THREE DAYS AGO
1633 Words
The photograph remained on the floor between them.
Elena couldn't stop staring at the date.
THREE DAYS AGO.
Her mind rejected it immediately.
Three days ago, she had been at home preparing for her first day at Vespera. She remembered the interview. She remembered receiving the confirmation email. She remembered spending most of the night wondering whether she had made the right decision.
She had never been inside the company before.
At least, she didn't think she had.
Adrian crouched and picked up the photograph.
"Don't."
Elena reached for it.
He pulled it away.
"Why?"
"Because you don't know what you're looking at."
"It's a photograph of me."
"That's exactly why."
She stared at him.
"Give it to me."
He hesitated.
Then handed it over.
Elena studied the picture again.
It showed her standing in the old lobby.
The same lobby downstairs.
Her hair was different from the way she wore it now, but there was no mistaking her face.
She looked older than the child in the previous photographs.
Much older.
Perhaps her current age.
She was standing beside her father.
He looked exactly as she remembered him.
Behind them stood the reception desk.
The clock above it showed 11:43 p.m.
Elena's fingers tightened around the photograph.
"This can't be real."
Mara stepped closer.
"It is."
"Three days ago?"
Mara nodded.
Elena looked at Adrian.
"Was I here?"
He didn't answer.
Her voice sharpened.
"Was I here three days ago?"
"Yes."
The word landed heavily.
Elena took a step backward.
"No."
"You were."
"I would've remembered."
"You didn't."
"How?"
Adrian looked at the photograph.
"That's what we're trying to find out."
Elena laughed once, but there was no humor in it.
"You're trying to find out? You were here."
"I wasn't with you."
"Then how do you know?"
"I saw the security footage."
Her eyes narrowed.
"You saw me?"
"Yes."
"And you didn't tell me?"
"I didn't know whether it was really you."
Elena stared at him.
"What does that even mean?"
He looked at Mara.
Mara's expression was unreadable.
"The building has copied people before," she said.
Elena turned toward her.
"Copied?"
"Memories. Voices. Faces."
"People?"
Mara paused.
"Sometimes."
The corridor beyond the metal door remained dark.
The voice that sounded like Elena's father had stopped speaking.
But nobody relaxed.
Elena looked toward the darkness.
"If that wasn't my father, what was it?"
Mara answered quietly.
"It may have been something that remembered him."
"That's worse."
"I know."
A faint creak came from the corridor.
Adrian immediately stepped in front of Elena.
Something moved in the darkness.
Not a person.
Just a shadow passing across the wall.
Then it disappeared.
Elena's attention returned to the photograph.
"There has to be a camera."
"What?"
"Security footage."
She looked at Adrian.
"If I was here three days ago, there should be footage."
"There is."
"Then show me."
He remained silent.
"Adrian."
"You don't want to see it."
"You don't get to decide that."
He looked at her for several seconds.
Then he nodded.
"Fine."
He took out his phone.
His fingers moved across the screen.
A security system appeared.
Elena watched him access the archive.
He entered a date.
Three days earlier.
The screen loaded.
A list of cameras appeared.
Lobby.
Reception.
Parking.
Executive floor.
Elevators.
Adrian selected the lobby.
The footage began.
At first, nothing happened.
The lobby was empty.
Then the entrance doors opened.
Elena walked in.
She froze.
There she was.
Wearing a dark jacket.
Her hair was tied back.
She walked directly toward reception.
Nobody accompanied her.
Elena watched herself approach the desk.
The camera angle changed.
She was speaking to someone.
But there was nobody sitting behind the desk.
She couldn't hear the conversation.
Then the recording glitched.
The screen turned black.
When it returned, Elena was standing beside the elevator.
She was looking directly at the camera.
Her expression was blank.
Then she smiled.
Elena's stomach twisted.
"I don't smile like that."
Adrian said nothing.
The footage continued.
The elevator doors opened.
Elena stepped inside.
Before the doors closed, another person appeared behind her.
A man.
His face was hidden by the angle.
Elena watched herself turn toward him.
Then the footage froze.
She looked at Adrian.
"Who was that?"
"I don't know."
"You're lying."
"I'm not."
"You said you saw the footage."
"I did."
"Then you saw him."
"I saw someone."
"Who?"
Adrian's jaw tightened.
"I couldn't identify him."
Mara suddenly spoke.
"I can."
Both of them turned.
She was staring at the screen.
"That's him."
Elena looked back.
"The first boss?"
Mara nodded.
Adrian immediately closed the footage.
"Enough."
Mara didn't argue.
Elena turned toward her.
"You said he disappeared."
"He did."
"Then how could he be here three days ago?"
Mara's expression hardened.
"That's the question."
The room fell silent.
Elena looked at Adrian.
"You knew this would happen."
"No."
