THE WOMAN BEHIND THE GLASS
1452 Words
The office remained silent after the knocking stopped.
Elena could hear the faint buzz of the computers and the uneven breathing of the people around her. Nobody returned to work. Nobody even pretended to.
Every face on the floor was turned toward her.
She looked from one person to another.
"What?"
Nobody answered.
Ethan was the first to look away.
Clara lowered her eyes.
Marcus remained near the entrance, his arms folded tightly across his chest.
Adrian stood beside Elena's desk, watching the corridor.
The knocking came again.
Three times.
Slow.
Patient.
Elena's fingers curled around the edge of her desk.
"Who's behind that wall?"
Adrian shook his head.
"Don't go near it."
"I'm not planning to."
"Good."
A few seconds passed.
Then something moved behind the glass partition at the far end of the office.
Elena noticed it first.
A woman.
She was standing inside the conference room.
Elena frowned.
The room had been empty moments earlier.
The woman wore a dark dress and had long hair falling over one shoulder. Her back was turned toward them.
Nobody else seemed to notice her.
Elena pointed.
"Who is that?"
Adrian's head snapped toward the conference room.
The woman slowly turned.
Her face was pale.
Too pale.
She smiled.
Elena felt her stomach drop.
The woman lifted one hand and placed it against the glass.
Then she mouthed something.
Elena couldn't hear her.
But she understood.
Come here.
Adrian stepped in front of Elena.
"Don't look at her."
Elena's eyes remained fixed on the woman.
"Who is she?"
"Someone you don't need to meet."
The woman tapped the glass.
Once.
Twice.
Three times.
The sound echoed across the office.
Elena flinched.
Then the woman disappeared.
Not walked away.
Not moved out of sight.
She simply wasn't there anymore.
Elena stared at the empty room.
"Where did she go?"
Adrian didn't answer.
Ethan finally spoke.
"She's been appearing since morning."
Elena looked at him.
"Why didn't you say anything?"
"Because nobody knew who she'd choose."
"Choose for what?"
Ethan looked toward Adrian.
Adrian's expression warned him to stop.
Ethan ignored it.
"The game."
Elena's stomach tightened.
"What game?"
Ethan pointed toward the clock.
"That one."
The second hand had stopped.
The hour hand was moving backward.
Elena checked her phone.
2:43 p.m.
The clock above the office showed 1:00.
Then 12:59.
Then 12:58.
It continued moving backward.
Adrian stepped toward the clock.
"Everyone back to your desks."
Nobody moved.
He raised his voice.
"Now."
The employees obeyed.
Chairs scraped.
People returned to their workstations.
Elena remained standing.
She looked at Adrian.
"Why is the clock moving backward?"
"It's part of the game."
"Everything is part of the game."
"Yes."
"Then what am I supposed to do?"
"Nothing."
"That's not possible."
"It is if you listen to me."
He walked toward her.
"You've already been noticed. That's enough."
Elena stared at him.
"By whom?"
His eyes shifted toward the conference room.
"The game."
That answer made her more uneasy than any explanation could have.
Adrian returned to his office.
Elena sat down.
She tried to work.
She really did.
The problem was that every time she looked at her computer, the screen seemed to shift slightly.
At 3:05, she received an email.
No sender.
No subject.
Only one attachment.
ELENA_CARTER.mp4
She stared at it.
She didn't open it.
A minute later, another email arrived.
WATCH.
Elena glanced around.
Everyone appeared busy.
She clicked the attachment.
The screen went black.
Then a video began playing.
It showed Vespera's lobby.
Elena recognized the angle immediately.
It was security footage.
The timestamp read:
August 20, 2010.
She leaned closer.
Employees were moving through the lobby.
Cars passed outside.
Everything looked normal.
Then a little girl walked through the entrance.
Elena stopped breathing.
The girl was her.
She was younger, perhaps six or seven.
She walked into the lobby holding the hand of a woman Elena didn't recognize.
The video continued.
The little girl looked around.
Then someone appeared beside her.
Adrian.
Elena stared.
He looked exactly the same.
Not older.
Not younger.
Exactly the same.
The little girl looked up at him.
He crouched.
They spoke.
There was no sound.
Elena paused the video.
Her hands were shaking.
She rewound it.
Again.
The same thing.
She looked around.
Nobody was watching.
She pressed play.
The woman holding the girl's hand suddenly looked toward the security camera.
Her face became clear.
