Episode 3

Chapter 3

The Man Beyond Time

The silence inside the abandoned building suddenly felt heavier.

For a few endless moments...

Neither of them spoke.

Isabelle Laurent stood frozen where she was.

Her fingers trembled ever so slightly.

Her heartbeat echoed so loudly in her chest that she feared the silence itself might hear it.

The stranger inside the elevator never looked away.

It was as though...

He had been waiting for her.

For a very long time.

There was no surprise in his eyes.

No confusion.

Only an unsettling sense of recognition.

The kind that made Isabelle's heart race even faster.

She swallowed hard before finally forcing the words out.

"Who... are you?"

Silence answered her.

Then, at last, a faint smile appeared on the man's face.

"I was beginning to wonder..."

His voice was calm.

Almost impossibly calm.

"...what had taken you so long."

A chill ran through Isabelle's body.

"I... I don't even know you."

She whispered.

"Then..."

"How do you know my name?"

Her question echoed through the empty lobby.

The silence grew even deeper.

Finally, the stranger spoke.

"Because..."

"...I've known you for a very long time."

Isabelle immediately shook her head.

"No."

"That's impossible."

"I've never seen you before."

For the first time...

A shadow of sadness crossed the stranger's face.

"I wish that were true."

Those five words pierced her heart for reasons she couldn't explain.

Suddenly...

A sharp pain spread through her head.

Blurred images flashed before her eyes.

Rain.

A hand reaching toward her.

And a familiar voice...

Calling her name.

Then...

Everything disappeared.

Isabelle stumbled backward and caught herself against the cold wall.

"What..."

"...what is happening to me?"

The stranger simply watched her.

He didn't move.

He didn't try to help.

Almost as if...

He had seen this moment before.

After several seconds, he finally spoke again.

"My name..."

"...is Vincent Beaumont."

The name meant nothing to her.

And yet...

The moment she heard it...

Her heart skipped a beat.

Vincent slowly stepped aside inside the elevator.

The old ceiling light flickered above him.

Then he looked at her once more.

"Come with me."

Isabelle stared at the dark elevator.

"What is this place?"

Vincent's eyes shifted toward the ancient doors.

"You shouldn't be afraid of this place..."

He paused.

"...You should be afraid of the truth waiting inside it."

Silence returned.

Somewhere in the distance...

An old clock continued ticking.

Tick...

Tick...

Tick...

Vincent met her eyes one final time.

"If you step inside this elevator..."

"...your life will never be the same again."

Isabelle turned toward the building's entrance.

One step...

And she could walk away.

Back to her ordinary life.

But something...

Something stronger than fear...

Was pulling her toward the mysterious elevator.

Perhaps it was the search for answers.

Perhaps it was fate.

Or perhaps...

It was the man who seemed to know her better than she knew herself.

Slowly...

She took one step forward.

Then another.

Finally...

She stepped inside the elevator.

The doors began to close.

Clang...

A second later...

The elevator started moving.

But not upward.

Downward.

Far below the ground.

Isabelle's eyes locked onto the floor indicator.

One by one...

The numbers disappeared.

Until only a single message remained.

"12 Years Ago..."

Her eyes widened.

The elevator shook violently.

To Be Continued...

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