The wind rattled the broken windows of the abandoned theater, dragging the night inside like a living thing. Eli's hands hovered above the piano keys, frozen between curiosity and fear. The girl in the moonlight watched him silently, her expression unreadable.
"Do you always wait this long before making decisions?" she asked, voice soft but pointed.
Eli swallowed hard. "I… I don't know what I'm deciding." His fingers twitched nervously. "I just… I can't let it sit here. I need to know what it does."
"You're reckless," she whispered. Her gaze flicked to the sheet music again. "The song isn't just a melody. It chooses who it affects, and you… it chose you."
The words were heavy, almost tangible. Eli felt the pull of the piano beneath him, a gravity that seemed alive. He pressed a single key, hesitating before continuing. The note rang out, pure and haunting, echoing through the empty theater.
The girl flinched. "That's the first note," she said. "It always comes with consequences."
Eli frowned. "Consequences?"
"Yes," she said, stepping closer. Her eyes reflected the moonlight, silver and dangerous. "The song shows glimpses of what is meant to happen. Every note has a price. And the first one…" She hesitated, swallowing. "It's already begun."
Eli's stomach tightened. "What do you mean?"
She pointed toward the stage's back entrance. "Look outside."
He turned, shining his flashlight through the shattered doors. The city beyond was dark and quiet, the streets empty except for a single figure standing beneath a flickering streetlamp.
Eli's breath caught. The man or maybe it was a boy, he couldn't tell from this distance, was watching the theater. Watching him.
"I… I don't know him," Eli said. His voice trembled slightly.
"You will," the girl said. "And by the time you do, the first note will have already changed things."
A chill ran down Eli's spine. He wanted to argue, to tell her this was ridiculous, that it was just a coincidence. But the note in his mind, the eerie pull of the piano, told him she wasn't lying.
He turned back to the keys. The sheet music shimmered faintly, the ink shifting as if breathing. Something new had appeared:
"The first choice is made. Consequences unfold."
Eli's pulse quickened. He tried to read the music carefully, but the notes seemed to twist before his eyes, forming chords that were familiar yet impossible. His fingers brushed against them, almost of their own accord.
A sound from the theater's ceiling made both of them look up. Something moved in the shadows, small but deliberate. The theater wasn't as empty as it seemed. Eli's heartbeat thundered in his chest.
"What is that?" he whispered.
"I don't know," the girl admitted, tension tight in her voice. "But the song, it responds to danger. Sometimes it warns."
Eli swallowed, torn between curiosity and fear. His life had always been ordinary, predictable. And yet here he was, standing in the middle of an abandoned theater, a song that could predict the future in front of him, and a girl who seemed to know more than she should.
He pressed the first note again, tentative this time. The melody flowed from his fingers, a slow, haunting tune that made the dust swirl around him. The sound resonated, echoing not just through the theater, but through something deeper, something he couldn't name.
And then, it happened.
The lights of the streetlamp outside flickered violently, then went out. The figure vanished. Eli froze. He hadn't moved, hadn't even breathed. And yet he knew something had changed.
The girl stepped forward, her eyes wide with worry. "You felt it, didn't you?"
Eli nodded slowly. "Felt what?"
"The shift," she said. "The first note, it always comes with a ripple. Something is moving now because you played it. And it won't stop until the song is finished."
Eli's fingers hovered above the keys again. He wanted to stop, to walk away, to ignore the piano entirely. But the pull, the melody, it called him. He couldn't resist.
"What happens if I finish it?" he asked, voice barely audible.
The girl's gaze softened for a moment, almost sad. "I don't know. No one ever has. And those who try don't survive unchanged."
Eli's stomach churned. " I have to know."
She looked at him, and for a brief moment, her calm, distant demeanor cracked. "Then you'll pay the price, Eli Hart. Whatever it is it will come for you."
He swallowed, a cold sweat running down his back. Yet, he couldn't turn away. The piano, the song, the girl, it had already claimed him.
The wind howled through the broken windows, and Eli's fingers pressed down on the keys once more. The melody swelled, filling the theater with sound that seemed to vibrate through the air, through the walls, through him.
A flash of light from outside caught his attention. The figure at the streetlamp had returned, closer now. He could see the glint of something in its hand. A camera? A weapon? He didn't know. But he did know this: whatever this was… it was connected to the song.
The girl stepped closer, whispering urgently: "Don't stop. Play. But be ready. The first note's consequences are already here."
Eli's fingers trembled on the keys. The melody twisted, a beautiful, terrifying thing that felt alive. And as the last note of the first full phrase echoed into silence, a shiver ran down his spine.
Something moved behind the rows of seats. Something that shouldn't be there.
And the piano began to glow faintly, the notes shimmering like they were writing themselves again.
Eli's heart pounded. The song wasn't finished. And already the world around him was changing.