Which was completely improbable.
And more than that… impossible.
I backed toward the curtain, watching to see if any of them moved. Halfrieda was right. It was definitely time to leave. This place gave me enough nightmare material to last a lifetime.
Before I reached the curtain, the spotlights above me started to turn on, one by one. I froze again. Briefly blinded, I covered my eyes and rubbed them furiously as I squinted through the sudden dazzle. I did my best to ignore the screaming voice in my head and followed the lights as they formed a path in front of me.
My heart throbbed inside my chest every time I stepped beneath another spotlight. Each time, I saw framed posters that appeared on either side of me, suspended in the air, as if by the darkness itself. The faces of the people in the posters were unrecognizable. But I could make out the fact that the people were of all ages, races, and genders.
My quest for answers compelled me forward, quickening my pace with each light I passed under. Every poster revealed a similar image: someone sitting on a bench, intently watching an unseen act. I wasn’t sure if I was imagining it, actually… I had to be imagining it, but I was fairly sure the people’s eyes followed me from spotlight to spotlight as I moved along.
This strange, macabre place was so spooky that my own imagination started to run away with me and I was suddenly beyond scared. So, I started to run. Just as I was about to exit, another poster loomed directly in front of me, so close, my nose nearly touched it.
It was another audience illustration, lots of people intently watching something I couldn’t see—something in the distance. Some of the audience members cupped their mouths, as if they were cheering while others clapped. As I examined the details of the illustration, my body went cold. There, in the front row, was the same woman whom Laurent had danced with earlier this evening.
“It’s not possible,” I started to say to myself, but the words dropped right off my tongue because there was no doubt about it! The lady in the poster looked exactly like the woman from earlier in the evening, even wearing the same boring dress and drab hairstyle. But it couldn’t possibly be the same woman—for one thing, how could anyone have painted her portrait so quickly? Only hours ago, this lady was part of the audience until Laurent invited her onstage for a dance.
Then Laurent marked her.
Right. Laurent had marked her.
My breath caught in my throat as I slowly stepped away. This had to be a cruel prank pulled on me, the newcomer. It had to be! There was just no other way that any of this made sense. It didn’t make sense! It defied explanation!
I ran a shaky hand through my hair, clutching the back of my head as a shooting pain slowly enveloped the crown of my head. My vision swimming, it took everything I had to remain upright.
When my legs finally gave out, someone swept me up in their arms. I cried out, relieved to find Halfrieda had returned for me.
“What the bloody hell are you doing in here?”
My relief vanished and I released the broad shoulders I’d latched onto as soon as the person who caught me spoke. Because it wasn’t Halfrieda at all. It was… Rex.
“I—uh—” Forming full sentences was impossible. I was a quivering mess and I couldn’t think of one good reason I was here, where I shouldn’t have been—where I’d been told not to go.
“Laurent should have told you not to come here,” Rex hissed. His arms shifted around me, compressing my body more completely into his embrace. It was strange to me that he was holding me, at the same time that he was livid with me.
The world began to dance around me, black spots and stars shimmering before my eyes. “This place is strictly off-limits.”
“R-Rex,” I croaked weakly, my legs swinging upright as he held me closer to his chest.
“Now don’t faint on me,” he continued, some of the anger simmering out of his voice. “You’re gonna be fine. You’re just having a bad dream, that’s all. Once you wake up, you’ll completely forget all about this.”
The words sounded strangely kind and, even more strangely, familiar as they softly repeated in the back of my mind. “I… I…” Fresh tears rolled down my face before I lost my grip on consciousness. “I don’t want to…”
The last clear sight I remember was seeing something painful cross Rex’s face. Then, the darkness overtook me completely.