BENEATH THE SILENCE

It was on a cold Friday night. The clock on Mitchell wrist blinked 8:22 pm. She sat inside the taxi, unmoving, her fingers wrapped around her leather purse. Outside, the rain was pouring like a warning turning the pavement slick beneath the glow of the street lambs. The Macview hotel stood across the road like a dark monument --towering and silent. The grand entrance was shimmered under the rain and the polished marbles reflecting the headlights of passing cars. She shouldn't be here. She knew that. Every part of her body was telling her to run and tell the taxi driver to turn around, to go home and forget the message she received and might turn her world upside down. But she couldn't. Her phone buzzed in her purse. She didn't need to look. The message hasn't changed in the last hour. "Room 303." Come along, i'm alone...." No name. Nothing. It was just a number. But she knew who had sent it. She had stared at the message for a full thirty minutes before she dared herself to believe it. Daniel. After five years of silence -- five years of ghosting her after shattering her world--- he had reappeared just like a smoke curling under a closed door. A message, simple and cold. And she had come "Madam?" The taxi driver's voice cut through her thoughts. "Aren't you getting off?" She blinked,startled, realizing that they had been parked for 30 minutes. "I am, sorry" He gave a slight nod as she stepped out, pulling the collar of her trench coat tight against her neck. Her heels struck the pavement with confident rhythm, but her heartbeat in chaotic rebellion. She paused just short of the hotel's front step. Across the street, a forest green SUV sat idle with its headlights off. Windows tinted. No visible driver. But she could feel some gaze. Someone was watching. She was sure of it. But she didn't know who it was... Goosebumps rippled across her arms. A doorman Held the hotel entrance open for her. "Good evening,miss" She nodded briefly, brushing rain from her hair as she stepped inside. The warmth of the lobby wrapped around her like a lie. It was too perfect -- gleaming floors, the scent of roses and polish, a grand chandelier dripping the light from the ceiling like liquid gold. She hesitated, Reading the room, she saw no sign of Daniel. No sign of anyone out of place. Just a bellhop, a pair of guest laughing too loudly, and a concierge checking his computer. She approached the elevators, her heels trapping over the marble. Her reflection in the mirrored doors made her pause. The woman staring back at her didn't look like the Mitchell she used to be. Not the bright eyes social worker who once believed love conquered all. Not the Mitchell who would laugh and joke with others all day long. This Mitchell wore deep red lipstick, a tailored trench coat, and steel in her gaze. The elevator chimed open. She stepped inside, pressed 5, and let the doors close behind her. The ride up felt endless. The fluorescent lights flicked overheard, and for a second she thought the elevator had stopped-- but it continued moving with a sluggish hum. Mitchell's mind drifted back to five years ago. The church. The flowers. The empty altar. The call from Daniel's best man, the shocked whispers of guests, her father gripping her hand like it could hold her together. What?? Daniel was no where to be found?. He had just disappeared like that, coldly. She never saw him again. Until now. Ding. The doors slip open. She stepped into the 5th-floor hallway, long and silent. Beige wallpaper, patterned carpet. Soft lighting. She walked slowly, counting the door numbers as if walking towards fate itself. 303. There it was For a moment, she couldn't move her feets and hand. And there it was, the courage. She knocked once, twice... She got no response "Daniel?" She called softly. No answer. She tried again-- louder, firmer. Still nothing. Her heart started beating faster. Was this some kind of trap? A joke? Had she come along all the way to be stood up again? But something felt strange. The door... It was slightly open. Just a c***k. Every instinct and ounces of her was screaming at her to run... And there it was, courage again. She didn't run. She pushed pushed the door open gently. The door creaked open. The room was dark, shadows swallowing the furniture in the low moonlight entering through partially from the curtains. A TV remote lay abandoned on the table. A bottle of whiskey--half empty next to it. There, she felt a metallic. Sharp. Scent. Like rust and regret. "Daniel?" She called, voice breaking. No response. She stepped further into the room, eyes scanning for movement. The she saw it. A figure slumped across the bed, unmoving and lifeless. She lost her breath for a moment. "Oh my God..." She almost screamed. She rushed forward "Daniel?" He lay on his side, half undressed in a white shirt stained deep crimson at the chest. Blood had pooled beneath the bed, soaking into the carpet. His faced has turn towards her, lips slightly parted, eyes glassy. She dropped on her knees beside him, trembling. "No,no,no... Wake up... You have to --" her hands hovered over his chest, not sure where to touch. He wasn't breathing. He was lifeless. And then her eyes caught it. The mirror above the dresser, written clearly and boldly with a lipstick "IT HAS ALWAYS BEEN YOU"... It was a promise written in red. Lipstick... She muttered. She staggered back, nearly falling, her heart in her throat. The room spun around her. The blood. The text. The SUV. The overly silent hallway. This wasn't just a meeting It was a warning. Suddenly, something clattered in the hallway footsteps She snapped her head towards the door. Someone was coming. Panicked, she grapped her purse and backed from the bed. She couldn't be found here-- not like this. Who would believe she didn't do it. No one would believe her. Mitchell slipped out of the room, her footsteps silent as she fled down the hallway, down the stairs instead of the elevator. Her thoughts raced with every step she took. Who had killed him? Why now? Why was she summoned? And what did it mean to have summoned her to the scene? As she exited the side of the hotel into the pouring rain, the forest green SUV across the street slowly pulled away.