A Requiem at the Witching Hour (The Girl Who Sang #2)

Chapter 3

Steve chuckled as Luz crept past his security station followed closely by a fireman, a Princess Anna, a Spider-Man, and a... a white Spider-Man? He squinted, Oh wait, that's pink. There's a Spider-Girl? He'd have to ask Luz about that later. He hadn't read a comic book since he was in high school. He'd been enjoying his view of the event. Luz would check her phone then psyche herself up at the door, and run out, or stumble out—one time she rolled out which shocked him; he'd thought she tripped. She would bring in three or four kids and give them a little spiel that varied a bit. The majority had been about a terrifying creature in the Atrium, but he remembered hearing zombie king at least once, and werewolf chieftain a few times. He wasn't sure how Luz was making her story decisions, but every five or ten minutes she'd lead a group into the Atrium and he'd hear cheering and laughing soon afterward, so it seemed like the event was going well. It all looked a little ridiculous from where he was standing, but he knew he was "backstage", watching the performance from the wrong angle.

The adults accompanying the four children slowly walked behind their trick-or-treaters, glancing all around with expressions of amazement on their faces. He wondered what they were seeing. If she has a moment, I'll ask Luz for a tour. For now, he was on the clock, and would be for at least another hour. He'd been wearing a pair of Eda's machinist headphones while he was on duty that evening, and he'd grown to appreciate the amount of ambient audio they would pick up. He could easily hear muttered conversations from across the Rotunda if he cranked up the gain on his headset. He'd sauntered over to Emira's side earlier in the evening to lazily ask, "Everything all right here, ma'am?" to shut down one man growing frustrated with the registration process when Steve heard their conversation turn tense.

He turned back to his screens, checking each of the camera feeds highlighted by the motion sensors. Steve watched as costumed children scampered from one museum worker to the next, holding up their buckets or pillowcases for their next piece of candy. Only a few paper-craft Halloween decorations appeared on the cameras; Amity's song was generating most of the spooky atmosphere inside the building. He slipped the headphones off for a moment and the Rotunda darkened; a thick, gray mist swirled about his knees, clouds blotted the sky out the windows as flickering pools of candlelight appeared throughout the building, and low groans and creaks filled the air as the Museum settled and shifted all around them like a shipwreck battered by the sea. Steve chuckled and slipped the headphones back on, blinking away the haunted-house ambiance.

The upper floor cameras were showing ghostly black and white scenes where the daytime gallery lights had been extinguished. Only the north-side third-floor bridge showed any activity; he watched as Amity walked from one side of the bridge to the other, watching her wife lead the latest group through their shared experience. Her mouth was open as she vocalized, one arm gesturing out over the Atrium as she leaned on the railing. He smiled as he thought of how good those two were for each other, and tried to push down the twinge of heartache he felt for his raven-haired coworker.

He hadn't had a chance to talk to Lilith in person today, aside from their usual morning messaging and a waved greeting across the staff parking lot at lunchtime. He left a chicken caesar wrap on her desk because he was fairly certain she'd forgotten to bring anything for dinner. He could tell she was nervous about playing her part in this production but she had been adamant that if Edalyn can do it, so can I. She'd said so every day for the last two weeks leading up to this event. He warmed at the thought of the competitive fire in her eye. There wasn't much that made her strive harder than keeping up with her sister. She was usually so calm and collected, and he loved to see her get fired up. He'd found a few board games over the years that would draw out her competitive spirit, and he kept those in his office for when she was feeling down. He could see her now on a few of the Atrium cameras. When she wasn't standing still with her eyes closed, she had a soft smile on her face as she knelt to speak to the children. Steve grinned and thought, I'll have to congratulate her on a successful event.