I'll Share With You My Heartbeat

four

"What about me?"

The ravenhead shrugged. "Wait for me or you're free to leave. It's your call."

"I want to go in with you," Lennon insisted, readjusting the camera bag strap on his shoulder. Leaves casted shadows down the side of his lightly freckled face. "I've never been inside an empty theater before. I want to see what it's like."

"Lennon." He was still unfamiliar with the name. "You do know you'll be breaking in, right? You're not above the law."

"You're a ghost!" the chestnut boy answered enthusiastically, "You can bust me out when that happens." His cheeks heightened with a smile.

"Oh, no," Kieran chuckled nervously, hands raised in surrender, "I'm not invincible, Lennon. I'm just here to collect my afterlife ticket and I'll be on my way."

The boy's eyes grew to the size of saucers when Kieran leaked vital information. "Afterlife ticket?"

The ravenhead sealed his lips after that, swiveling around to abandon Lennon.

"Wait—" Lennon pounced after him but was blocked by the solid surface Kieran disappeared through.

The chestnut boy slumped onto the ground, back against the door as a minute dragged by. Well, this wasn't the first time he'd been abandoned. He began counting every white car that passed by, burying his disappointment deep within him. But then—

"Over here."

Lennon perked up, searching for the source of that voice and realizing Kieran was waving at him through an open window nearly two meters off the ground.

"Think you can climb this?" he asked, pointing down at the high stack of trash bins, baskets, and buckets.

"Yes!" Lennon exclaimed, not wanting to waste another second before Kieran could change his mind. Stumbling over his feet, he clutched the indents of the brick wall and hauled themself up.

"Please be careful," the ravenhead winced.

It took a good thirty seconds and a few scratches for Lennon to throw himself into the building, landing not so gracefully on the hardboard floor.

"Are you okay? I was gonna open the door for you from the inside but that didn't work." Kieran crouched down next to him, holding a hand out to help the boy up. "That's an awful lot of scratches."

Stupidly, Lennon reached for it, only to erupt into muted laughter when he realized his mistake. "Socks has done worse."

"Another reason why you shouldn't keep that beast."

Lennon found his balance, checked the state of his camera, and finally scanned around the room. He spotted himself in the large mirror on the wall, lined with round light bulbs. Chairs tucked neatly under each station and powder sprinkled on the floor.

"Stage makeup," Kieran elaborated.

Lennon raised his camera and a satisfying click punctured the silence.

"Come on. We don't have all day."

Kieran moved with a purpose, eyes set on his tasks while Lennon wandered aimlessly after him. It was quite the labyrinth, the two of them peaking into hollow rooms every few steps. The white walls were gray with the lack of illumination and the carpet cushioned their footsteps. Though Kieran had no problem not making a sound.

"I wonder what happens during the opening days," the chestnut boy noted to himself.

"You mean opening nights. Shows, performances, choirs. It's buzzing with preparation most the time," Kieran responded without much thought.