But when Tomas looked through the viewfinder, the image was wrong. Raimis wasn’t just standing there. He was flickering. Like an old TV losing signal. And behind him, in the frame, a shape was forming—a tall man in a black hat, no face, just a hollow where his features should be.

The Curse of the Reel Tomas Sojeris was not a hero. He was thirteen years old, had dirt under his fingernails, and owed his mother three euros for the jam jar he broke while chasing a pigeon. But this summer, he became the star of a movie that no one was supposed to see.

“Action!” Tomas shouted.

Ula stepped in front of the projector beam. “Then we’ll give you a new middle.”