose which one you are going to save.”
“You see Quinton, all three of those guns are going to go off at the same time, and you are going to have to choose which one you are going to save by stepping in front of the gun.”
“You see, you are going to die anyway Mr. Lucas. If you do not choose a family member to save, then Rick is going to shoot you anyway. So, if you do not make a choice, everybody dies.”
“So, who are you going to save Quinton? The wife you cheated on or one of the children you neglected? You can only save one.”
“NO! NO! NO! This is sick, sick, sick!” Quinton began to panic and cry in a fit of hysteria.
“No, Quinton, it is reaping what you sow.”
“Please Joshua,” Quinton said between sobs, “get me out of here.”
“So,” said Joshua, “ I am guessing you do not want this reality.”
“No, please, I can’t take it. Another floor, please.”
“As you wish.” At that moment, the doors to the elevator shut, and it was just Quinton and Joshua again.
Quinton began to grab and pull at his hair frantically, “Why?! Why?! Why?! Why are you doing this Joshua?”
“It has already been explained to you Quinton. I am not going to repeat myself.”
“However, what you do need to know is that all these realities have one thing in common.”
Quinton looked at Joshua, beckoning him to continue.
“They are a far cry from what you had before. None of these realities will be pleasant. They will include hardship, tragedy, and loss. Life will never be the same for you, Quinton.”
“I don’t want to play anymore, do you hear me! No more! Not me! I don’t want to play!” Quinton was beginning to doubt his sanity.
“Quinton, this is not a game. You have had your fun and games. You have wasted your life and did not appreciate all that was given to you.”
“C’mon Joshua, there has to be something else….something else….some…” Quinton fell back again into the corner of the elevator and slid down, head between his legs and started to sob.
“Yes, there is one more thing.” Joshua informed.
“All of these alternate realities parallels your life, and will end in death. All but one, and this one ….Well, let’s just say that you will be trapped in one reoccurring event for all eternity.”
“I know, not the words you were hoping for, but it is different.”
Quinton looked up at Joshua and cursed him for about thirty seconds.
“You see, Quinton. This is exactly your problem. Instead of being remorseful over all you have done, you continue in your pride and arrogance.”
“You sit here and cry and sob, not because you are sorry for the things you have done, but because you are now inconvenienced. You are sorry that you got caught, sorry that what you have is being taken from you. Your repentance is not repentance. It is self pity.”
Quinton did not respond, because he knew Joshua was right.
“Get up, Quinton. You have thirty minutes left. Which floor, sir?”
Quinton grabbed the handicap railing in the elevator and slowly pulled himself up. He wiped his face with his hands, let out a deep breath, and said, “Thirteen, lucky thirteen. Why not? We are in a hotel/casino right?”
Joshua reached out and pushed the thirteen button, “Nice to see you are having a sense of humor about this Quinton. But that which awaits you on the thirteenth floor - I don’t think you will find it very humorous.”
Quinton gave Joshua a disconcerting look.
For the first time since Quinton set foot in the elevator, there was silence between the both of them. All that was heard was the sound of the elevator as it passed each floor.
For Quinton, those few moments felt like an eternity.
The elevator stopped and the all familiar ding rang out.
“Here we are Quinton, lucky thirteen,” Joshua said, with an air of sarcasm in his voice.
As the doors opened, the first thing Quinton noticed was mirrors, followed by seeing himself sitting on the floor. He was dressed in some sort of one piece jump suit that was brownish in color.
“What is this?” Quinton turned to Joshua with a bewildered look on his face.
“Notice the room, Quinton. It is perfectly round, with a dome roof. The circumference is eight feet. The room is all mirrors; no windows, no doors. No way in; no way out.”
“How do you know this, Joshua?”
“I designed it, Quinton.”
“Wha…”
“It is a room designed to drive you insane.”
“Look at yourself Quinton. That is what I want you to do. Look at yourself. See who you really are. Stare at yourself from all angles. No matter how hard you try, you cannot get away from who you really are.”
“Quinton, you fill your life pleasure, because you cannot stand yourself. This is ironic, since in a way, you worship yourself. You have made an idol of yourself and your pleasure, because you think that if you fill your life with these things, you will finally be able to accept yourself and find fulfillment. But this is not true…it simply is not true.”
“Joshua,” Quinton slowly lifted his head, and turned towards Joshua, “you’re insane. You’re the crazy one, not me!”
“What kind of person designs these sorts of things?! What type of person thinks this up?! What sort of person does this?!”
“A person charged with the duty of dealing out vengeance, Quinton.”
“Well, Joshua, this isn’t vengeance, it is torture. It is sadistic!”
“From your limited, distorted point of view it may seem that way, Quinton.”
“Let me explain. It doesn’t seem fair to you because you are on the receiving end. But oh, to all those you have harmed, from their perspective, it is fair. You are getting what you deserve.”
