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Speaker 1: It was my first day in Western Hill Medical Care,

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and I drove up the mountain, reaching minutes before dawn.

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The hospital looked like it had seen it all. The

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head nurse showed me around and brief me on my responsibilities.

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She was showing me the different wards when another caregiver

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came rushing. He looked young but very frightened. Catching his

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panting breath, he told the head nurse about some patient

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who had just had an episode of incontinence. The head

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nurse asked the name of the patient, and the minute

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the caregiver uttered her name, I could see lines forming

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on her forehead. Both of them discussed for a minute,

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who will attend to this patient because the one who

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takes care of her is on leave. Thinking it was

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my chance to shine on the very first day, I

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recommended myself. Are you sure, the head nurse asked me.

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I chuckled, as if it was a very silly question.

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I've had training on attending old and disabled patients, so

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i know what I'm doing. The head nurse gestured for

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the caregiver to take me to the patient so I

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could give her a bath and a change of clothes.

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As I started to follow, the caregiver. The head nurse

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called out to me and warned me. She told me

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to be careful on our way to the patient's room.

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I casually asked the caregiver about her, and he said,

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the patient is a bit weird. A normal day, she

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keeps to herself, but sometimes she can get violent, which

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is why they always keep her physically restrained.

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Speaker 2: She has been through a lot. Her abusive husband tortured

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her for years until one day he came back home

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drunk and beat her badly, and then he killed himself too.

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If you ask me, she's way better here than she

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was with him.

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Speaker 1: The caregiver exhaled, and I realized things are about to

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get pretty serious around here. We stopped outside a small room.

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Inside the room, I could see a bed with its

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white sheets covered in fecal matter. A smell of urine

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waste and perspiration hit my nostrils right away, and I

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covered my nose muttering. Got some strong spell. On the

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bed sat this frail, average height woman with her hands

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tied to her body. She had long, stringy gray hair

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and an expressionless face. Her eyes were wide like a

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night owl.

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Speaker 2: Dorothy, this is Lynchin. She's going to help you. Okay,

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can you promise me you'll cooperate?

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Speaker 1: Dorothy nodded her head up and down, then shifted her

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gaze towards me. She didn't speak, didn't blink. The caregiver

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pulled out this wheelchair and I placed a towel on it. Together,

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we helped Dorothy get down from the bed and take

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a sit on the chair. I was instructed to unlock

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her handcuffs only during the shower. Once done, I shouldn't

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wait a second to put her back in restraints. I've

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dealt with violent patience in the past, so I was

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confident I would handle it. Also, Dorothy was very skinny,

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and I'm stronger than her in every aspect. I wanted

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the caregiver leave to attain other duties. When I looked down,

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my eyes met with Dorothy's. She was staring at me.

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I gave an awkward smile and took her to the

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shower room. I turned on the warm water and began

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gently rinsing her arms.

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Speaker 2: You'll feel better after this, Dorothy, nice and clean?

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Speaker 1: Okay, no answer. Her eyes were open, but empty, like

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windows with no curtains, just darkness behind them. I knelt

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to rinse her leg when Dorothy whispered, it's still insideer.

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I looked up, confused, What did you say? I asked.

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She tilted her head at an unnatural angle, her wet

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hair clinging to her face. It helped me a.

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Speaker 2: Slice his throat in one bow.

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Speaker 3: She murmured, do you know how people bleed when their

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veins are cut?

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Speaker 1: I took a cautious step back, my heart picking up pace. Dorothy,

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are you all right? She smiled, blinking her eyes like

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a robot. But it wasn't a smile of relief. It

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was something sinister.

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Speaker 3: If I had it with me, I would have cut

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you all open.

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Speaker 1: The lights above flickered, My breath caught in my throat.

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The bathroom had no windows, just a single fluorescent light overhead.

