No one else can hear you
In a dusty bookstore, Mann, a reclusive poet with a penchant for broken things, encounters a woman he dubs "Cassette"-a muse whose hum pierces his silence and ignites an all-consuming love. As their romance deepens, fueled by shared literature, slow dances, and raw intimacy, Mann's devotion warps into obsession. Viewing her as a perfect cassette tape, he sees any interference -be it a crude law student, a suspicious friend, or a prying landlord-as "noise" or "scratches" marring her melody. One by one, he eliminates these threats with gruesome precision: a throat slit, a body drowned, a car compacted, a fire set, each kill a vow to keep her pure.
Cassette, unaware at first, is drawn
into his orbit, her own scars and trust
binding her to him. But when her friend
group stages an intervention, Mann's
violence peaks, and he tests her loyalty,
coaxing her to kill. She does, sealing
their dark duet-only for Mann to decide
her perfection can't endure life's decay.
Poisoning her tea with arsenic, he stops
her "tape," preserving her in a grotesque
ritual of lavender and glass eyes, their
love eternalized in stillness. As he
mourns her at a table set for two, his
gaze drifts to a new hum, hinting at a
cycle poised to rewind.