Kristie Dale Sanders

Kirsten felt the telltale sensation.

She was being watched.

But a theatre isn’t sentient… right?

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Neglected for decades, the Mystic Theatre has been left to rot beside expensive Manhattan real estate. Now, nearly restored to its Broadway splendor, it is slated to reopen with a hot new show: Toil & Trouble.

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But something feels wrong… and ever since she’s been moonlighting as a fortune teller across from the Mystic, Kirsten’s night terrors have returned.

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Unable to help herself, she turns toward the theatre to stare at its ornate facade.

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She blinks.

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The scene before her is no longer the modern urban city but a field, a barn, and a house clustered around a large oak sentinel.

 

Hanging from the branches are two bodies, “strange fruit,” and a solitary figure stomping and wailing beneath its boughs. Filled with rage, he turns, locks eyes on Kirsten, and begins to advance toward her.​

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She tries desperately to shake off the vision.

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Suddenly, the shop’s entrance bell brings her back to the present, but there in front of her is a man, standing in her doorway.