B6216.mp4 -

Then, the sound started. It wasn't coming from his speakers. It was the rhythmic click-clack of leather soles on the hardwood floor in the hallway behind his office door.

The file was buried three folders deep in a directory labeled TEMP_ARCHIVE_2014 . It was only 14 megabytes—too small for a feature film, too large for a simple audio clip. When Elias double-clicked it, the media player stuttered, the timestamp jumping immediately to despite the video only being six seconds long. The Content b6216.mp4

The footage was grainy, shot in the sickly greenish hue of a night-vision baby monitor. Then, the sound started

A pair of leather shoes—polished to a mirror shine—walks into the frame from the left. They stop. They don't belong to a person; there are no legs visible above the ankles, just the sharp cutoff of the digital glitch. The file was buried three folders deep in