The roof had partially collapsed, allowing the rain to drip steadily onto the blackened floorboards.

Each drip sounded like a ticking clock in the absolute silence of the ruins.

Liam clicked his flashlight on, keeping the beam low, sweeping it across the ruined lobby.

The walls were covered in thick, bubbly black soot that came off in flakes where the rain had touched it.

“There,” Liam whispered, pointing the beam toward the floor.

In the thick layer of dust and wet soot, there were fresh footprints.

They were small, dragging prints, leading toward the main auditorium.

“Chloe,” I muttered, my chest tightening.

We followed the tracks, our footsteps making soft, squelching sounds on the damp, decayed wood.

The doorway to the auditorium was a wide, blackened archway.

Inside, the vast room was filled with shadows, the tall, broken arched windows letting in the faint, grey light of the stormy night.

“Look,” Liam whispered, stopping me with a hand on my shoulder.

At the far end of the room, near the ruined stage, a faint light flickered.

It wasn’t a flashlight.