Shadows in the Office

The lights went out so suddenly that the entire floor swallowed itself in darkness. My heart skipped hard in my chest as the sound of Alexander’s voice cut off somewhere behind me. One second he was right there, the next I was standing in the middle of the office, alone, surrounded by the hum of machines that had just died.

I reached for my phone but the signal was gone. The emergency lights didn’t turn on. The silence was too thick, too strange, like the whole building was holding its breath. I called his name again but only the echo of my own voice came back. My fingers brushed the wall as I tried to move forward, half terrified, half trying to convince myself that it was just a power cut. But deep down, I knew it wasn’t.

The elevators had shut down. The hallway stretched long and cold. Somewhere in the distance, I thought I heard footsteps. Slow. Careful. Not his. My pulse raced faster. I hid behind a desk, my breath shaking, trying to listen. The sound faded, then came back, closer this time. Whoever it was, they were walking like they knew exactly where they were going.

I picked up my bag and quietly slid my phone light on for just a second. A flicker of white cut through the dark and revealed a trail of papers scattered near Alexander’s office. I followed it, step by step, every beat of my heart louder than the next. The air smelled like coffee and fear.

When I reached his door, it was slightly open. My shaking fingers pushed it and the hinges gave a low creak. The light from my phone caught something on the floor—a small flash drive. I bent down to pick it up, and that’s when I saw the reflection of a figure standing just beyond the glass wall. Tall. Still. Watching me.

I froze. The shape didn’t move, didn’t speak, just stared. I couldn’t make out the face, only the outline against the faint light coming from the city outside. My throat went dry. I whispered, “Alexander?” But the figure turned and disappeared before I could blink.

I wanted to run after it, but something in me said to stay quiet. My hand shook as I slipped the flash drive into my pocket. I turned on one of the computers to see what was inside, but none of them would start. Everything was locked. The company system was offline. Only one small monitor flickered to life, showing a single line of text.

“You were never supposed to find this, Luna.”

I backed away so fast I hit the desk behind me. My stomach twisted as I tried to make sense of it. Who wrote that? How could they know my name? I stared at the screen, frozen, until the words started disappearing one by one, like someone was remotely erasing them in real time.

My breathing turned shallow. I unplugged the monitor, grabbed the flash drive, and bolted for the stairwell. The hallway lights flickered once, then went out completely again. Somewhere below, I heard metal scraping, like a door being forced open. I ran faster.

On the tenth floor landing, I stopped. There were voices. Two people whispering. I couldn’t see them clearly, but I recognized one of the tones instantly. Cold. Confident. The same one that used to greet me every morning with fake sweetness.

It was Mia. My coworker. The one who had been too interested in Alexander. The one who always lingered outside his office.

She was talking to someone, and though I couldn’t see his face, his voice made my skin crawl. He said, “She’s getting too close. If she finds out who’s behind the leaks, everything will fall apart.”

I pressed a hand over my mouth. My mind spun. The leaks. The late-night meetings. The files disappearing from Alexander’s laptop. It all connected in a heartbeat.

Then Mia said, “Don’t worry. She won’t. Not if she disappears tonight.”

My heart dropped. I stumbled back, trying not to make a sound, but my shoe hit a metal railing and it clanged loudly. The whispering stopped.

I ran.

Their footsteps followed almost immediately. I pushed through the emergency exit, sprinting down the stairs in the dark. My lungs burned but I didn’t dare stop. Somewhere behind me, I heard Mia yell my name like it was a threat.

I reached the ground floor and burst into the lobby, but the front doors were locked. Every exit sealed. I slammed against the glass, but it wouldn’t budge. My phone buzzed with a new message, even without signal. I opened it, and there was only one line again.

“Don’t trust him.”

My fingers went cold. Him. Did they mean Alexander? My chest felt tight as I turned around. The dark outline of someone was standing near the hallway. Broad shoulders. Perfectly still. Watching.

“Alexander?” I whispered, my voice breaking.

He stepped forward, his face hidden in the dim red glow of the emergency lights that finally turned on. His eyes met mine, unreadable, cold. He didn’t say anything, just looked at the flash drive in my hand.

And then, slowly, he said, “Where did you get that?”

His voice wasn’t soft this time. It was sharp, heavy, almost dangerous.

I swallowed hard. “It was on your floor. Someone left it there. It has something about the leaks, doesn’t it?”

His jaw tightened. He took a step closer, shadows wrapping around him like secrets. For a moment, I saw something flicker in his expression—fear, maybe anger—but he hid it fast.

“Give it to me, Luna,” he said quietly.

I hesitated. My fingers curled around the flash drive. “Who are you trying to protect?”

He didn’t answer. The sound of footsteps echoed behind us again. Mia’s voice came from the dark, too close now.

“Luna, don’t,” she said, her tone dripping with warning. “You don’t know what you’re holding.”

I turned to look at her, but in that second, Alexander moved. His hand caught my wrist. His grip was firm but not cruel. He looked straight into my eyes.

“You’re not supposed to be part of this,” he said.

And then—everything exploded.

A bright flash from behind, a crash of glass, a scream I couldn’t tell was mine or someone else’s. My vision went white. I felt myself falling. The last thing I saw before everything went dark again was Alexander standing over me, his expression twisted with something I couldn’t name.

When I opened my eyes, the office was silent again. Cold air pressed against my face. My bag was gone. So was the flash drive.

And Alexander was nowhere to be seen.

- Luna wakes up alone in the office after the explosion, realizing the one person she trusted might be the one hiding everything.