Chapter 5 THE RECORDING

The hidden room smelled like wet metal and old dust. Cairos stayed crouched beside the maintenance opening while trying to slow his breathing. Outside the walls, boots still moved through Apartment 404. Their footsteps echoed strangely through the pipes, distorted and distant one second, directly beside him the next. Water dripped steadily somewhere deeper inside the shaft while the emergency bulb overhead flickered weakly every few seconds.

The burner phone remained in his hand, its cracked screen glowed faintly in the dark. PLAY ME WHEN THEY FIND ALINA, Cairos stared at the message again, his thumb hovered above the screen while questions battered through his head faster than he could organize them.

Who left this? Why did it have his voice? Why did Miss Alina know this would happen? And what the hell was happening inside this building?

Outside the wall, a muffled voice shouted, "Sweep the neighboring units!" Static crackled through somebody's radio. Another voice answered, "Target is still inside the sector." The word "Target" made his stomach tighten, maybe he should go outside and explain to them what is happening and how the neighbors can vouch for him but he knew that was a stupid idea. He lowered himself slowly beside the wall, trying not to make noise. The room suddenly felt far too small, pipes lined the ceiling above him while rust crawled across the metal joints like veins. Somebody had clearly stayed here before, they were empty food cans stacked carefully beside the chair, folded blankets rested in one corner beneath exposed wiring. They realization that they looked used and not abandoned haunted him more than the operatives at that particular moment.

The emergency bulb flickered again and Cairos finally pressed play. Static filled the room immediately. For several seconds, nothing happened except uneven breathing through the speaker. The sound was sharp and strained like somebody trying not to panic. Then his own voice spoke quietly from the recording.

"If you're hearing this, then they reached Alina." Cairos froze. Hearing his own voice outside the apartment had terrified him. Hearing it again now somehow felt worse. The voice sounded exhausted. Not calm. Not confident. Tired.

Static crackled softly. "You need to listen carefully," the recording continued. "You probably don't remember enough yet."

Cairos frowned immediately. Yet. The word lingered uncomfortably inside his head.

Outside the hidden room, metal groaned somewhere inside the walls. Cairos looked toward the shaft entrance instinctively before turning back toward the phone.

"Do not go near the southern tunnels," the voice said. A loud burst of static interrupted the recording briefly. "When you start recognizing places before you remember them..." the voice continued quietly. "Run."

Cairos felt coldness crawl slowly up his arms. His eyes shifted unconsciously toward the shaft behind him. He had known the collapsed tunnel was there before touching it, a feeling of realization returned hard enough to make his chest tighten again. "How?" he whispered to himself.

The recording continued. "The mirrors are not safe anymore." Cairos stared at the phone. The mirrors? Not safe from what? His eyes lifted slowly toward the cracked mirror covering the shaft entrance behind him and suddenly felt the room getting colder wondering if he was talking about that mirror.

A violent bang echoed somewhere nearby inside the walls, making Cairos flinch sharply. He heard voices immediately afterward. "Check the lower access routes!" the voice shouted, the operatives were inside the maintenance system now. He immediately muted the phone instantly making the room silent again. He heard heavy movement echoed faintly through the shafts beyond the wall and metal creaking somewhere deep in the darkness, followed by the sound of something dragging slowly across concrete that were different from boots.

Cairos listened carefully for sound which had already stopped by then. His pulse began hammering harder as he felt like the maintenance room was no longer hidden but trapped.

Another distant voice shouted through the shafts. "Thermal sweep the interior!" Cairos's breathing sharpened immediately, "thermal." He looked around the tiny room desperately but there was nowhere to go except back into the shaft system itself. He finally pressed the play button of cold phone that remained cold in his hand after his hesitation hoping for some guidance or worst case scenario, fake guidance.

Static noise crackled in the room again. "They're going to make you question everything first," the voice said. "Your memory. Your routines. Your face. That's how they start." Cairos swallowed hard, the voice paused briefly before continuing. "If you see him before you remember..." the voice said quiet before the recording distorted violently, a horrible screech bursting through the speaker before the audio stabilized again. "...don't let him speak for too long."

Cairos stared at the phone for some moments of confusion. Outside the room, something metallic clanged loudly deeper in the shaft system. Then came close the noise of human coughing that made him stop breathing completely. He slowly turned toward the dark shaft entrance but it was empty save for darkness. His grip tightened around the knife beside him.

The recording continued softly. "You're going to think the worst part is being hunted," the voice said. "It isn't." The speaker crackled. "The worst part is realizing some of the things they're saying might be true." He shut his eyes briefly, the operatives thought he was dangerous, if not why are they chasing after him like the voice said or was he lying? The voices seemed to know him and it was like Miss Alina expected him. And somewhere inside this building, somebody else was moving through the walls. What better way to spend the evening.

A loud metallic screech suddenly echoed nearby again, it was closer this time but it seemed the operatives were taking their time. Cairos killed the recording immediately again, the only sound that one could hear was slow scraping, like somebody dragging their hand against the shaft wall. His breathing became shallow, the sound moved closer before stopping directly outside the hidden room. Cairos decided that he couldn't deal with anymore shit that night. He stared toward the darkness without moving, the emergency bulb flickered twice overhead before dimming again, for several horrible seconds, nothing happened.

Then three slow knocks echoed softly against the metal wall beside him. Knock. Knock. Knock. The exact same pattern from Apartment 404. Cairos felt genuine terror spread through his chest. No one spoke at either end for a while, then a voice whispered quietly from the darkness beyond the shaft. "You shouldn't have answered the door."