Under the Floorboards WDC #60 Spooky Creatures

UNDER THE FLOORBOARDS [Intro | distant thunder | detuned music box lullaby | hollow oud plucks | three uneven wooden knocks] [Female whisper | close-mic | intimate | almost maternal | unnervingly calm] Are you awake? [Silence] I know you are. [Verse 1 | mature female alto | low intimate register | restrained melodic phrasing | sparse oud | dry ritualistic percussion] There’s something underneath my bedroom floor It knows the names I’ve never spoken before Last night it wore my mother’s voice And begged me softly to unlock the door I heard my footsteps walking down below A second set that moved when mine went slow Then something scratched a message through the grain In my own handwriting, it spelled my name [Pre-Chorus | rising oud motif | dissonant music box | deep frame drum pulse | faint doubled whispers] It knows what happened It knows what I did It knows the truth that I buried and hid Three little knocks Then a pause in between A voice from below whispered, “Let me in.” [Chorus | gothic rock-pop | haunting melodic female vocal | resonant oud hook | dark electric bass | surging guitars | ghostly vocal layers] Under the floorboards, something is alive It knows every secret I buried inside It wears familiar voices when it calls And waits with open fingers inside the walls Under the floorboards, don’t answer the sound It learns how you breathe when you’re sleeping face down And if you hear your own voice calling from below Whatever you do… Don’t let it know you know. [Instrumental Hook | hollow oud riff | detuned music box melody | three uneven wooden knocks | deep toms | unsettling rhythmic sway] [Verse 2 | darker female vocal | intimate but increasingly unstable | syncopated hand percussion | plucked oud ostinato | subtle distorted bass] Tonight it told me what I whispered last June The things I said alone in an empty room It knew the words I couldn’t make myself say Then laughed in my voice and took the words away The handle turned though nobody was there Long black fingernails crept up the stair I watched them curl around my bedroom door Then heard my own voice whisper through the floor— [Pre-Chorus 2 | tightening ritual drums | tremolo guitar | rising oud dissonance | whispered voices in call and response] [Whisper | same female vocal identity | almost affectionate] “You promised you would never tell.” [Lead vocal | quiet | shaken] I never told a soul. [Whisper | subtly distorted | closer and colder] “You thought you hid it very well.” [Lead vocal | almost breathless] Something below me laughed. [Chorus | fuller gothic rock-pop | forceful female alto | heavy bass | layered guitars | backing whispers slightly out of sync] Under the floorboards, something is alive It knows every secret I buried inside It wears familiar voices when it calls And waits with open fingers inside the walls Under the floorboards, don’t answer the sound It learns how you breathe when you’re sleeping face down And if you hear your own voice calling from below Whatever you do… Don’t let it know you know. [Breakdown | all instruments abruptly cut | single detuned music box note | slow wooden creaks | deep hollow oud resonance] I took a hammer I pulled the nail The boards came loose The air turned stale There was no basement No dirt No stone Just a black hole And a telephone [Old telephone | one isolated ring | absolute silence afterward] [Whisper from beneath the floor | same female voice as lead | unnaturally close | dry and emotionless] I answered it. [Silence] It was me. [Silence] I was calling from underneath. [Build | irregular frame drum pulse | low oud drones | overlapping female vocal fragments | gradual distortion | no conventional riser] You fed me every secret You fed me every lie You gave me all the words you thought would die You built me with your silence You gave me your face And now there’s nowhere left To put me in my place [Final Chorus | explosive gothic rock-pop | powerful female alto | distorted oud layered with electric guitar | pounding ritual drums | competing lead and imitation vocals | dark cinematic climax] UNDER THE FLOORBOARDS, NOWHERE TO HIDE IT KNOWS EVERY SECRET YOU BURIED INSIDE IT WEARS YOUR VOICE AND IT WEARS YOUR SKIN AND EVERY LOCK IN THE HOUSE LETS IT IN UNDER THE FLOORBOARDS, HEAR THE WOOD SPLIT IT KNOWS WHAT YOU DID AND IT WILL NOT QUIT YOU CAN BURN THE HOUSE, YOU CAN RUN FROM THE SOUND BUT IT’S NOT UNDER THE FLOOR— IT’S WALKING AROUND. [Outro | music cuts mid-phrase | footsteps crossing wooden room | three uneven knocks] [Female whisper directly beside listener | close-mic | dry | eerily conversational] Don’t look under the bed. [Silence] I’m not there anymore. [One slow footstep behind listener | absolute silence]