The moment the lights went out, chaos erupted inside the archive.
Emergency alarms blared through the halls while distant footsteps echoed from somewhere outside the room. Red warning lights flickered weakly overhead, barely illuminating the shelves around them.
Luna's heartbeat slammed against her chest.
Then she heard it again.
Her name.
Soft.
Close.
Almost like someone was standing right beside her.
"Luna…"
She froze instantly.
Ethan pulled her slightly behind him, his voice sharp and controlled. "Who's there?"
No answer.
Only silence.
But it wasn't empty silence anymore.
It felt alive.
Watching.
The security guards quickly turned on flashlights, beams cutting through the darkness. Dust floated through the dim red light, making the room feel strange and unreal.
Luna's fingers tightened around Ethan's sleeve unconsciously.
She hated how relieved that made her feel.
"Stay close to me," Ethan said quietly without looking back.
Normally she would've argued.
Not now.
A guard spoke urgently through his radio. "Backup power isn't responding."
Another answered from somewhere down the hall, "Someone shut the entire system down manually."
Ethan's expression darkened instantly.
"This wasn't an accident," he muttered.
Luna swallowed nervously.
Of course it wasn't.
Nothing around her felt accidental anymore.
Then—
A metallic sound echoed from deeper inside the archive.
Clang.
Everyone turned immediately.
One of the guards lifted his flashlight toward the back shelves. "Who's there?!"
No response.
But Luna felt it again.
That strange familiarity.
Like the darkness itself recognized her.
Without thinking, she took a slow step forward.
Ethan noticed instantly. "Luna."
"I know that sound," she whispered.
The words left her mouth before she fully understood them herself.
Another flash hit suddenly.
Dark shelves.
A hidden door sliding open.
A voice saying quietly—
"Only you can enter."
Luna's breathing became uneven again.
"There's something here," she said softly.
Ethan moved beside her immediately. "What do you remember?"
"Not clearly…"
She pressed a hand against her temple.
"But there's a room."
The guards exchanged uncertain looks.
"There are no hidden rooms in this archive," one of them said.
Luna looked toward the back wall slowly.
"…There is."
The certainty in her voice made the entire room fall silent.
Ethan studied her carefully for a moment before speaking. "Show me."
The group moved deeper into the archive carefully, flashlights sweeping across endless shelves covered in files and dust.
The further they walked—
The stranger Luna felt.
Because every step felt familiar.
Like she had already walked this exact path before.
Finally, she stopped in front of an old metal shelf near the corner wall.
Her heartbeat sped up instantly.
"This one."
A guard frowned. "It's just storage."
"No," Luna whispered.
Her fingers moved across the edge of the shelf slowly, searching.
Then stopped.
A tiny crescent symbol was carved near the side.
The same mark.
Ethan saw it immediately.
His expression changed.
"You were right."
Luna's pulse pounded loudly in her ears.
Without fully knowing why, she pressed against the marked section of the shelf.
Click.
Everyone froze.
A low mechanical sound echoed through the room.
Then slowly—
The shelf moved.
The guards stared in shock as a hidden doorway appeared behind it.
Cold air drifted out from the darkness beyond.
Silence filled the archive.
One guard whispered, "What the hell…"
But Luna barely heard him.
Because the moment the door opened—
A violent memory crashed into her mind.
She was here before.
Standing in this exact spot.
Bleeding.
Terrified.
And beside her—
That girl again.
The other version of herself.
Calm.
Emotionless.
"Hide it where even he can't find it."
Luna gasped sharply, stumbling backward.
Ethan caught her immediately. "Luna!"
"She knew this place…" Luna whispered shakily.
"Who?"
"That girl…"
Fear spread through her chest again.
No matter how much she tried to deny it—
The truth kept getting worse.
Because every memory connected back to the same impossible thing.
Herself.
Ethan looked toward the hidden doorway carefully. "Stay here."
"No."
The answer came instantly.
Firm.
Ethan frowned. "Luna—"
"I'm coming."
Their eyes met in the dim red light.
For a moment neither moved.
Then Ethan gave a small nod.
Together, they stepped inside.
The hidden room was small and cold, filled with old monitors, locked cabinets, and stacks of documents covered in dust. It looked abandoned for years.
But one thing stood out immediately.
A single lamp in the corner.
Still on.
Luna's stomach tightened.
Someone had been here recently.
Ethan noticed it too. His entire posture shifted instantly into alertness.
"Don't touch anything," he said quietly.
But Luna's attention had already moved elsewhere.
Toward the wall.
Photos were pinned across it.
Dozens of them.
Maps.
Documents.
Names.
And at the center—
Her picture.
Luna stopped breathing.
Under the photo, three words were written in black marker.
SUBJECT TWO ACTIVE
Her knees nearly gave out.
"What is this…?" she whispered.
Ethan's expression became terrifyingly cold.
Because he had noticed something else.
Another photo.
Pinned beside Luna's.
His own.
And written underneath it—
DO NOT TRUST HIM
Silence filled the hidden room completely.
Luna stared at the words.
Then slowly looked toward Ethan.
Fear.
Confusion.
Pain.
Everything mixed together in her eyes.
Ethan looked at the wall for a long moment before speaking.
Quietly.
"…This isn't your handwriting."
But somehow—
That didn't make things better.
Because if Luna hadn't written it…
Then who did?
Before either of them could think further, a sudden noise echoed outside the hidden room.
Footsteps.
Running.
Then a scream.
The guards.
Ethan reacted instantly, stepping in front of Luna.
And then—
A gunshot echoed through the archive.