Chapter Two: The Theater That Did Not Exist

At nine the next morning, Shen Yao met the fourth person who had heard the whisper. Lin Mo was nine. She had collapsed during a children's theater rehearsal and now lay in bed as peacefully as if asleep. Her mother replayed the final video on her phone. Children in paper rabbit masks formed a circle. Lin Mo recited, "If the person in the dream wakes—" Static burst from the speakers. Every child turned toward the wings. Lin Mo fell. Beneath the noise, a woman whispered: Don't let her wake. Shen Yao replayed that second seven times. Each time, the voice seemed nearer. "What was the theater called?" she asked. "The Little Whale," Lin's mother answered. "No," the sleeping girl said. "The White Crow."