Chapter 3
810 Words
My heart hammered against my ribs as the footsteps drew closer.
I pressed myself against the rough concrete wall, forcing myself to stay still.
The footsteps stopped.
For a long moment, nobody spoke.
Then a voice drifted across the courtyard.
“Cross.”
The footsteps changed direction.
I risked another glance through the c***k in the wall.
The man I’d photographed turned towards the sound. Another man approached him, handed him a folder and spoke too quietly for me to hear.
Cross nodded once before disappearing through the entrance.
At least now he had a name.
Cross.
I repeated it silently, committing it to memory.
The courtyard gradually emptied. One by one, the remaining men disappeared into the building until only two were left outside, talking beside one of the parked cars.
This was my chance to leave.
Instead, I found myself staring at the open entrance.
My mother used to tell me that curiosity would be the death of me.
Standing outside that building, I was beginning to think she might finally be right.
I should’ve walked back to my car.
I knew that.
Instead, I slipped through the gate.
The difference was immediate.
Outside, the building looked forgotten.
Inside, it looked expensive.
The concrete walls and exposed steel beams gave the place the appearance of an abandoned warehouse, but everything else told a different story.
The lighting was new.
The floors were spotless.
People moved through the corridors with quiet efficiency, speaking into radios or carrying files from one room to another.
No one wandered.
Everyone seemed to know exactly where they were going.
I stayed close to the wall, keeping my head down as I moved deeper into the building.
The security camera I’d noticed outside suddenly felt almost laughable.
There were dozens inside.
Small black domes were fixed into the ceiling every few metres, each one angled to cover the next.
No blind spots or forgotten corners.
The realization settled heavily in my stomach.
This place hadn’t been built to keep people out.
It had been built to know exactly who was inside.
I resisted the urge to turn around.
Panic would only make me noticeable.
Just ahead, a large emblem had been painted onto one of the concrete walls.
It was simple.
A black circle divided by three sharp diagonal lines.
I slowed instinctively.
One of the men walking past had the same symbol embroidered onto the sleeve of his jacket.
Another wore it on a ring.
One photograph.
That was all.
I framed the symbol, took the picture and slipped the phone back into my pocket before anyone looked my way.
As I turned to leave, a soft crackle echoed somewhere above me.
“Control to East Corridor.”
My steps slowed.
Another voice answered almost immediately.
“We’ve got an unidentified female on Camera Twelve.”
Every muscle in my body went rigid.
Camera Twelve.
Me.
They weren’t guessing.
They knew exactly where I was.
I didn’t run.
Not yet.
Running would only confirm what they already suspected.
I forced myself to keep walking.
Calmly.
Steadily.
Another voice came through the radio.
“Unit Three, intercept.”
A man appeared at the far end of the corridor.
Then another stepped out from a doorway to my left.
Neither of them hurried.
They didn’t need to.
They already knew where I was going.
My pulse spiked.
I turned the corner before either of them reached me.
The corridor split into two.
I chose the right without thinking.
Wrong choice.
The door at the end required a keycard.
Locked.
Footsteps echoed behind me.
Closer now.
I spun around, searching desperately for another way out.
To my left, a pair of loading doors rolled open with a mechanical groan.
A delivery truck reversed slowly into the warehouse while two workers argued over where to unload the crates stacked in the back.
Neither of them noticed me.
I didn’t hesitate.
The moment the truck blocked the corridor, I slipped behind it, ducked between two stacks of wooden pallets and crossed to the opposite side of the loading bay.
Someone shouted.
The distraction lasted only a second.
It was enough.
I pushed through the half-open service door and stumbled into the afternoon sunlight.
I didn’t stop running until I reached my car.
My hands trembled as I unlocked the door.
By the time I pulled away from the curb, my breathing was ragged and my heart still hadn’t slowed.
In the rear-view mirror, the warehouse grew smaller with every passing second.
It didn’t look frightening anymore.
Just abandoned.
Ordinary.
If I hadn’t been inside, I would’ve believed it too.
I tightened my grip on the steering wheel.
I had gone there looking for the person who sent Adrian a message.
Instead, I’d found something much worse.
Whatever my brother had been involved in…
…it had never been ordinary.
- Writer
