(Grand 2‑Step / Gothic Garage) [Singer A — Male, Spoken‑Word Narrator] The house breathes slow… Floorboards drag like they’re pulling at my heels. Something in the walls keeps score, a wet little click… counting every reveal. (2‑step beat shuffles in) I walk away from the stagecoach— but its iron tracks follow me inside, mud on the runner, even though I wiped my boots clean before the ride. [Singer B — Female, Mistress of Darkness, Gothic Vocals] The lamp coughs out a thin gold smear down the hall, every mirror leaning sideways, like it’s scared to speak at all. Silence grips tight— cold, deep, unkind, while restless spirits climb the stairs to reclaim what they left behind. A cracked toy horse rocks once… then twice… on its own. [Storyteller C — Laughing, Echoed] Hhhhhh—haaa… ha… ha… (soft, distant, circling the beat) [2‑Step Break / Call‑and‑Response] Singer A: I left the coach behind— but it didn’t leave me. Singer B: Shadows trail your boots, even when your feet are free. Storyteller C: laughing intensifies, then cuts abruptly [Grand 2‑Step Chorus — All Voices] Step away, step away— but the house keeps time. Stagecoach fading in the fog, yet the echoes stay aligned. Shuffle left, shuffle right— the darkness knows your name. You walked away from the coach, but the stage coach still plays the game............................................................................................................................]
