Cartridge Carter crashed to his knees , the gold flecks in his red-raw eyes lighting with an exhaustive relief. His shirt, torn from his grinding against the ropes that bound him, hung in tatters. His bare feet matched his exposed nerves as tears hinged on his vision. As he outstretched his bloodied arms , her wide, burning amber irises met his in the simmering heat. "Lily , Oh God I-" , the words , slammed from his lungs as she found the only solace that existed against his ribs, seemed irrelevant. A smile , finding its way across his chafed , dehydrated lips , rested against her hairline. "Lily , you waited for me?" , he pressed the words into her blonde strands, inhaling the scent and retaining her in his lungs. Her tear filled gaze peered up as she transferred the morning glory from her hair to the space between his earlobe and head . "I wanted to give this to you Daddy, it's wilted , I think it died-I'm sorry-" As Carters embrace enveloped her whole he whispered into the magenta dust, "Now, we don't apologise for kindness , do we , huh?" Her head shook against his biceps as she whispered through tears "But it's not pretty anymore-" Carter, removing the flower from his ear and holding its petals above Lily's head, its silhouette framed with orange hues he said, "Everthing is beautiful sometimes, I'm going to take you to ...pick some flowers for Mommy because-" Carter , planting a kiss to her forehead , confronted the rancid heat as he placed the flower behind her ear, piecing together his resolve "-because she will find her way back to us, and she will need the biggest bunch ever . Your Dad's gonna bring her home to us safe, and your can put a ring of flowers in her hair, imagine that-but I need you to do something for me, Lily. I'm gonna leave my boots right here -and you just stay by them. No matter what you see-or hear-you you cover your eyes and stay by them. Even if you cry, there are people who will looking for these boots, good people , who will take care of you until I get back, okay?" Her eyes grew imperceptible with emotion as she asked, her voice trembling "But where are you going? Where is Mommy?" Carter's hand entangled itself in his daughter's hair as he found, and wrestled with each singular word on his tongue. "She's... in the other heaven. It's like the one we go to when -well , only this heaven is real. It's a place that is beautiful like your flower, but also, at night it isn't so pretty . But it's nots not goodbye , Lily , it's just ...I'll be back in a while huh?". As he placed his boots , in perfect alignment, their soles an exact inch apart , the calling card was a grave picture before his desperate eyes. As he watched her slide down beside his shoes , and he coerced his legs to walk away, his almost silent prayer hung in the growing distance. "Please spare my daughter ." /// As Carter grasped her wrist, dangling over his shoulder, his fingers locating her pulse point , his touch was left cold. As he fought to breathe , his binds inching closer to his chest, only the pulse of his own heat racing through his veins was stark in the night. Unmet "Lily? Oh God , no...Lily. my little girl-you bastards-" . She'd been there , upon his shoulders for longer than he fathomed as a cruel sun seeped through the shutters, his vision enslaved to blindness. "Help me...please don't force me to live-She's the only morning glory that-". Carter pled as the stark realization of where his daughter had been laid to rest washed through him. He contained the urge to vomit, as he held her fingers in his own , and choked back tears. The silence was almost as loud as the abyss in his chest as his throat closed around his breath. The voice was low, clinical, but exacting. "The only morning glory you ever-nurtured ? The smallest seed , her fate now sown? Oh , Carter. She might have wanted you to have....this." A wilted blue flower, azure in its hue yet tainted with the shades of amber , gazed at him as his retinas burned. His blindfold , inevitably pushed upwards as his eyes fluttered open, exposed his gold flecked irises to the petals by his eyelids. "The one she picked...for you, Daddy? Ah. The one she wore in her hair when I plucked her from the spot you begged her to wait in. Or did she disobey you after all? Either way, say your last goodbye , as she lays to rest on your shoulders. " Valen's voice mocked from a distance, and Carter held himself still , her body threatening to fall from his back if he let his grief escape him. . Carter twisted his head away from the flower as tears moistened the delicate remnants of his daughter's innocence. "Why not me instead? " he asked through clenched teeth, as he his fingers sought hers and he enveloped her lifeless hand in his own. "You physche was inaccessible after a sustained period of torture. To shatter your heart, was the brilliance within a father so ...in love with his child -that was-the brightest spark in the sky tonight. Until she fell. Her pallbearer, you shall be , until death." Valen's footsteps echoed