Silence.
Leo yanked off his headphones. The room was the same. Desk lamp, empty Monster can, the faint buzz of the router. He shook his head. Late. Tired. He tried again. Download Avenged Sevenfold Nightmare Full Album
The first link was a sketchy torrent site. Purple and black, skulls, a download button that flashed like a dare. He clicked. Within seconds, a .zip file named NIGHTMARE_COMPLETE_MP3_320KBPS sat in his downloads folder. Silence
He didn’t even like the band that much. But the name— Nightmare —fit the hollow drumming in his chest. Finals were over, his girlfriend had left, and his father had stopped returning calls. Leo needed noise. Loud, angry, orchestral noise. Desk lamp, empty Monster can, the faint buzz of the router
He never downloaded another album. But sometimes, at 1:47 AM, he’d hear a faint drumbeat from his closet—double bass, syncopated, inhumanly fast—and he’d whisper into the dark: “I’m sorry, Dad.”