Got trapped in an elevator at 2am. What I found when the doors opened was NOT my building.

So this happened just a few days ago and I genuinely still think about it.

That morning I was getting dressed for work, totally normal, suit and everything. Pressed the elevator button and waited. The little digital display showed it coming down from the 8th floor.

And I just... zoned out staring at that down arrow. Half asleep. When I snapped back the display said 1. I was like okay clearly I missed it, whatever, pressed the button again.

Nothing. Display stuck on 1. Buttons not responding. I jabbed it like five more times.

Nothing.

So I gave up and took the stairs. My building is a renovation job btw, they kept the original concrete structure and redid everything else. Looks new from outside but the bones are old. So I was already a little anxious about it.

Told the front desk guy on my way out. He apologized and said he'd call a repair company right away. And then I hopped on the train and completely forgot about it because work was INSANE that day. Had to calculate a bunch of figures for a report and ended up grinding until almost 3am.

Came home by taxi. Got to the building entrance around 2:30am and thought, oh right, the elevator. If it's still broken I have to drag myself up to the 6th floor on foot.

But I pressed the button and it LIT UP. Door opened right away. I was so relieved. Got in, pressed 6.

Doors closed. Elevator started moving.

I watched the display. 3... 4... 5... 6...

And then it didn't stop.

The 6 button was still glowing but we kept going up. 7... My first reaction was honestly just anger. Like I was JUST relieved and now this?? I was already mentally rehearsing my complaint to the building manager.

Then the anxiety hit. What's wrong with this thing.

8.

Top floor. The display went blank. Elevator stopped. The light on the 6 button went out.

Doors did not open.

I hit the open button. Nothing. Tried every single floor button one by one. Zero response. Not even the button lights came on. None of them.

Okay. Emergency button.

I pressed it and got this faint static crackling through the speaker. So it connected to something, I figured. Waited for a response.

Three minutes. Nothing.

I started mashing the button.

"...Yes."

A woman's voice. I could have cried.

"I'm so sorry, the elevator isn't moving and I'm stuck inside. Is there anything you can do?"

Waited.

Nothing. Just static.

"Hello? Can you hear me?"

Still nothing. Just that crackling filling the elevator.

And then about 30 seconds later, something else started mixing in with the static. This faint sound, coming every few seconds.

I leaned toward the speaker to try to make it out.

It was. weird. Like a squeaking sound, or maybe croaking, something between the two. Hard to even call it a sound. It reminded me of when I was a kid and accidentally stepped on a frog.

That sound. Every few seconds. Faint.

Then it cut off. Like the line went dead.

I tried the button again. Nothing.

I tried prying the doors open with my hands. They didn't budge. Pulled out my phone. No signal obviously, I'm in a metal box.

I was exhausted from the overtime and running out of strength to keep fighting it. Eventually I just sat down on the floor. Figured someone would notice the elevator was broken when morning came and people tried to go to work.

I took out the water bottle I had in my bag and took a sip. Checked my watch. 3am. At least 3 more hours until anyone would show up.

I closed my eyes to rest for a bit.

And then I heard a faint sound again.

I opened my eyes.

The elevator doors were open.

I actually laughed at myself a little. All that panicking for nothing. I grabbed my bag and hurried out before the doors could close again.

And then I almost fell over.

Dizziness hit me right as I stepped out. The doors slid shut behind me.

I looked up.

The hallway in front of me was WRONG.

On the left, there were rooms lined up like always, doors and windows stretching down the corridor. On the right, the nighttime city view. Same layout.

But the doors on the left were not the clean modern ones I knew. They were old. Heavy rusty iron doors, the kind you'd see in a building that's been dead for decades.

The walls that used to have neat white tile were now cracked concrete with the paint flaking off. Gray and crumbling.

The nice lighting fixtures were gone. A few ancient fluorescent tubes flickering on and off at random intervals, like they could die any second.

I felt a cold run down my back that I have genuinely never felt before.

I ran back to the elevator and slammed the buttons. No response.

I tried the stairwell door. Thick fire door. Shoved it, pulled it, wouldn't move at all.

Pulled out my phone. Screen showed an error I'd never seen before. Completely unresponsive.

The only way out of this place was