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I think we're done here. Then she started screaming. She

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thrashed in the chair, shaking the handles violently, her face

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twisted with pure rage. Her screams were blood curdling. I

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frozen shock. The caregiver came rushing in, but those five

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minutes felt like forever. Dorothy was sedated and taken back

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to her room. Later, the caregiver tried to console me.

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He said, it happens at patients sometimes lash out, but

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when I told him what Dorothy said, he went pale.

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I asked what was wrong, and that's when he told me.

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The murder weapon was never found, but based on the clean,

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deep cut in her husband's neck, authorities believed it was

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a scalpel, something swift and sharp. It's been months now

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and I still work here, but ever since that day,

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I haven't slept the same because part of me wonders

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set weapons still hidden somewhere inside some walls, because I

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don't think Dorothy's lying, do you. I felt it before

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the elevator even reached the thirty seventh floor, A tight

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twisting knot just under my ribs, probably just first day jitters,

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new job, new city, knew everything, But the second those

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elevator doors slid open, I knew I'd made a mistake.

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She was the first thing I saw, sitting at reception,

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clicking those bloodbred nails against her keyboard like she'd been

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waiting for me. Vanessa Miller. Our eyes locked. She smiled

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that same slow, devious smirk she flashed me the night

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I told her it was over, right before she picked

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up a kitchen knife and whispered that one of us

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was about to bleed. What are you doing here? I choked.

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She tilted her head playful and giggled, I work.

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Speaker 3: Here, silly, isn't it crazy?

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Speaker 1: I forced myself to keep walking past her, past the

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weight in my chest. People work with their exes all

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the time, even the unhinged ones. A thick stack of

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presentations was already waiting at my desk, along with the

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instruction notes, million dollar recounts due by end of day.

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Don't screw it up. I threw myself into the work

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for a couple of hours. I even forgot she was

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out there watching. It might have been eleven o'clock when

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I stepped away for a tea break. Ten minutes tops.

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When I got back, every file on my system was corrupted.

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I stared at the screen like maybe I was dreaming.

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Tried rebooting, reopening, recovering nothing. By noon, the phones were

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ringing off the hook, Clients were screaming. Greg's voice came

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through my headset tight with anger. My office now every

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woman in the department received explicit messages from your email,

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mister Raynolds, he said, sliding printouts across the desk. I

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didn't write these, I pleaded. It's Vanessa, she's my ex.

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Greg was frantic, You've been here six hours and created

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nothing but problems. Fix everything you've broken before leaving tonight.

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I don't care if you stay all night. As I

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left his office, I swear i'd heard a giggle slumped shoulders.

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I buried myself back in work, pretending everything had already

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gone to hell. By seven, the office was empty, just me,

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my monitor's cold glow, and that thick kind of silence

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wherever keyboard click sounds like a gunshot. I was digging

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through my email settings when the lights flickered before it

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went out totally, not just at my desk, the whole floor,

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even the emergency exit signs blinked out like dying embers.

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Then a dim glow flickered to life in a corner.

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I froze. It was a flashlight, not mine, and right

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there on the inside of the glass wall was smeared

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and wet red A question she had always asked me,

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you promise you love me, baby. My breath caught, My

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heart pounded so hard I felt it in my teeth.

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She'd been right here waiting. I spun around, grabbed my bag,

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and bolted for the elevators. Debt, tried the stairwell locked,

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Every goddamn exit was sealed. I was contemplating my next

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move when from the dark, her voice floated out, sings

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songs soft.

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Speaker 3: Remember our first note together, you said we'll be together forever.

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Speaker 1: Such a liar, Ethan. I dropped behind a row of cubicles,

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trying to quiet my breath. My hand landed on something solid,

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a stapler, not ideal, but heavy enough. You know what's funny?

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She was close.

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Speaker 3: I got you this job, saw your resume, told the

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director how brilliant you were.

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Speaker 2: I handpicked this office for us.

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Speaker 1: A beam of light swept the floor. I crawled, elbows

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and knees burning as I moved away from the voice.

