Chapter 3 THE STAIRWELL

The building shook again, but this time, the entire floor trembled beneath Cairos’s feet as something heavy crashed somewhere below Apartment 404. A woman screamed in the hallway outside followed immediately by shouting and the sound of boots storming into another apartment. Cairos gripped the kitchen knife harder, his hands would not stop shaking. Rain hammered the windows behind him while darkness pressed against every corner of the apartment. Miss Alina still sat inside the bedroom, dead and unmoving, her cloudy eyes staring toward the doorway as though she were still listening. None of this felt real to him "You need to move," the voice outside the apartment said. The voice sounded lower now, sharper, less patient. Cairos stared toward the entrance without answering. "How?" He finally asked quietly, silence followed in the corridor, the voice said, "How what?"

"How do you sound like me?" Cairos asked. Another apartment door burst open somewhere nearby, a man shouted, someone cried, glass shattered. The voice outside ignored the question. "They're almost here," the voice said, Cairos swallowed hard, "What are they?" he asked. "Not police, something bad enough to make you run," the voice said. "I know they're not police!" Cairos snapped suddenly. "What the fuck is happening?" Cairos asked, no answer came, that scared him more, the hallway creaked softly outside, the man shifted his weight again. Cairos realized something then, the voice sounded tense, controlled, afraid but not calm. That realization made his stomach tighten, if the man outside already knew this was coming, what exactly was he afraid of? Another violent crash echoed closer this time, the operatives had reached the floor beneath them.

Cairos backed slowly toward the kitchen counter while trying to think through the panic spreading inside his chest. The dead woman, tape recorder, his own voice outside the door, men storming the building, none of it connected, none of it made sense. "You said they were looking for me," Cairos said carefully. "Why?" he asked. "You disappeared," the voice said. "Disappeared to where?" Cairos replied. "For fuck sake, we have no time for this," the voice cursed. Cairos stopped breathing for a second, the answer hit something deep inside him in a way he could not explain, something worse than recognition. A flashlight beam swept briefly beneath the apartment door, close now, very close. Cairos instinctively stepped backward. "You need to decide," the voice outside said. "Decide what?" Cairos asked. "Whether you want answers or survival," the voice said. "What the hell does that mean?" Cairos asked.

The man outside gave a quiet laugh, exhausted, almost bitter. "Still asking the wrong questions," the voice said. Another voice suddenly spoke outside the apartment. "You always say that," the second voice said. Cairos froze, his pulse stumbled violently, the second voice sounded different from the first, lower, calmer, but close enough to make his skin crawl. For a horrifying second, Cairos thought he was hearing the same person speak twice. The hallway outside fell silent, then the first voice spoke again immediately. "You shouldn't be here," the first voice said. The second voice answered calmly, "Who would have been keeping the pigs away if I shouldn't be here?."

Something slammed hard against the wall outside the first man grunted sharply, like someone had hit him. Cairos stared toward the entrance while his thoughts began collapsing over each other. There were two men outside, both somehow familiar, both knowing his name, both talking like they already knew each other, and neither sounded surprised that he existed. "What is happening?" Cairos whispered. Nobody answered him, instead he heard breathing outside the door. The second voice spoke again, closer now. "Cairos," the voice said.

His stomach twisted violently, something about that voice felt deeply wrong, not dangerous, known, like hearing part of a dream he had forgotten. "You know this isn't safe," the second voice said softly. The first voice interrupted immediately. "Don't listen to him," the voice said. "Why?" Cairos asked, no answer came, boots thundered somewhere directly outside the floor now, apartment doors burst open nearby, residents shouted desperately. One voice screamed for help before cutting off suddenly, Cairos flinched hard enough to nearly drop the knife.

The second voice outside spoke again. "You should ask him what happened the last time," the voice said. The hallway went silent, even the first voice stopped moving. Cairos stared at the entrance. "What last time?" he asked. No answer came, only his breathing became shallow, fast. The first voice finally spoke again, quieter now. "Bathroom, behind the mirror," the voice said, Cairos frowned, "What?" he asked. "There's a maintenance access inside the wall," the voice said. "How do you know that?" Cairos asked, and no answer came.The second voice laughed softly outside, not amused, knowing. "You still haven't told him?" the voice asked. "Shut up," the first voice snapped immediately.

Another struggle broke out beyond the door, shoes scraped violently against the hallway floor. Then Cairos heard it clearly, pain, the first man was losing. "You don't have much time," the first voice said through gritted teeth. The operatives reached Apartment 404 at that exact moment, flashlights swept beneath the entrance, metal struck the apartment door hard enough to shake the frame. "CHECK THIS UNIT!" the operative shouted.

Cairos's body locked instantly, the second voice lowered almost into a whisper now. "Don't trust yourself," the voice said. Cairos felt cold spread through his chest. "What?" he asked. The first voice answered immediately, "Because if you remember too early, people die." Another violent slam hit the apartment door, wood cracked loudly. Cairos backed toward the bathroom instinctively. "What did I do?" he whispered, the first voice did not answer, another impact shook the entire apartment.

"MOVE!" the first voice shouted suddenly. The apartment door burst open, boots flooded inside, flashlights cut through the darkness. "CLEAR THE ROOMS!" the operative shouted. Cairos ran, not because he trusted the voice, because the men entering the apartment sounded worse. He nearly slipped across the wet bathroom tiles before crashing against the sink, the cracked mirror above it shook from the impact. Outside, operatives stormed through the apartment, bedroom, kitchen, hallway. He grabbed the edge of the mirror desperately, it shifted, behind it sat a narrow opening hidden inside the wall. For one second he simply stared at it and genuine fear hit him again, the voice was telling the truth, which confused him even more. Heavy boots approached the bathroom, Cairos forced himself into the narrow passage just as light flooded the room outside. He pulled the mirror shut moments before armed men entered, darkness swallowed him instantly. He pressed himself deeper into the cramped maintenance shaft while trying not to breathe too loudly.

Outside the wall, voices moved through the bathroom. Then one operative spoke into his radio. "Apartment secured," the voice said, static crackling briefly. "Confirm visual identification," the radio voice said. A pause followed, then the voice said, "Negative," silence followed. The radio answered slowly, "That's impossible." Another operative spoke nearby. "We found blood outside the apartment," the voice said. A short pause followed, then the voice said, "Looks recent. And a dead body in the apartment. Looks like a Veteran.”