The night around the Foundation was unusually quiet.
Dr. Abid walked slowly across the parking area, his footsteps echoing faintly on the concrete. His mind was still heavy with everything that had happened that day—Talloran lying in a coma, the strange distortions in the facility, and the growing fear that something inside the Foundation was changing.
He finally reached his car.
Abid pulled out his keys and was about to open the driver's door when something caught his attention.
The trunk of the car was open.
He stopped.
"That's strange…"
Abid was sure he had closed it earlier. He walked to the back of the car and gently pushed the trunk down.
Click.
"Must be loose," he muttered.
He turned and walked back toward the driver's door. Just as he reached for the handle, something felt wrong.
Abid slowly turned his head.
The trunk was open again.
He frowned.
"What…?"
Abid walked back again, this time a little more confused. He looked inside the trunk.
It was empty.
Nothing unusual.
He closed it again.
Click.
Abid stood there for a a few seconds, staring at the car.
"Okay… that's weird."
He tried to ignore it and walked back toward the driver's seat.
But as he turned—
The trunk was open again.
Abid's heartbeat started to rise.
"This isn't funny…"
He quickly walked back and slammed the trunk shut.
Bang.
"Stay closed."
Abid stepped back and waited.
Five seconds passed.
Ten seconds.
Nothing happened.
He exhaled slowly.
"Maybe I'm just tired."
Abid turned again to enter the car.
Then he heard it.
Click…
Abid froze.
Very slowly, he turned around again.
The trunk was opening by itself.
No wind.
No movement.
Just the slow creaking sound of metal.
The night suddenly felt colder.
Abid stared at the trunk silently.
"…this doesn't make any sense."
He walked closer one more time.
The inside of the trunk looked darker than it should have been.
Too dark.
The parking lot lights flickered slightly.
For a moment, the air around him felt distorted—like reality itself was shifting.
Abid whispered quietly,
"…SCP-3999?"
Suddenly the lights flickered again.
The air twisted.
Abid blinked—
And in the next second—
Dr. Abid was gone.
No sound.
No struggle.
Just empty space where he had been standing.
The trunk slowly closed by itself.
The parking lot returned to complete silence.
The cold wind passed through the empty space where Abid had been only moments before.
His car stood alone under the dim lights.
Inside the Foundation, the night shift continued normally.
In the monitoring room, several security guards were watching the surveillance screens. Most of the cameras showed quiet hallways and empty rooms.
Then one of the guards frowned.
"Hey… camera 17 just glitched."
The screen flickered with static for a moment.
Another guard leaned forward.
"What happened?"
"I don't know. It just cut out for a second."
The first guard rewound the footage from the parking lot.
The screen showed Dr. Abid walking toward his car.
Everything looked normal.
He stopped near the trunk.
Closed it.
Walked toward the door.
Then the trunk opened again.
The guards exchanged confused looks.
"Did you see that?"
"Yeah… rewind it."
The footage played again.
Abid closed the trunk.
It opened again.
He closed it once more.
Then suddenly—
The screen filled with static.
The video distorted for two seconds.
When the image returned—
Dr. Abid was gone.
Completely gone.
The second guard slowly leaned back in his chair.
"…Where did he go?"
The first guard immediately grabbed the intercom.
"Security to Command. We have a problem. Dr. Abid has disappeared in the parking sector."
Within minutes, alerts quietly spread through several departments of the Foundation.
Meanwhile, in the medical wing, Murphy Lawden stood outside the hospital room.
Through the glass window he could see James Talloran lying unconscious on the bed. The heart monitor beside him beeped steadily.
Murphy crossed his arms and stared silently at the machines.
Then his communicator vibrated.
He answered.
"This is Murphy."
A nervous voice responded.
"Murphy… we have another incident."
Murphy's expression darkened.
"What happened?"
There was a short pause.
"Dr. Abid is missing."
Murphy slowly looked up at the clock on the wall.
Tick…
Tick…
Tick…
"…Tell me everything."
A few minutes later Murphy arrived at the security control room. Two guards were standing in front of the monitor, both looking uneasy.
One of them pointed at the screen.
"This is the footage."
Murphy watched the video silently.
Dr. Abid walked toward his car.
The trunk opened.
Closed.
Opened again.
Closed again.
Then the screen filled with static.
When the image returned—
Abid was gone.
Murphy crossed his arms.
"No struggle. No attacker. Just gone."
One of the guards spoke quietly.
"Do you think it's connected to SCP-3999?"
Murphy didn't answer immediately.
Then the door opened and Dr. Clef walked into the room.
"I heard someone disappeared."
Murphy nodded.
"Dr. Abid."
Clef watched the footage carefully.
After the third time the trunk opened, his expression became serious.
"…Reality distortion."
Murphy nodded.
"Exactly."
Clef folded his arms.
"SCP-3999 is getting more aggressive."
Murphy turned away from the screen.
"First Talloran… now Abid."
Clef looked toward the dark hallway outside.
"If this continues, more people will disappear."
Murphy grabbed his coat.
"Then we find where it's taking them."
Clef raised an eyebrow.
"You think Abid is still alive?"
Murphy paused for a moment.
"If Talloran survived… Abid might too."
The lights flickered again.
Tick…
Tick…
Tick…
Murphy looked toward the corridor.
"Wherever SCP-3999 is hiding… it's creating a pattern."
Clef smirked slightly.
"And you're going to follow it."
Murphy walked toward the exit.
"Yeah."
He stopped at the doorway and looked back at the monitor one last time.
The empty parking lot stared back at him.
Murphy spoke quietly.
"Hold on, Abid."
Then he stepped into the dark corridor.
Far away, inside a twisted fragment of broken reality, a faint voice echoed in the darkness.
"…Murphy…"
But no one inside the Foundation heard it.
To be continued....