Chapter 1
Bellucci’s Laser Tag HagChapter One: The Game Beneath the GameScripture:“For there is nothing hidden that will not be disclosed, and nothing concealed that will not be known or brought out into the open.”Luke 8:17
Five-Card Tarot Spread1. The Hidden Door: The Moon2. The Child Who Sees: Page of Wands3. The Father’s Hand: King of Pentacles4. The Business Spark: Ace of Wands5. The Warning Beneath: Seven of Swords
Italian Quote:“Chi trova un segreto, trova una strada.”Who finds a secret finds a road.
Chucky did not ask Vivika if she wanted to see something.
That was the first sign something was wrong.
Chucky never asked. Chucky appeared. Chucky watched. Chucky chewed with his mouth open when he knew somebody important was looking. Chucky carried himself like a child who had been told too many secrets by rooms that did not have mouths.
Vivika Bellucci was sitting near the service stairs with a pink notebook across her knees, drawing costume ideas for the mansion shop that did not exist yet. Princess armor. Ninja masks. Space helmets. Camouflage jackets with glitter trim because camouflage did not have to be ugly.
Chucky stood at the end of the hall.
“You wanna see something?”
Vivika looked up.
“No.”
He grinned.
“Yes, you do.”
“I’m not supposed to go past the service gate.”
“That’s why I didn’t ask if you were supposed to.”
Vivika narrowed her eyes. “My dad will kill you.”
“Your dad won’t kill nobody before Sunday dinner.”
That was not true, and both of them knew it.
Vivika closed her notebook anyway.
Chucky took her through a side passage she had seen a hundred times but never noticed. Not really. In the Bellucci mansion, some doors looked ordinary because ordinary doors were the best liars. This one sat behind stacked linen carts and old boxes labeled CHRISTMAS GARLAND, as if a whole family empire could be hidden behind tinsel.
Chucky pushed the door open.
Cool air breathed out.
Vivika stopped.
The stairs went down farther than they should have.
“Chucky.”
“I know.”
“No, you don’t know. I’m not allowed down there.”
“I know that too.”
He started down.
Vivika stayed still for three seconds.
Then curiosity grabbed her by the ankle and pulled.
The lower they went, the quieter the mansion became. No clinking dishes. No distant cousins yelling. No Vinny on the phone calling vendors, priests, tailors, lawyers, somebody’s uncle, and three men named Benny who all swore they were the right Benny.
Only buzzing.
Low.
Fluorescent.
Wrong.
At the bottom, Chucky opened another door.
Vivika forgot how to breathe.
Yellow corridors stretched ahead of her.
Not pretty yellow. Not nursery yellow. Not Mardi Gras gold.
Old yellow.
Stained yellow.
The kind of yellow that made walls look tired.
The carpet was damp in patches. The lights buzzed in long rows overhead. The rooms bent into other rooms. Hallways split where they should have ended. Doors stood in places no architect with a soul would draw them.
Vivika whispered, “This looks like…”
Chucky waited.
She swallowed.
“The Backrooms.”
Chucky smiled like that was exactly what he wanted her to say.
Vivika took one step forward.
The carpet squished under her shoe.
She hated that.
She also loved it.
Because fear and imagination sometimes wore the same coat.
There were old boxes stacked against the walls. Mall merchandise. Faded signs. Storage crates. Fixtures wrapped in plastic. Things that looked like they had been moved before Katrina and forgotten by everyone except the people who never forgot anything.
Vivika turned slowly, taking it all in.
The corners.
The lights.
The weird open rooms.
The places where somebody could hide.
The places where somebody could run.
The places where teams could split up.
Her eyes changed.
Chucky saw it happen.
Vivika was no longer scared.
Vivika was designing.
“Oh my God,” she whispered.
Chucky tilted his head. “What?”
She turned to him, eyes bright.
“This would make the greatest laser tag course in New Orleans.”
Chucky blinked.
That was not what he expected.
Vivika was already walking faster, pointing with both hands.
“This hallway could be the beginner zone. That room could be a team base. These corners are perfect for ambushes. We could do colored lasers. Not just red and blue. Hot pink. Neon green. Purple. Fluorescent upgrades.”
She spun around.
“And costumes.”
Chucky frowned. “Costumes?”
