BENEATH THE THIRTEENTH FLOOR
1936 Words
Elena did not turn around.
The voice behind her had been too close.
Too familiar.
Too calm.
She kept her eyes fixed on the darkness below.
"Marcus?" she called.
Her own voice sounded small in the stairwell.
A pause followed.
Then Marcus answered.
"Elena, I'm here."
The voice came from somewhere beneath them.
Adrian tightened his grip around her hand.
"Don't answer again."
Elena glanced at him.
"You heard him."
"I heard something."
"You think that's not Marcus?"
"I don't know."
The voice below came again.
"Please."
Adrian's jaw tightened.
Elena looked down the staircase.
There was no light beyond the next few steps.
"Then how do we know which voice is real?"
"We don't."
"That's comforting."
"It wasn't supposed to be."
They continued downward.
The stairs seemed endless.
Elena counted silently.
One.
Two.
Three.
Then she lost count.
The walls were damp and cold. Old pipes ran along the ceiling, some of them making a soft ticking sound as water travelled through them.
Nothing about the staircase looked supernatural.
That somehow made it worse.
It felt like a forgotten part of the building that had been hidden for years.
Elena ran her fingers along the wall.
Dust came away on her fingertips.
"How long has this been here?"
Adrian glanced back.
"Longer than Vespera."
She stopped.
"That's impossible."
"The building wasn't always a company."
"What was it?"
He continued walking.
"Something else."
"What?"
He didn't answer.
Elena followed.
At the bottom of the stairs, they reached a narrow landing.
A metal door stood ahead.
There was no handle.
Only a small circular slot.
Adrian reached into his pocket.
Elena immediately remembered the brass key.
She pulled it out.
His eyes moved to it.
"Give it to me."
She hesitated.
"You said it opens something."
"It does."
"My father used it."
"Yes."
"Then I'm keeping it."
Adrian sighed.
"Elena."
"I'm not giving you something connected to my father when you still haven't told me what he was doing here."
His expression hardened.
"Your father wasn't a good man."
Elena went still.
"Don't."
"I'm telling you the truth."
"You don't get to talk about him like that."
"I knew him."
"You knew him sixteen years ago."
"I knew him before that."
She stared.
"How?"
Adrian looked away.
"Because he hired me."
The words settled heavily.
Elena slowly lowered the key.
"For what?"
"Security."
"Here?"
"Yes."
"Why would my father hire you?"
"He was investigating the company."
"The games."
Adrian nodded.
"Yes."
Elena looked at the door.
"Then he wasn't part of them."
"No."
A pause.
"He was trying to stop them."
Elena's expression changed.
That wasn't what she expected.
"What happened?"
Adrian looked at the key.
"He got too close."
The voice below interrupted them.
"Elena."
She turned.
Nothing.
"Marcus?"
Adrian grabbed her wrist.
"No."
The voice came again.
"Don't trust him."
Elena looked at Adrian.
The voice continued.
"He lied to you."
Adrian's expression remained still.
"See?"
Elena frowned.
"See what?"
"It wants you to doubt me."
"Maybe I should."
He looked at her.
"Maybe."
That answer surprised her.
She studied his face.
He looked tired.
Not afraid.
Not angry.
Just tired.
"Do you know what happened to my father?"
Adrian looked at the door.
"Yes."
Elena's breath caught.
"What?"
"He disappeared."
"That's not what I asked."
"I know."
"Where?"
Adrian looked at her.
"Below this floor."
Elena stared at the door.
Her hand tightened around the key.
"My father died here?"
"I don't know."
"You just said he disappeared."
"That's what I said."
"Then why did you say he was below?"
"Because that was the last place anyone saw him."
Elena looked at the key again.
"Open it."
Adrian didn't move.
"Elena."
"Open the door."
"You don't know what's inside."
"I don't care."
"I do."
She looked at him.
"Why?"
He didn't answer.
She held out the key.
"Then don't come in."
His expression changed.
"You're not going alone."
He took the key.
