Locked In

The stairwell door clunked shut, a heavy, final sound that seemed to suck the air out of the corridor.

Samira didn’t jump. She just stopped counting the grant years on the third candidate’s CV and let the silence settle. It was the kind of quiet that only exists in university buildings after nine on a Friday, when the heating clicks off and the fluorescent lights begin to hum their low, electric complaint.

She was alone, except for Hugh.