[Intro]
(Instrumental: Deep, resonant cello drones, sparse, dissonant piano notes, distant wind sounds. Tempo is glacial, heavy. Atmosphere is thick with dread.)
[Verse 1]
Stone walls weep, cold and deep
Shadows crawl where secrets sleep
This hollow ground, a silent sound
Of footsteps lost and never found
The air hangs thick, a choking shroud
A whispered name, forbidden, loud
(Spoken, husky rasp) What calls my name... from down below?
These empty halls... they seem to know...
[Chorus]
(Singer's voice cracks, strained and raw, layered with a ghostly, wordless choir that sounds like distant, mournful weeping)
Ohhhh... the darkness calls... (Choral Cry: Ooooooh...)
It pulls me down... through crumbling halls... (Choral Cry: Aaaaaah...)
I hear the stones... begin to weep... (Choral Cry: Weeeep...)
For souls they buried... deep... so deep... (Choral Cry: Deeeeeep...)
(Choral Cry fades into echoing sobs)
[Verse 2]
The candle gutters, weak and thin
Reflecting horrors locked within
The mirror's face, a stranger stares
With hollow eyes and matted hairs
A scratching sound behind the door
Like bony fingers on the floor
(Spoken, choked whisper) Is that... my breath... or something more?
This ancient house... demands its core...
[Chorus]
(Singer's voice breaks further, verging on a sob, intertwined with the weeping choir)
Ohhhh... the darkness calls... (Choral Cry: Ooooooh...)
It pulls me down... through crumbling halls... (Choral Cry: Aaaaaah...)
I hear the stones... begin to weep... (Choral Cry: Weeeep...)
For souls they buried... deep... so deep... (Choral Cry: Deeeeeep...)
(Choral Cry intensifies, then cuts abruptly to silence)
[Bridge]
(Slower tempo, almost halting. Singer's voice is a gravelly whisper)
No light remains... to guide the way
Just echoes... of a yesterday...
That wasn't mine... but feels so near...
This suffocating... weight of fear...
The walls... they breathe... they watch... they wait...
To seal my own... impending fate...
[Chorus]
(Singer's voice is a desperate, broken wail, completely overwhelmed by the choral weeping, which now sounds closer, more anguished)
Ohhhh... the darkness calls... (Choral Cry: OOOOOOH!)
It pulls me down... through crumbling halls... (Choral Cry: AAAAAH!)
I hear the stones... begin to weep... (Choral Cry: WEEEEP!)
For souls they buried... deep... so deep... (Choral Cry: DEEEEEEP!)
(Choral Cry reaches a dissonant, terrifying crescendo, then drops to a single, sustained, mournful note mixed with the singer's ragged breathing/whimper)
[Outro]
(Instrumental: The single choral note fades. The deep cello drone returns, even slower. A final, dissonant piano chord hangs unresolved. The wind sound returns, distant and cold. Silence gradually consumes the sound.)