st, forgettable. The kind of person whose face you tried to recall but couldn't quite. Sh

always did. Layla moved through the halls with a familiar rhythm: two steps past the Roman

the corner

ss sat in

under his chin. There was no laptop, no fil

rly," she

head slightly.

is m

tudied her like she was

o find when yo

not h

no record of you

hind her, and placed her bag on

. Ghosts leave whisper

flipped it open. "Are y

en I'm c

a new

th shift of presence. He wasn't trying to

ple watching me,"

silence," he replied. "Most people f

lm but unreadable. "You do

ow en

ou do. But knowi

tell

in the eye. "Why w

at p

lence linger. "Because you're not used to som

aw te

asked for a t

ithout an

she didn't take he

se she wa

appened when someone st

g lights. Her boots made no sound against the concrete. She didn't look over h

ocked the door. Tw

d there i

parse furniture. Black couch. Steel she

t felt real was th

face. People thought it was for anonymity. Mystery. Drama. The

dentity-

and opened

n written in ink d

en C

is name in her pages befo

brief. Struct

of Cro

family co

but publ

ed with

rous cu

ne buzz

:

oute today. Not ne

idn't

assed. Ano

se your footprint

e phone and tosse

didn't b

early. The room was empty. For a second,

to sort. Labelled artefacts. Dates. Places. Clean, l

passed.

le

elcom

phone li

:

t coming today. But

sage. Her fingers hov

she t

yl

h

didn't com

:

only silence I ha

ked the

ched slightly. J

ht, Layl

ed in shadow. Faces turned toward her, all

p drenched

s. Distant sirens howled somewhere near

on the counter beside it. Her reflection stared

ilt on one rule

ss was tes

she hadn't

t

she

ha

extended ending after "She

ha

ing known

got peop

the layers, thinking they'd find softness underneath. But there was no soft

a connection. Coul

kept

like fog, creeping in through cracks

she was still alive.

ng at the city through the cracked window.

e, she'd have to b

n h

ially

ers don't get

retending she was h