amongst Carters torrent of sorrow as he lay, bound underneath his Lilly's once vibrant heart. . As his tears stained the concrete , and his binds inched around his flesh with a menacing grip, he heard bare feet drag themselves toward him "Oh God-" Liam's voice whispered as his kneecaps came to a stop at Carters head. " Ryan-" , Liam yelled, his voice thickening" As Ryan caught up , his eyes swept over the horror and whispered "We're going to get you both out of here, close your eyes Carter, deep breaths, Ill get the binds off-" Carters's heaves were dry and pierced with resistance as he begged his rescuers. "No-leave me here -" A knife sliced his ribs free , his binds snapping and Liam gently lifted her frail body into his arms, his blue gaze contrasting with the flower as he retrieved it from the ground and tucked int behind her hair. Carter , crawling to his knees and burning his eyes in his forearm , shook violently as Liam exited the steel walled room, and Ryan slung an arm over Carters back. "We can't leave you here , but if you need to be alone-" As Carter pulled Ryan into desperate proximity he raped "my wife... then my daughter, but they left me alive -I" Ryan's silence was the only solace as Carters tears filled the hollow of his clavicle, and the sun rose , its harshness painting a new day over their silhouette . "I-can't leave-My wife Si-Sienna....where is she ?" As Ryan held Carters's shoulders he said in a solid, hollow voice, its metallic edge soothing Carter's brain. "Your wife is with your daughter , Sienna and Lily are with Liam. You don't have to leave , here is fair enough , I ain't saying you need to stand up ." Carter's strangled voice hit the walls as he rasped "I can't - I can't walk, -I" Ryan's grip, firm on Carter's shaking arms , contained the violence of his despair raging through him. "I've got you , for as long as it takes" , Ryan assured. Carter's pleas ragged in the air , puncturing the moment. "I'll never stand again, Ryan I-I don't want to keep going -leave me here , please . " There was a long silence as Ryan disengaged himself from Carter's grasp, his voice a whisper. "When you stand for them, we'll carry you, brother" ----// as Liam stood , holding her body in his arms , he ran a palm over her eyes , as they closed under his touch. The day had emptied itself onto his back as he rested his gaze on the ceiling. Carters faint retches , devoid of voice, struck his core as his own tears skewed his vision and he leaned against the wall where Siennas body lay, covered in rough fabric. ///// His aching skull, enraged with the pulse of rising nausea, slumped against the surface of his thigh. "Liam, take them home. If there's one damned person -" Liam's gravelled voice met him from outside their concrete purgatory, a dead lifeline in the pulsing night that shrunk around him. "Consider it done, brother. " Ryan will help you into your clothes, you have one thing to carry with you-your dignity-" . There was the insipid , beige tint of his flesh, as he steadied a hand at his blood soaked hairline . Hours dragged as Carter clung to Ryan, his footsteps falling backwards as he sought leverage in the faltering struggle for balance . "Keep your head down, and focus on the footpath, it's only a few miles. " Ryan's voice , smooth with his own inflection of grief , assured as Carter's posture slackened . Ryan -I -I can still hear her. I ... Sienna...she's in my head and I need to stop-" As the concrete swam under his shins as he collapsed, every fibre of his being trembled with a futile exhaustion , as his palms found his hazel eyes. "Liam, just continue, can't have you both on the brink of -" There was a quiet but unmistakable groan as Liam clenched his teeth and hoisted the dark shadows in his arms closer to his chest. "Not as heavy as what he's carrying, It's only a mile , Ry-" as Ryan's open palm came to rest upon Carter's shoulder blades , as he straddled the curb , his right leg hanging onto the traffic -bare road, Ryan knelt under the cracked streetlight. "Tell me, Carter, what was the last thing Sienna said to you? " Carter's barricaded face obstructed his response as he whispered ."don't ask me that, what difference does it-" Then as Ryan drew Carter into his lap , hinging his arm around his stomach and dragging his legs onto the footpath , Carter answered "She said-just protect our baby girl -she was -she went without a fight just to-sacrifice-. What man can live with" Ryan's tears remained in his eyes as he glanced into the sallow neon glow above him . "Now her words , they have a reality . They are what is left behind ." Carter, not registering a car as it sailed past, reached out and grabbed the collar of Ryan's shirt as he growled through tears . "No , they are what haunt me , I can't live to honour a sacrifice that my impotence destroyed . You listen to me Ryan-I'd still give my life just to even the playing field ." : Ryan tightened his grip on. Carter's arm, pulling him into an embrace that bled a warmth and a wordless moment