It was the same polite, dubious tone he had taken when she’d asked him to confirm that he’d seen the hanging boy in the dell. If he hadn’t shared her experience this week, there was no way she was going to say anything more. She’d just end up feeling crazy. I could have sworn I knew a man who I’d apparently never seen. I totally forgot a woman I should have known. I’ve been waking up with nightmares that feel way more real than nightmares. They feel like things that have really happened. They feel like things that are going to happen.

But if anyone had been acting mad, it was Vincent – sitting at his computer, obsessing over those photos of nothing. He’d almost convinced her that there was the figure of a girl in there.

‘That show affected me a lot,’ was all she said. Affected us, she wanted to say. They’re still messing with our minds.

‘I didn’t think you’d worry about me.’

Petra was relieved he’d pulled the conversation back from her hallucinations and delusions. ‘It’s alright. I knew nothing about you. I know not everything’s about me. I’m just so sorry about Beccie. It was none of my business.’

‘It’s not that. It was just hard to tell you about her. That weekend was the first time I felt happy in a while.’

‘I get it. I really do.’

‘I didn’t want to spoil the mood. But at the same time, I couldn’t pretend Beccie didn’t exist. I think when I imagined her in the second show, it was just my mind telling me not to try to sweep her under the rug. That she’s always with me.’

Petra shifted closer to Vincent, the blanket rumpling as she moved, and grabbed his hand. Nobody watching now, no external judgement about how she should act. He squeezed hers back. ‘I understand.’ Also, she was so relieved to hear him say he’d imagined Beccie in the warehouse. ‘So, Ellis… you realised he was just trying to use you?’

‘Yeah. What he says can’t be true. Anyway,’ he said, standing abruptly and leaving the room. He appeared in the window of the control room and pressed a button. His voice came over a speaker in the corner of the room. ‘Tonight’s for celebration.’ He hit a couple of keys and a mellow dub beat came rumbling out of the walls around her. ‘Brook Street’s Greatest Hits.’

As Vincent came back around to the performance room, Petra scanned the walls and noticed all the speakers embedded there. ‘You can’t leave all this equipment for Worthing,’ she told him. ‘He doesn’t deserve it.’

‘I’ll take what I can in the morning.’