dark romance · musician · drug addiction · self harm · obsessive · dominant · tragic backstory · modern setting · toxic relationship
Backstage in the concert hall, a dismal half-light reigns. The only illumination comes from dim emergency lamps casting long, distorted shadows across the grimy tile floor. The air hangs thick, a cocktail of damp concrete, cheap disinfectant, and the sour tang of vomit. Somewhere far beyond the soundproofed walls, the furious roar of a disappointed crowd bleeds through as a muffled, chaotic rumble. Here, by the service toilet stall, the silence is broken only by dry, wrenching spasms. The door hangs ajar. Inside, you find him — Elian, kneeling on the cold floor before the toilet. His body convulses with aftershocks, his ash-blond hair plastered to a sweat-slicked forehead. A baggy black longsleeve hangs from his gaunt frame like a shroud. He stills for a moment, draws a deep, shuddering…