Urban Legend Flash Fiction Contest - Jenny Jenny

The doors shut with a hum and a snick, sealing him inside the elevator like it was a tomb.

Tomb. Shit. What the hell had he been thinking? Stupid move. Really stupid.

The floor shuddered under his feet as the car lurched upward, and he grabbed the wall for balance. Lights on the panel blinked a dull count that rose with every floor as he climbed the building.

1

Of course he had accepted the challenge of the dare, any chance to show off. He could still hear his friends laughing and whooping in the foyer below.

2

He checked his watch - 11:58 - this was going to be close.

3

He got his mobile out and switched on the torch, they said there would be no lights up there.

4

The elevator shuddered and creaked. This building was abandoned long ago. Why are the elevators still working?

5

Ok, past half way. You can do this. Stay up there just long enough to return a hero.

6

He turned around to face his warped reflection in the mirror on the back wall. He wiped his sweaty palms down the front of his legs.

7

Jenny Jenny, one two three. Jenny Jenny let me be. This was a stupid kids' game, a silly rhyme he had to recite.

8

Nearly there. Ok, don't bottle it. Five minutes they said.

9

The car screeched to a shuddering halt. He shut his eyes just as the rules dictated.

"Jenny Jenny one two three"

The doors slid open. Cold musty air wafted in.

"Jenny Jenny let me be"

The cables above creaked but other than that, nothing. Maybe he had got the time wrong? He lifted his watch and shone his torch at it. No, exactly midnight. He dropped his arm and aimed his phone at his reflection. There in the mirror, a shape in the darkness? No man, you're spooked, the mirror is dirty. The wispy form of a woman moved. He dropped his phone in fright and scrambled to pick it up. As he knelt chill fingers brush the back of his neck. He realised his mistake as he turned around to look Jenny square in her dead eyes.

The elevator returned to the ground floor. As the doors slid open all they found was a blood covered phone and a foot.

Legend tells of a young woman called Jenny. Some twenty years ago she walked from her apartment in her sleep and went to catch the elevator. As the clock struck midnight the doors slid open and she stepped through. The elevator hadn't arrived.

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