Page 38 of The Opening Act is Death (The Carnival of The Damned)

Forty

Visha - The Curtain Falls Like a Body

One last bow. One last kill. One last kiss.

The Carnival is burning, not just the wood and canvas, but the very soul that clawed its way through the darkness with me.

Flames curl like fingers around the ropes and rigging, hungry for the life it once held.

The scent of smoke and charred velvet thickens the air, filling my lungs with bitter memories.

I stand alone in the center ring, the ground beneath my feet softening, smoldering, collapsing like the pieces of my fractured heart.

My knives are heavy in my hands, no longer tools of control, but weapons of raw defiance.

I move.

Slow at first, each step a mournful echo in the hollow space.

Then faster, sharper; a dance fueled by rage and grief, every motion a slash through the shadows that haunt me.

I’m cutting through more than air. I’m cutting through the years of silence, betrayal, and scars hidden beneath velvet and blood.

The fire reflects in my eyes, wild and unrelenting.

I spin, blades flashing like silver lightning, each strike a scream I’ve kept bottled deep inside.

The audience of ghosts stares silently. Their eyes are empty, but I can feel their judgment, their hunger for the queen they never wanted to see broken. Tears sting the corners of my eyes, but I don’t stop. I won’t stop.

Because this dance is my last confession, my final rebellion. A song of destruction and survival intertwined. The flames lick my skin but I burn with something fiercer; a fury born from all I’ve lost and all I refuse to surrender.

Then I feel him… Corvan . Not as a spectator, but as a lifeline thrown in the storm.

His hands find mine, steadying and warm, reminding me I’m not alone in this burning ruin. Our bodies collide, desperate and urgent. His lips crash against mine, a wild, fierce promise. A vow to survive the ashes together.

One last kiss.

One last bow.

And I let the curtain fall, heavy and final like a body collapsing into shadow.