Bloodstained Reverie

When 21-year-old musician Ava Cross walks into her best friend Lila's apartment one rainy night, she's already on edge. Lila hasn't been answering her calls all day, and there's a strange stillness in the air. The apartment door is unlocked. The scent of iron is thick and suffocating.
When Ava pushes open the bedroom door, her heart stops. Lila is there sprawled on the bed, her lifeless body drenched in blood. The sheets are soaked through, and her face is frozen in an expression of terror. But there's something off about the scene. A symbol has been drawn on the wall in blood, a jagged spiral Ava has never seen before.
Panic sets in but not in the way one would expect. No police. No screaming. Instead, a strange calm overtakes Ava. She doesn't call for help. Instead, she retrieves her camera. Snap. Snap. Snap. The flashes reflect in Lila's glassy eyes.
Ava's mind races. She's always been drawn to darkness and this? This is a vision. The photos are grotesque, but there's a raw, painful beauty to them. An idea takes root in her mind, insidious and unstoppable. This could be the cover for her upcoming album an album about death, obsession, and madness.
But the scene can't stay here. Under the cover of darkness, Ava wraps Lila's body in the bloodied sheets and drags her down the stairs, her breath rugged and uneven. She drives for hours into the woods, where the trees loom like silent sentinels. Digging a grave with her bare hands, she whispers apologies to her friend and promises that her death won't be forgotten.
When Ava finally releases the album weeks later, the cover is a vision of horror: Lila's pale, lifeless face framed by red-streaked sheets, the mysterious symbol faintly visible in the background. Fans are obsessed. They dissect every lyric, every note and soon, they notice strange whispers hidden beneath the music. Backward messages. Fragmented phrases.
The mystery isn't over. It's only just beginning.