Page 82 of Stay Scared

“You’re right about one thing,” I say.

Ash looks at me. Rook waits.

“The other guests should have had what I had. They still should.”

Rook lowers his voice. “And you believe that repairs the house?”

“I think your argument stopped mattering when you stabbed Evan and put Mark in that chair.”

“I am showing you what the product really is.”

“You’re holding people hostage because Ash threw you out.”

The distortion disappears for half a second. Cade hears it and looks toward the monitor. Good. Rook’s control has seams too. His hand appears on the theater feed. He grips the back of Mark’s chair and drags it toward the stage. Mark shifts with the movement and works one wrist deeper beneath the restraint. The chair stops beneath the torn movie screen.

“Be careful, Salem.”

More of Rook’s natural voice slips through.

“Defiance changes the route.”

A mechanism engages beneath the theater floor. Metal bars rise across the aisle behind Mark while another barrier drops near the stage. Ash reaches for the physical map.

“Old projection exit.”

Owen moves beside him.

“West service tunnel.”

Rook answers before either man can move.

“I know both.”

Every path leading toward the theater turns black. The point lands cleanly this time. Rook does not merely know their computer system. He knows the old building beneath it. Cade sets the skull mask on the desk.

“You wanted us without the costumes.”

“I wanted to remove the excuse that this was performance.”

Cade wipes one bloody hand across his vest. “You wanted somebody watching.”

“I have someone.”

The monitor divides. Mark remains in the center while other screens show staff confined inside dressing rooms, equipment bays, and the old arcade. A plastic bin filled with surrendered phones sits outside one locked room. Most of the employees appear unhurt. None of them can leave. The missing staff finally have an answer. They did not disappear. Rook moved them through Crimson Night using instructions they believed came from Ash, then locked them inside containment areas built into the attraction. Ash scans the feeds.

“You sent them into containment zones.”

“They followed instructions carrying your voice.”

“You copied my voice.”

“I improved its usefulness.”

Ash moves closer to the microphone.

“Release them.”

Rook steps into the theater frame behind Mark.