THE CHILD THAT STAYED

Intro – distant lullaby, warped and off-key] (soft, childlike whisper) You came for me… …but you left me here… ⸻ [Verse 1 – eerie, slow build] Small hands dragging across the stone Learning the dark like it’s their home Eyes adjust where light won’t stay Seeing truths that rot away The castle hums beneath their skin Teaches them where to begin Every whisper, every scream Twists them into something unseen ⸻ [Pre-Chorus – layered child + demonic voices] Hungry now… Changing slow… You don’t leave… You just grow… ⸻ [Chorus – haunting, dual voice] I’m not the child you came to save I’m what was left inside the grave Every tear you couldn’t see Turned into what’s haunting me You broke the door but left the key Now the dark belongs to me Call my name — don’t be afraid… I’m the child that stayed ⸻ [Verse 2 – darker, more aggressive] Bones rearrange in quiet pain Something else runs through their veins Heartbeat echoes not their own A second pulse begins to grow The goblin city bends its knee Not in fear — but loyalty Crown of shadows starts to form Born again, but something’s wrong ⸻ [Pre-Chorus – rising tension] Feel it crawl… Feel it spread… Something waking in your head… ⸻ [Chorus – stronger, more sinister] I’m not the child you came to save I’m what you buried, what you gave Every word you tried to say Fed the thing I am today You broke the spell but set me free Into what I’m meant to be Call my name — it won’t be the same… I’m the child that stayed ⸻ [Bridge – ritual chant, identity shift] (whispers overlapping) Not alone… not afraid… Not the child that you saved… Skin like glass… eyes like flame… I don’t answer to that name… (voice deepens, distorts) I remember… everything… ⸻ [Breakdown – silence → child giggle → violent drop] … (soft giggle) You shouldn’t have come back… (BASS DROP — distorted lullaby, screaming textures) ⸻ [Final Chorus – chaotic, fully transformed] I AM THE CHILD YOU LEFT BELOW I AM THE THING YOU DIDN’T KNOW EVERY STEP YOU FOUGHT TO TAKE WAS JUST ANOTHER THREAD I’D BREAK YOU GAVE ME POWER, GAVE ME SIGHT TAUGHT ME HOW TO OWN THE NIGHT CALL MY NAME — IT’S NOT THE SAME… I AM THE DARK YOU COULDN’T SAVE ⸻ [Outro – quiet, intimate, terrifying calm] (whisper, right beside you) You came to take me home… …but this… is home…