Vanessa drops her badge into the locker with a sigh, stretching her shoulders after a long shift.

“You’re finally off,” you say, relief soft in your voice.

She smiles tiredly. “Finally.”

Her eyes flick to her tablet before she turns to leave. A faint noise makes her pause—a distorted giggle playing through the security audio.

She frowns. “That… wasn’t there earlier.” You lean over her shoulder, watching the waveform jump unnaturally, repeating itself in a twisted rhythm.

“It’s just a glitch, right?” you ask, though the hair on your arms rises.

Vanessa swallows. Her fingers hover over the screen. “It… it sounds like someone’s laughing… at me.”

The giggle loops again, impossibly close, impossibly familiar.

She looks at you, eyes wide. “I didn’t clock this. I swear—I didn’t hear it before.”

And somewhere deep inside, you both know—it’s only just beginning.