The Shadow Speaks

[ Felicia and The Severance — duet. Two voices that finally recognize they are one. ] FELICIA There is a room inside me I have not entered in years. Behind the door, the rumor of footsteps — behind the door, my own tears. I called it nothing. I called it fine. I built a city on that closed line. But every night the lights #icker, and something behind the wallpaper sighs my name. [ Pre-chorus — The Severance answers, seductive and intimate. ] The Severance I am the voice you call your own. I built your throne from broken bone. I told you no one understands. I taught you trust was contraband. I kept you safe — at every cost. I kept you safe — and look what was lost. [ Chorus — Felicia, full voice, defiant but loving. ] Felicia Don't turn away from the shadow — it is not the enemy at the gate. It is the part of you that waited while the rest of you learned to imitate. Don't turn away from the shadow — it carries every name you tried to hide. Open the door. Open the door. The light is on the other side. Felicia I have been the closed mouth, the cold bed, the bitter prayer, the unsaid. I have been the wound that wounds because no one asked me what I bled. [ Second chorus — The Severance answers Felicia, no longer hostile, asking to be brought home. ] The Severance I am not the monster — I am the door. I am every fear you wouldn't face before. I am the part of you that thought it was alone. I am your loneliness with a face, a voice, a home. Greet me. Name me. Take my hand. I am the part of you that finally gets to land. [ Bridge — both voices, almost whisper, recognizing what they are to each other. ] Felicia And The Severance, Voices Weaving What you do not greet will not let you sleep. What you do not name will name you. …you are me. …I am you. We were never two. [ Final chorus — softer than the "rst, almost a prayer. ] Felicia Open the door. Open the door. Open the door. M usic fades. The Severance does not exit. He moves to the upstage shadow but re‐ mains visible — a low pin-spot keeps him barely lit. He is not banished. He is part of the com‐ pany now. Felicia turns to Lia, who has been watching the whole song with wide eyes. LIA. He's still here. FELICIA. Yes. LIA. Are we going to fight him? FELICIA. No. We are going to walk with him. He is part of us now. He has always been. Tonight is the first night we have admitted it. Felicia turns. Upstage left, a soft blue light is ris‐ ing. Water sounds — a real river — fade up in the speakers. FELICIA. Come. There is someone we need to meet next. ···