Coming in early

She had decided to come in early, to make sure that the conference later that day would be perfectly organized. That turned out to be a mistake.

As she opened the door to her office, a man was sitting behind her computer. Furious, she switched on the light, about to ask him what the hell he thought he was doing, but the words never came out. The gun that apparently had been lying on the desk was now pointing straight at her. Almost automatically her hands went up in the air. Then she noticed something else that sent chills up her spine: he was wearing a black mask. It went over his entire head. Despite the dire situation, she was wondering how he was able to see in the thing. But he obviously was, because he got up and hurled an office chair straight at her, with great precision. It hit her against the knees.

"You weren't supposed to be here, not this early..."

Strong accent. Middle east, possibly.

"Close the door and lock it. Good, now: if you try to run away, be sure that you're never going to make it in time. Now turn around and keep standing there. Keep your hands up."

Trembling uncontrollably by now, she heard him approach. Standing right behind her, he spoke again.

RP Short Stories

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