Chapter 3

Back in the mansion, I felt like a ghost. I locked myself in my suite, a lavish cage with silk sheets and gilded furniture. When Artie came to my door that night, I told him I was sick. He grunted and left. I knew that excuse wouldn't last long.

The next day, a woman came to my room. She was thin, with a sharp, bobbed haircut and eyes that glittered with malice. Eleanor, the "Second Wife." A flapper whose star was fading.

"So, you're the new toy," she said, her voice dripping with contempt. "Don't get too comfortable. Artie gets bored easily."

She looked at the film canister on my dresser. "He gave you that? He promised it to me."

I didn't answer. I just stared at her until she sneered and left.

Later, there was a soft knock on my door. A young man stood there, holding a small toolbox. He was handsome, with kind eyes and a quiet demeanor.

"Ma'am. Mr. Gallo sent me to check the projector."

Each suite had its own small cinema, a ridiculous display of wealth. This was Leo, the projectionist.

He came in and went to work. He didn't speak much, but I could feel his eyes on the film canister. Finally, he couldn't help himself.

"Is that... The Seraph's Kiss?" he asked, his voice barely a whisper.

"It is," I said.

A flicker of life sparked in his eyes. "I've read about it. They say the director used a revolutionary new tinting process. I'd give anything to see it."

He started coming every day, using the projector as an excuse. We'd talk for hours. I learned he was college-educated but had to drop out to support his family after his father died in a factory accident. He was smart, with a mind that reached far beyond the walls of this mansion.

I found myself talking, really talking, for the first time since I'd arrived in this era. I told him things about film history, about chemical composition and restoration techniques, things a 1920s girl couldn't possibly know. I framed it as a hobby, things I'd read in obscure European magazines.

He was fascinated. "You see things differently, Clara. It's like you're from another world."

I just smiled. In those moments, with Leo, I felt a glimmer of my old self. A dangerous glimmer of connection in a world built on isolation and fear.