Caleb pressed the radio button.
His thumb hesitated for less than a second.
That was enough.
"Ma'am," he said, voice tight, controlled, "step away from the door."
The woman froze.
On the monitor, Room 313's door stopped opening.
Just a crack now.
Breathing leaked through.
The woman whispered, "Someone's inside."
Caleb swallowed. "Listen to me. Walk. Don't run. Do not look back."
The hallway lights flickered violently.
The system screamed.
⚠ PROTOCOL BREACH ⚠
Every monitor in the room went black—except one.
The security room camera.
Caleb stared at himself on screen.
Behind him—
The door was closed.
In front of him—
It was open.
The other Caleb stepped out.
Smiling.
"You weren't supposed to do that," the other said.
Caleb spun around.
No one there.
But the voice continued, now layered—multiple tones speaking as one.
"You warned her."
The radio crackled.
"Security?" the receptionist said, her voice distorted, strained.
"She's running."
Caleb snapped back to the monitors.
The woman sprinted down the corridor, sobbing, barefoot now—shoes abandoned. Room numbers blurred past her.
The lights exploded overhead.
One by one.
Pop.
Pop.
Pop.
Darkness chased her.
The elevator doors opened at the far end.
She screamed in relief and ran—
The doors slammed shut inches from her face.
Behind her—
Room 313's door was gone.
The wall itself peeled open.
Hands emerged.
Too many.
Wrong angles.
They grabbed her legs.
She kicked. Screamed. Scratched the carpet bloody.
Caleb shouted into the radio, "LET HER GO!"
The hotel answered.
The security room lights went out.
Cold fingers wrapped around Caleb's wrists.
He was dragged backward—through the desk, through the wall—into darkness that smelled like old sheets and trapped breath.
He slammed onto a bed.
Room 313.
The woman lay on the floor beside it, shaking, alive.
Barely.
The door sealed shut.
Silence.
Then applause.
Slow. Mocking.
"You broke the rule," the voice said from everywhere.
"So now you learn."
The woman crawled toward Caleb. "You said— you said I could leave."
Caleb tried to move.
Couldn't.
The bed held him like hands.
"I tried," he whispered. "I swear."
The walls pulsed.
The woman screamed as the floor softened beneath her, swallowing her legs inch by inch.
"No—NO—"
Caleb watched helplessly as she disappeared, her screams muffled, then gone.
The room stilled.
Caleb lay alone.
The bed released him.
The door opened.
He stumbled into the hallway.
The hotel looked normal again.
Too normal.
Back in the security room, the system updated.
GUEST STATUS: RELEASED
SECURITY STATUS: PROMOTED
Caleb collapsed into the chair, shaking.
A new message appeared on screen.
Intervention recorded.
Correction applied.
Caretaker confirmed.
Caleb whispered, "I didn't save her."
The monitor showed the lobby.
A woman walked out through the front doors.
Alive.
Crying.
Free.
Caleb's breath hitched.
Then the feed rewound.
Slowed.
Zoomed.
Her reflection in the glass doors did not match her movement.
It smiled.