Chapter 24 – Elise #3
The thought of stepping into the light without him made something inside her go cold.
“Kevin,” she said softly.
He stopped pacing.
The wig closet seemed to shrink around them: lace and pins, hairspray and panic, the muffled orchestra tuning beyond the walls.
“You’re important to me,” she said, gently but firmly.
His expression shifted. For once, he had no joke ready.
“You’re not just… part of the haunting,” she continued, voice tight. “You know that, right? You’re not a helpful prop. You’re not a weird little theatre feature I inherited. You’re my friend.”
Kevin blinked.
Elise looked back down before the emotion on his face could undo her completely. She pressed the last edge of lace into place with careful fingers.
“I am very much not giving you permission to vanish heroically tonight.”
Kevin cleared his throat, though he did not have one.
“Well,” he said, voice rough around the edges. “Far be it from me to ignore directorial feedback.”
A laugh escaped her, shaky and wet.
“I mean it,” she said. “I’ll need your help out there. Being Elizabeth? I… I can’t do that alone.”
Kevin straightened like she’d given him a job title and a badge. “You won’t. I’ll be with you,” he said, the flicker of a grin on his near-transparent face. “It’s about time you were center stage. You were born for this.”
Elise gave him a look.
“Do not make me cry after Marcie finished my eyeliner.”
“Fine,” he said. “Then go knock their socks off.”
Elise let out a shaky breath and stood.
When she opened the door of the wig closet, she nearly walked straight into a wall of people.
Nick was first, fixing her with a grin that didn’t quite hide the worry behind it. “Break a leg. But like… not literally. We’re out of understudies.”
Marcie appeared at her elbow, fussing with the fall of Elise’s sleeve. “Your collar’s crooked. You’re lucky I like you.”
Bex pressed a folded tissue into a hidden pocket in Elise’s costume. “For the tears. Yours, ours—who knows.”
Casper and Jasper flanked her like matching bodyguards, muttering something about grounding vibes and spell security detail.
Jen pushed into the circle with her headset half on. “You’ve got two, then it’s curtain up.” Her voice softened. “You’re going to be amazing, you know.”
Elise felt it before she understood it: how the circle closed, quiet and sure. Not with fanfare. With presence.
The photo and the watch were placed in her hands by Talia, who just squeezed her wrist once, hard.
And then they were all waiting.
Not for a speech. Just for her to be sure.
Elise glanced back at Kevin, watching from the wig closet, translucent and proud and still too faint for her liking.
Her fingers curled around the watch.
“I used to think the best way to survive was to stay behind the curtain,” she said, eyes flicking to each of them. “To help from the sidelines. To never be the story.”
Her gaze moved over them all. The watch pulsed warm in her palm.
“But tonight… I think the only way forward is through it. And I’m not doing this alone. You’re with me.”
Someone sniffled. Probably Casper. Possibly Nick.
Elise smiled—just a little. “Let him come. I’m ready.”
Everyone scattered—except Graham.
He stayed, reaching for Elise’s hands like he was anchoring her to Earth.
“You know,” he said, in that quiet, earnest tone that completely wrecked her defenses, “I think you might be the bravest person I’ve ever met.”
Elise tried to deflect the weight of it with a smile. “Let’s not get ahead of ourselves. I haven’t even stepped onstage. You might regret those words in about fifteen minutes when you’re sharing a stage with me.”
But he just smiled. “Then I’ll be there. If you stumble, I’ll catch you. If you miss a line, I’ll cover it. We all will. There was a full cast huddle while you were changing. Everyone’s on board. Choreography, blocking, cues—we’ve got it covered. You just focus on the lines and the singing.”
His thumb brushed over her knuckles. “We’ll make sure you shine.”
Relief spread through her like sunlight through fog. She hadn’t realized how tightly she’d been holding herself together until just now. The weight lifted from her shoulders—not gone, but shared.
“Kevin will be there too,” she added, voice a little steadier. “He’ll help.”
“Perfect,” Graham replies, like that settled everything. He offered his hand. “Then come on, Elizabeth Bennet. Let’s get you to your debut.”
They passed through the green room. Lark was still perched on the couch, her ankle iced, phone in hand. She glanced up and flipped the screen toward Elise.
Cici’s face lit up the screen. “You’ve got this, babe. Be brilliant, banish this fucker, don’t die.”
“Solid priorities,” Elise said, her voice hitching on a laugh.
As she turned to go, Lark spoke up, voice dry but unmistakably clear: “Try not to ruin my reputation. Everyone out there still thinks you're me.”
Elise turned back.
Lark gave her a long look… then the barest wink. “And hey—go kick his spectral ass.”
Elise laughed and followed Graham up the stairs—toward the lights, toward the audience, toward whatever came next.