The figure vanished a second later.
The door was still closed, latched tight.
It had all been nothing but a hallucination.
When Brandon finished the cake, he pulled out his phone and pulled up Abigail's final video.
Her soft, quiet voice drifted out, fragile as smoke. "...I'm sorry, my secret love. This time, I'm the one breaking our promise. I said I'd only wait for you until I turned 30. I'll never make it to 30. So I'll love you. Forever...
"Even if I sell out the whole arena, what's the point if you're not there? It all feels like nothing... All the lights and all the fame... they don't compare to singing soft and quiet right next to the one you love..."
The video looped, over and over.
Brandon watched it again and again, punishing himself with every frame.
He left right before
