Someone’s in the Hallway

[Intro — faint footsteps] One… Two… Three… (silence) There it is again. [Verse 1] Someone’s in the hallway I can hear the wooden floor Slow enough to make me wonder If they’re waiting by the door I turned every light on Checked the windows twice Told myself it’s just the building Making noises in the night Then the footsteps stopped completely Right outside my room And somehow silence scared me More than hearing someone move [Pre-Chorus] Don’t breathe Don’t move Maybe it’ll pass right through Don’t look Don’t speak Why does it sound like me? [Chorus] Someone’s in the hallway Walking closer every night Every step is getting louder Every shadow doesn’t look right Someone’s in the hallway And I swear I know that pace Like somebody from my past Is trying to find this place I lock the door I kill the light But still at 3:05… Someone’s in the hallway tonight [Verse 2] There’s a picture on the staircase That was straight before I slept There’s a fingerprint beside it Where nobody should have stepped I can smell an old cologne now One I haven’t smelled for years And a voice behind the wallpaper Says something I can almost hear Maybe houses keep their secrets Maybe walls remember names Maybe every person we forget Leaves something that remains [Pre-Chorus] One breath One sound Something’s moving underground One knock Then three Why does it remember me? [Chorus] Someone’s in the hallway Walking closer every night Every step is getting louder Every shadow doesn’t look right Someone’s in the hallway And I swear I know that pace Like somebody from my past Is trying to find this place I lock the door I kill the light But still at 3:05… Someone’s in the hallway tonight [Bridge — almost silent] Last night… I finally opened the door. (long pause) Nobody. Just the hallway. Empty. Except… At the other end… Someone was standing in front of the mirror. Same height. Same shoulders. Same face. (heartbeat begins) And when I moved… He didn’t. [Breakdown — distorted whispers] One step Two steps Don’t turn back Three steps Four steps Hear the floor crack My face His eyes My voice His smile He’s been waiting… All this while [Final Chorus — explosive] Someone’s in the hallway Now he’s standing in the light And the face I kept avoiding Looks exactly like mine Someone’s in the hallway But he isn’t coming near He just mouths one little sentence… “I’ve always been right here.” No locked door No place to hide Maybe I was haunted From the inside Someone’s in the hallway… And tonight… I let him inside. [Outro — one final footstep] One… Two… (Elio whispers) Welcome home.