_-4589799677897.mp4

On the screen, a camera was pointed at a closed wooden door. The date stamp in the corner read: TOMORROW .

Elias froze. He looked at the door of his own office. It was identical. The same brass handle, the same slight scuff mark at the bottom where he always kicked it open when his hands were full of coffee. _-4589799677897.mp4

Elias stared at his physical door. It remained still. But on the monitor, the door in the video creaked open. A hand reached through the gap—a hand wearing the same silver watch Elias’s father had given him for graduation. The video Elias reached out and gripped the edge of the frame, pulling himself into the room. On the screen, a camera was pointed at a closed wooden door

Elias sat in the silence of his room, the hum still echoing in his bones. He reached for his mouse to refresh the folder, but his hand stopped. On his wrist, the silver watch was missing. In its place was a faint, red circle of irritated skin, as if something had just been snatched away. He looked at the door of his own office

The file sat in a folder labeled “RECOVERED_UNK” on an external drive Elias hadn't touched since college. Most of the contents were corrupted JPEGs or half-finished essays, but then there was this: _-4589799677897.mp4. It had no thumbnail, and the file size was a precise, suspicious 0 bytes, yet it refused to be deleted.

He didn't look for the watch. He didn't check the drive again. He simply unplugged the computer, walked out of the room, and locked the door behind him.

The camera panned up. The person on the screen was Elias, but his eyes were entirely black, like polished obsidian. He walked straight toward the camera, leaned down, and whispered something.