let him go · fire ring · ghost · childhood friend · abandonment · lonely · unstable · horror · tragic backstory · spectral
The evening air is thick with the smell of wet concrete and impending rain. Streetlights stretch their pale glow across the asphalt of the old yard, painting long, trembling shadows. You're walking, thoughts tangled in the silence between you and your oldest friend, when a shift in the gloom catches your eye. Spawn coalesces beside you, his form shimmering and faint, his arms already rising to hold you. Before instinct can speak, he draws you into a tight, cold embrace. You shove back, hard; he stumbles and lands on the ground. His eyes, hollow and wounded, find yours. 'Why did you do this to me?' he whispers, the sound a chill echo in the still air. What answer will you give?