***
{Outside The Projection}
The projection paused.
The Hall's sounds were loud.
The distant flickering of oil lamps.
The gentle shift of feet, the rustle of cloth.
The breathing of too many people standing too close together.
But besides that? Nothing.
No matter how many seconds had passed.
No voices. No murmurs. No breath of reaction. No whisper of commentary.
Just silence.
Empty.
The kind that had never settled over them before—because someone always broke it.
This... it had never NOT happened. Not even in the darkest moments.
Not when Malik had faced a shit-eating grin.
Not when Malik cut off that 'kid's' head.
Not when Malik was eaten alive.
Not when Layla had died.
There'd been quiet before—plenty of times, reaching a repetitive cadence—but never like this.
Huda did not speak.
Crimson did not hoot.
Azeem, ever casual, did not speak.
Zafar, always with a dumb remark, did not speak.
