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The premiere was a success. The seats were all booked, the applause was thundering, the exhaustion was both hard-earned and overwhelming. The curtain fell; everyone started scuttling to their dressing rooms, the tension falling away gradually.
January was almost at his door when he heard a scream. He ran back to see Terry, big, gentle Terry, trembling and pale. A few other cast members were already trying to calm him down. Terry was saying “I swear, I saw someone, taller than me, gliding on the floor and then disappearing! They went right through the back wall!”
January went around the wall to check, just in case. He almost shouted but caught himself, only letting out a tiny, undignified squeak. There was indeed something here, but it was just a costume, on a hanger, probably forgotten there by a tired wardrobe attendant. It looked a bit like a broken puppet. But it wasn't scary, and it certainly wasn't moving. The weird thing was, this costume has nothing to do with their current production. It looked like it belonged in a Chinese folk tale. It was all flowing silk and bright colors, and a beautifully crafted wig with long dark hair was looped around the collar. He carefully collected the whole costume and left it in the wardrobe room.
The next day, Terry looked like his usual, bouncing puppy self, so January didn’t elaborate on last night’s findings. No need to remind him of his small breakdown. Then Annie went onstage one hour before curtain and slipped in a pool of blood. Luckily, she didn't sprain anything, but she was rightfully shocked. Nobody seemed hurt, so the stage manager cleaned it up and they got on with the show; questions could wait. After the performance, January went to ask Annie if she was alright, if she needed someone to walk her back to her place tonight, but she looked at him quizzically and told him she was fine, no need. Nobody was talking about the incident. He didn’t insist.
January felt something tugging at his wrist when he opened the door to leave the theater. A strand of dark hair was caught in the handle and had managed to get around his hand. He unwound it gently and looked around for a bin. There was none in sight, so he pocketed it, and went home.
January woke up with a start. He felt... watched, like someone was in the room with him. The morning light was filtering through the shutters and showed him he was alone. He couldn’t shake the feeling all morning so, instead of enjoying his day off, like he should, he went back to the theater to clear his mind with some light practice.
The place was calm, with a few people milling about, making sure all the scenery looked pristine. He passed the door to the wardrobe storage room and saw Emma and James touching up some costumes. He asked them about the “ghost outfit” he left the other night, but they didn’t seem to understand what he was talking about. He was starting to feel like he was losing his mind. It was a bit creepy and complicated for a prank. The people in this company were decent; he hoped nobody would enjoy that kind of thing.
When January stopped to catch his breath, it was already dark. A whole afternoon had passed without him noticing. There had been a few dancers around when he had started his routine, but he was the only one now. He looked around and saw someone watching him. They were smiling.