Page 11

EVE

The theater was plunged into darkness. A hush settled over the crowd like a heavy blanket as the music began to swell. I shifted in my seat, feeling Darcy stiffen beside me.

The stage lights flickered on, casting a pale silver glow across the platform.

Then the shimmering curtain parted, and Serenia appeared.

She glided into the spotlight, her garments trailing behind her like fog lit from below.

The fabric shimmered in hues of white and silver, catching the light in a way that made her seem almost otherworldly.

Serenia raised a delicate hand, her serene smile settling the crowd like a mother calming her children. Her voice, smooth and musical, carried through the theater without effort.

“Good evening, my friends,” she said, her tone both welcoming and distant. “Tonight, we will uncover the truths that whisper to us from beyond the veil.”

The crowd erupted again, and Lila chuckled. “She’s a good actor. I’ll give her that.”

Darcy leaned toward me, her voice barely above a whisper. “I don’t know, Eve. This feels a little… intense.”

She wasn’t wrong. Serenia had a presence that filled the room, pulling every eye toward her. I crossed my arms over my chest, trying to remain detached. It was just a show, I told myself. None of this is real.

But despite myself, I couldn’t look away.

Serenia began calling individuals from the audience to the stage. Her voice dripped with empathy as she spoke to each of them, her tone soft and reassuring.

A man clutching a faded scarf broke into tears as Serenia spoke of his late wife. “She’s proud of you,” Serenia said, her words gentle but firm. “She knows you’ve kept your promise to visit her favorite beach every summer.”

Darcy sniffled beside me, dabbing at her eyes. “That’s actually… really sweet,” she said quietly.

“Or really rehearsed.” Lila’s judgment was clear in her whisper.

I tried to tune them out, focusing on the stage as a young woman trembled under Serenia’s attention.

Each story was crafted perfectly, though I couldn’t deny the comfort Serenia brought to those who seemed to believe her.

The psychic finished up her conversation with a woman who held onto her like a lifeline, gratitude radiating off her in waves as she dabbed at her eyes.

The applause that followed was loud and genuine.

I sat back, trying to ease the tension curling in my gut. This was just theater. None of this proved that what I saw was real.

Serenia returned to the center of the stage, her movements fluid and deliberate.

“And now,” she said, her hand sweeping across the theater, “we have one final guest to welcome tonight.”

The crowd murmured, heads turning to follow her line of sight. I glanced around nervously, the weight of her words settling on my chest like a stone.

Then her gaze locked onto mine.

“She doesn’t believe,” Serenia said, her voice almost playful, though her eyes pinned me in place. “That’s okay. The Divide calls to her anyway,” her lips curved into the smallest, knowing smile. “Eve, it’s time you had the answers you seek.”

My stomach plummeted.

The applause swelled around me, but it felt distant, like I was underwater. My hands gripped the armrests of my seat as though letting go would send me tumbling into a void.

“Is she talking about you?” Darcy whispered, her voice tight. “You don’t have to go if you don’t want to, Eve.”

Her hand hovered near my arm like she wasn’t sure whether to hold me in place or shield me from what came next. But before I could answer, Lila leaned over, grinning like this was the most entertaining thing she’d seen all week.

“Are you kidding? You have to go. This is your moment!” She grabbed my other arm before I could fully process what was happening. My legs threatened to buckle as she hauled me up and shoved me forward.

“Go on,” she urged, waving me off like it was no big deal. “Call her out while you’re up there!”

The spotlight swung toward me, blinding and suffocating even as I tried to shield my face. Every eye in the room felt like it was boring into me, heavy and unrelenting.

This wasn’t happening.

The applause grew louder as I stepped into the center aisle. I cast a glance back at my friends—Darcy’s worried face, Lila’s eager thumbs up—but neither of them felt like a lifeline. They were watching me, waiting for me to move.

I swallowed hard, my legs carrying me toward the stage almost of their own accord. My skin prickled with the heat of the lights, the smell of incense growing stronger.

Serenia waited, her expression calm, patient. Her hand extended toward me as I climbed the creaky steps, my knees trembling with every motion.

“Please welcome Eve, everyone,” she said softly over the final crash of the applause before it settled. Her voice wrapped like a lullaby with teeth. “You’ve been carrying questions too big for the world to answer.”

Serenia gestured toward the two armchairs, the same ones where guest after guest had poured their hearts out all night. The soft velvet upholstery and warm lighting made them seem inviting, but they might as well have been electric chairs.

I hesitated, the weight of every eye in the theater pressing down on me. “How…” My voice was barely audible, trembling as I forced the words out. “How do you know my name?”

Serenia’s serene smile didn’t falter as she guided me to the chair. She moved to sit across from me, her flowing garments pooling around her like a shimmering cascade of water.

“Names have power, my dear. And yours has echoed for longer than you realize,” her words made my skin crawl, but before I could respond, her gaze softened, a glimmer of pity shining in her silvered eyes.

“There is someone,” she said, her voice dropping to a near whisper, “someone who has longed to speak with you. Someone from your past who you miss dearly.”

I recoiled as though she’d slapped me.

“What are you talking about?” My voice cracked, and I gripped the armrests tightly, willing myself not to bolt. I’d come here for answers, I couldn’t back out now even if I felt like my skin was crawling in her presence.

The audience’s quiet ripple of laughter reminded me where I was, that there was an audience clinging to my every word. The world pressed in as Serenia studied me, a sea of strangers dissecting every flicker of doubt on my face. Anger flared within me, hot and sour.

Serenia leaned forward, taking my hand in hers. Her skin was cool and dry, a sharp contrast to the clamminess of my own. I cringed, trying to pull away, but her hold was firm. I hadn’t come here to play along—I’d come for answers, not whatever twisted performance this was becoming.

“Your mother,” she whispered, her words threading their way into my ears like a chilling breeze. “I can sense her trying to reach you from the beyond.”

“Wait—no,” my breath caught. “My mom’s not…”

Serenia tilted her head, her expression unreadable. “I do not control the messages I’m sent. I sense her sorrow, for having left you too soon.”

My heart stopped. I yanked my hand away as if burned.

“No, you’re wrong! She’s not dead!”

Serenia stood, her expression calm, but her eyes filled with something almost pleading. “Eve. The threads that bind us are—”

“No!” I cut her off. “You’re lying. You have to be lying.”

“I know the truths that whisper through the Divide, and your path has been marked by fire. There is more you need to—”

“No!” I shouted, my voice breaking.

Someone gasped, and I heard another mutter, “Is she okay?”

The crowd’s excitement soured into tension, the whispers turning jagged.

The walls of the theater felt like they were closing in, the spotlight glaring, the crowd churning like a storm of whispers.

I turned and ran, bolting off the side of the stage. Behind me, the theater erupted—gasps, questions, applause, but I didn’t look back.