Page 211 of Stay Scared

The technician looks exhausted.

So does Mark.

Nobody is backing down.

A clear evidence sleeve finally appears. Mark watches the cassette disappear inside it. Only then does Owen let go of the camera.

Emergency crews spread through Crimson Night.

Locked rooms open one by one.

Performers emerge in torn costumes, smudged makeup, bare feet, and mask pieces still strapped around their heads. Someone wearing half a scarecrow outfit drops onto the curb outside the midway and starts crying before another actor sits beside him.

Near the old panic route, firefighters cut the chain Rook wrapped through the emergency exit.

The bolt cutters snap shut.

Metal falls.

Another crew passes us carrying Evan toward the gate.

Cade sees him.

His shoulders pull tight.

I twist away from the paramedic far enough to see the stretcher.

Evan is pale.

He is also awake.

His hand lifts when Cade says his name. “Still here.”

The medic beside him points toward the ambulance. “Save your energy.”

Evan’s hand drops.

Cade closes his eyes for a second.

When he opens them, he looks straight at me.

The paramedic presses gauze against my side. “Stay still.”

“I am.”

“You are twisting around like somebody is paying you for it.”

Apparently everybody tonight has opinions.

A woman in a torn nurse costume walks past Ash and stops. She recognizes him when she sees him without the mask.

“You told us to evacuate.”

Ash looks at her. “No, I didn’t.”

“You used the Voice.”

“Rook did.”