Destini didn't remember running back to her apartment, but when she slammed the door behind her, her chest heaving, she realized her flashlight was still clutched in her hand.
"What the hell was that?" she whispered, her mind racing.
She didn't sleep that night.
The next morning, she sat at her kitchen table, nursing a cup of coffee and staring at the wall. Part of her wanted to write it off as a hallucination—too little sleep, too much stress. But the voice, the cold, the woman… it had felt real.
By afternoon, her curiosity got the better of her. She grabbed her laptop and started researching the building. It didn't take long to find stories—rumors of disappearances, strange noises, and tenants who moved out after only a few months.
But what caught her attention most was an old news article about the original owner of the building—a wealthy recluse named Nathaniel Black. The article claimed he had vanished under mysterious circumstances, leaving the building to an unknown heir.
Gabriel.
Destini's pulse quickened. She needed answers, and she knew exactly where to find them.
That night, she returned to the 13th floor.
This time, she was prepared. She brought a small camera, a notebook, and a determination that outweighed her fear.
The hallway was just as dark and cold as before, the air thick with tension. She moved quickly, heading straight for the study at the end of the hall.
The door was unlocked.
Inside, everything was exactly as she'd left it—the books, the desk, the painting. But as she stepped further in, the whispers returned, louder this time, surrounding her.
"Why are you here?"
"Leave before he finds you…"
She spun around, her camera shaking in her hands. "Who's there? What do you want?"
The whispers grew louder, overlapping until they became a cacophony of voices.
"You shouldn't be here."
Suddenly, the room plunged into darkness, and Destini felt a hand grip her shoulder. She screamed, dropping the camera.
"Destini."
The voice wasn't a whisper—it was sharp, commanding, and all too familiar.
She turned to see Gabriel, his face etched with anger.
"What the hell are you doing here?" he demanded, his eyes glowing faintly in the darkness.
"I… I needed to know—"
"You don't belong here," he interrupted, stepping closer. "Do you have any idea what you've just done?"
The room seemed to shudder, the air thickening around them. Shadows began to move, coalescing into forms that looked almost human.
Gabriel's gaze darted to the shadows, his expression hardening.
"Stay behind me," he said, his voice low.
"What are those?" Destini asked, her voice shaking.
"They're not ghosts," he replied, his tone grim. "They're worse."