Immortality and agelessness—being bitten once would turn one into the same kind of creature. When it came to such an image, many might think of vampires. However, what first came to her mind was zombies—yes, the very creatures that once swept through the post-apocalyptic fandom, hailed as the ultimate icon of the end times!
Just how popular were they? In the future, whenever there was an apocalyptic-themed story—besides natural disasters, human catastrophes, or aliens—zombies were always an indispensable element. From the early slow-moving, shambling zombies that could be taken down with a single punch, to the later evolved zombies that could run, jump, climb walls, and even came with special powers and core crystals, their images kept evolving and upgrading. Compared to vampires, which seemed a bit outdated, zombies appeared to capture people's attention better and were likely to remain popular.
Perhaps the zombies' aggressive nature and strong infectiousness made them more terrifying, stimulating people's tension and excitement. Because of this, Elena decided to combine the traits of vampiric monsters and zombies to bring a brand-new experience to visitors of this era.
"We'll plant a stooge within the tourist group," Elena arranged methodically. "The guides will lead them to the cemetery. I remember there's a church's graveyard not far from here—the environment is open and sparsely visited, perfect for creating a chase atmosphere. If we station someone at the church exit, there won't be any worries about tourists getting lost. Have the actors hide behind the tombstones; it's pretty dark there, so even if someone's hiding, they won't be easily spotted. Or they can just lie down."
The chubby boss looked a bit stunned, taking notes while asking, "What's a stooge?"
"That's our inside man," Elena patiently explained. "He'll blend in with the tourists as one of them. When they arrive at the cemetery, an actor will play the role of a vampiric monster biting someone, adding some biting sounds to make the scene more realistic. Of course, the tourists will think it's all part of the performance, so it's fine. Once the vampiric monster stands up, other actors lying behind the tombstones will also rise and slowly stagger towards the tourists."
Elena tilted her head and acted like a zombie, stiffly dragging her arms forward and slowly moving toward the chubby boss, making deep, strange "ho-ho" sounds. It was quite unseemly, but she was disguised as an ordinary man now—nothing like the youngest daughter of the Campbell family.
The chubby boss took a few steps back and instinctively crossed his arms over his chest.
"If only we had some actors with special talents," Elena said, returning to normal and letting her imagination fly. She recalled a talent show she once watched, where a performer could twist his upper body around and move on all fours toward the judges, terrifying everyone despite knowing it was a real person—she wondered if the undead could manage that.
"Maybe the tourists will still think it's just a show," Elena smiled, continuing, "That's fine. At this moment, our inside man steps out and provokes those vampiric monsters. Then, you should know what happens next."
"And then?" The chubby boss still didn't quite understand.
Elena sighed, thinking maybe she should find a smarter partner.
"The next part should be the vampiric monsters attacking the inside man, turning him into one of them, right?" William suddenly interrupted with excitement and anticipation. "What a crazy idea! When the tourists see one of their own suddenly turn into a monster, they'll definitely panic and scatter everywhere."
"You came at the right time," Elena said with a glint in her eye, immediately asking William, "Can you do those spider-like movements?"
"Huh?" William was confused this time, not understanding what she meant. "Spider? What kind of spider movements?"
Elena gestured and tried to describe her idea more specifically. After some explanation, William half-understood and nodded. With the chubby boss's help, he performed a backbend on the spot. With his long legs and arms, when he crawled slowly, his posture really did somewhat resemble a spider.
He quickly adapted to this pose, crawling around the hall and scaring the chubby boss into retreating repeatedly.
Unfortunately, his body wasn't flexible enough to twist his upper body all the way around. Elena felt a little regretful, but she understood that such talent wasn't something everyone could have. Being able to crawl in a backbend was already a blessing from both nature and the goddess.
"Practice your speed more," Elena said approvingly. "It'd be best if you can make your movements nimble and agile, like jumping up and down."
William frowned but, considering the generous payment and the likely wave of income from all the fear they'd provoke, he nodded reluctantly, deciding to practice hard and get his undead friends involved too.
Life is tough—undead street performers.
Of course, not all actors would perform like that. There had to be variety. Elena emptied her collection of zombie movie props, assigning different roles to the actors. She also added some lanterns. In Runton, where thick fog hovered daily, lanterns were far better than candles for creating a mysterious and eerie atmosphere.
As for lighting and sound effects, Elena already had everything planned out and assigned, while negotiations regarding the church were entrusted to the chubby boss.
Seeing the time getting late, Elena got up to leave. Amid the chubby boss and William's reluctant farewells, she boarded a carriage and quickly headed home.
Back home, she carefully sneaked in, quickly transformed back to her original self, quietly slipped into her room, thankfully before Janet and Susan returned. She hurriedly changed out of her male disguise, hid inside the wardrobe, then put on her walking dress and took out her writing desk, pretending to be working, as if nothing had happened.
Not long after, she heard a carriage stop outside the window. Soon, Janet and Susan got off, looking very excited.
They soon entered the classroom. Janet eagerly approached Elena, returning the paper doll that had been taken as a sample earlier. "El, you won't believe what we just went through."
"You really came back late," Elena put down her pen. She had worried about running into Janet and Susan when she returned so late.
Janet rambled excitedly, "We just went to that tailor shop—you know, the one on Savile Street."
Elena nodded. Ah, the golden street of tailoring, in Mayfair. It was because Mayfair was far away that she had enough time to go to Covent Garden.
"The tailor who had been serving us looked at the blueprint carefully for a long time. She said it was really hard to make such a shape and asked where the design came from. She immediately recognized it as Helen's paper doll. We had to tell her to keep it secret and said it was an upcoming new product."
After the tailor said she couldn't make it, they were ready to leave—if that had been the end, Elena would have been troubled about how to cover the lie—but just as they were about to leave, the familiar tailor called them back.
Because she really liked the design of this dress, the tailor believed it would become popular quickly. When more customers wanted this unique sleeve style, would she still say she couldn't make it? After some thought, the tailor decided to use her connections to help them find more professional assistance.
So they came to the famous tailor shop on Savile Street—Mr. Watts's shop. Watts was possibly the most famous tailor in all of France. He not only made custom clothes for the Queen of France but also had numerous royal and aristocratic clients. Perhaps he was better called a fashion designer than a tailor.
Although Mr. Watts himself was not present, his shop was known for exquisite skills and outstanding quality. The tailors there were all experienced professionals serving mostly nobles and high society. For the Campbell family, now fallen to middle class, it was originally impossible to enter this shop. Yet today, Janet and Susan had the privilege to tour the store's fabrics and tailoring techniques and even order a custom garment.
How could Janet not be thrilled?
"The tailors there immediately said that although the craft was quite complicated, they were confident they could complete it," Janet excitedly recounted. "After recognizing it was Helen's paper doll design, they even offered not to charge my deposit. But…" She hesitated, then said, "They want to be credited in the paper doll booklet as the ones who can make such complex craftsmanship. Of course, I don't have the authority to decide that, so I said I'd have to ask first."
Elena was a bit surprised but quickly understood the reason. Helen's paper dolls might be somewhat famous in the tailoring world, and the tailor shop also wanted more customers or fame.
"Next time, I want to go too," Elena decided. "I want to talk with them in detail. After all, if the paper doll credits their shop, they might attract a flood of customers. I'm a bit doubtful if they have enough staff."