The Office That Locked Itself from the Inside

By 9:30 PM, the office was supposed to be empty.

That was the rule.

Lights off.

Systems logged out.

Security armed.

That night, every system said exactly that.

Everyone had left.

Except that the building did not believe it.

Rohan noticed it first from across the road.

The fourth floor was lit.

Not one cabin light.

All of them.

Rows of white light glowing as if someone had just started the day instead of ending it.

He checked his watch.

9:47 PM.

“Probably the cleaning staff,” he told himself.

But something felt wrong.

The lights were too even.

Too deliberate.

At home, Rohan opened his laptop.

The office chat was silent.

No messages.

No late-night complaints.

He opened the internal dashboard, something he technically was not supposed to access from home.

Building status:

SECURED

Occupancy:

ZERO

He frowned.

At 10:12 PM, his phone buzzed.

An internal notification.

System Alert: Unscheduled Activity Detected.

No details.

No follow-up.

Just that.

Rohan tried calling security.

No answer.

He stared at the screen for a long time before doing the one thing he knew he should not.

He picked up his keys.

The office lobby was dark.

Too dark.

The security desk was empty.

The register untouched.

Rohan swiped his access card.

Denied.

He swiped again.

Accepted.

The doors slid open slowly, as if reconsidering.

Inside, the air felt heavier.

Not stale.

Occupied.

The lift panel lit up on its own.

Fourth floor.

The doors closed before he could press anything.

When the lift opened, the lights were already on.

Every desk was active.

Monitors glowing.

Keyboards warm.

But there were no people.

Chairs slightly pulled back.

Coffee mugs are half-full.

Phones unlocked.

As if everyone had stood up at the same time.

And never returned.

Rohan’s footsteps echoed too loudly.

He moved toward the far end of the floor.

That was when he saw it.

One silhouette.

Sitting at the last desk.

Typing.

Slowly.

Methodically.

“Hello?” Rohan called out.

The typing stopped.

The chair did not turn.

The screen reflected lines of code he did not recognise.

Then, without facing him, the figure spoke.

“You were not supposed to come back.”

Rohan froze.

“Who are you?” he asked.

The reply came calmly.

“Someone who stayed.”

The lights flickered.

Rohan’s phone vibrated violently.

A flood of notifications.

Logout Failed. Session Still Active. User Presence Detected.

User: Rohan Mehta

His breath caught.

“I left,” he whispered. “I logged out.”

The figure finally stood.

Still facing the screen.

“No,” it said. “You left physically.”

The monitors around the floor switched on at once.

Every screen showed the same thing.

Him.

Sitting at his desk.

Typing.

Working.

“You kept thinking about unfinished tasks,” the voice continued.“Deadlines. Expectations. Performance.”

“So something stayed behind.”

The silhouette turned slightly.

Just enough for Rohan to see its reflection in the dark screen.

It was him.

But wrong.

Too still.

Too focused.

Too empty.

The emergency lights snapped on.

The lift alarm blared.

Rohan ran.

He did not look back.

By morning, the office was normal again.

Lights off.

Systems clean.

No alerts.

Security logs showed nothing unusual.

Except one entry.

Logout Time: 3:14 AM

User: Rohan Mehta

That evening, as Rohan packed to leave, his manager called out.

“Hey,” he said casually. “Great work last night. I saw the progress.”

Rohan did not answer.

He was staring at his screen.

At a document he did not remember opening.

Saved at 3:13 AM.

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Flash Fiction | Short Story | Thriller | Suspense