Page 103 of Specters & Spotlights

And then… bzzz.

She felt it in his pocket before she saw it. Graham stiffened slightly, pulling out his phone. The screen lit up—and his eyebrows did that very specific “What the hell?” scrunch.

He turned the screen toward her. Lark.

“That normal?” she asked carefully.

He shook his head, bewildered. “No. Not at all.”

Without needing to say anything else, they both slipped out of the crowded room and into the hallway. The music dulled behind them as the door swung closed, and they found a quiet patch of wall just out of the way.

Graham pressed the phone to his ear, confusion still etched across his brow. “Hello?”

Elise stood close, watching him carefully. She couldn’t hear Lark’s voice, not exactly, but she thought she heard her own name. Graham’s eyes flicked to her, still puzzled.

“Yeah, she’s here with me,” he said slowly. “Hold on.”

He handed the phone to Elise, and she took it with a curious frown. “Hi Lark—what’s up?”

The answer was not what she expected.

Lark’s voice was tight, trembling. It didn’t sound like her at all. “I’m sorry,” she whispered. “I need to tell you something. It’s important.”

A coil of unease twisted in Elise’s stomach. “Okay... Tell me what?”

“No. Not over the phone,” Lark said quickly. “Please. I need you to come back to the theatre so I can explain. Bring Graham if you want. Just—please hurry.”

The desperation laced through those last words stuck to Elise like static. Her brain was already moving faster than her mouth.

“Yeah,” she said softly. “Okay. We’ll come now.”

She ended the call and slowly handed the phone back to Graham.

“She says she needs to talk to us,” Elise said, her voice low. “Something important. Something she won’t say over the phone.”

Graham blinked, trying to catch up. “Wait—what? She’s at the theatre right now? She wants us to go back? Now?”

Elise nodded, already moving. “Yeah. She sounded scared. Something’s wrong.”

The warmth of the party dimmed behind them like someone turning down the lights. Without another word, they turned to gather their things.

A few minutes later they turned into the alley, and there was Lark—standing under the world’s least flattering streetlamp, looking like she’d lost a fight with both a rainstorm and a panic attack.

“Don’t go in,” she said, voice rough. “I have to tell you something first.”

Elise and Graham exchanged a wary glance, but stopped where they stood.

Lark looked like she wanted to disappear into the pavement. She was shaking.

“I… I cast a love spell on you, Elise.”

The words landed like a slap in the silence.

Graham reeled back like he’d been physically struck. “You did what?!”

“I know. I know it was wrong. I shouldn’t have done it. I thought maybe you liked me… I just wanted to give it a nudge. Just a little push. I wasn’t trying to hurt anyone, I swear.”

Elise blinked. Opened her mouth. Closed it. Checked to see if maybe she was dreaming.