#boy writer

— When we went in to see Kevin's parents… you looked different. Too composed for a kid who an hour ago kept saying "there's a gap" and "I don't remember."

Eric looked up — the confusion was gone. Only cold, heavy silence remained.

— Sometimes in the dark, things are heard better, Lieutenant. It just echoes back.

Morrison pulled his hand away. An hour later, he's on the phone with an old contact:

— I saw a thirteen-year-old kid who switches like a radio. I need to talk. Off the record.

Shadow in the Heart.

Chapter 2 is already here ↓

⛓️🖤⛓️

i seek joy in the things that destroy me

i only find happiness in that which breaks me down

there’s euphoria in baring one’s soul

lighting it ablaze, just to examine

what color flame it can produce

"does the soul have a chemical foot print?"

are there balances and imbalances

like those, in the depths of one’s madness

"can the soul fall mad too?"

does a soul in sorrow, burn black

does one in love, red

i’m on the verge of madness and ecstasy

my queries scratch at the very fabric of my mental faculties

but each wound, laid bare, leaves clarity

where sanity no longer resides

we are creatures of madness

grasping for soundness

The water ran hot. Almost boiling. Steam slowly filled the space, settling on the mirror and tiles. He thrust his hands under the stream. The skin burned red, but he didn't pull away.

He scrubbed his knuckles with soap — plain, harsh alkaline — until the skin reddened and started to sting.

The dark lines under his nails, the dried blood, reluctantly gave way. He cleaned them methodically, like a surgeon before an operation.

Shadow in the Heart.

Chapter 3 is already here ↓

The kitchen was quiet. Not cozy — you couldn't call it cozy. It was that stupid, thickening silence. You only start to feel the difference when there's one less person in the house. It doesn't ring like a taut string. It's muffled, like cotton wool you shove in your ears to avoid hearing your own pulse.

Shadow in the Heart.

Chapter 2 is already here ↓

⛓️🖤⛓️

we've spent our existence in a lot of the same rooms

we walked on the same streets, lived in the same neighborhoods

stolen from the same convenience stores and hid in the same parking lots

we smoked the same joints, and chewed the same pieces of gum, just before getting home so our parents wouldn't find out

we fell in love, then out of love, with the people we said would be forever

we told each other about how we'd never let it happen again

how silly it was to let our hearts be so open, that no one should ever have that much access

we made the same promise

and promises to keep that promise

we told each other

this time would be better, this time we'd get it right

we both crossed our hearts