The Hollow King

(Soft piano — almost no percussion at first)

Verse 1

You stood beside me

like a mirror learning how to breathe

half made from shadows

half from things I couldn’t keep

And all that silence

started sounding like a hymn

I should’ve known

how dangerous it is

to let somebody see you fully

⸻

Verse 2

Now every streetlight

holds your outline for a second

every empty room

feels like something was interrupted

You said the lonely ones

build religions out of people

I didn’t know

you were speaking

about yourself

⸻

Chorus

So why does grief arrive

after the story ends?

Why do I feel you most

now that you’re gone?

And if love was just

two ruined minds recognising themselves

then maybe we were holy

for a moment

⸻

(Instrumental swell — strings enter softly)

⸻

Verse 3

I still hear rain

when the house goes quiet

still see your face

inside my own reflection

And somewhere underneath

all the fear and violence

there was a person

begging not to disappear

⸻

Final Chorus (bigger, more emotional)

So why does grief arrive

after the story ends?

Why does absence

sound louder than truth?

You were not a monster

until the world taught you survival

and I was not innocent

for needing you too

⸻

(Music strips back down — almost acapella)

Outro

Some people die twice…

once in front of you

and once

inside your memory

(Long piano decay into silence)