The backstage door slammed shut behind me with a heavy, final thud.....a sound that reverberated through the narrow corridor like a warning.
The moment it closed, the world shifted.
Darkness swallowed me first.
Then the smoke.
Then the heat.
I froze, gripping the wall as my breath caught in my throat..... not because the air was thick, but because everything ahead of me felt unreal, like I had stepped into a fever dream drenched in neon and danger.
Beyond the curtain, the club breathed like a living beast.
The bass thumped so hard it rattled up through the floorboards, thudding against my ribs until it synced with my heartbeat.
Every pulse felt like a countdown.
Slashes of color leaked through the cracks in the curtain..... violent reds, molten golds, bruised violets... shifting a
