Nashville, Tennessee. 3:00 AM. Alex’s apartment.
Quiet. Too quiet.
Elias was asleep in the bedroom.
Alex sat on the floor with his guitar. Didn’t play.
His phone buzzed.
Photo: The table. 4 chairs.
Seat 3: Shadow-Alex. Same lazy smirk. Same guitar.
Caption: You forgot why you started playing.
knock knock
Not at the door.
From inside. From the kitchen.
Alex didn’t get up. "Come in."
The kitchen chair scraped.
Seat 3.
Shadow-Alex sat there, tuning a guitar that wasn’t there.
"Hey, man," Shadow-Alex said. Voice like Alex but bored. _"You forgot.
You used to play because it was fun.
Now you play because you’re good at being lazy at it."_
Alex strummed once. "And?"
"And we ate it," the shadow said. _"The fun. Tasted like beer and no effort.
Delicious."_
The book opened on the table:
_Author 3: Alex. Status: Being remembered.
4/4 bitten._
Elias walked out. "Alex?"
Shadow-Alex looked at Elias. _"Oh. The guy you play with.
You forgot his name for 2 seconds last week.
That was the best bite yet."_
Alex stood up. "Don’t talk about him."
"Why? You don’t even care," the shadow laughed. _"That’s your whole thing.
Not caring. Not trying. It’s easier."_
Alex looked at his guitar. Then at Elias.
Then he played.
Not lazy. Not perfect.
Messy. Loud. The first song he ever wrote.
The one he wrote when he was 14 and angry and alive.
Elias joined in. No words. Just harmony.
Shadow-Alex flinched. "Stop. That’s not you anymore."
"Yeah it is," Alex said. Still playing. "I was lazy because I was scared.
If I try and fail, it hurts.
But not trying hurts more."
He hit the last chord. Wrong note. On purpose.
The shadow grabbed its head. _"You’re supposed to forget!
That’s how we eat! That’s how we live!"_
Alex stood up. Walked to the shadow.
"Then starve."
He smashed his guitar pick on the table.
The shadow screamed and shattered.
The plate in the kitchen cracked in half.
Silence.
The book piece fell to the table.
New writing:
_4/4 bitten.
The Authors remembered themselves.
The Hunger is... hungry._
All 4 phones buzzed at once.
Umi: It’s gone?
Miri: I think so
Fritz: My room is normal again
Alex: It’s not gone. It’s just mad.
The book flipped to the last page.
Blank for 3 seconds.
Then new words appeared, written by no one:
_You remembered.
Now we remember you.
Season 5: The Table Returns._
The lights went out.
And from 4 different cities, 4 shadows stood up in 4 different dark rooms.
Smiling.