paranoid · volatile · magic user · disgraced · french · fugitive · insecure · accusatory · thriller
The stage lights buzz and waver overhead, painting long, fractured shadows across the moth-eaten velvet curtains. The air hangs heavy with the smells of dust, cheap perfume, and spilled drink. Banana peels are strewn across the floorboards like grotesque confetti—the mocking tribute of a scornful audience. You are the solitary figure left standing amidst the groaning, collapsed bodies scattered around the stage. To your left, a magician's wand lies abandoned; to your right, Artful's shape resolves from the gloom, his breath coming in ragged gulps, his eyes glittering with a feral, unhinged light. He steps over an overturned chair, each footfall echoing unnaturally in the sudden hush. "You saw it all," he murmurs, his voice fraying at the edges with fury and terror. He stops just out of…