Quinton turned his gaze away from Joshua and back to the room of mirrors. “So, Joshua, enlighten me more about this room.”
“Well, Quinton, there is not much to tell. You have been taken away from your family. Now, all you have is the memories of what you have done to them. You do not know how you got here, and you do not know why you are here.”
“Well, can’t you tell me?” Quinton asked Joshua.
“No, because if I did, then it would change the reality that has been planned for this floor. In this reality, you are to have no memory of why or how.”
“This is…”
“This is what, Quinton?”
“Nothing.”
“Quinton, I have already told you about the mirrors, but I will proceed further. You are left here with your memories and yourself. You can scream all you want, but no one will here you because there is no one to hear you. You are alone; isolated.”
“All you have is yourself, Quinton. You cannot run anymore. You must face yourself and your sin. Look at who you are. Look at what you have become.”
“Who do you think you are, Joshua?! How dare you stand in judgment of me! You sit there with that pious look on your face…Who or what gives you the right?!”
Quinton’s face was filled with rage. His body started to shake with anger. Joshua, not moved at all by Quinton’s show of emotion, took off his hat, held it in both hands, and looked intently at Quinton.
“I do not have to explain myself to you Quinton. Deep down, you know who I am and you know why I have the power to do this.”
“Now, Quinton, do you want this floor for your reality? Make a choice, you have 17 minutes left.”
“No…no…not this one. Definitely not this one. This is the last one I would choose.”
“Very well, sir. Where to next?” Joshua put his hat back on, and awaited Quinton’s response.
“Uh…let’s go back down. First floor, Joshua.”
Joshua reached over and pushed the button for the first floor.
“You know what Joshua? You are gonna pay for what you’re doing. You know that? One day you are gonna get what you deserve you self-righteous pig.”
“Mr. Lucas, you still don’t get it do you? Are you still so slow to understand? This is not about me, but about you. You need to stop trying to blame me for your problems. You have brought this on yourself.”
“Stop talking in riddles to me Joshua! Speak plainly!” By this point, Quinton had already removed his coat and tie, and was sweating profusely.
“I have spoken plainly to you all your life, but you refused to listen.”
Before Quinton could respond, the elevator stopped and the doors began to open.
There before them were two hospital beds. Quinton could not yet make out who was in the bed, but he did recognize the hospital. It was the United Methodist hospital there in town; the hospital where his two children had been born.
As Quinton and Joshua drew closer, Quinton was seized with horror. There in the two beds before him lay two figures who somewhat resembled he and his wife. They were looking into each other’s eyes, while taking long, hard breaths. Tubes and wires protruded from each of them, and monitors in the back ground were beeping at a steady pace.
“What happened, Joshua?”
“Well, Quinton, both you and your wife are sick and dying.”
“Why?” By this time, Quinton didn’t really know why he asked, because he really didn’t want to know.
“You both have AIDS.”
Quinton was speechless.
“Quinton, in this reality, your promiscuous lifestyle does not end well. Not for anyone.”
“In this reality, you contracted AIDS from one of the many women that you cheated on your wife with. Then, you spread it to your wife. But not only your wife Quinton, to many other women also.”
“The horrible thing about this entire situation is that you knew you had the disease. But you are so selfish, that you didn’t care who you spread it to. Instead of causing you to stop messing around, out of your anger, you wanted to make as many people suffer right along with you. Even your faithful and devoted wife.”
“That is what she gets for sticking with you Quinton; for being loyal to you. She gets AIDS. She gets death.”
“My children, where are my children Joshua?” By this time, Quinton was exhausted, and there was no emotion left in his voice.
“Well, all those women you intentionally infected? They sued you and you pleaded guilty. Everything was taken from you, and because of both you and Cecilia’s condition, your children were taken from you and put into foster care.”
“You single handedly screwed over your family.”
“Now, you have to lie there, staring into the eyes of the wife you murdered. She gave you loyalty and you gave her AIDS.”
“I…I didn’t murder her.” Quinton seemed perplexed.
“Oh, Mr. Lucas you did, you most certainly did. You knew you had the disease and you refused to tell her. You are the sole cause of her death. Now, you have to watch her die. Her blood is on your hands.”
“How does it feel, Quinton?”
“No, Joshua…I can’t take it anymore. Shut the door. Shut the door!”
“So, this reality doesn’t suit you, Quinton?”
Quinton turned his back to the scene and walked toward the corner of the elevator.
“I take that as a no, Quinton. Where to next? You have six minutes.”
Upon hearing this, Quinton snapped.
“Six minutes! Six minutes! I am not playing your game anymore Joshua! I’m done! I’m gonna kill you! Let me off this elevator now!”
“You can get off anytime you wish, Quinton. Just pick a floor and I will let you off.”
