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A soft ding echoed through the empty building. It was the sound of the elevator reaching his floor. Elias stared at the dark reflection of his screen, his hands trembling. He knew he shouldn't look, but the instinct was a physical pull.

The video cut to black. Elias sat in the sudden silence of his office. He looked at the bottom right of his monitor. The clock ticked over:

He didn't speak. Instead, he held up a handwritten sign against the camera. It read: DO NOT TURN AROUND.

The "Video-Elias" in the footage squeezed his eyes shut, tears tracking through the dust on his face. The shadow draped itself over his shoulders like a heavy cloak. The timestamp hit 3:24 AM.