"That cat just stared at me like it knew my name," I said, tugging at Evangeline's sleeve.
She glanced up from a stack of smear-marked pages and didn't smile. "Show me."
I pulled my phone out and slid the photo across her desk. The ragdoll cat filled the screen, eyes pale and flat. A smudge of sun painted one paw gold.
Evangeline didn't say cute or weird. She flipped the phone, put it down, and wrote two words on a Post-it: Tonight. Report.
"You want me to—" I started.
"If you can report tonight, you stay," she said.
Her pen tapped the desk. Her eyes cut through my excitement like a scalpel. "Riverside doesn't hand out features to hopefuls. You want a job? Prove you can get me copy that won't embarrass this newsroom."
"That's not fair."
"You don't want fair. You want in. Go." She slid the Post-it over. "Find out why the old woman is refusing visitors. Find out why the town thinks the manor's cursed. Be back by dawn."
I grinned hard enough to make my cheeks hurt. "I'll bring you blood and ghost quotes."
"Bring me anything that reads like proof. Don't write folklore." She pointed to the door. "And don't get arrested."
"Yes, ma'am." My voice came out faster than my brain. I hadn't landed a real assignment like this. Evangeline handing me the Post-it felt like a
