Sebastian
The Studio Tour
Ididn’t look back after we split ways with Skye. I was on a mission—and a timer. My call time was just as early as hers. But...a small detour wouldn’t hurt.
“I feel like a tourist,” Evie giggled, her head whipping from side to side, admiring all the old, infamous movie sets.
“Well, consider this an exclusive tour. No cameras, please.”
Everything was so close together, we reached the Bates Motel in minutes. I’d been here more than a dozen times, but I still enjoyed seeing it just as much as I had the first time. It was part of movie history, and I got to see it up close. I got to stand where my fucking heroes stood.
“Can we go in?” Evie’s eyes lit up, pleading for me to let her go wild.
I gestured her forward.
She let go of my hand and rushed ahead.
“I mean, if you find one that works, sure.” I shrugged, doubting that any of the handles would turn.
Evie flew down the line, trying all the doors but finding none of them functioning the way she’d hoped. “Boo,” she moaned as she made it to the last door.
“You can peek through the windows,” I offered, feeling a little bad she didn’t get what she’d wanted. She cupped her hands over her eyes like binoculars and peered into a window.
“Just a lot of scaffolding.” She pulled back and shook her head. “Never meet your heroes, friends.” Her shoulders fell. “Where to now?”
“Well...” I gave her an impish smile. This had been my plan—kind of. “There’s still the house.”
Her eyes lit up again, and when I offered my hand, she took it eagerly. “Let’s go!” She ran ahead, and I gladly let her drag me along. We climbed the iconic stairs and hurried up to the large house.
“I can’t be disappointed twice in one night. I need to see the inside of Norman Bates’s house,” Evie said, a determined scowl on her face.
“I’ll do my best not to let that happen. I hate seeing you sad,” I said as we got to the top of the stairs. She stopped short and stared up at the piece of horror history.
“This is...”
I licked my lips, my heart rate climbing. I opened my mouth to speak—
Crack.
“What was that?” We both jumped, and she gripped me tightly.
Looking around, I saw no one, but that didn’t mean much. I wasn’t taking any chances. If someone had followed us, we weren’t going to stand out in the open and let them take us down.
“Come on. Let’s go exploring.” I tightened my jaw and squeezed her hand. I reached for the door handle. Much to my surprise, it opened. I pulled her inside quickly, shutting the door in case someone was watching. We turned, facing away from the door, and I looked down at Evie.
Watching her take it all in was so much more exciting than looking at it myself.
“This is…” Her eyes widened as she stepped deeper inside.
“Careful,” I warned, reaching for her. “This place isn’t kept up to code. They never filmed inside.” I looked around at the scaffolding holding this large mansion up. It wasn’t a real house, like people imagined. It was just a pretty box that was held up by tons of wood.
“I never would have imagined it looked like this,” she said, her voice small.
“I know. A bit disappointing, huh?”
“Not at all!” She spun around and grinned. “It’s so cool! Like, I know a secret. Oh, if I were still making content, this would make me so much money.” She scrunched up her nose. “But I don’t want to do that. I’m tired of this mindset that everything I do should be caught on camera for views. I… I think I’m going to sell.”
“Really?” The selfish part of my heart pitter-pattered. Selling meant she’d be considering her acting career more.
