Page 67 of Merciless Prince
I dipped my chin in a brief nod. “Yeah, I’ll be all right. I couldn’t really get out of it.”
The producers for the interactive horror show had made it clear to me that I couldn’t skip tonight’s performance. With Cori gone, they already had to scramble to find one replacement, so they told me I had to buck up and do it unless I wanted a bad reference from them. I said yes because I couldn’t afford to have any black marks against my name right now. Not after the SNS incident.
“Well, you know what they say,” Nina said, flashing me a sympathetic smile as she stepped away from the mirror. “The show must go on, right?”
I gave her a weak smile in return. “Yeah. I guess it’ll be a good distraction, too.”
“Exactly!” She patted my shoulder. “Also, like I was saying before, the bloodshot eyes really suit your costume. You’re the third ghost, right?”
I shook my head. “Second.”
In tonight’s show, I was playing the ghost of a nurse who was killed in the 1950s when a psychotic murderer went on a rampage while she was at work. The interior of the warehouse where the performance was taking place had been set up to look like the ground floor of an abandoned hospital, and I was one of many characters who had to guide the guests around as they explored the supposedly-haunted space.
Nina glanced at the clock. “We should probably get out there. It’s starting soon.” She squeezed my arm. “Good luck!”
We headed out of the dressing room and into the main performance space, which was gloomy and filled with fake cobwebs and old-fashioned hospital paraphernalia. My starting spot was in a records room near the hospital entrance. I would encounter the guests when the first ghost guided them in my direction.
Ten minutes later, I heard distant voices and footsteps as the first wave of guests came through the front door. They were being let in twenty at a time to ensure the hospital of horrors didn’t get too crowded.
My job as a performer—apart from the obvious—was to work on a tight schedule with the other actors in order to keep the guests on track so that we’d all be back in our starting positions when the next wave came through in ten minutes. That way we could start the show all over again for the new arrivals while the first group ventured deeper into the haunted hospital.
All in all, we were expecting fifteen separate groups to come through. It was going to be a long night.
The hall to my right suddenly echoed with gasps and shrieks, followed by a few giggles. “Oh my god, that scared the fucking shit out of me!” a woman said.
Another faint voice drifted up the corridor. “We have to go this way, right?”
“Yeah. The other doors are sealed.”
As the group’s heavy footsteps drew closer, I counted down from ten. Then I ran out of the records room and rushed toward the approaching guests. “Oh, thank god,” I said, pretending to be out of breath as I reached them. “You’re the first people I’ve seen in days. You have to help me!”
A man near the front of the group eyed my ghastly white face and blood-streaked uniform. “How can we help?” he asked, voice laced with trepidation.
“I need to get out of here.Now,” I said, shoulders quivering with panic. “Tell me—how did you get in?”
“Through the main entrance,” a woman said, motioning over her shoulder. “It’s right over there.”
“Should we take you down there?” another guest chimed in, raising her brows.
I vehemently shook my head. “You don’t understand,” I said, forcing tears to spring to my eyes. “I’ve tried to go that way a hundred times, but every time I get close to the entrance, everything suddenly shifts around and the door vanishes. I tried to go through one of the exits at the back, too, but it didn’t take me outside. The door just opened up to a passage that led me right back here, tohim.I… I don’t understand why. I feel like I’m losing my mind.”
“She’s trapped here,” one of the guests murmured as she jostled her friend’s arm.
“I don’t think he’s seen you yet,” I said, staring over at her with wide eyes. “Leave while you still can, find a telephone, and call the police.Please.You might be my only hope at getting out of here.”
“We can call 911 from here,” another man from the audience said, holding up his cell phone.
I stared at it, brows furrowing with confusion. “What is that?”
“A phone.”
“That’s a telephone?” I said, giving him an incredulous look. “How is that possible? And why are you all dressed like…” I trailed off and took a step back. “What year is it?”
“2019.”
I shuffled back a step. “No. That isn’t possible,” I said, eyes darting between all of the people in front of me. “It’s 1954. I’ve only been here for a few weeks.”
“It’s like one of those time dilation things,” a guest at the front murmured to her confused-looking friend. “She has no idea she’s actually been here for sixty-five years.”