"You knew something was wrong."
"Yes."
"And you still let me come here."
"I didn't know you would come."
"I came for a job."
"I know."
"Then why did you look at me like you already knew me when I arrived?"
Adrian didn't answer.
Elena remembered their first meeting.
His eyes.
The hesitation.
The strange way he'd said her name.
She had assumed he was simply serious.
Now she wasn't sure.
"You recognized me."
He finally nodded.
"Yes."
"When?"
"The moment you walked into the lobby."
Her heart beat harder.
"From where?"
He looked at the photograph.
"From the old footage."
Elena swallowed.
"So you knew."
"I suspected."
"That word again."
"I couldn't be certain."
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"Because if I was wrong, I'd frighten you for no reason."
"And now?"
His eyes met hers.
"Now I think you were brought here deliberately."
Elena looked toward the corridor.
The red envelope still lay open on the floor.
She picked up the photograph.
"By who?"
Adrian didn't answer.
She looked at the photograph again.
Her father was smiling.
But there was something wrong with his hand.
He was holding a card.
Elena zoomed in with her phone.
The card was black.
A single symbol was printed on it.
A circle divided by a vertical line.
She had seen that symbol before.
On the black cards.
On the office files.
On the doors.
"What is this?"
Adrian looked.
His expression changed.
"Put it down."
"Why?"
"Because that symbol shouldn't be here."
"Why?"
"Because it belongs to the person who runs the games."
Elena's fingers went cold.
"The boss."
Adrian nodded.
"The first one."
A sound came from the corridor.
This time, it wasn't a voice.
It was footsteps.
One.
Two.
Three.
They stopped.
A shadow appeared beneath the doorway.
Mara backed away.
Adrian reached for Elena's hand.
"Stay behind me."
Elena didn't argue.
The shadow remained still.
Then something slid across the floor.
A black card.
It stopped at Adrian's shoes.
He stared at it.
Elena leaned closer.
There was writing on it.
GAME TWO HAS NOT STARTED.
Adrian turned it over.
Another sentence was written on the back.
BUT SOMEONE HAS ALREADY LOST.
Elena looked at him.
"What does that mean?"
He didn't answer.
Mara whispered, "Someone is missing."
Elena looked around.
"We're all here."
"No."
Mara counted silently.
Her face changed.
"Who?"
She looked toward the door.
"Marcus."
Elena's stomach dropped.
"Where is he?"
Nobody knew.
Adrian immediately moved toward the corridor.
Elena followed.
They passed through the doorway and entered the dark hall.
The lights flickered on one after another as they walked.
One.
Two.
Three.
At the end of the corridor was another door.
It stood open.
Inside was Marcus's office.
His chair was overturned.
His computer was still on.
A cup of coffee sat beside the keyboard.
Steam rose from it.
Elena stopped.
"Someone was just here."
Adrian stepped inside.
He looked around.
"Marcus?"
No answer.
Elena noticed something on the floor.
A trail of black cards.
They led from the office toward a second door.
She crouched.
There were five cards.
Each one had a different number.
One.
Two.
Three.
Four.
Five.
She picked up the first.
On the back was a sentence.
HE CHOSE THE WRONG DOOR.
The second said:
HE HEARD THE WRONG VOICE.
The third:
HE TRUSTED THE WRONG PERSON.
The fourth:
HE IS STILL ALIVE.
Elena's eyes moved to the fifth.
She turned it over.
There was only one word.
RUN.
A loud bang came from behind them.
The office door slammed shut.
Elena jumped.
Adrian grabbed the handle.
Locked.
Mara tried the other door.
Locked too.
The computer screen suddenly changed.
A live camera feed appeared.
Marcus was on the screen.
He was standing in a room Elena didn't recognize.
His hands were pressed against a glass wall.
He could see the camera.
He was shouting.
But there was no sound.
Then someone stepped into the frame behind him.
Marcus turned.
His face filled with terror.
The screen went black.
Elena stared.
"Where is he?"
Adrian's expression was grim.
"I don't know."
"You said the games happen in one day."
"This isn't a game yet."
"Then what is it?"
He looked at the black screen.
"A warning."
The lights went out.
In the darkness, a voice whispered directly beside Elena's ear.
"One employee found."
She froze.
The voice continued.
"Two more."
Then silence.
The lights returned.
Mara was gone.
Adrian was gone.
Elena stood alone in the office.
The fifth black card lay at her feet.
She picked it up.
The word had changed.
RUN.
Then beneath it, another sentence appeared.
NOT FROM HIM.
Elena slowly looked toward the closed door.
Someone was standing on the other side.
She could see their shadow beneath it.
The shadow didn't move.
Then three soft knocks sounded.
And a familiar voice whispered:
"Elena, it's me."
It was Adrian's voice.
But Adrian was nowhere in the room.
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