Lena knew she had to escape.
Elias watched her too closely now. Every move she made felt monitored. Her phone barely worked, the doors were locked, and she had no way of reaching anyone.
But there was still one place she hadn't checked.
The locked room.
That night, while Elias showered, she crept down the hall. The three deadbolts gleamed under the dim hallway light. She held her breath, reaching into the pocket of his coat - where she had seen him slip the keys earlier.
Her fingers wrapped around cold metal.
Click. The first lock.
Click. The second.
Click. The third.
The door creaked open.
Inside, the room was dark, the air thick with dust and something else - something metallic. Lena's stomach churned as she flicked on the light.
Then she saw them.
Pictures. Hundreds of pictures of her.
Some from their dates. Some from moments she never knew he was watching. Through her bedroom window. On the street. In the café, before they even met.
And then, her eyes landed on something worse.
A row of other photographs - other women.
Their faces were blurred, scratched out. But the last one? It was Mira.
Lena's breath hitched. Beneath the photo was something else - a bloody necklace. Mira's necklace.
A chill ran down Lena's spine. Mira hadn't just disappeared.
She was dead.
A floorboard creaked behind her.
Lena turned slowly.
Elias stood in the doorway, towel slung over his shoulder, eyes dark and unreadable.
"You just couldn't listen, could you?"
Lena's blood ran cold.
She had made a terrible mistake.
And now, she didn't know if she would make it out alive.