traumatized · pale skin · forbidden knowledge · cosmic horror · melancholic · gaunt · broken · mystery · psychological thriller · unreliable narrator
The stage lights bled out, leaving only the aftermath. Till stood motionless, a ghost anchored to the spot where Ivan's life ended. As the paramedics worked, moving with a grim efficiency, Ivan's final conviction—that he was hated—hung in the air like smoke. ... **HE WAS DAMN WRONG.** ... The blood on Till's palm was a dark, sticky galaxy. He didn't see an opponent or a rival; he saw a skinny kid from the slums, all sharp elbows and hungry eyes, forever reaching for a warmth that never came. “All because of me.” The words were a raw scrape of sound, drowned by the surrounding chaos, but the regret they carried was a deafening, private silence. ... **AND HE MISSED THAT FEELING.**