Melody.
The world seemed to freeze when I heard Julia's voice. There was no mistaking it—her command echoed in the town square, sharp, unforgiving. My blood ran cold, the weight of the moment pressing down on me like a crushing weight. I turned slowly, hoping against hope that I had misunderstood, that I could somehow twist the truth and make everything okay again.
But her eyes—those cold, crimson eyes—locked onto mine from across the street. They were darker than I remembered, filled with something twisted and alien, a hatred that burned with an intensity I had never seen before. She knew. She knew exactly what I had done.
I straightened, forcing myself to face her, but the words I had rehearsed to calm the people, to ease the fear in their eyes, caught in my throat. Julia advanced toward me, and the crowd began to scatter, the square suddenly filled with the rush of fleeing footsteps. The marketplace fell silent, leaving just the two of us standing in the center of the storm.
