Halloween Night, He Mistook My Death for a Prank Chapter 03

Backstage, the curtain pulled open.

Tyler, the basketball captain, walked in with two Athletics Club guys to dismantle the guillotine.

He grabbed my arm and tried to pull me up—my head lurched forward.

“Wait!”

My head!

I panicked, waving my hands wildly to stop them. But my hands passed right through their bodies.

Tyler just felt how heavy I was and frowned. “Sleeping this deep? Not even trying to help?”

One of the guys laughed.

“Still sulking over Nolan. She’s really committed to the corpse bit tonight.”

They lifted me out of the guillotine, one on each side.

The moment the wooden stock released, my head snapped backward, and the rigid collar cracked right down the middle.

Tyler stumbled back.

“Why is her neck so soft?”

Sienna’s face went pale for a second, but she quickly walked over and rewrapped the black lace around my neck.

“She must’ve struggled too hard and broke the collar.”

“Get her in the casket. Show’s about to start.”

My body was lifted onto the crystal display casket lined with black roses. The black lace pressed against the wound, holding my nearly detached head in place.

I floated beside the casket and saw my own eyes, half-open.

No light in them. No reflection of them. Like an old doll abandoned in a display window.

When Nolan came back, he caught Tyler about to close the lid.

“What are you doing?”

Tyler blinked.

“We can’t leave her stuck in the guillotine forever, can we? She still has to play the corpse, right?”

“But something’s really off with her…”

Nolan lifted the lid and bent down to pick me up.

His hand slowly cradled the back of my neck.

If he just lifted those layers of black lace.

If he just looked carefully one more time.

I held my breath—the breath I no longer had.

But the moment his fingers touched my neck, the screen outside suddenly played my voice.

It was a pre-recorded interview from Campus Media.

On screen, I stood in the empty auditorium, smiling nervously.

The host asked, “What matters most to you about this showcase?”

I instinctively looked off-camera at Nolan.

“Not the award. Not how many people show up.”

“It’s that I spent three months on this, and he promised to be there with me till the end.”

On screen, Nolan smiled and reached for my hand.

“Don’t worry. Whatever happens tonight, I’m right here.”

Backstage went quiet.

Sienna’s smile froze.

Nolan’s hand stopped mid-air.

After a long moment, he pressed my veil down and said quietly,

“I didn’t take care of your feelings today.”

“After the show, I’ll take you to that French bistro dinner you like.”

He pressed his forehead against mine.

His familiar scent was so close I thought I could still hold him like before.

“Avery, don’t actually shut me out.”

I looked into his red-rimmed eyes.

It was the first time all night he’d admitted, in front of Sienna, that I’d been wronged.

But that “I’m right here”—it was still too late.

The auditorium erupted into a deafening countdown.

“Five!”

“Four!”

“Three!”

Nolan placed me back in the casket.

Before the lid closed, he bent down and kissed my forehead.

“Wait for me to call your name.”

“This time, I’ll get you out.”

DONG—

The auditorium’s grand clock struck.

8:00 p.m.

The Halloween frenzy was about to begin.