Ding.
The elevator made a soft metallic sound that echoed eerily through the silence, a quiet warning before the doors groaned open or closed. Inside the boxy elevator, a lone figure stood hunched slightly, arms stiffed by his sides. He wasn't trembling, not exactly, but something about the way his fingers twitched as he adjusted his skinny, worn-out tie said enough.
His name was Kairo, named after an ancient word lost to time, meaning hybrid, outcast, anomaly. Fitting.
He wore a long-sleeved white shirt that looked like it had been bleached too many times and still never quite dried right. His black pants were unironed and crumpled at the knees. The only thing that completed the image was the pitiful excuse for a briefcase clutched in his hand that was scratched, bent at the corners, and the handle wrapped in electrical tape.
He stared at the panel above the door. The number lit up in a soft red glow: Floor 21.
Ding.
The doors opened apart slowly. He then exhaled deeply, as if he'd been holding his breath for hours, and stepped out of the elevator.
What welcomed him looked like a regular office building. Clean. Silent. Glass walls, polished tiles, and a cold, sterile scent.
"Kairo?" a soft voice called out, uncertain.
He turned.
A woman stood behind a reception desk, her fingers resting lightly on a keyboard. Her white blouse was crisp and clean, every button in place. From behind the desk, he couldn't see whether she wore a skirt or pants, but whatever it was, it matched her polished aura. Her face was beautiful in that way statues were, it was flawless, symmetrical, but cold. Pale, too pale. Like the blood had been drawn out, and what remained was an imitation of a porcelain. Even the thick makeup she wore couldn't hide it.
Pristine, he thought. Will I be like her if I get this job?
He scoffed inwardly. I doubt it. Even if I had money, no amount of it would fix this face. If demons saw me, they'd feel like Henry Cavill in comparison.
The receptionist tilted her head. "Are you the one scheduled for the interview?"
"Yes," Kairo nodded.
"Room at the end of the hallway. Just go straight ahead. It's the last door. Good luck." She smiled faintly, though something in it didn't sit right. Pity? Sympathy?
Kairo offered a smile in return. On his face, with his features, it looked somehow wrong. Off. Creepy, even.
He walked forward.
Good luck, her words echoed.
Yeah, he thought. I need all the luck I can get. No matter what kind of job this is, I must get it.
As he walked down the corridor, he passed by several office doors. All closed. Tinted glass prevented him from seeing inside, but what struck him more was the silence. Not a sound. No typing. No chatter. No hum of printers or rustle of paper. Just the quiet hum of fluorescent lights, and the air conditioner.
Finally, he reached the end.
The last door.
He stopped and glanced out the window. The building was mostly glass, and beyond the skyline, dark clouds loomed heavy over the city. Rain hadn't started, but it was close. Lightning flickered faintly in the distance, casting momentary reflections against the glass.
One of those reflections was his own.
Sunken eyes. Hollow cheeks. Greasy hair that refused to settle. He looked like a ghost trying to interview for a living man's job.
Pathetic, he thought. I must get this job.
He turned and opened the door.
Thirty seconds later, he sat awkwardly in a plain chair on one side of a large mahogany desk. On the other side, three more chairs were lined up, occupied.
A woman, and two men. All dressed professionally, all staring at him like he was something they'd just scraped off their shoe.
"Kairo, huh?" one of the men said, flipping open a file. "What a strange name."
Kairo forced a smile. "I get that a lot."
The man scanned the page. "You're still in high school?"
"Yeah," Kairo said. "But I graduate in a few days, so legally, I can start working immediately."
"Good. Good." The man nodded. "But I noticed, no emergency contact?"
Kairo shrugged. "Don't have one. My parents died before I could remember them. No family to speak of."
The room went still for a second. Kairo thought he saw a flicker of satisfaction on their faces.
Then, the second man, who had been silent until now, leaned forward slightly. "So if you die, no one would notice?"
"Eh" Kairo blinked.
The first man let out a hollow chuckle. "Pardon my colleague. He's very straightforward. What he means is that the job might require long disappearances. Going off the grid, you see. We wouldn't want anyone filing a missing person report."
Kairo swallowed. "No one would be looking for me. I can assure you."
"Excellent," the first man said, smile widening.
He was about to ask another question when the woman, who had remained silent, spoke at last. Her tone was cold, clipped. "Let's get this over with."
"Ah, yes, ma'am," both men said almost in unison.
She's the boss, Kairo thought.
Then the first man stood. Slowly. Deliberately. Rolling up the sleeves of his shirt.
The second man followed suit.
"You fit the criteria," the first one said.
Kairo's heart jumped. Was this it? He got the job?
Then the man added with a grin, "You're hired... to die."
Thunder cracked.
The office darkened as lightning crawled across the sky.
Both men's eyes began to glow with a deep, predatory red.
Kairo stood up, chair scraping against the floor. "W-What's going on?"
"Nothing much," one of them said, voice guttural now. "Just getting ready to dine."
Their mouths began to stretch. Wider. Wider. Until lips tore, teeth grew, and their jaws became gaping maws of darkness.
Kairo stumbled backward, suitcase falling from his hand with a dull thud, but even that was swallowed by the storm outside.
He gasped, staring in horror as the two figures contorted. Their spines elongated, arms twisting until their fingers became clawed extensions. Their skin grew dark, slick with some unknown slime, veins bulging like worms.
But they were still vaguely .. human.
Monsters wearing human shells.
"No.. no no no..." Kairo whimpered. "You're not supposed to be here. You're extinct. Dead. Humanity wiped you out!"
The demons snickered, twin echoes of mockery.
Then they leapt.
Kairo's legs gave out. He collapsed, mouth open in a silent scream as tears welled up. The last thing he saw, just before they reached him, was the woman still sitting behind the desk, unmoving. Unbothered. Watching him with an expression of pure indifference, as if this was all beneath her.
Then everything went black.
A sound broke through in the silence "Ding".