Chapter 1: The Wrong Place
974 Words
Chapter 1: The Wrong Place
The city never truly slept.
Even at eleven thirty in the evening, the grand lobby of the Grand Celestia Hotel shimmered beneath crystal chandeliers as wealthy guests checked in, business executives hurried toward elevators, and the soft melody of a piano drifted through the air.
For Ariana Castillo, it was just another exhausting night.
She adjusted her name tag and forced a smile at another departing guest.
“Thank you for staying with us, sir. Have a wonderful evening.”
The middle-aged businessman nodded politely before disappearing through the revolving doors.
As soon as he left, Ariana let out a quiet sigh.
“My feet are officially protesting,” she muttered.
Her coworker, Nicole Reyes, laughed from behind the reception desk.
“You’ve been standing for almost twelve hours. I’d protest too.”
Ariana smiled.
“Only one more hour.”
Nicole leaned closer.
“Promise me you’ll stop accepting overtime. You’re going to collapse one day.”
“I need the money.”
Nicole already knew why.
Miguel Castillo, Ariana’s father, had been recovering from surgery for months. Her younger sister, Sofia, was still in senior high school, and every peso Ariana earned went straight to hospital bills, tuition fees, and rent.
Dreams could wait.
Her family couldn’t.
Around midnight, the hotel manager approached.
“Ariana.”
“Yes, sir?”
“Room 1708 requested extra towels. Housekeeping has already clocked out. Could you bring them up?”
“Of course.”
She collected a stack of fresh towels and stepped into the employee elevator.
The ride to the seventeenth floor was quiet.
Too quiet.
When the elevator doors opened, the hallway was empty except for the faint hum of the air conditioner.
Room 1708 was at the far end.
As Ariana walked, she noticed another door slightly open.
Room 1712.
Strange.
She remembered it had been marked vacant earlier that afternoon.
A muffled voice drifted into the hallway.
“…You failed.”
Another voice answered, trembling.
“Please… give me another chance.”
Ariana froze.
It sounded like an argument.
She hesitated.
Maybe she should call security.
Just as she reached Room 1708 and delivered the towels, curiosity tugged at her.
On her way back, the voices had grown louder.
Then…
Silence.
An uneasy feeling settled in her chest.
She told herself to keep walking.
Mind your own business, Ariana.
But a metallic clang echoed from the open doorway.
Without thinking, she glanced inside.
Her breath caught.
Several men dressed in black surrounded a man kneeling on the floor.
All of them wore dark masks.
Except one.
He stood with effortless authority, his tailored black suit immaculate despite the chaos around him.
He didn’t need to raise his voice.
His presence alone commanded absolute obedience.
The kneeling man pleaded desperately.
“I swear… I never betrayed you.”
The man in the suit tilted his head slightly.
“I gave you my trust.”
His voice was calm.
Dangerously calm.
“And you sold it.”
Ariana instinctively stepped backward.
She shouldn’t be here.
She shouldn’t be hearing this.
One of the masked men handed the suited man a pistol.
He accepted it without hesitation.
The terrified man’s cries echoed through the room.
“No! Please! My family… please!”
Ariana squeezed her eyes shut.
She couldn’t move.
A single gunshot shattered the silence.
She gasped.
The sound seemed to shake the entire hallway.
Her hands flew to her mouth as panic surged through every nerve.
Run.
Run now.
She turned and hurried toward the elevator, her heartbeat pounding in her ears.
The stack of unused towels slipped from her trembling arms and scattered across the polished floor.
“No… no…”
She crouched instinctively to gather them before realizing how foolish it was.
Forget the towels.
Run.
As she stood, one towel snagged beneath her shoe, sending her stumbling against a decorative vase.
Crash!
The porcelain exploded across the marble floor.
The sound echoed down the hallway like a thunderclap.
Inside Room 1712…
Everything went silent.
Ariana’s blood turned to ice.
Footsteps.
Slow.
Measured.
Coming closer.
She forced herself to move.
The elevator.
Just a few more steps.
The doors slid open with a soft chime.
She stepped inside and repeatedly pressed the Close button.
“Hurry… hurry…”
The doors began to close.
Just before they met…
A figure appeared at the end of the hallway.
Tall.
Broad shoulders.
Black suit.
No mask.
The others remained hidden behind him.
He walked into the light, his polished shoes clicking against the marble floor.
Even from a distance, his face was impossibly handsome.
Sharp jaw.
Dark hair brushed neatly back.
Cold gray eyes that carried no trace of mercy.
He wasn’t running.
He wasn’t shouting.
He simply looked at her.
As though he already owned the night.
Time seemed to stop.
Ariana forgot how to breathe.
Their eyes met.
For one terrifying second, the world around them disappeared.
The elevator doors slid shut between them.
Ariana stumbled backward, her legs giving way as the elevator descended.
Her entire body trembled.
“Please… please don’t let him know who I am…”
She had no idea who that man was.
She only knew one thing.
He had seen her.
And she had seen him.
Far above, on the seventeenth floor, the man remained standing in the empty hallway.
One of his masked subordinates approached cautiously.
“Boss… should we find the witness?”
The man slipped the pistol into his jacket and kept his eyes on the closed elevator doors.
His expression remained unreadable.
Then, a slow smile touched the corner of his lips.
“She saw my face.”
The air itself seemed to grow colder.
“Find her.”
His quiet command was enough.
Within seconds, every man in the hallway moved.
The hunt had begun.
- Writer
