CHAPTER 2 : THE PEOPLE BEHIND THE DOOR
804 Words
The handle moved slowly.
Once.
Then again.
Like whoever was outside already knew they would get in eventually.
I stopped breathing.
Adrian stood in front of me without saying a word, his body tense, his eyes locked on the door.
For the first time since I met him…
he looked nervous.
Not angry. Not cold.
Nervous.
That scared me more than anything else.
Another knock echoed through the apartment.
“Adrian,” the voice said calmly from outside. “Don’t make this difficult.”
Adrian finally spoke.
“She’s not here.”
A soft laugh came from the other side of the door.
“That lie worked better a few months ago.”
My stomach tightened.
A few months ago?
What did that even mean?
I looked at Adrian, but he didn’t look back at me.
His attention stayed on the door like he was calculating every possible outcome in his head.
Then the voice spoke again.
“You know the rules. Once the subject regains awareness, she must be returned.”
Subject.
Not person.
Not woman.
Subject.
Something about that word made my skin crawl.
Adrian’s jaw tightened.
“She’s not going anywhere with you.”
Silence.
Then—
“That wasn’t a request.”
The door suddenly shook hard under another hit.
I flinched immediately.
Adrian turned to me fast.
“Go to the bedroom,” he said quietly.
“What?”
“Now, Lena.”
I shook my head instantly.
“No.”
His eyes darkened with frustration.
“This isn’t the time to argue.”
“And this isn’t the time to hide things from me anymore.”
Another loud bang hit the door.
Harder this time.
The lock almost snapped.
My heartbeat was so loud I could barely hear myself think.
Adrian ran a hand through his hair, clearly losing patience.
“Lena, listen to me carefully.”
His voice dropped lower.
“If they take you, you won’t come back.”
Silence.
Everything inside me froze.
“What are you talking about?”
But before he could answer—
CRACK.
The door burst open.
Three men stepped inside.
Black suits. Calm faces. No emotion.
The one in front looked older than the others, maybe in his forties. Sharp eyes. Perfect posture.
And the moment he looked at me…
I felt sick.
Like he already knew everything about me.
“There she is,” he said softly.
Adrian stepped forward immediately, blocking their view.
“You’re not touching her.”
The older man sighed like Adrian was becoming exhausting.
“You always make this emotional.”
“I said leave.”
The man ignored him completely.
Instead, he looked directly at me.
“Hello, Lena.”
I didn’t answer.
Honestly, I couldn’t.
Fear had wrapped itself around my throat.
The man smiled slightly.
“You don’t remember me yet. That’s expected.”
Yet.
That word again.
Adrian’s voice turned sharp.
“Stop talking to her.”
The man finally looked at Adrian again.
“You’ve become attached.”
Silence.
A dangerous silence.
Then the man smiled again.
“And that,” he said calmly, “is exactly why this experiment failed.”
My chest tightened.
Experiment.
Again.
I looked at Adrian.
His face had gone completely still.
“You used me,” I whispered.
His eyes snapped toward me immediately.
“No.”
“But you knew.”
“I was trying to protect you.”
“By lying to me?”
Pain flashed across his face so quickly I almost missed it.
The older man watched both of us carefully, almost amused.
“This is why emotional involvement was f*******n,” he said. “Subjects become unstable once feelings develop.”
I felt sick hearing him talk about me like I wasn’t even human.
Adrian took another step forward.
“She’s done with your system.”
The man tilted his head slightly.
“That decision was never yours to make.”
The room suddenly felt too small.
Too cold.
I wanted answers, but every answer only created worse questions.
Then the older man reached into his coat pocket.
Adrian reacted instantly.
“Don’t.”
But the man ignored him and pulled out a thin black folder.
My stomach dropped the second I saw it.
My name was written across the front.
The man opened it slowly.
“There’s something she deserves to know,” he said.
Adrian’s voice turned deadly quiet.
“Close the file.”
The man looked at him calmly.
“She has the right to know who she really is.”
My heartbeat stopped for a second.
“What does that mean?” I whispered.
The man’s eyes returned to mine.
And then he said the one thing I never expected to hear.
“Lena… that’s not your real name.”
chapter 3 coming soon.........
- Writer
