**Verse I (Clean / restrained)**
You lived in the quiet behind my eyes
Every word you left became a lie
I held your weight like it was mine
Called it love, called it time
You spoke in heat, then froze me out
Left me guessing what I was about
I bent myself until I fit
Inside the spaces where you quit
**Pre-Chorus (Clean → Grit)**
I tried to stay soft, tried to believe
But you only fed on what you could bleed
**Chorus (Clean Lead)**
I loved you like a fault in me
Like pain was proof you’d never leave
I burned my hands just to feel close
You wore a halo—I saw the teeth
I stayed too long
I stayed too deep
I stayed until I hated me
---
**Verse II (Clean / darker)**
You praised my scars, ignored my voice
Called control a careful choice
You drank the calm out of my chest
Then asked why I couldn’t rest
I learned your moods, I learned your tells
How to survive inside your hell
I shrank myself to keep you tall
That wasn’t love—I see it now
**Pre-Chorus II (Half-scream)**
You don’t get credit for my pain
Just because you learned my name
**Chorus II (Clean → Scream Tail)**
I loved you like a god I feared
(***I FEARED YOU***)
I loved you till I disappeared
(***I WAS GONE***)
I gave you blood, you gave me rules
(***YOU MADE ME SMALL***)
I see it now—
***YOU NEEDED ME WEAK***
---
### **Breakdown / Bridge (FULL SCREAMS)**
***I WAS NOT HEALING***
***I WAS BEING DRAINED***
***YOU CALLED IT PATIENCE***
***I CALL IT CHAINS***
***YOU DON’T GET MY SLEEP***
***YOU DON’T GET MY NAME***
***YOU DON’T GET TO WEAR ME***
***LIKE I’M YOUR FUCKING FAITH***
*(drop — single sustained scream)*
***LET ME GO***
---
**Final Chorus (Clean + Layered Screams)**
I loved you till my voice gave out
(***GAVE IT ALL***)
Till all I felt was doubt
(***ALL DOUBT***)
If this is mercy, I refuse
(***REFUSE***)
If this is heaven, cut me loose
I won’t stay soft
I won’t stay weak
I won’t die quiet at your feet
---
**Outro (Clean, exhausted)**
No more halos
No more lies
I buried you
So I could survive
HollowVotive
