It happened backstage. Right after the lights went down, after the final bow, after the roar of the crowd faded into silence.
I knew something was wrong the second I looked at her. She wasn’t glowing anymore.
She stood frozen in the hallway, her mic still in her hand, her eyes darting between each of her bandmates like she didn’t recognize them.
And they — Rumi, Zoey, Mira — they looked guilty. Not scared. Just… quiet.
I didn’t mean to listen, but I couldn’t walk away.
“You knew.”
she said, her voice shaking but low. Controlled.
“You all knew what they were.”
Zoey stepped forward first. Of course she did. The peacemaker.
“i mean, we—”
“You knew.”
She repeated, sharper this time. Her voice cracked.
“All this time… I thought I was the only one who didn’t see it. But you were just pretending.”
Mira looked down. She couldn’t meet her gaze.
Rumi’s arms were crossed, like she was bracing herself.
I knew this would happen. Not this soon, not like this… but eventually.
The truth always breaks things.
“I asked you!”
She shouted, and that echo hit something deep inside me.
“When we first met them. I asked if you thought something was off. You looked me in the eye, Rumi, and you lied.”
Rumi finally spoke.
“I didn’t lie. I said they were different.”
“Different?”
she laughed — bitter, broken.
“They’re demons.”
She didn’t say it like a hunter. She said it like a girl who just got her heart ripped out.
My chest tightened.
Zoey stepped closer again.
“We didn’t tell you because we didn’t want to scare you. We were trying to protect you.”
“By hiding everything?”
She whispered.
“You didn’t trust me.”
“No."
Rumi said, and her voice was firm now.
“We trusted you too much. We knew if you found out, you’d do something reckless. Like try to fight them. Or… walk away from him.”
Her eyes flicked to me. I stood still. I didn’t speak. I didn’t breathe.
She stared at me for a long time.
“Did you know they knew?”
“…Yes.”
I said softly.
Her lips trembled.
“So I’m the only one who didn’t?”
No one answered.
She closed her eyes. For a second, I thought she’d cry.
But she didn’t. And somehow, that made it worse.
I would’ve preferred screaming. Anger. Even a slap. Anything but this heavy silence around her heart.
“You all made me feel crazy.”
she said.
“Every time I thought something wasn’t right, you looked at me like I was imagining it. And the person I trusted most—”
her voice cracked again.
“—he looked me in the eye every night and told me he loved me, knowing he was the one thing I was born to destroy.”
“I do love you.”
I said.
“Every part of you. Even the part that could end me.”
She turned away. Her shoulders shook.
Mira finally spoke. Quiet, broken.
“We were scared of losing you.”
“You did.”
She whispered.
“All of you did.”
Then she walked away.
And I just stood there.
Not chasing her.
Not calling her name.
Because what do you say to someone who just realized their whole world was built on secrets?
I let her go because maybe that’s what she needed.
But I’ll wait.
Because she’s still my girl.
Even if she never wants me again.
Even if I have to love her from far away.
She’s still my light in the dark.
And I’ll keep burning for her.
Always