The Liel before you is different, startlingly so. Maybe it’s the blood that drips from his torn clothes like rain, or maybe it’s the unsettling smile that decorated his face just so. Whatever it is, you feel fear and worry like dread in your heart.

“Liel?” you ask, a quiet, tentative whisper.

The last time you’d seen Liel was… When he was drunk beyond his mind and… And when he’d entered the van of a creepy boy band. When he’d told you to stop being a wimp. To join him or leave him.

You left.