The metal door had no visible lock.
Adrian inserted the key into the circular slot.
It fit perfectly.
He turned it.
A deep mechanical sound travelled through the wall.
Something unlocked.
The door opened inward.
Cold air spilled across their feet.
Beyond it was a long corridor.
Unlike the staircase, this part of the building looked maintained.
The floor was polished.
The walls were clean.
Small lights lined the ceiling.
It looked like an ordinary office corridor.
Elena stepped inside.
Adrian followed.
The door closed behind them.
A digital display appeared on the wall.
LEVEL 13
Underneath:
AUTHORIZED PERSONNEL ONLY
Elena stared.
"Why does this place look newer than the rest of the building?"
Adrian looked around.
"Because it is."
"What?"
"This section is still being used."
"By who?"
He didn't answer.
A door opened several feet ahead.
Marcus stumbled out.
Elena rushed toward him.
"Marcus!"
He looked up.
His face was pale.
His shirt was torn at the shoulder, but there was no obvious injury.
He stared at Adrian first.
Then Elena.
"You came."
Elena reached him.
"Are you hurt?"
"No."
"Where were you?"
"I don't know."
Adrian stepped closer.
"What happened?"
Marcus looked over his shoulder.
"I was taken into that room."
"By who?"
"I didn't see."
"Then how did you get out?"
Marcus swallowed.
"The door opened."
Elena frowned.
"By itself?"
He nodded.
"Then I heard you."
"You heard me?"
"Yes."
"What did I say?"
Marcus looked at her strangely.
"You told me to come with you."
Elena's stomach tightened.
"I never said that."
Marcus went silent.
Adrian looked at him.
"What did she say?"
Marcus repeated it.
"She said, 'Come with me, Marcus.'"
Elena shook her head.
"I didn't."
"I know."
Marcus looked frightened.
"That's why I ran."
Adrian nodded.
"Good."
Marcus glanced at Elena.
"You need to leave."
"We can't."
"I know."
He looked toward the corridor.
"Then stay away from the rooms with numbers."
Elena looked around.
"Why?"
"Because they aren't rooms."
"What are they?"
Marcus lowered his voice.
"Memories."
Elena stared.
"Whose?"
"Whoever enters."
A door at the end of the corridor opened.
Everyone froze.
A faint yellow light appeared.
Marcus stepped backward.
"That's one."
Adrian immediately grabbed Elena's hand.
"Don't look inside."
Elena looked anyway.
The room appeared ordinary.
A child's bedroom.
Yellow curtains.
A small bed.
A stuffed rabbit.
Elena's heart stopped.
She knew that room.
She had remembered it earlier.
The yellow curtain.
The song.
The hand holding hers.
She moved toward it.
Adrian pulled her back.
"No."
"That's my room."
"Maybe."
"It is."
"You don't know that."
"I do."
Marcus looked at the room.
"Don't go in."
Elena stared at him.
"Why?"
"Because if it's your memory, it won't show you what happened."
"What will it show me?"
Marcus swallowed.
"What you want to remember."
Elena looked at Adrian.
He nodded slowly.
"He's right."
She frowned.
"So the memories are fake?"
"Not exactly."
"What does that mean?"
"They take something real and change one part."
Elena looked back at the bedroom.
"What part?"
"That's what makes them dangerous."
The door remained open.
A faint melody drifted from inside.
Elena recognized it.
The song her mother used to hum.
Her chest tightened.
She took one step forward.
Adrian stopped her.
"Don't."
"But my mother is in there."
"That's what it wants you to believe."
The melody continued.
Elena closed her eyes.
For a moment, she could almost picture her mother's face.
Then another memory appeared.
A hand.
A red door.
Her father shouting.
She opened her eyes.
The bedroom was still there.
But something had changed.
The bed was empty.
A small figure stood beside the window.
Elena.
Six years old.
The child looked toward the door.
Then toward Elena.
The little girl lifted her hand.
She was holding the same bracelet.
Elena looked down at her own wrist.
