Chapter 97: The Fall Festival, Part Twelve
Faye’s hand remained extended between them.
A piece of candy rested lightly between her fingers, its wrapper already peeled away. The sweet scent reached Cyrus before he had fully processed what she was doing, mixed with the faint clean fragrance that always seemed to cling to Faye’s clothes.
He paused.
Her bangs hid most of her expression, just as his own hair kept people from seeing too much of his face. For a second, neither of them moved.
Cyrus lifted one hand to accept the candy.
Faye placed it in his palm.
She had almost brought it directly to his mouth.
The thought struck her a beat too late, and warmth climbed into her ears. She had only wanted to do something for him after he gave her the candy. That was all. It was not supposed to look strange.
"Thank you for sharing it," Cyrus said.
"You are welcome," Faye replied quietly.
Her voice was so soft that Cyrus nearly smiled.
Maybe it was an older-sister habit. Faye spent so much time looking after Miles and Lena that she probably did not always notice when the same instinct slipped into her interactions with other people.
The tips of her ears had turned pink beneath her hair.
When she unwrapped the next piece of candy for herself, her fingertips shook almost too lightly to notice. Cyrus did notice, but he did not mention it.
The candy was sweet.
It also cooled slightly against his tongue, a side effect of resting in his cold hand for too long. Cyrus let the flavor dissolve slowly while he kept one eye on the entrance line.
A boy standing at the front had watched the entire exchange.
He had come to the haunted house alone, paid his ticket, and expected nothing worse than fake blood, plastic limbs, and classmates jumping out of the dark.
Instead, he had been forced to witness two quiet students sharing candy across a ticket table.
The boy looked away with the expression of someone who had been personally wronged.
Apparently, visiting a haunted house alone was not enough humiliation for one afternoon.
Cyrus checked the line again.
The next group had entered, leaving a brief gap before more students stepped up to the table. While no one stood directly in front of them, he leaned slightly toward Faye.
"Have you figured out what flavor you like best?"
Faye blinked.
She understood what he meant after a moment. He had asked her nearly the same question earlier in the week, before bringing the two small cakes to her house.
"I think I prefer strawberry," she said.
Cyrus nodded.
"That is good to know. You can try the other flavors too."
Faye lowered her eyes.
The words should have been simple. They were simple. Yet something in her expression dimmed for an instant before settling into a quieter warmth.
Strawberry had been the answer she gave because it sounded safe. She had not been sure whether she truly preferred it or whether she had only named the first choice that came to mind.
Cyrus had noticed the hesitation.
He had not pressured her to explain it. He had only brought both flavors anyway.
Faye held the small piece of candy between her fingers before placing it in her own mouth.
"Which part of the comic did you reach?" she asked.
Cyrus looked over at her.
"The part where the main character finally reaches the mountain fortress," he said. "I think the next Chapter is going to explain why the older brother disappeared."
Faye’s eyes brightened slightly.
"That section gets better after that," she said. "The story starts showing more of the past."
Cyrus gave her a suspicious look.
"You are trying to make me read faster."
"I would not do that," Faye said, though the corners of her mouth moved with the smallest hint of amusement.
"You definitely would."
Faye did not deny it.
The line continued moving.
Students came out through the back door laughing, yelping, or loudly accusing their friends of abandoning them inside. New groups stepped through the front curtain after paying. Cyrus handled the money, kept the order straight, and directed people toward the entrance whenever the gap allowed it.
The work became easier once he and Faye started talking about the comic.
Faye explained which characters mattered later without giving away too much. Cyrus asked why one of the villains had spent so many Chapters acting like an idiot if he was supposed to be dangerous. Faye said that the villain was meant to be irritating, which Cyrus considered a convincing explanation.
The conversation made the shift pass faster.
After a while, Cyrus looked toward Faye again.
"Are you thirsty?"
"I am all right for now," Faye said.
Cyrus picked up the bottled sweet drink Audra had placed on the table earlier.
He had ignored it until now.
The bottle was sealed. The label had not been tampered with, at least not visibly. Still, Cyrus held it a little away from his face before twisting the cap.
The bottle opened with a sharp hiss.
Nothing sprayed across him.
That was already better than expected.
He looked at Faye and held it out.
"You can have this if you want."
Faye accepted it with both hands.
"Thank you for thinking of me."
Cyrus gave a small shake of his head.
She had thanked him several times already.
It was not a bad habit, exactly. Still, Faye said thank you with enough sincerity each time that it made Cyrus feel as though he had done more than hand her a drink or switch seats.
The line outside the haunted house had not shortened much.
Their replacement students were late, which meant neither Cyrus nor Faye could leave yet. Cyrus kept checking the back door, while Faye watched the flow of people through the entrance.
