The Cementry Apartment

didn't

ould

es whispered just beyond the edge of sound. The ceiling creaked like bone. The air had w

d a trail of wet footprints that led from t

was go

else had bee

the center of Ja

aper. Tied with

oached it

very detail. The paper was old - not last week, n

y Collapse: 'Graves O

was on th

O. A

sn't a jo

tten an articl

e pull. Inside the box was so

rusted, shape

e tape, marked only

Who the hell st

pulsed slightly in his hand. He dropped it on the tabl

ded an

had left this be

-

- one of those ancient wall-mounted int

dn't hav

n't even

pressed "Play," the machine clicked

ame th

nd brittle with age, "you're the new tenant in 3B.

cise, but hollow - like it had accep

st an old apartment, cheap rent. Didn't care it was near a cemetery.

ur movement. You'll hear whispers through the walls - they're no

hed the pla

. Even when I took the stairs, I found myself back in 3B. Sometimes with

ce paus

y now. It doesn't unlock any door in the physical sense. It opens th

blood

ell. The bone ste

t escape - if the sacrifice is clean. But it never is. You lose more than

s if the tape itself wer

the building. Don't trust the mirrors. And whatever you do

ape s

O

ehind it blackened instantly, like the w

taggere

nd was

e. Ritua

ed? Trapped? Becom

at the k

esh blood alo

per wrapping -

dline n

MISSING: Polic

es O.

24th,

as nex

shell melting into the wood. He didn't move. He didn't blink. He just stared at

ENANT MI

n't a

a pro

raw defiance - began to boil. If this building wanted to erase him,

to be another

ed key into his pocket an

-

oaning pipes. Just silence - thick, unnatural silence. The kind that pre

ded the stai

never dared enter. The door was ajar, swaying slightly. Something in

d the do

kne

ving darkness, pulsing and moving like ink

rs hanging open like broken mouths. Cobwebs clung to the ceiling like lace. Bu

ed-up d

ks, barely visible benea

esperation, etched by

rkings, running his h

3B -

M 3B -

I 3B

E 3B

3B -

ed by a symbol -

vious tenants of Apartment 3B - eve

e more name

than t

n his own h

S 3B

s almost

't writ

st, no

cks near the center of the wall. A whisper stirred

ed the key from his pocket a

ir tr

dissolve, not fall - di

was a narrow

covered in c

ese were made of bone, bound with leather straps and hum

usted, tall, engraved with the same inverted

m - Authorize

ok as he reached

open it, a voi

na

le and shaking, holding

in there

ed slowly.

ng close to fear. "Because if you o

his eyes. "It

orward, reveali

oto

by Tunde. He tried to leave too. Thought he could make it out with

ned the f

oat tig

was. As

Standing beside his mot

hat photo had burned in a

iversity. Except it was a momen

d from above. Eyes half open. Mouth

e dozens

ived. Others he di

a timestamp burne

MORY

oes, James. Every night, the building takes a little more. Not you

finish the

n't ha

ward the Memory

n't sure he wanted to

r marked MEMORY ROOM, Jonah's tre

that door... it

mind wasn't his. This building had been watching, collecting, rewriting hi

the key into

IC

, resisting, as though tryin

and absolute - until the mo

came on by

ring. But e

ary. Or somet

oks - of

s of them. Each labeled with a name and a number. Each drawe

the room - though there were no

the threshold, r

pped deep

assed bore a nam

li – 3B

deji – 3B

wal – 3B

e – 3B –

fina

anda – 3B –

ned. The drawer

f wa

open with s

ll, glowing faintly blue. Suspended inside were sh

irst kiss. The day he fo

eel. Important people with faces blurred. Places w

omeone had ed

awer. From the walls. From deep insid

ames

oice

idn't come fr

rom insid

staring at the s

t physically, but emotionally. A touch that wasn't a touc

owed

ou," it w

ossed into the Room. But I c

steppe

b puls

peared - one he

circle of salt. Candles flickering. A figure

- b

uch

dar

m the drawer, heart s

James! Get out of there. That room is ali

urned t

slammed shu

it, pullin

u

soft grinding sound - lik

tur

w one

tanda – 3B

eath c

his fathe

had always told himself it was traum

had taken h

, hand shaking, and

ked and dull. But it st

ouch

m disap

-

stood in a h

s father - younger, broken, coughi

ered. "I tried. God knows I tried. But the buildin

ched out.

is own face reflected

vision

-

e Memory Room, ga

hand was now bl

ls... they

rawer n

Atanda – 3B

began opening, their con

was consu

ing his shoulder into it. It

her side, pulling it ope

led out int

and sealed, bricks reforming inst

d to the fl

own. "You saw

s here. This place... it took him.

ill one way out. One way to stop the

ked up. "

hesi

whisp

soul in exchange for freedom. But i

stomac

w anyone her

ression did

will. It always