She wasn't wearing one.
The child pointed toward the bed.
Elena's gaze followed.
A black card sat on the pillow.
The words on it were too far away to read.
She stepped forward.
Adrian caught her.
"Elena."
"She wants me to see something."
"No."
The child pressed her finger to her lips.
Then she pointed toward the closet.
Elena stared.
The closet door was slightly open.
Something moved inside.
She felt a sudden wave of fear.
The little girl shook her head.
Not fear.
Warning.
Then the room disappeared.
The door slammed shut.
Elena jerked backward.
Marcus breathed out.
Adrian's hand remained around her wrist.
"What did you see?"
"My bedroom."
"Was your mother there?"
"No."
"Your father?"
"No."
"What did you see?"
Elena looked at the closed door.
"Me."
Adrian went still.
"The child?"
"Yes."
"What was she doing?"
"Trying to warn me."
Marcus looked at Adrian.
"That's new."
Adrian's eyes narrowed.
"What do you mean?"
"She never warned anyone before."
Elena turned.
"Before?"
Marcus hesitated.
"You've seen her?"
"Once."
"When?"
"Earlier."
"Where?"
"In the room they kept me."
Elena looked toward him.
"What did she say?"
Marcus swallowed.
"She asked me if you were still with him."
"With Adrian?"
He nodded.
"Why?"
"I don't know."
A loud sound echoed down the corridor.
A door slammed.
Then another.
Then another.
One after another, the numbered doors began opening.
Elena stepped backward.
Adrian looked around.
"Stay close."
The first door revealed the bedroom.
The second showed a hospital room.
The third showed an office.
The fourth showed a classroom.
The fifth showed a street.
But none of them remained still.
Each scene moved.
People walked through them.
Voices whispered.
Memories played.
Elena saw herself as a child in one.
Then as a teenager in another.
Then older.
Then standing in the Vespera lobby.
Then standing beside Adrian.
Then alone.
The scenes changed too quickly to understand.
Marcus whispered, "They're showing possible memories."
"Possible?"
"Things that happened."
"Or could have happened."
Elena looked at Adrian.
He was staring at one of the rooms.
Inside was a younger version of him.
He stood beside Elena's father.
They were arguing.
Elena couldn't hear them.
Her father pointed toward a door.
Adrian shook his head.
Then Elena's father pushed him.
The scene vanished.
Elena looked at him.
"What was that?"
"Nothing."
"That was my father."
"I know."
"You were arguing."
"I know."
"About me?"
He didn't answer.
Elena stepped closer.
"About me?"
Adrian finally looked at her.
"Yes."
"Why?"
"Because your father wanted to use you."
The corridor seemed to become silent.
"For what?"
Adrian's expression was unreadable.
"He believed you could open something nobody else could."
Elena looked at the silver key.
"What?"
"The game room."
She stared.
"The place where this started?"
"Yes."
"Did I open it?"
Adrian looked toward the far end of the corridor.
"I stopped you."
Elena's voice dropped.
"Did you?"
He didn't answer.
A bell sounded.
The lights changed.
The numbered doors slammed shut simultaneously.
Marcus stepped backward.
"What now?"
A speaker crackled overhead.
The woman's voice returned.
"Memory stage complete."
Elena looked up.
The voice continued.
"One truth has been recovered."
A pause.
"One remains hidden."
Another pause.
"And one of you is lying."
Elena looked at Marcus.
Then Adrian.
Then the empty corridor.
The speaker clicked off.
Marcus whispered, "That's not good."
Elena looked at him.
"Which one of us is lying?"
Nobody answered.
The lights went out.
When they came back, Marcus was gone.
Elena spun around.
"Marcus?"
No answer.
Adrian looked down the corridor.
A black card lay where Marcus had been standing.
Elena picked it up.
Three words were written across it.
ASK ADRIAN WHY.
She looked up.
Adrian was staring at her.
For the first time, Elena couldn't tell whether he was afraid of the game...
Or afraid of what she was about to remember.
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