wn up at the muse

herself tha

as trying to pull. She'd done it before-shut doors, changed names, disappea

ng in her d

ief. No

g worse-

le halls, slipped into the archive room, and locked the door behind her. But the sile

he staff hall

key turned

a dark window, and c

xpect

e hate

voice, the warmth behind his cold words, the stillnes

that she'd

she hated that he

her silence

ome right after

wandered. T

osed stalls, past late-night cafés with strangers l

t running f

Stillness made her listen. And w

stairwell smelled of rust and bleach. Her

othing ha

place no one could read you in. The kind of pla

t on the desk. Li

't reach

her notebook. Her fingers flipped to the page with

ped to t

as b

for minutes tha

wrote one

t he's stil

she s

d the

hts about him felt

hone

een lit

:

hat you d

fr

use he m

she'd just

mirrors. Her mask shattered behind her with every step, but

chas

wat

s showed his f

idn't

ds pa

her

:

tell you mi

And I kept waking up angry because I couldn't get to i

idn't

It wasn't romantic. It

an all those th

as h

re through armour in wa

vered over t

she t

yl

ors are locke

rep

or mi

for

bed expect

nce didn

the phone

:

er stopped

, the museum air

perature.

. Her fingers twitched as she typed into the logbook. She tr

he archive ro

something

square

lack wax seal pre

the door.

w steps

under the seal an

e: a

h

wo yea

m

sha

t h

standing at a train station, sh

rneath it was

well, I almost forgo

ame. But she d

eady-but her pulse scr

se he

all

the

her realise she was

sn't just

unrav

ight, she di

re no one had se

on the edge

ce people went

k booth, hood up,

e wal

ru

surp

new she'd

s from her w

speak for a

h

the photo,

tresp

the door

eyes. "What do

nk. "I don't

ia

o know what ma

e lower now. "Knowing d

mi

on't save me. And it

pa

nk I nee

oked a

she let something flicke

kness.

ng far

rn

nger of pulling masks off people who

aned

me what i

pped around

ime, it wa

s a p