Chapter 2
"Don't stop now."
Three words staring at me.
I couldn't sleep.
Every time I closed my eyes, I saw that
photo of my front door.
Someone in this building was watching me.
And they wanted me to keep digging.
But something else was on my mind.
Before I left Jay's apartment, his phone lit
up on the table, a private message
on the building board.
I only caught two words before the screen went dark.
"Marcus knows."
Marcus, he's the head of maintenance,
he controls every lock and all the cameras in this building.
Then it hit me.
Why would Jay message Marcus when he
knows he's going to jump?
I couldn't stop thinking about Mrs Cole too.
The next morning, I saw her in the lobby.
Then I saw her husband standing three
feet away from her, scrolling on his phone.
I caught a grey phone case, not the black
Android he carried openly.
Mrs Cole gripped her purse strap so hard
that her knuckles turned white.
She kept glancing at him.
He never looked up.
I went upstairs, grabbed a piece of paper, and wrote:
Your husband has a second phone.
Check his car.
I crept down to the fifth floor and
slid it under her door.
An hour later, I checked the board.
[Apt 502 — Mrs Cole]
"Someone left a note under my door. WHO IS WATCHING MY FAMILY?"
Then below it, a private message.
Just for me.
[ENCRYPTED USER]
"You gave her the push, Leyla.
Just like you gave Jay.
But you're not saving anyone.
You're collecting them.
And I collect collectors."
Collecting them?
Was this what I was doing?
Not saving people?
I was reading their secrets, and storing
them like my brain was a storage box?
I stared at those words until my eyes went blurry.
My screen went black.
The kitchen lights kept going on and off,
then finally went off.
Total darkness.
Before I knew it, my door beeped.
Someone had unlocked it from outside.
I held my breath.
Then I heard footsteps.
They were slow and getting closer.
Then they stopped.
Right outside my door.
The handle began to turn.
📚🖊️ Chapter 3 coming soon
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