這裡本該沒有二樓。
便利商店牆上的緊急避難路線圖顯示這邊是一面牆
飲料冰櫃旁邊，出現了一條幽長的通道。
剛來的第三天夜班她就發現了。
最早，只是一股細小、冰絲絲涼意拂過她的腳踝。
接著，是聲音。
輕輕的踩踏聲。停了一下。再一次。
小小聲，輕緩的，試圖隱藏不被發現。
她說服自已那是水管傳來的聲響。之後，她開始避開那個過道。
客人們來來去去，在燈管的照映下，倒影在玻璃上閃爍，然後消失在夜色中。
而當一個人值班時
咚
她等了一下
咚
又一聲，沉悶腳步跟著心跳的節奏的聲音
一直到了第七個晚上時。擋在通道口的箱子沒了。
盡頭隱約有一條狹窄的樓梯，而更裡面。只餘一片黑暗。
站在那裡，商店的吵雜聲在她身後飄盪開來。
她走了進去，後果不存在在她腦中，木地板在她的重量下輕輕吱嘎作響。一小步。又一小步。樓梯下的光線開始像霧一樣逐漸隱沒在黑暗裡。走到一半時，她發現，天花板沒有聲音，那是從身後樓梯傳來的。從某個角落，跟隨著。
她停下腳步，但腳步聲越過她的腳邊。
The convenience store was not supposed to have a second floor.
That was what the faded map on the wall showed—entrance, aisles, storage. Nothing more.
Yet behind the refrigerated drinks, there was a narrow passage.
She noticed it on her third night shift.
At first, it was just a draft. A thin, cold current brushing past her ankles, even when the doors stayed shut.
Then came the sound.
A soft thump.
Pause.
Another.
Not loud. Not urgent. Almost careful, like someone walking above, trying not to be heard.
She told herself it was the pipes.
Still, she began avoiding that aisle.
Customers noticed nothing. They came and went under the fluorescent lights, their reflections flickering across the glass before disappearing into the night.
But when she was alone—
Thump.
Pause.
Thump.
On the seventh night, the passage was open.
The boxes had been moved aside.
Beyond it, a narrow staircase leading up into dimness.
She stood there, the hum of the store at her back.
Then, without thinking, she stepped forward.
The wood creaked softly beneath her weight.
One step.
Then another.
The light from below thinned behind her.
Halfway up, she realized—
The sound she had been hearing all week wasn’t coming from above.
It was coming from the stairs.
From something that had been standing there.
Waiting.
Just one step behind her.
She stopped.
The sound did not.
