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The original was posted on /r/nosleep by /u/BadandyTheRed on 2026-08-17 21:58:42+00:00.

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Part 2.

I barely slept that night, even though I was tired from the long shift. I had to think of what we would do tomorrow. I considered how dangerous going back was. But if something was happening and the police were complicit in it, then Jake and I would need to try to help whoever we could.

Jake and I met up in the early morning and made a plan for what we would try. I hoped we could somehow sabotage the third part of the film and stop whatever horrible outcome was going to occur. Whatever was going to happen to the audience after watching it, it couldn't be good.

Jake tried to message Cassilda, but she had stopped responding, and Jake was concerned something might have happened. If she had been invited to watch the movie, the same thing happening to the other people was likely happening to her now.

I spent some time researching the theatre and Mr. Hasturing on the internet. I couldn't find anything of substance on our boss; he may as well have not existed. I considered that he might be using an alias of some kind.

I did find something strange when searching the theatre’s history. A theatre of the same name had shown up briefly over a year ago in a small town near the outskirts of Paris.

I remembered Haturing saying he had shown others this movie before, and I wondered what had happened in the aftermath to the people who had seen that film a world away.

As the day dragged on and we made our preparations, Jake became more agitated that he couldn't contact Cassie.

“I don’t know what to do, man, if she saw that thing and it fucked her up…” He paused, sounding genuinely distressed,

“We will do what we can; we can still stop this, whatever it is.” I tried to reassure him.

Jake suggested we go in, with proverbial guns blazing, but I suggested we play it cool and wait for our chance, in case Mr. Hasturing had some means of stopping us. For all we knew, he might be able to have us dragged away by the enthralled cops if we tried something overt.

My plan won out, and Jake and I were both preparing to show up to our third shift on time and as usual.

The hours ticked by and it was finally time to go. We jumped in the van and drove to the theatre. No music, no banter, just grim determination and an anxious fear that we were walking right into a trap.

We arrived early, and there was a disturbing energy to the place. Like the entire theatre was covered in static.

Sam was in the box office, and he nodded to us as we approached; Jake returned the gesture, and I ignored him. I was not sure who we could even trust at that point.

Cassilda was not at the concession area, and a velvet rope was blocking off the entrance.

Jake winced, and I could tell he was about to go and look when I held him back.

There, walking down the red carpet and looming over the theatre halls, was Mr. Hasturing. Instead of his usual suit, he wore a tattered yellow robe and a strange crown-like ornament on his head. He strode forward to greet us, that same knowing smile plastered across his gaunt face.

“Good evening, my friends; here we are now on the last day. The transcendence of part three will shape the destinies of everyone who experiences it. You must be prepared; tonight is the true test. I am willing to offer you each a $10,000 bonus if you stay until the end and ensure the movie is not interrupted. After today, our guests will see the world in a new light, and you might have the privilege of seeing it as well. But for now, your phones, please.”

He held out his hand, and Jake and I both handed him the burner phones we had purchased earlier. We had even given them the same cases to try and make them match our own phones as much as possible. Hasturing took them and seemed satisfied. I breathed a silent sigh of relief that the ruse had worked; if something as bad as we feared went down, we would at least be able to call for help.

Hasturing led us in and bid us to wait. He turned to face the entrance and smiled. We looked back and saw people piling in. It was eerily silent, and the audience walked quietly inside to wait. It didn’t even seem like Sam was selling tickets, just letting people in the door who he somehow knew had already seen the first two parts.

“Now, my friends,” Hasturing said, “You must save your questions, and you must leave our audience in peace tonight. Do not attempt to communicate with any of them as they enter the theatre; in the state they are in, they are liable to lash out. Wait as you always do, and be mindful of the bell. The final signal tonight, when the film is over, will be the sound that ushers us into a new day."

Jake and I both squirmed uncomfortably at the implication of what he was saying, but nodded our heads in agreement and played along.

“Good, well then let the show commence!” Hasturing exclaimed, while holding his hands out and motioning for the people to follow him and head into the theatres.

Large groups of people entered, many looking haggard. I suspected they might even be wearing the same clothes from the past two days, based on how bad they looked. I wondered if they had done anything after leaving, besides waiting patiently to watch the next part of the film.

The wave of people moved in an oddly silent and graceful way, with a strange synchrony that allowed them to move as one. The effect was eerie, and I swear when I looked at some of them, their eyes were glazed over, and I thought I saw the flickering afterimage of a disturbingly familiar sigil burning under the skin of their foreheads.

I was beginning to have doubts about our ability to put a stop to whatever this was.

The creepy horde of customers began walking towards the individual theaters, and Mr. Haturing gave a dismissive hand gesture to shoo us away and let them all pass.

I saw Jake scanning the crowd, looking around for any sign of Cassilda. I was looking too, though not for her, for an opportunity to sneak into the back room and make a call.

Almost all of the crowd had made it to their respective theaters, but as the last group was heading in, Jake exclaimed,

“Cassie!”

Cassilda was there; she wore a strange hooded robe over her normal theatre attire and had a vacant look on her face, like she was just aimlessly floating through a vivid dream.

Jake ran over to her and tried to get her attention, but she ignored him. Then, before he could follow her to the theatre, Mr. Haturing placed a hand on his shoulder and stopped him.

“Cassilda is on a journey now; she has seen the sign and has placed her mask aside, perhaps you will do the same soon? But not today; today is the part for her. Today her mind will be fully opened. You are not to interfere…Do you understand?”

The low, menacing tone Hasturing’s voice had taken was enough to disturb me, and even Jake was speechless before the overwhelming presence of the man.

The customers had finally finished moving into the theaters. Hasturing let go of Jake's shoulder moments after the locking bars securing the doors fell down.

“Now, if you please. You are to resume your duties. If you truly wish to see what she will see, then wait and perform your role. If you are worthy, then the same revelation awaits you; now go.” He dismissed us and returned to the box office to confer with Sam over something.

Jake was at a rare loss for words, and I couldn't think of what to say. I tried to reassure him, but he looked shaken. We still had our plan; it had to work, for the sake of all the people there.

According to the schedule, we had exactly three hours to do something about it before whatever revelation Hasturing was referring to altered the lives of the audience permanently.

We waited in the hall, quietly discussing our game plan.

“Alright, we have the phones now. I say the only way we can stop this from happening with all the people is calling in a bomb threat or something.” I suggested.

“Could try a Fire alarm too; might be faster?" Jake added, "Though there might not be one here. It has to be something credible and something that goes over just a police response in case those same weirdos get called here again.”

He had a good point. We considered our options, but as we were discussing them, we began to hear the disturbing sounds coming from the theaters.

Screams echoed from the auditoriums, alongside a dull chanting and strange words that sounded like the gibberish that manic dead man had been mumbling to us before he was taken away last night.

Time was running out. We both attempted to call in the threat and try and coroberate it to encourage a response. To our horror, our phones failed to get any signal, and even the emergency line, which was usually exempt from such issues, was completely dead.

Now we had no way to contact anyone outside.

“Shit, okay, new idea.” I told Jake, “One of us leaves, goes out to get help, and brings it here?”

Jake considered it and agreed. We kept walking and talking, carefully searching for anyone who might discover what we were up to. We snuck past the box office. Sam and Hasturing were gone. We weren't sure where they had gone, but it worked for us.

We made it to the door, and I had resolved to leave and get help while Jake stayed and searched for Cassie. I didn't like the idea of him going into one of those cursed theaters, but he was determined.

Our plan fell apart once we reached the front door and found that not only were we locked out of the theaters, but...

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