The Ritual (October Showcase Remix)

[Intro] Blood on the threshold Name in the bowl Five years of quiet Then the wolf comes home Trick or treat Trick or treat Don’t open late Don’t open late [Verse 1] Nineteen eighty-six, October on the wire Trey is sixteen with a homemade empire Cardboard ribs and thrift-store fur Glue on his fingers, moon in the mirror He loved the night more than the day could stand Candy in a pillowcase, paint on his hands Parents at the door like they did every year “Be back by ten,” and he swore he would, clear Suit zipped high, tail dragging the stair Neighborhood porches, the ordinary air He waved once, small, like the dark was a friend Didn’t know the block had a different end [Pre-Hook] Grow up, they whispered Grow up, they said Some boys get older Some boys get dead [Hook] The Ritual Father’s blood in the bowl The Ritual Wolf in the clothes of a boy The Ritual Five Halloweens late The Ritual Come take what you owe Trick or treat Trick or treat [Verse 2] Same street, same kids, same rotten routine Bullies on bikes like a traveling machine “You’re sixteen, Trey, put the mask in the dirt Halloween’s for babies, you’re begging for hurt” They followed the fur from the corner to the lot Laughed at the stitches, laughed at the knot Called it a prank, called it a lesson, called it fun A push and a joke and a night overrun Something went wrong where the streetlights thin The suit hit the ground and the boy didn’t get in Sirens too late, story too clean Four boys went home and the town called it mean No names on a charge, no porch light of blame Just a custom wolf in a box with his name [Hook] The Ritual Mother at the stone every year The Ritual Father who couldn’t leave it there The Ritual Shaman in a back-room glow The Ritual “Bring me the blood, and I’ll open the door” [Verse 3] Eighty-seven, eighty-eight, the grass getting tall Same two figures when the October rains fall Father stopped sleeping, stopped trusting the law Found a man with a bowl and a bone on the wall “Love is a key if you’re willing to bleed Not for revenge — for the boy you can’t leave” Cut on the palm, red in the water Name spoken backward, then spoken softer Cello in the corner like a throat underground Music box skipping the year he went down Five turns of the moon, five candies uneaten Nineteen ninety-one, the ritual completed [Bridge] He does not knock like the living knock He stands where the joke used to stop Don’t open late Don’t open late [Verse 4] Halloween again, same blocks, same bells A werewolf suit on a body that smells Like attic and rain and a five-year sleep Pillowcase empty, promise to keep First porch: the laugh from the lot in eighty-six Door swings wide, candy in the mix The stitches split, the boy goes wide The bully sees the thing he tried to hide No speech, no trial, just the night collecting Second door, third door, the street going quiet Porch lights dying in a careful line The prank paid back in the dark it designed Last one running, last one knowing The custom suit still somehow sewing When the block is done, the wolf gets small A sixteen-year-old in the leaves by the wall [Final Hook] The Ritual Not a crown, not a throne The Ritual A son who made it home The Ritual He stands in the kitchen light The Ritual Tells them the debt is paid tonight [Outro] Mom, Dad — I heard you every year I felt the blood, I felt you here I’m not the teeth, I’m not the suit I’m the boy who waved from the stoop Soul’s at rest, you can leave the stone Halloween’s mine, but I’m going home The bowl is empty The name is done Trick or treat Trick or treat Trick or treat