“I hate you Joshua! I hate this elevator! You are driving me insane! This elevator is driving me insane! This isn’t fair! Not fair, Joshua! Not fair!”
“How am I to make a decision when I don’t have time to visit every floor! This is rigged in order to screw me over!”
Joshua let Quinton finish his ranting and raving, and then responded, “Fair, Quinton? Do you want to hear about fair?”
“It wasn’t fair to your wife for you to cheat on her all these years. It wasn’t fair for your children to go neglected all these years. It wasn’t fair to Rick for you to fire him. It wasn’t fair for all those people you cheated out of money. It’s not fair for you to cheat on your taxes. Need I go on Quinton?”
“Life is not fair, but justice is.”
“You have two minutes to make a decision or one will be made for you.”
Quinton began to bang his head against the elevator wall out of frustration and then let out a psychotic laugh.
“Oh, Joshua, Joshua, Joshua. You are quite the puppeteer. What, do you enjoy this stuff? Is this how you get your kicks?”
Joshua took a deep breath and let out a sigh, “No, Quinton, I don’t enjoy seeing people suffer. Even wicked people like you. I don’t enjoy what I do, but it must be done. I would rather see people turn from their wicked ways. However, when they don’t, they must face the consequences of their actions.”
“You have one minute remaining.”
Quinton perused the buttons. He wondered what horror lay behind each floor. Could they be worse than what he has already seen? Maybe. Probably. But one thing he was sure of- he was not going to let Joshua pick for him. He was convinced that Joshua would surely give him the shaft.
“Thirty seconds, Mr. Lucas.”
Quinton began to look more frantically at the buttons. Each second seemed to last an eternity.
“Twenty seconds.”
Which floor! Which floor! Quinton thought to himself.
Not 1, not 4, not 13.
“Ten seconds.”
Pick Quinton, pick! Hurry!
“Five seconds.”
Quinton had made up his mind. “Twenty-five!” He blurted out. “I want floor twenty-five.”
“The top floor Mr. Lucas? Very well.”
Joshua reached out his hand and pushed the button for the twenty-fifth floor.
Quinton’s heart raced as the elevator started to move upwards.
“Well, Joshua, one thing I was sure of is that I was not going to let you pick for me. And besides, I already discovered the room with the one reoccurring event.”
“Oh, you did?” asked Joshua. He was surprised.
“Yes I did. It was the room with the mirrors. That was it. I figured it out…One room with no way in or out. Not knowing how I got there or why. Left to look at myself in those wretched mirrors for all eternity; oh yeah, I figured it out Joshua.”
“I figured it out and I figured you out. That is just the thing you would love to do to me. To see me in that room for all eternity.”
Joshua laughed.
“Oh, Mr. Lucas, I am afraid that you are dead wrong. You would have died in that room in less than a week due to starvation and dehydration. Actually, that room was the most lenient of all the others. It seems that what you have tried to avoid has now become your fate. The events of floor 25 will repeat for all eternity.”
A look of terror filled the face of Quinton. Then the elevator bell dinged and the doors began to open.
“No, Joshua! No! No!” Quinton clung to Joshua and let out heavy, rhythmic sobs.
“Don’t make me go! Don’t make me go!”
“You have made your choice, Quinton. Your time is up.”
Joshua freed himself from Quinton and moved him out of the elevator with a gentle push.
“I hate you Joshua! I hate you, you know that!”
The doors of the elevator shut, and Quinton began to bang on the doors and curse Joshua.
After he composed himself, he turned around to meet his fate.
“Welcome to the Grand Casino and Hotel Mr. Lucas, glad you will be staying with us again.” The man behind the front desk gave Quinton a familiar smile.
What?! What is this?! No, turn around and run! Turn around and run out the door Quinton.
But Quinton couldn’t move. Instead, he felt himself walk towards the front desk
“Thanks Raul, always good to see you.”
No, it’s not good to see you! Get me out of here! Raul! Help me!
“Mr. Lucas, if you would, please follow Joshua. He will take your bags and get you on the elevator.”
Oh dear God, no! Not Joshua! He’s insane Raul! Do you know that?! Do you know you have a madman working for you?! I will not follow him!
Yet it seemed that no matter how hard Quinton fought it in his head, he couldn’t do anything different.
“Joshua?” asked Quinton. “What happened to the smokin’ hot girl you had….oh, what was her name…oh yeah, Channing?”
“I’m sorry Mr. Lucas,” said Raul. “We had to let her go last week. It seems that her extra- curricular activities were carrying over into her job.”
That was a mistake Raul! A mistake! What were you thinking?!
“What does that mean, Raul?”
“Take it to mean whatever you wish, Mr. Lucas.”
Quinton snickered and followed Joshua onto the elevator.
No, no, no…
“Joshua huh?”
“Yes sir, at your service.”