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Speaker 3: You think blocking my number would stop me. I watched

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you for three years, Ethan. You're linked in your socials.

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Your sweet mom still likes my comments.

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Speaker 1: I made it to the break room, grabbed the heaviest

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thing I could find, metal thermis. Just as the flashlight

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swung toward me, she laughed that same brittle, high pitched

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laugh that used to echo through my apartment walls when

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I ignored her calls that she'd still show up. You're crazy,

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I shivered, No, she spat.

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Speaker 3: Crazy was when I waited outside your building for six days.

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Speaker 1: Straight, just to see your face? This is love? The

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beam found me there she was in the doorway. Fox

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cut her in one hand the flashlight and the other.

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Blood Red lips parted sinfully.

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Speaker 2: I've been planning this for months.

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Speaker 1: She whispered, stepping closer.

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Speaker 3: Do you know how hard it is to hack into

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a building security?

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Speaker 1: The things we do for love, right? I hurled the

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stapler at her face and barreled past her, slamming her

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into the wall. She didn't cry out, she laughed, giddy,

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like she was proud of me. I ran blindly and

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landed in the conference room. The fire escape was just

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across the gap, but the glass wouldn't budge. I grabbed

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a chair, smashing it again and again, so the window

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exploded outward. Cold air rushed in. City lights blurred through

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my stinging eyes. Behind me, the footsteps hastened.

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Speaker 3: Where are you gonna go? Ethan?

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Speaker 1: She stood at the broken window, blood dripping from her temple.

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She wiped it and licked.

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Speaker 3: It's the thirty seventh floor. Drop, you jump, you die,

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you stay. We topped this out.

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Speaker 1: I backed up to the edge, legs swinging out. This

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isn't talking, this is fucking insane. You're married. You made

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me mad. She shrieked and lunged. I didn't decide to jump,

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my body did. One second I was at the window,

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The next I was flying. The gap was so much

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wider than I remembered. I hit the fire escape hard,

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steel grated against my palms. My leg screamed, something tore,

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but I didn't care. I was alive. I passed out

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seconds later, and when I woke up. Next I was

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in the hospital and Vanessa was locked up. The security

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had heard the crash and stepped in. They arrested her immediately,

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breaking hacking, assault, attempted murder. The charges were inescapable. My

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boss apologized, begging me not to sue the organization and

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promised he'd take care of the hospital expenses that I

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had quit. Anyway, it was my first day at LUX,

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and I was assigned the storage room duty. Nobody lasts

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long down there. Grayson mumbled, handing me the clipboard and

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never once looking me in the eye. Something about those

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mannequins freaked people out, and soon I'd know why. The

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storage room was a nightmare, this massive space with lights

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that kept flickering shelves stretched into narrow aisle that seemed

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to go on forever, and scattered upon them where the

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mannikins everywhere, standing in corners, hanging from metal hooks, or

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just body parts thrown into bins waiting to be put together.

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Just sort them by gender and then by size, Grayson said,

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already backing away toward the stairs and dry finishing before dark.

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Then he added, oh, and ignore anywhere noises, old building

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and all the doors slam shut, And I swear it

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sounded like someone laughing at me. For the first hour,

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I sorted mannikins into sections, trying to ignore how the

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faces seemed to track my movement. The stores playlist booming

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overhead only made the silence between songs creepier than I

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heard it tapping from somewhere deep in the room, like

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fingernails on metal, tap, tap tap. I stopped holding a

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mannequin torso awkwardly in my arms. Hello. My voice cracked

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as it echoed faintly in the space. I peered around,

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listening to my heart beat in my ears, dead silence.

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Maybe some rats scurried behind the shelves, But then when

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I saw made my heart drop a mannequin, a male

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one with the unsettingly realistic face, glared at me from

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the end of the aisle. I knew i'd left it

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in the men's section. I remembered the exact spot, and

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yet there it was, lurking quietly, as if waiting to pounce.

