the velvet curtain (9)

Time had become meaningless. Every time Elliot left the hidden room and returned to the theater's main halls, the world seemed different. The faces of his fellow actors blurred, as if they were fading into the background of a much larger story.

And always, always, Amadeus was there, watching, waiting.One night, as Elliot stood on the stage during a final rehearsal for *Macbeth*, he realized the full weight of his situation. He looked out into the empty seats, but in his mind, they were filled with shadows, past audiences who had come and gone.

The whispers grew louder, insistent. Fame, immortality, the theater's endless embrace—they were his for the taking. But the cost?