Then the curtain shifted.
Audra stepped out.
The white costume caught Cyrus off guard again.
He had seen it all day. He knew it was only fabric over her uniform. He knew she had chosen it for the haunted-house promotion and auditorium performance.
That did not stop his chest from tightening when she appeared in the doorway.
The pale robe, silver ribbons, and calm expression still brought back the same unpleasant jolt. It was not rational. Cyrus understood that. His body simply had not caught up.
Faye noticed.
She had been about to say something about the comic, but the slight stiffness in Cyrus’s posture made her stop. His hand had paused above the cash box, and his attention had fixed on Audra before he seemed to realize it.
Audra walked toward the table.
The hallway reacted immediately.
Students in line shifted aside. A few visitors whispered to each other. Some looked disappointed that the white-costumed girl had come out of the haunted house instead of staying inside.
They had waited in line hoping she would appear.
Audra did not seem to care.
Faye spoke first.
"You worked hard today, Audra."
"It was manageable," Audra said.
Her attention moved to the table.
The sweet drink was now in front of Faye.
A small change passed through Audra’s expression, so slight that most people would have missed it. Cyrus only noticed because he had spent the entire day watching for signs that Audra might do something strange again.
Audra turned toward the hall.
"Have Iris and Owen not returned yet?"
The shift rotation followed the classroom seating chart. Cyrus and Faye were among the later pairs, and their hour at the table brought the day close to five in the afternoon.
Before either of them could answer, Owen’s voice carried down the hallway.
"I am sorry that I am late!"
He appeared a few seconds later, jogging toward the table with a notebook tucked under one arm.
Audra looked past him.
"Where is Iris?"
"I am not sure," Owen said, slowing to catch his breath. "We did not come back together."
"That is fine," Audra replied. "You can manage the line for now."
Owen nodded.
"I can take over until she gets here."
A few moments later, Iris arrived from the opposite end of the hallway.
"I apologize for the delay," she said. "Something held me up longer than expected."
Her breathing was slightly uneven, but she had already pushed her glasses back into place and regained her usual composed expression.
"Owen and I will take over now," Iris said. "You two can head out."
Then she turned toward the students still waiting in line.
"Our haunted house is closing for the day," she announced. "We need time to check the setup and make adjustments before tomorrow. Thank you for coming by."
Disappointment moved through the line.
Most of it had little to do with the haunted house itself.
"I wanted to see the snow ghost again," someone complained under their breath.
"I saw her once inside," another student said. "I was hoping she would show up one more time."
A girl near the front smiled to herself as she stepped away.
The haunted house had been fun, but watching a beautiful girl play a ghost was even better. She had imagined getting startled near the right person and grabbing someone’s arm by accident.
Even a fake scare sounded appealing when the person causing it looked like Audra.
The line dispersed gradually.
Cyrus saw that his shift was over and decided to leave before anyone found another task for him. He had heard there would be fireworks later in the evening, and he wanted to watch them before heading to The Full Moon Lounge for work.
He had almost slipped away when Owen noticed him.
"Cyrus, did you ever try our haunted house?" Owen asked.
Cyrus stopped.
Owen held the notebook open in one hand, looking as though he planned to write down feedback from anyone who had survived the route.
"I will try it tomorrow," Cyrus said.
"You do not need to wait until tomorrow," Audra said.
Her voice came from beside the classroom door.
Cyrus looked over.
Audra had already turned toward the dark entrance.
"I have time right now," she continued. "You can go through once and tell us whether anything needs fixing."
Owen looked pleased by the suggestion.
"That would help," he said. "You know how the room was built, so you might notice problems other visitors would miss."
Cyrus considered the curtain-covered doorway.
He was not afraid of the haunted house.
That was what he told himself.
People jumping out from behind cardboard walls did not count as real fear. It was simply pointless when everyone involved knew the monster was a classmate wearing cheap makeup.
He also knew most of the layout. He had helped carry the supplies. He had watched the walls go up. He knew where the fishing lines were, where the plastic hands were hidden, and where students were supposed to crouch behind the curtains.
That should make the route boring.
It should not make it worse.
Cyrus looked at the entrance again.
The only real question was when one of his classmates would decide to jump out and scream directly at him.
He exhaled.
"Fine," Cyrus said. "I can take a look."
Audra stepped through the entrance curtain first.
Owen turned toward Faye.
"Do you want to go in too?" he asked.
Faye hesitated.
The dark room had looked much more unsettling after the class finished it. She knew the props were fake, knew the people inside were classmates, and knew nobody would actually hurt her.
That did not make the idea of walking through it alone very appealing.
Cyrus looked toward her.
"You can come with me," he said.