Dante found his Phantom of the Opera mask with cotton balls glued into the eyeholes on his kitchen counter. He found a small note under it that simply said Tonight, 8:00. But that was it. No further clues, no further explanations, and no hint at all of what to expect. He couldn’t spend the entire day thinking about it, but he couldn’t stop thinking about it either.
It wasn’t unusual for him to stay in the office until long after everybody else went home. It was expected from him, actually, and he didn’t mind because he genuinely liked his job. But he made sure to reach a reasonable stopping point by six, which allowed him to be home by seven, the mask heavy on his mind. The fact that he hadn’t had any contact with Noelle all day just heightened his sense of anticipation.
He was on his kn
