“Is this why I’m here?” He asked, pointing at the photograph. The raven nodded. “Is it the only reason?” The raven shook its head. He raised an eyebrow, waiting for an answer. The raven placed a sleeved hand next to the picture, gesturing him to look closer. He obliged, leaning in closer to see if there was anything he was missing. As he searched for any little detail that could’ve given him a hint, he suddenly felt he was no longer in his own body. His vision began to swim and his body felt heavy, as if he was entering a dream. He saw himself looking at his own reflection, or rather, the reflection of the man in the picture. He, or the man, stepped away from the mirror and adjusted his tie. He turned to the ballroom, now crowded with people, noise from their conversations filling the room and filtering up to meet his ears. Everyone there was dressed to impress, with the men sporting the sleekest of suits and the women in the most elegant of dresses. The vision was monochrome, no colors, like he was walking in an old black and white movie.

Marc snapped himself out of the vision and was back in front of the photo. It took him a couple of seconds to catch his breath. “Was that… Me?” The raven nodded. “I was that guy in another life?” Another nod.

He took in a deep breath and let it out. “Okay, that answers that, but you still haven’t answered my question before. Who are you? I want to know you.” The raven walked to him, placed both hands on his shoulders, and leaned its head toward him. As the cold mask touched his forehead, he instinctively closed his eyes and awaited any vision that would give him an answer.

The black and white blur of the vision clarified and he was back in the same room. He still walked among the large crowd of people and not much seemed different from the first, but then he turned his attention to the back of a woman in an all black silk dress. Her hair was just about as black with a glossy shine. As he walked closer the woman turned around, her face greeting him with a smile, all the monochrome eroded and following it was all the color that was missing. The golden brown of the room, the colors of all the dresses, and everything else in that room filtered with varying hues, but the focus was still on the dark skinned woman in the black silk dress. As they put their arms around another, Marc (through the man’s eyes) saw the woman was wearing a necklace—a necklace with a noticeable pendant on the end of it shaped like the face of a black bird.

As soon as Marc made the connection, he pushed the vision out of his mind and was out of the raven’s arms. “That... That was you! You were the woman with that necklace!” The answer was obvious but he wanted to confirm it. The raven’s nod did just that. “You- I- We were together back then. I remember... But I can’t remember much else.” Backing up against a rusted table somehow still standing, heart and mind racing, his legs weakened and he sat on the floor as he stared vacantly down.

“This is so much to take in at once…” He uttered.

The avian spirit knelt beside him. He looked to her in silence. Moments went by before he stood back up, hesitantly.

The raven extended her hand out to Marc. At first he stared, unsure, hesitating to respond. His eyes looked to her mask, then back to her hand, then everything clicked into place. For the first time since he came to this studio, finally, someone wanted him to dance. He smiled, and reached out for her hand. “I’d love to.” Holding his hand, the raven put her other hand on his shoulder, and Marc settled his right hand around her waist. Slowly, they began their dance, swaying back and forth. Despite the difference in height between them, he found it wasn’t that difficult. Even though the raven’s feet weren’t visible under her robe, nor could Marc hear a single footstep against the wooden floor, all her moves were smooth and graceful. It should’ve dawned on him how strange this all was. Here he was, in an old theater and movie studio in the middle of the night, in a room too clean to be here, dancing with a ghost resembling a raven who’s at least two feet taller than him. It might’ve, but that didn’t stop him. He continued dancing, wanting to see where this would go.

Gradually, their dance began picking up pace. Their movements were faster, but still managed to be in sync. At one point the raven held up one arm of Marc’s and let him spin in place. He was smiling, laughing even! He couldn’t remember the last time he laughed since he joined production. The room itself seemed to change along with their dancing. The colors changed, becoming brighter, going from a pale yellow to a golden glow. Marc caught glances of this, even as the room went from gold to orange, then from orange to a mix of that and red; it looked like flames. He clung onto the raven tight, shielding his eyes from the blaze by burying his face into her robe. He felt her hand on his head. He looked up and saw her mask, the mask that somehow had a feel of tranquility to it. Looking at it made him feel safer, and the brightness of the flames seemed to fade along with his fears.

The raven then wrapped her arms around his waist and lifted him up, his face closer to the level hers was. As she twirled, Marc looped his left arm around her neck for support. His eyes were locked onto hers; or rather the eye holes of the mask. He couldn’t see much other than two black holes, but his sight remained fixed on them, so much so he barely noticed the changes in the room once again. Only when the raven took hold of both his sides and lifted him over her head, letting him feel as though he could soar through the air, did he finally look around and up. The ceiling had been replaced by the dark blue of a gorgeous night sky, bright stars scattered across, and it was breathtaking. He couldn’t believe what he was seeing. Dreams he’d had weren’t this good. He felt like they really were in the night sky, still able to dance without gravity. He could’ve even sworn he felt the wind in his hair, pulling it back to give him the best view of everything. His widened eyes took in the entire sky, every patch of lighter blue, and every star on the indigo canvas of space. This was a moment he wouldn't mind lasting longer.

The blues and shining stars eventually dimmed as they settled into a slow dance. Everything seemed to go black with the exception of a single light on the pair. Marc rested his head on the raven as they danced, his eyes closed. Everything felt so far away, the world and everyone in it, and yet he was okay with this. He’d never felt so relaxed—this calm, this at peace—for the longest time. A weight was taken off his mind. Every problem he’d been dealing with lately, from the crew who thought they knew his job better than him, to the changes in scripts and endless takes, were gone now. All of his troubles from before, all the pain, the stress, they couldn’t reach him now. The only thing that remained, that mattered, was him, his partner, and their dance.

After a moment of silence, he finally looked up to the raven and the raven looked back down at him. He was smiling from ear to ear. 

“I wish this could last forever,” he said, then rested his head back against her. “It’s strange, but in a good way. This almost seems like a dream. I wouldn’t have ever believed I would find myself here before I auditioned, but I’m glad. I’ve never felt this happy before. And... I’m glad I met you.”