The weekly check-in was routine. A dozen faces, cameras on, nodding along as Greg ran through quarterly goals. I wasn’t really listening. Nobody was.
Then Lisa spoke. “Sorry, can you repeat that? My audio cut out for a second.”
Greg sighed. “I said Q4 projections look — ”
A noise interrupted him. Muffled, low, just barely cutting through the feed. A shuffle, then something like a chair scraping against the floor. Lisa’s video stayed perfectly still — frozen mid-blink.
“Lisa?” Greg frowned. “I think you’re muted.”
She wasn’t. Her mic was on. But the only sound coming through was breathing. Slow, measured. Then a soft thump.
Todd chuckled. “Guess she walked away and forgot to mute.”
Another noise. Wet. Sharp. THUMP. 💥 Something sliding. Not a keyboard. Not footsteps.
Lisa’s video caught up for a second — just long enough for a flicker of movement behind her. Then her screen went black.
“Connection issues?” Greg asked.
“Probably,” someone murmured. A few people nodded. The meeting went on.
Lisa’s status stayed Active for another twenty minutes. Then she went Offline.
No one followed up.
About the Creator
Jesse L Shelley
Forensic Scientist. Knows where they’re buried, and won’t pretend otherwise... I dissect crimes and noir alike shaped by prompt rituals, investigative obsession, and narrative precision. Every story, a darker truth. Come closer.
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