The 22nd Floor - by 𝗞𝗮𝗿𝗹𝗲𝗮💕

Chapter 1 Have you ever wondered about the cost of getting too deeply involved in other people’s lives and the danger of neglecting your own? Nobody in my building ever spoke to each other. We lived side by side, yet we were utterly strangers. Everyone simply stared at their phones, waiting for the elevator doors to close. I lived on the 22nd floor, apartment 2204. As a doctor, I was supposed to be happy and successful. But after a brutal shift at the hospital, sitting alone in the dark, I felt hollow. The apartment was deathly silent. A sudden, cold breeze brushed past my neck, making the hairs on my arms stand up. I looked around the dark room, but nothing was there. I shook off the creepy feeling and opened my laptop to check my work schedule. As soon as the screen lit up, a new email appeared at the top of my inbox. Subject: [URGENT] System Admin Access It was a link and a master password for our anonymous building message board. Usually, people just used it to complain about loud dogs or lost keys. But when I logged in with that admin password, the entire screen changed. A long list of restricted messages appeared. Next to each "Anonymous" label was a red box showing the person's real name and apartment number. My heart froze as I stared at the screen. I was looking directly at the deepest, darkest secrets of the entire building. I scrolled down the feed, my eyes wide with disbelief. [Apt 502 Admin View: Mrs Cole]"I think my husband is sleeping with his secretary. I found a second phone in his car." [Apt 912 Admin View: Felix]"I haven't paid rent in three months. I'm hiding the eviction notices from my wife." Then, a new message flashed at the very top of the screen. It was posted only three seconds ago. [Apt 2205 Admin View: Jay]"I'm standing on the edge of my balcony right now. In five minutes, I'm going to jump." My breath caught in my throat as panic set in. Apartment 2205 was directly across the hallway from my own front door. If I didn't act immediately, I would hear a body hit the ground outside my window. I stood up so quickly my chair crashed backwards onto the floor. I ran out into the hallway barefoot. I pounded on door 2205 with both fists.<img alt="" src="/media/inline_insight_image/1000056770.jpg"/> "Jay! Open the door!" Silence. The kind that presses on your chest like a nightmare. "Jay, please! I'm Leyla from 2204! Just open the door!" A click.The door opened slightly. A tall man stood there. Wrinkled white shirt. Red, swollen eyes. He looked at me as if I were a shadow. "How do you know my name?" he whispered. In this building, neighbours didn't exchange names. That was the unspoken rule. "I saw it on your mail once," I lied. He looked over his shoulder. The curtains were billowing wildly. The city lights below looked like tiny, uncaring stars. "Why do you care?" he asked. "Everyone walks past me as if I'm invisible. Why now?" I looked at him not through a screen, not through a red box. Just him. A man caught between a door and death. "Because you're not invisible to me," I said. I pushed past him, walked to the balcony, and pulled the glass door shut. I locked it. We sat on his floor for hours. No chairs. No screens. Just two people talking. He spoke of pressure. The loneliness. I understood. I felt the same. I had simply been better at hiding it behind a stethoscope. When I finally returned to my apartment, something had shifted. For the first time in months, I felt something genuine. I sat at my laptop. I knew I should log out. Delete everything. Return to normal.But I couldn't. My fingers moved to the mouse. I scrolled past Jay's post. Past Mrs Cole's confession. I was hunting for the next secret.I was no longer just a doctor.I was a seeker. Then I saw it. A photograph. Of my front door. Taken from the hallway. Taken minutes ago while I was inside Jay's apartment. The caption read:"The Doctor is playing hero tonight. I wonder if she knows I'm watching her every move." My hands went cold. I looked for a name in the red box. [ERROR ENCRYPTED USER] No name. No apartment number. Someone was watching me. I thought about logging out. Deleting everything. But then my phone buzzed. A private message from the same encrypted user.Three words:"Don't stop now." 📚🖊️Chapter 2 coming soon...

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