When I returned to the office, I was the only employee left. As I looked around at all the empty desks, I couldn’t help but feel a little stung. Why hadn’t the boss chosen me for whatever was going on in the conference room? 

Looking into the reflection of those dark, tinted windows, I wondered what could possibly be going on in there. What was worth hiding with premium window tinting?

Suddenly, the door to the conference room opened out toward me. 

“Enter, Teddy,” said an ominous voice. 

I looked around, wondering who the voice could have been referring to. Seeing no one, I realised it must have been me. “But… my name is Fredward,” I said. 

There was silence for a moment before the voice spoke again. “Then enter, Fredward.”

So enter I did. Perhaps it was foolish to do as the voice suggested, given how all of my coworkers had disappeared, but I needed to know what was in that room. I’d sworn the journalist’s oath that I would get to the bottom of this mystery. I’d tried the conventional way – breaking and entering into an office window tinting business near Melbourne, but that had backfired. I was desperate, so… enter I did. 

Inside, the conference room appeared just as I had always known it – dozens of chairs set in rows, with a big whiteboard against the wall closest to the door. Nothing appeared to be out of the ordinary, except for the high-quality window film that had been placed over the glass.

After a moment of searching the dark room, I finally found something odd: a trap door in the back corner. It had been flung open, revealing a ladder that descended into complete darkness. 

Did I dare go down? I think you know the answer. As a former student of investigative journalism, I was bound by code to do so. I took the first step down, wondering what awaited me at the bottom. Finally, I’d know the truth about this whole thing.