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With her next breath, Ariel realized there were other scents mingling with the aroma of cooking food. The fragrance of magnolias, which had been strong before, now enveloped her senses completely. As they passed the festival grounds, it felt like the perfume was invading her mind, leaving her in an almost dreamy state. Ariel could easily understand how Mr. Marlowe’s favorite flower could set the mood for this romantic night.

By the time they reached the theater stairs, Ariel’s nervousness had been temporarily replaced by a wave of excitement. A million questions raced through her mind about the photograph they were investigating. Would identifying the person in it provide any answers?

“Are you sure you know where to look?” Ariel asked, climbing the top step and taking the monk’s arm.

“Yep, you just turn left at that one hall and make a right at the other,” Leroy replied, a grin tugging at his lips as he led her through the double doors.

But Ariel’s expression had suddenly turned pale and uncomfortable. The usual tug of sickness and dizziness she felt whenever she crossed the threshold of the theater was magnified, its grip tighter and its pull stronger.

“Ariel, I was just kidding. I’m not going to get us lost. We’ll be back in time for you to sit next to John,” Leroy relented, noticing her silence and grave looks.

Swallowing, Ariel looked up at him, shaking her head. “It’s not that. The doors... I felt sick,” she explained, closing her eyes in an effort to shut out the dizziness.

Leroy tilted his head in confusion. “Well, they usually do that to you, Ariel. Let’s walk it off.”

“Wait, Leroy,” Ariel protested, gripping his arm tighter as another wave of nausea passed through her.

Trying to clarify, he suggested in a lighter tone, “You do have an empty stomach. Maybe that’s making you feel—”

“This is worse; I don’t know what it is...” Ariel answered, finally recovering somewhat.

The monk now looked down at her with concern. “Are you going to be okay? Should I take you back?”

“No,” Ariel answered quickly, looking up at him with a reassuring smile. “I’m fine. Let’s go on.”

Leroy observed her for an uncertain moment, but when she tugged on his arm, coaxing him forward, he decided not to question her further.

If the theater had been dim and eerie earlier that day, it was now nearly pitch black and utterly unnerving in the silent night hours. Ariel gripped Leroy’s arm tighter as they made slow progress down the first hall off the foyer. Squinting in the darkness, the monk directed her towards the left side of the hall.

You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

“It’s hard to see, but the base is close... Maybe there’s a stray flashlight we can use?” he suggested.

A moment later, there was a click and a creak as the door to the base swung open, and the monk entered the room first. What followed was a bang and a curse.

“Leroy?” Ariel called into the blackness, barely able to make out his hunched figure two feet in front of her.

Grumbling and bent over, holding his foot, the monk answered, “I forgot about the table. I think I broke a toe.”

Ariel sighed and, moving around the fuming monk, she started to look for the much-needed flashlight. There has to be one around here somewhere...

“Where are you, Ariel?” Leroy wondered, working his way opposite her.

“Over here—at Max’s desk... I think,” she replied.

“You think there’ll be one there? I’m going to see if Jasper has one stashed with the equipment,” Leroy said, his voice punctuated by the sounds of rummaging through thermometers, cameras, and various other pieces of Jasper’s ghost-hunting arsenal. The noise echoed loudly in the silence.

Ariel’s fingers clumsily brushed against different objects, familiar yet foreign in the dark. It dawned on her that finding what they needed might take longer than they had, especially considering how much time they had already spent in this supposedly haunted theater.

She paused and blinked into the surrounding blackness, her own heartbeat and breathing filling her ears. Although she had nothing against Mr. Marlowe, who had been peaceful thus far, the thought of a sudden visit from him in the dark was more than unsettling.

“Leroy? Have you found anything yet?” Ariel called out, imagining her voice filling the room and pushing any uninvited guests away.

“Hold on a moment,” Leroy answered distractedly, the clicking of metal on metal coming from his direction. “I think this is it—” Without warning, a flare of white light shot into the room, momentarily blinding Ariel.

“Hey!” she cried, shielding her eyes as the beam moved away from her face.

“Oh, sorry—here,” he apologized, tossing a second flashlight her way.

Ariel caught it and quickly turned it on. Comforted slightly by the two beams of light, they were reassured that they were no longer in danger of tripping over something and breaking a leg. Together, they left the base, hoping to find a picture matching the one on Ariel’s nightstand.

“How much further?” Ariel asked as they hurried down hall after hall.

His face glowing in the pale light, Leroy aimed his flashlight toward a corridor to their right. “Over here…”

With only the sound of their feet padding rapidly across the wooden floors, Ariel’s light began searching the dim walls for pictures of old actresses captured in moments of glory and fame.

“Ah-ha, there are some pictures,” Leroy announced, his beam of light bouncing off a section of the wall just ahead.

Ariel’s pulse quickened. For some reason, she suddenly felt apprehensive about solving this piece of the mystery. Eyes. A presence. Ariel felt something behind her. Quickly, with her heart pounding in her ears, Ariel spun around, her flashlight casting a bright arc through the hall.

“Ariel?” Leroy said, noticing she had paused.

Ariel blinked. She saw nothing, no one was there. But yet…

“Sorry—it was nothing…” she answered vaguely, moving ahead of him with a forced smile.

He wasn’t so easily convinced.