[Style: Horrorcore Fort Smith Trap Soul, Theremin, banjo, SL-1200/TB-303/TR-808/TR-909 chain, double kicks, squizz/stutter drops, heavy foley, extreme dips] [Intro] [Foley: crickets, wind, dog, tape hiss] [Dead silence] [Whisper] Things wake up. [BG whisper: wake up…] [Verse 1] Pale drag of moonlight on dead grass Haints vibrating in the vapor [Banjo: one distorted pluck] Specters peeling back their faces Grinning just to say hey Flesh crawling on my bones [Whispers: crawl… don’t look…] Jaws snapping in the blind spots Starving. Hollow. My soul leaking a scent they follow. [Heartbeat rises] [Squizz drop] [Chorus] [Double kicks + 1200-303-808-909 chain] Chunks of me left behind! Smears on the floorboards! Machines screaming! Trains derailing in the dark! Planes falling from black skies! The townsfolk are outside! [Whisper: look outside…] Walking on all fours! [Extreme dip] [Foley: bone crack, wet tear, reverse breath] [Spoken] That howl. [Verse 2] Banjo rolls over 808 hats Bone snapping in the throat of something human Blanket suffocating my ears Pull it tight. Pull it tight. Threads cutting skin Scratching inside the walls [SFX: scratches left/right/behind] Getting near. Getting in. Mom said she was going home. [Theremin swell] Her lips didn’t move. Eyes rolled back. She’s been standing in the corner for days. Never gone. [Whispers: mama… don’t turn…] [Pre-Chorus] Playtime is dead Blood pays for every fable How do you breathe in this? I’m failing the mechanics of living. [Stutter drop] [Chorus] Glass shatters in the front room! [Foley: glass blast] Wet heavy steps on hardwood! Splintering! I’m moving, lungs burning battery acid! A gray claw punches through drywall! [Whisper: behind you] Grasping empty air beside my face! [Extreme dip] [Heartbeat + breath + banjo] [Verse 3] I swing the iron bar Something soft screams in two voices [Dual scream into 303 squelch] Black fluid on my knuckles Sprinting down the hall They drop from the ceiling like spiders [Ad libs: drop! drop!] Teeth graze my shoulder Shirt tears Back door off its hinges [BOOM] Cold dirt. [Breakdown] [No drums: Theremin + floor creaks] I hear my name from the house. I hear my name from the trees. I hear my name underneath me. [Whisper circle: come back…] No. No, no, no. [SFX: nails dragging wood] The porch is breathing. The windows blink. Something laughs through my bedroom sink. [Ad libs: heh… heh…] [Extreme dip: heartbeat only] [Whisper] It knows where I am. [Verse 4] Tree line swallowing the moon Branches reaching like crooked hands Mud pulling hard at both my feet I look left. Nothing. I look right. Nothing. Look forward— [Foley: sudden branch crack] Two white eyes. [Silence] Then a hundred. [Impact: 808 + double kick] I run. They run. I fall. They laugh. [Ad libs: RUN! get up!] The ground beneath me starts to move Roots wrapping around my ankles Cold fingers closing on my heel I kick, I crawl, I bite the dirt [Wet soil + breath] Something whispers, “You’re home.” [Verse 5] No dead thing should know my name. Mine does. It follows. It waits. It smiles when I pray. [Banjo tremolo] I hear church bells underground I hear a train inside the trees I hear children counting backwards Nine… eight… seven… [BG whispers: six… five… four…] I cover both my ears. Still hear them. Three. Two. One. [Hard stop] [Foley: knock behind] [Whisper] Open the door. [Chorus 2] [Double kicks explode] Chunks of me left behind! Now they’re following me! Machines screaming! Now the machines have teeth! Trains derailing in my head! Planes burning in the clouds! The whole town walks together! Four legs. No faces. [BG: no faces…] I run until my lungs go black! [808 slam] Something grabs me— [Foley: cloth rip + scream] —and lets go. Why? [Extreme dip] Because it wants me to keep running. [Bridge] [Beat gone: Theremin, banjo harmonics, wind] Every breath is borrowed. Every shadow has a mouth. Every door opens inward. [Whispers: inward…] I see the house again. I never left. [Silence] [Spoken, close] I’ve been running in circles. [Final Verse] [Foley: accelerating heartbeat] The door opens by itself. The hallway is longer now. Pictures turn their faces. My reflection is smiling. I am not. [Ad lib: that’s not me…] Something wearing my skin is standing at the end. It raises my hand. I raise mine. It waves. I don’t. [Theremin shriek] It starts walking. I start screaming. [Banjo: frantic roll] The walls bend inward. The floorboards breathe. Black hands crawl from every seam. [808 + 909 + double kick] I hear my own voice say— [Whisper] Wake up. [Extreme audiation: total silence] [Whisper BG: wake up… wake up…] [Outro] [Foley: crickets, distant wind] I open my eyes beneath the roots. Cold dirt in my mouth. The house is gone. The forest is still. [Pause] Something breathes beside me. [Slow heartbeat] I don’t move. It doesn’t move. [Whisper] For now. [Foley: wet inhale behind] [Hard cut]