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Pretty sure I moved you already, I muttered, grabbing its shoulders.

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That's when I noticed the eyes. They changed. Before they

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were just flat painted eyes. Now they looked deep. Don't

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spook yourself, moron, I scoffed at myself. I picked it

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up again, avoiding those eyes, and hauled it back to

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the men's section. By late afternoon, I was totally on edge.

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I'd found mannequins in places I definitely hadn't left them,

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A female one with a cracked face by the elevator,

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a child sized one sitting on a shelf I couldn't

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even reach with the the ladder. Each time I found one,

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my hands shook worse putting it back. During my break,

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I called up the stairs, mister Grayson, I think someone

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else is down here, he appeared, looking tense. Nobody else

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except you as access today, Alex. But the Minnikans are

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exactly where they've always been, he cut me off. It's

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just the light playing tricks on you. Something in his

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voice made me pause. He knew whatever was happening. He knew.

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As closing time hit, the lights dimmed and I rushed

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to finish, desperate to leave. Then all the lights went out,

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total darkness, not even emergency lights. I grabbed my phone,

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turning on the flashlight with trembling fingers. The beam hit

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a mannekin standing directly in front of me, the one

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with the glass eyes. I swung my light around. More

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Mannikins surrounded me, now at least a dozen arranged in

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a circle, all facing me. This isn't funny, I yelled,

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my voice breaking mister Grayson. No answer. The store was closed.

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I was alone, or that's what I wanted to believe.

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I tried the freight elevator dead the stairs. Then i'd

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get out through the stairs. The beam of my flashlight

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revealed the path was blocked. Mannikin stood shoulder to shoulder

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before the door, their blank faces somehow accusatory in the

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harsh light. They only move when you're not looking. The

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realization hit me like a physical blow. Every time I'd

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turned away, blinked looked elsewhere. They'd move closer. My phone

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battery flashed a warning, ten percent remaining. I backed against

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a concrete pillar, moving my light constantly, trying to watch

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all of them at once, an impossible task. What do

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you want? I whispered, by light flickered, dimming momentarily. In

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that split second, the mannikin with glass eyes moved just

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twitch of its head, angling slightly to the left, toward

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the far corner of the room, where a human shaped

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shadow stood. That wasn't a mannequin at all. He was

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mister Grayson. I'm sorry, Alex, he said, stepping forward. They

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need someone new, they always do. What are you talking about?

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My voice was barely audible. They let me go after

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I gave him you. His laugh was hollow. That was

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our agreement, twenty years down here, watching over them, and

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they finally chose a replacement. You're insane, I whispered. But

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even as I said it, I saw his eyes glassy, reflective,

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like marbles embedded in flesh. My phone died with a

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pathetic beam, plunging us into absolute darkness. I felt it immediately.

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Movement all around me, the soft scrape of plastic limbs

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against concrete the whisper of mannequin hands reaching out. Don't

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fight it, mister Grayson's voice drifted from somewhere in the darkness.

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It doesn't hurt, not really, You just become like them, silent, watching,

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waiting for the next person. Something cold brushed against my cheek,

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plastic fingers gently exploring, I ran, blindly, crashing into shelves,

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mannequin parts raining down around me. My hands found a door,

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not the stairs, but the emergency exit to the alley

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behind the store. I slammed my body against it repeatedly

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and toil The lock gave way. Night air rushed in

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as I tumbled out, gasping into the alleyway. I didn't

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stop running until I reached the main street, the store's

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neon signs still glowing in the distance. I never went

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back for my final paycheck, but sometimes, walking past high

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end clothing stores, I glimpsed the Mannikins in their windows,

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posed elegantly dressed in thousand dollars outfits, and I swear

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one of them has mister Grayson's face. It's glass eyes

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following me as I hurry past. They're patient, they silent ones.

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They can wait. After all, I still need a job,