Heart hammering, he watched the screen as the men entered the lobby. One of them looked directly into the camera—directly at Elias—and tapped his watch.

Elias hesitated. His mouse hovered over the file. He remembered the last thing his brother, a junior film editor, had told him: "The frames don't match the reality, Eli. They’re recording things that haven't happened yet." He clicked 'Open.'

The video didn't start with a production logo. Instead, it was a high-angle shot of a street he recognized instantly. It was his street. The time-stamp in the corner read: 07:11 AM. He looked at his clock. It was 07:10 AM.

Legend had it that Kill the Butterfly , Season 2, Episode 1, had never actually aired. It was pulled by the network hours before the premiere after a "technical glitch" that allegedly drove the editors mad. Most people thought it was an urban legend, a creepypasta for the streaming age. But Elias had found a link buried in an encrypted forum used by whistleblowers. The router blinked rhythmically, a digital heartbeat. Suddenly, the bar turned green.

On the monitor, the "episode" continued. It showed the men standing in front of apartment 4B. His door.

Elias froze. From the real world, outside his physical window, he heard the muffled thud of car doors closing.

Elias didn't wait for the credits. He grabbed his hard drive, kicked out the window screen, and hit the fire escape just as the sound of a heavy boot splintered his front door. He was no longer just watching the story. He was the lead.