Elena recognized her.
She had seen her yesterday.
The woman from the photograph.
Adrian's face appeared in the corner of the screen.
The same woman stood beside him.
Elena's phone vibrated.
A message appeared.
YOU WERE HERE BEFORE.
Another.
YOU JUST DON'T REMEMBER.
She stopped the video.
Her heart was pounding.
She looked toward Adrian's office.
He was standing by the window.
As if sensing her stare, he turned.
Their eyes met.
Elena stood.
She walked toward him.
He opened the door before she reached it.
"You saw it."
It wasn't a question.
"Yes."
He stepped aside.
She entered.
"Why was I here sixteen years ago?"
Adrian closed the door.
"I don't know."
"You're lying."
"I don't know everything."
"You were there."
"Yes."
"You knew me."
"Yes."
"Who was that woman?"
He looked at her.
"Someone from your past."
"What past?"
"One you don't remember."
Elena stared at him.
"Why?"
Adrian's gaze moved toward the window.
"Because something happened."
"What?"
He didn't answer.
Elena stepped closer.
"You keep saying you don't know everything, but you know enough to be scared."
His jaw tightened.
"I am not scared."
"You are."
He looked at her.
This time, he didn't deny it.
A faint sound came from the wall.
Knock.
Elena turned.
Knock.
Knock.
The three knocks again.
Adrian moved toward the door.
"Stay here."
Elena followed.
"No."
"Elena."
"I'm not staying alone."
He stopped.
For a moment, he seemed ready to argue.
Then he sighed.
"Fine."
They stepped into the corridor.
The knocking continued.
It was coming from the old wing.
The restricted corridor.
Elena looked toward it.
A door at the end stood slightly open.
She had never seen it open before.
Adrian noticed.
"Stay behind me."
They moved slowly.
The closer they got, the colder the hallway became.
Elena rubbed her arms.
"Why is it so cold?"
Adrian didn't answer.
They reached the door.
He pushed it open.
The room beyond was dark.
A single desk sat in the middle.
On it was an old telephone.
The receiver was off the hook.
Adrian stopped.
Elena looked at him.
"What?"
He stared at the phone.
"That's impossible."
The phone rang.
Elena jumped.
Adrian immediately reached for her hand.
"Don't answer."
The ringing continued.
Once.
Twice.
Three times.
Then a fourth.
The receiver began moving slightly.
Elena stepped backward.
The fifth ring sounded.
The sixth.
Then the phone stopped.
A voice came through the speaker.
"Adrian."
He went still.
The voice was female.
Calm.
Familiar.
"Why did you bring her back?"
Elena looked at Adrian.
He didn't answer.
The voice continued.
"You know what happens when she remembers."
Adrian's fingers tightened around Elena's hand.
"She won't."
A quiet laugh came through the phone.
"You said that last time."
Elena felt her pulse hammer.
"Who is she talking about?"
The phone went silent.
Then the voice returned.
"You."
The receiver fell.
The line went dead.
Elena stared at Adrian.
"What does she mean?"
He looked at her.
Before he could answer, the door slammed shut behind them.
Elena spun around.
The handle wouldn't move.
Adrian tried it.
Locked.
The lights flickered.
The telephone rang again.
This time, the ringing was louder.
Adrian looked at Elena.
"Stay beside me."
The phone rang again.
He reached for it.
Elena grabbed his wrist.
"No."
His eyes met hers.
"If you answer, you may not like what you hear."
He gently removed her hand.
"I already know."
He picked up the receiver.
Silence.
Then the woman's voice whispered:
"Seven o'clock."
Adrian's expression hardened.
"What about it?"
"You'll have to choose."
"Choose what?"
The woman laughed.
"Her..."
A pause.
"...or everyone else."
The line went dead.
Adrian slowly lowered the receiver.
Elena stared at him.
"What does that mean?"
He looked at the locked door.
Then at her.
"It means the game has changed."
A loud bang shook the door.
Elena jumped.
Another bang.
Something was hitting it from the other side.
Adrian moved in front of her.
The wood cracked.
Elena grabbed his sleeve.
"What's outside?"
He didn't answer.
The door cracked again.
Then a voice whispered through the opening.
"Elena."
She recognized it.
Her own voice.
The thing outside spoke again.
"Open the door."
Adrian looked at her.
"Whatever you hear..."
The door shook violently.
"...do not answer."
The handle began turning by itself.
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