Project Echo
379 Words
Mira’s hands shook as she closed the email.
Her name.
It had appeared on the list while she was watching.
Someone wasn’t just tracking her.
They were watching her in real time.
She pulled into a deserted gas station, hoping the bright lights would calm her racing heart. The place was nearly empty except for a sleepy cashier inside the convenience store.
Her phone had no signal.
One bar.
Then none.
She stepped out of the car and took a deep breath.
The brass key felt heavy in her jacket pocket.
Curiosity finally won.
She searched the strange symbol carved into its handle.
Nothing.
No matches.
Almost as if it had been erased from every record that existed.
Just then, an elderly janitor pushing a mop bucket stopped in front of her.
His eyes fell on the key peeking out of her pocket.
He went completely still.
“You shouldn’t carry that in the open,” he whispered.
Mira’s heart skipped a beat.
“You know what this is?”
The old man glanced nervously toward the road before answering.
“I know what it brings.”
Before she could ask another question, he pulled a folded photograph from his pocket and slipped it into her hand.
“When they come,” he said quietly, “don’t let them find this.”
Then he walked away as though they had never spoken.
Confused, Mira unfolded the photograph.
It showed seven people standing together in front of Ashcroft House.
Six faces were crossed out with thick black ink.
Only one remained untouched.
A young man with dark eyes.
On the back of the photograph, someone had written:
HE NEVER DIED.
Suddenly, every light in the gas station flickered.
The cashier disappeared from behind the counter.
The humming of the refrigerators stopped.
Silence.
Complete silence.
A cold voice echoed from behind her.
“You’ve learned too much.”
Mira spun around.
Three people dressed in black stood between her and her car.
Each wore the same silver symbol carved into the brass key.
The one in the middle smiled.
“Miss Lawson,” he said calmly.
“Please return what doesn’t belong to you.”
His hand slowly reached inside his coat.
And Mira realized…
She had nowhere left to run.
- Writer
