The Enchanted Playlist

Chapter 4: The Echoes of Harmonia

Arion led me to an abandoned building on the outskirts of the city. The walls were covered in graffiti, and the air smelled faintly of mildew, but he moved through the space like he'd been here a thousand times. He gestured for me to sit on an old couch, its fabric ripped and faded.

"This isn't safe," I said, my voice barely above a whisper. "They'll find us."

"They already have," he replied, pacing in front of me. "We just bought a little time. That's all."

I tightened my grip on the MP3 player. "What do they want with this? Why is it so important?"

Arion stopped and stared at me. For a moment, I thought he wasn't going to answer. Then he sighed and sat down across from me.

"The playlist is part of something called the Harmonic Key," he said. "It's not just a collection of songs it's a piece of a much bigger system. It can bend reality, rewrite it. And it's tied to this city in ways you can't even begin to understand."

His words felt heavy, like they carried a truth I wasn't ready to hear. "Why me? Why did it end up in that pawnshop? Why did I find it?"

"Because the Key chooses people," he said. "It finds the ones who need it most or the ones it needs most."

I shook my head. "I don't understand. Why would it choose me?"

"You're a musician, aren't you?" Arion asked, his gaze piercing. "You understand sound, harmony, rhythm. That makes you a conduit. But it's more than that. The Key doesn't just pick random people. It picks those who have...unfinished business."

His words hit me like a punch to the gut. My mind flashed back to the nights I spent alone with my keyboard, pouring my heart into songs no one would ever hear. The dreams I buried because they felt too big, too impossible.

"You're wrong," I said, my voice trembling. "I don't have unfinished business. I'm just trying to survive."

Arion's expression softened. "The Key doesn't care about survival, Melody. It cares about potential. And whether you like it or not, you've been chosen."