Paranelope, a ghost hunter who's been cancelled for faking evidence, must discover the truth behind a local cryptid in order to clear her name.
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Penelope, better known as the ghost hunter PARANELOPE to her millions of followers, has only ever want...
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The stage loomed large over the main street, straddling the median and overtaking both lanes. The whole monstrous setup glowed purple, the bright white lights of the stage bleeding through the long purple curtains that hung off the sides. Gunnar walked Penelope right up to the corner of it and swept the curtain aside before stepping back with a smile. It was a clear order: go inside.
"Thanks," Penelope muttered, stepping beneath his arm. It was better to be polite. She needed to stay on his good side.
"No, no, thank you," Gunnar said, letting the curtain fall behind him as he followed after. Behind the curtains, shaded from the light, it was even more purple. "For being so amenable." He led the way now, striding off into the crowded backstage area that was swarming with activity.
Penelope hurried to follow. "Just doing what was asked."
"Even so," Gunnar said with a light-hearted chuckle. "I've been pleasantly surprised. I wasn't quite sure you were going to play nice. For a while, I was worried you'd be a real pill and do something stupid, like go back there during the day." He laughed again, like that really would've been stupid.
She wanted to ask why, but she knew Gunnar wouldn't give her a straight answer. She hated how he talked, expertly circling the topic so that she knew exactly what he was talking about while anyone else who overheard would notice nothing amiss—like this all wasn't a deal with a devil and she hadn't witnessed him feed a man to a monster.
She wasn't even sure if he knew about that—about what she had seen—but even if he did, it wasn't like he was going to admit it. Maybe he didn't know, Penelope hoped. After all, there'd be no way he'd be making a deal with her if he did...
Or maybe he did and he had already—
"By the way," Gunnar said, slowing down to shoot a glance at her over his shoulder. He raised an eyebrow. "I haven't gotten your email."
Every muscle in her body tightened. She averted her gaze, doing her best to seem unbothered. "I-I wanted to wait to make sure it was all going to go how we agreed—"
