Page 94 of Specters & Spotlights

Nick snorted. “You and your ‘slow’ nonsense. Can’t relate.”

He leaned back with a sigh, the moment of levity settling into something gentler. “Still… he does look at you like you’re the only person in the room.”

Her fingers paused briefly, warmth flickering across her cheeks. “Yeah,” she said softly. “I know.”

A beat passed. Then Nick clapped his hands once, brisk. “Anyway! From steamy to spooky—did you notice tonight was blessedly free of ghostly hijinks, or was that just me?”

Elise paused in the middle of handling a curler. “No, you’re right. It’s been quiet. Too quiet. Like… the ghosts are hunkering down.”

Nick made a face. “Cute. Like spectral squirrels before a storm.”

She smiled thinly. “I’ll be glad when we’re out of here. One more night.”

“Preach,” Nick said. “I’m mostly hyped for the cast party. We’ve got private rooms at that karaoke place everyone raves about—allegedly peak vibes. I invited Marco.”

“Oh?” Elise raised an eyebrow. “And what happens when we hit the road again? Is he just your city-specific fling?”

Nick hesitated. “Normally? Yeah. But this one might be different.” He shrugged. “Not making any promises. Just... seeing where it goes. Like a cool breeze. Or a well-placed high note,” he said with a flourish.

Elise looked up from her brush, blinking into the now-still backstage. “Huh. We’re alone.”

Nick made a dramatic show of glancing around. “And thus begins the horror movie portion of our evening.”

She snorted and reached for her phone. “I talked to Cici last night—got her up to speed on our ghostly cameo during the quick change.” She looked up at Nick. “She’s been doing some digging today. Thinks she might have figured something out.”

Nick perked up immediately. “Ooh. Time for our favorite part: Witchy FaceTime.”

Elise rolled her eyes affectionately and propped her phone up against the mirror, adjusting the angle. “Kevin, you’re in on this too,” she added aloud.

As the call connected, Cici appeared on screen—curled in a wide porch chair, a tiny kitten curled up contentedly in her lap. The warm glow of string lights wrapped around the porch beams cast a cozy golden halo around her.

Her face lit up when she saw them. “Hey, weirdos. How was the show?”

“Quiet,” Elise and Nick said in near unison.

“Well, that’s something,” Cici said, exhaling. “I’ve been talking to a few folks in my circles, trying to piece things together. And I might—just might—have a theory.”

Nick and Kevin leaned in closer, while Elise picked up her curlers to start winding and pinning segments of hair.

Cici leaned closer to the camera, her tone shifting slightly—more measured, more serious. “I’m not completely sure yet, but… it might be a specter.”

Nick tilted his head. “Is that, like, a pretentious ghost?”

Elise squinted. “Specter as in... spooky old-English poetry kind of specter?”

Cici nodded slowly. “It’s similar to a ghost, yes. It’s of the spirit world, and it carries an imprint of a soul—maybe even a piece of the real thing. But a specter isn’t just some leftover memory haunting a space.”

She paused, scratching the cat behind the ears as if steadying herself.

“A specter is made. Summoned. It doesn’t just linger—it’s created, often unintentionally. Born from obsession, grief, hatred… anything strong enough to shape the energy into form. It has purpose. Focus. It’s here for something.”

Kevin gave an ominous shiver. “Great. A ghost with ambition.”

“They’re rare,” Cici added. “There’s not a lot out there about them. But the little I could find? They’re powerful. And dangerous. This… this is not your run-of-the-mill ghost flicking light switches. They act. They chase.”

Elise worked a curler through the damp ends of the rain wig, her fingers moving on instinct. “I guess that explains why it hasn’t been following the usual ghost rules, right?”

Cici nodded. “Exactly. I don’t think a specter is bound to one place or a personal object, like most spirits are. It’s bound to… intention. It moves with purpose.”