Chapter 4 - They ran.Daniel led them toward the emergency stairwell.
Marcus followed Laura, but every few seconds he glanced back.
He expected someone to appear.
No one did.
The building seemed abandoned again.
Too abandoned.
They reached the twenty-ninth floor.
Daniel stopped.
"Wait."
Marcus almost collided with him.
"What?"
Daniel held up his hand.
Footsteps.
Below them.
Someone was climbing the stairs.
Slowly.
One step at a time.
Laura whispered:
"How many?"
Daniel listened.
"One."
Marcus's chest tightened.
The footsteps stopped.
Silence.
Then a voice rose through the stairwell.
"Marcus."
Harris.
Marcus closed his eyes.
"That's not possible."
Again:
"Marcus."
Laura grabbed his arm.
"Don't answer."
The voice changed.
It became angry.
"Marcus!"
Daniel pulled them toward the twenty-eighth floor.
They entered a storage area and locked the door.
Marcus whispered:
"Who is that?"
Daniel checked the security camera.
The stairwell was empty.
No person.
No shadow.
Nothing.
Then Marcus noticed something on the floor.
A shoe.
Black leather.
Wet with blood.
Daniel picked it up.
"That's Harris's."
Marcus stared.
"How do you know?"
"I bought him those."
A loud crash came from the corridor.
They all jumped.
The storage room door shook.
Once.
Twice.
Then stopped.
Marcus whispered:
"Call the police."
Daniel looked at him.
"Which police?"
"The police."
"The same police who signed off on a dead man who called them afterward?"
Marcus said nothing.
Daniel opened a hidden panel behind the shelves.
A narrow passage appeared.
"Where does that go?"
"Old maintenance tunnels."
Laura shook her head.
"You said they were sealed."
"They are."
"Then why do you know about them?"
Daniel looked at her.
"Because I'm the one who sealed them."
They entered.
The passage smelled of dust and rust.
Water dripped from pipes overhead.
Marcus followed the weak emergency lighting.
They walked for several minutes.
Then Laura suddenly stopped.
"What is that?"
A wall covered in photographs.
Dozens.
Maybe hundreds.
Employees.
Executives.
Security guards.
Contractors.
Marcus stepped closer.
Every photograph had a date.
Some were years old.
Others were recent.
He saw himself.
MARCUS REED.
Underneath the photo:
OBSERVATION START: JANUARY 14.
He stared.
"What the hell?"
Laura moved beside him.
Her photograph was there too.
Daniel's.
Everyone's.
Some photographs had red lines drawn across their faces.
Marcus noticed one.
Harris.
His photo had been crossed out.
But beneath it were three separate images.
Three versions of him.
Marcus whispered:
"They've been watching everyone."
Daniel shook his head.
"No."
He pointed.
"Look at the dates."
The earliest Harris photo was fourteen years old.
The second was six years old.
The third was dated just three months earlier.
Marcus stared.
Three Harris identities.
Three versions.
Then he noticed something beneath the newest photograph.
A number.
07.
"What does that mean?"
Daniel didn't answer.
A monitor at the end of the tunnel suddenly activated.
White text appeared.
TEST SUBJECT 07 HAS FAILED.
Then:
PREPARE SUBJECT 08.
Marcus stepped backward.
"Who is subject eight?"
Laura looked at him.
Her face had gone completely white.
"You."
Marcus's heart slammed against his ribs.
"No."
Daniel grabbed his shoulder.
"Marcus, we need to leave."
The lights died.
Darkness swallowed them.
A mechanical voice echoed through the tunnel.
"Containment breach."
Metal doors slammed shut.
One after another.
CLANG.
CLANG.
CLANG.
Marcus ran.
The final door closed inches before he reached it.
He slammed into it.
"Open it!"
Daniel pounded the control panel.
Nothing.
Laura began crying.
Then a light appeared behind them.
A red camera indicator.
It was watching them.
A speaker crackled.
Richard Vaughn's voice filled the tunnel.
"Marcus."
Marcus turned.
"Where is Harris?"
Vaughn laughed softly.
"Still asking the wrong question."
Marcus shouted:
"Where is he?"
A pause.
Then Vaughn replied:
"He's standing behind you."
Marcus froze.
Laura screamed.
Marcus slowly turned around.
Nobody was there.
Then his eyes dropped.
A shadow moved across the floor.
Behind him.
Something was standing just outside the red light.
Marcus whispered:
"Harris?"
The figure stepped forward.
Black suit.
White shirt.
Silver watch.
But this Harris smiled.
May you like
And whispered:
"You're next."
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