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‘You’re good.’ She smiles, pressing a button that makes the gate swing open. ‘Go on ahead, you’re on the list.’

‘The list?’ I repeat.

She nods like this is the most normal thing in the world. ‘Yeah. Just head on in.’

Murmuring a thank you, I walk through the gates on legs that suddenly feel unsteady. The metal clicks shut behind me, sounding final in a way that sends a shiver up my spine.

He knew I’d be here. That I’d come back.

Part of me bristles at the assumption, slightly irked by his certainty. Another part feels thrilled that I was right in assuming the story was his way of communicating with me.

The park stretches out ahead of me, sounds of distant laughter and mechanical whirrs filling the air. I walk slowly, surveying my surroundings without meaning to, half-expecting him to step out from behind a prop or ride to scare me.

Every masked figure makes me look twice.

‘Here you are, yet again.’

His voice comes from behind me, deep and unmistakably his. I turn. Ash stands a few feet away, mask in place, dressed in a dark hoodie, his hands loose at his sides. His stare is locked on me, and I can tell he’s been anticipating this moment just as much as I have. Then, he removes the mask, and I barely dare to breathe. He’s still handsome. More than handsome, and familiar in a way that hits straight to my core. His gaze is unchanged, steady and a little too intense. His mouth too, the lines around its corners, the annoyingly sexy smirk curving his lips.

For a long second, neither of us moves.

‘You—’ I start, then stop, swallowing. ‘You set it up so I could get in for free?’

His mouth twitches. ‘Figured you’d want to come back. Thought I’d make it easier.’

‘You were talking to me? Through your stories?’

He nods, the corner of his mouth lifting ever so slightly. I’m painfully aware of the space between us. How easily it could be closed. How much history there is hovering between us, unresolved and heavy.

‘I wanted to see you,’ I admit, the truth slipping out before I can stop it.

His expression shifts then, something dark and soft all at once passing through his eyes.

‘I know,’ Ash says quietly. ‘I was hoping you would.’

The late afternoon light filters through the park, a golden glow painting everything deceptively gentle. Groups start to trickle in, lots of people in their late teens and early twenties. They enter in waves, laughing, the normalcy of it all almost jarring after the intensity of last night. The park is waking up again, shedding its stillness piece by piece.

Ash glances around, then back at me.

‘It’s about to get busy,’ he says, slowly inching his mask back onto his face. I feel an irritating flutter between my thighs because God damn, I did not realise I had a mask kink until now. ‘You okay sticking around?’

‘Yeah,’ I answer. ‘I don’t have anywhere else to be.’

His gaze lingers on me, that smirk still slanted across his mouth.

We start walking, not really deciding where we’re going. We fall in step easily, like we’ve done a thousand times before. I notice the way people look at him, nudging each other and speaking behind half-curled hands. He’s certainly famous around here, and I bet many people attend these Fright Nights simply to see him.

‘So,’ I say, needing to break the silence. ‘You just knew I’d come back, hey?’

‘Sure did.’

I glance at him. ‘You sound pretty confident there.’

‘I know you better than you know yourself, Bryn,’ he says, simply.

My mouth opens to respond, but no words come out. As the sun dips lower, lights flicker on one by one. The shadows stretch longer, the atmosphere becoming extremely eerie. Ash slows near the edge of a dark path. He stops walking. I do too, my heart thumping faster, as if it’s anticipating something.

‘I’m on shift now,’ he says.