Chapter 86 Archive B
LEITANA
The group was chatting excitedly about heading to a restaurant after work drinks, food, celebrating their new partnership oblivious to the stunned look freezing Leitana’s face.
She was already moving, drawn like a magnet toward the door.
Jules noticed first, just as her hand closed around the knob.
“Where are you going, Leitana?” he asked, voice cutting through the laughter.
The question snapped her back. She turned, finding every pair of eyes fixed on her in confusion.
She opened her mouth, no words came. A quick shake of her head, and she slipped out, pulling the door shut behind her with a soft click.
The hallway stretched empty, cool air brushing her skin. She turned left—and there, at the far end, a familiar figure glided around the corner.
Celeste.
Leitana’s breath caught. The ghost’s long dark hair floated weightlessly, the same flowing gown trailing like mist.
“Celeste,” she called softly, rushing after her on silent feet.
Behind her, the archive room door burst open again.
“Did I just hear her say Celeste?” Anya whispered.
“I heard it too,” Diego muttered, adjusting his glasses.
Marco and Lafu exchanged a loaded glance—they still remembered Leitana’s story about dreaming of Celeste, her restless spirit begging for help from someone she’d never met in life.
“Shouldn’t we go after her?” Jules asked.
Lafu was already moving. “Definitely.”
Leitana’s footsteps echoed faintly down the empty hallway, quick and urgent, her sundress fluttering behind her like a flag in a sudden breeze.
“Celeste… plis, wait,” she called, voice trembling with a mix of fear and determination. “Mi here. Mi listening. Where yu going?”
The translucent figure ahead didn’t turn, didn’t slow—just glided forward, pale and ethereal. Celeste turned another corner, vanishing from sight without a sound.
Leitana’s heart hammered. She picked up her pace, bare feet silent on the cool marble, eyes fixed on the spot where the ghost had disappeared.
Behind her, the group caught up, breathing hard.
“Leitana!” Lafu called, worry sharp in his voice.
She didn’t stop.
Celeste paused at a plain gray door marked ARCHIVE B – RESTRICTED. For a fleeting second, she turned.
Leitana saw her face clearly: beautiful, sad, eyes brimming with unspoken pain.
Then Celeste passed straight through the locked door like mist through glass.
Leitana skidded to a halt, hand reaching for the handle.
Locked.
The group rounded the corner just as her fingers closed around cold metal.
“Leitana, what’s going on?” Jules asked, voice low but urgent.
“You okay?” Stacy added, touching her arm gently.
Leitana didn’t turn. She stared at the door, chest rising and falling fast.
“She here,” she whispered. “Celeste. She lead mi here.”
Silence.
Then Lafu, voice soft with understanding: “You… you saw her? Just now?”
Leitana nodded, eyes still fixed on the door. “She go through dere.” She gestured. “Mi need go in.”
Marco glanced at the restricted sign, then at Diego. “That’s old talent storage—contracts, old hard drives, wardrobe from past seasons. It’s locked for a reason. Only executives have keys.”
Anya pulled out her phone. “I can call maintenance….”
“No,” Leitana said quietly, but with steel beneath it. She straightened, turning to face them. Her face was pale, but her eyes burned with purpose. “Mi Ravial wife. Mi have access to everything.”
She pulled out her phone, Ravial had added her credentials to the company system that morning and held it to the electronic panel beside the door.
A soft beep.
Green light.
The lock clicked open.
The group exchanged wide-eyed glances.
Jules let out a low whistle. “Well… that’s convenient.”
Leitana pushed the door open. Cool, stale air rushed out, carrying the faint scent of old paper and forgotten perfume.
Inside was dim, rows of metal shelves packed with labeled boxes, racks of archived clothing, a few dusty desks with ancient computers. Emergency lighting cast long shadows.
Celeste stood in the far corner, near a shelf marked REY, C. – 2023-2025.
She looked at Leitana, eyes pleading, then pointed to a specific box on the lower shelf before her form began to fade, like mist in sunlight.
Leitana rushed forward. “Wait. Celeste..”
But the ghost was gone.
The others crowded in behind her, flashlights from their phones cutting through the gloom.
“That box,” Leitana said, voice steady now. She knelt, pulling it out with careful hands. The label read: CELESTE REY – PERSONAL EFFECTS & CONTRACTS.
Her fingers trembled as she opened it.
Inside: a sealed envelope marked FINAL ADDENDUM, a flash drive, a small notebook with Celeste’s handwriting on the cover, and a single Polaroid, Celeste on set, smiling, but her eyes looked tired. Afraid.
Leitana’s throat tightened.
“She want mi see dis,” she whispered.
Lafu knelt beside her. “We’ll go through everything. Carefully. Tonight, if we can.”
Marco nodded, already scanning the room. “This place isn’t monitored. We’re safe here, for now.”
Leitana closed the box gently, hugging it to her chest.
“Tank yu, Celeste,” she murmured to the empty air. “Mi no let yu down.”
And in the quiet, dusty room, surrounded by her new, unlikely team, Leitana felt the weight of a promise settle deeper into her heart.
They had just been handed the first real piece of the puzzle.
And whatever was inside that box… it was only the beginning.
Leitana struggled with the heavy box in her arms, her steps slowing under its weight. Jules quickly stepped forward and lifted it from her with ease.
“I don’t believe in ghosts, but what the fuck just happened?” Anya blurted, eyes wide as she stared at the box.
Leitana said nothing. She just stood there, gaze fixed on the now-empty space where the box had been, her heart racing in her chest.