“Yes. You don’t just play. You become somebody. Ninja. Astronaut. Princess warrior. Soldier. Secret agent. Robot. Pirate. Everything.”
Chucky stared at her.
Vivika pulled the notebook from under her arm and started writing so fast the pencil nearly tore the page.
“Dad can call vendors.”
“There it is,” Chucky muttered.
Vivika ignored him.
“We charge thirty-three dollars a person. Grand opening buy one get one free. Val can make the digital coupons. We need kid mocktails. Laser Lemonade. Pink Pulse. Strobe Slush. Desserts that glow under blacklight. Chewing gum flavors at the counter.”
She looked down the yellow hall again.
The lights flickered once.
Vivika froze.
Chucky did not.
That bothered her more than the flicker.
Far away, from somewhere deeper than the hallway should have gone, something made a soft scraping sound.
Vivika lowered her voice.
“Is someone else down here?”
Chucky chewed on the inside of his cheek.
“No.”
“You answered too fast.”
“No, I didn’t.”
“Yes, you did.”
The scraping stopped.
The silence that followed felt like a hand pressed against the mouth of the whole tunnel.
Vivika shut her notebook.
“I’m telling Dad.”
Chucky nodded.
“I figured.”
“You’re in trouble.”
“Probably.”
“Big trouble.”
“Maybe.”
Vivika started back toward the stairs, then stopped and looked once more at the impossible yellow maze.
The fear had not left.
It had only moved over to make room for something bigger.
A vision.
By the time she reached the mansion kitchen, Vinny was standing at the counter with his sleeves rolled up, checking cannoli shells like they were evidence in a federal case.
Vivika walked straight to him.
“Dad.”
Vinny looked up immediately.
The whole room shifted when he did.
“What happened?”
Chucky appeared behind her.
Vinny’s eyes moved from Vivika to Chucky.
Then back to Vivika.
That was when his face changed.
“What did he show you?”
Vivika held up her notebook.
“The future.”
Val, sitting at the computer nearby, slowly looked over.
Vinny wiped his hands on a towel.
“Start talking.”
Vivika opened the notebook on the counter.
She did not begin with fear.
She began with business.
Laser colors.
Fluorescent upgrades.
Costume rentals.
Birthday packages.
Team classes.
Digital coupons.
Mocktails for kids.
Dessert counters.
Gum flavors.
Grand opening deals.
A whole underground Backrooms-style laser tag experience built safely, controlled properly, watched by Bellucci security, priced right, marketed right, and unforgettable enough that every kid in New Orleans would beg to go.
Vinny listened without interrupting.
That was how Vivika knew he was taking her seriously.
When she finished, the kitchen was quiet.
Val’s fingers were already hovering over the keyboard.
Vinny looked at Chucky.
“You took my daughter somewhere she ain’t allowed to go.”
Chucky stared at the floor.
“Yes, sir.”
Vinny stepped closer.
Vivika slipped between them.
“Dad.”
He looked down at her.
She tapped the notebook.
“This is good.”
Vinny’s jaw tightened.
“Vivika.”
“It is.”
He looked at the pages again.
The drawings.
The prices.
The costumes.
The colors.
The business sitting inside his daughter’s imagination like a lit match.
Then he exhaled.
“Val.”
Val smiled slightly. “Already opening Canva.”
Vivika grinned.
Vinny pointed at Chucky.
“You and me are not done.”
Chucky nodded.
“I know.”
Vinny picked up his phone.
“Costume vendors first. Then lighting. Then insurance. Then security. Then I’m getting somebody down there to inspect every inch of that place before anybody breathes near it.”
Vivika bounced on her toes.
“So we’re doing it?”
Vinny looked at her.
His expression softened.
“When you get a vision, baby girl, we build it right.”
Vivika threw her arms around him.
Chucky watched from the doorway.
For one second, he almost smiled.
Then something deep below the mansion buzzed through the pipes.
Not loud.
Not enough for everybody.
Only enough for Chucky to hear.
He looked toward the floor.
And from far beneath the house, the lights hummed like they already knew the game had begun.
Closing Prayer:Lord, protect every child who walks where adults forgot to look. Guide every father who builds from love, every mother who listens for truth, and every family standing at the edge of a hidden door. Let no secret rise without Your light upon it. Amen.