of connective despair. "Carter , you loved them with everything you had left. You won't rebuild it. You won't be the same again. And it wouldn't be fair to that field if you dared to be. But , your true impotence will be to deny who are . You'll never escape it, even in your own demise. Not one second will elapse you without you knowing it. It's how the road will lay beneath your feet forever. Whether you walk , or not. " As Liam reached the splintered window panes , shards of glass crunching under his boots, he came to a standstill by Carter's shoes, untouched in the night. "We're full circle, this is where your final memory will be forged. Because I carried them through hell . And I'd do it again, but this is unfinished . I carried them for you , but my part here is done. The haze of dust and moonlight shine over the debris, as Liam paused at Carters side, a broken doorframe in his hands. " for a lack of a shovel-I can help you but only so far . You need to inter them, Carter. His voice was below a whisper as Carter steadied his grip on the makeshift shovel, and shook his head . "You're right. Only I can seal the fate that I -"Carter said, his voice a hollow shell . Liam , leaving his calloused palm on the doorframe , enveloping Carters trembling knuckles this he spoke with cracks of heat in his even tone " You'll never have to die again, Carter. This is -already an end, the ultimate loss. And it may be that your hear will continue to beat although dead. But if you fall , brother, know that you fall for them. " Liam had lain Lily and Sienna by the untouched boots, with their laces stripped , a haunting reminder of the calling card where Carter had reunited with his daughter earlier that day. The sun had already begun its chilling ascent , a magenta canvas to the outlines of their weary frames as the day unfurled without hesitation, without condolence . It was the closure that opened his greatest wound, and he was alone to bleed out into his eternity.///////

But is the story good?

Describe the authors style

So how could it be less lyrical

Ok tell me about this authors style "Now hang tight while I get these damned binds off-" , Ryan's voice reassured with an undercurrent of urgency, as Liam's arms obstructed his ribcage from accomodating his lungs. Liam's voice died in his throat as the sear of rope twisted itself around his flesh , grinding like wildfire into his veins as Ryan worked at the constraints with bare hands. His deft fingers delivered frantic sensations into Liam's malaise as they eroded the rope's grained surface, causing the fibres to snap. Then, as Ryan tossed the strews of rope aside, he rolled Liam onto his back, smoothing a palm over his chest and anchoring his sternum. "Ryan? How the hell did you get out of your?" , Liam questioned in untamed confusion, shocks coursing down his spine as Ryan elevated his head and hauled it onto his thigh. " It took a hell of a long time to wear down my own, but I managed to-ah it doesn't matter , just concentrate on the breathing." As his head lolled to the side , Liam's laboured breaths stalled his movements , the horizon meeting his vision while Ryan held his jaw in place . "Easy, slow breaths, feel how I'm breathing buddy and mirror that." It was a few minutes before Liam's chest finally fell into a rhythm, his spasmodic breathing evening out. "There we go, give it some time, it's been a long damn night.", Ryan said, his hands remaining secure against Liam's face as he refocused his vision on Ryan's steady gaze. Liam, reaching up and gripping Ryan's arm, smiled against the warm twilight rays of daylight that bathed his features. "Hell of a thing to endure, seeing all that... Damn lucky that we're both still here." Liam, pulling on Ryan's arm, found the strength to prop himself into a seated position, still deprived of breath. "Shit. Get over here, Ry'" he said, as streams of magenta dust hovered , creating a surreal haze that reflected the rising sun. Liam raised his arm and enveloped Ryan in a warm but rough embrace , melding their silhouettes into one as their shoulders collided. As Liam delivered a thump to his back, Ryan reciprocated by bumping his fist against Liam's shoulder. "Yeah, yeah, calm down," Ryan laughed in spite of his cool demeanour. "We'll get a decent shot of water into you, after we find your clothes." Ryan, lowering his deep hazel irises to meet Liam's contrasting blue stare , placed a hand on Liam's knee. "thank God I reached you in time." Although the light had drained from his eyes , Liam managed a smirk. "Yeah, I know what you did Ry' . It's all kinda hazy but-" Ryan dodged the heroics as he offered a smile and turned his head, the hues of the ominous sunrise casting across his profile , promising impending heat. "Nah, I don't go down easy or nothin' but someone had to save your ass." Passage two "The sight of his crumpled jeans, smudged with fingerprints, hijacked his attention. "Those bastards don't care what they leave behind," Liam muttered as his eyes located his left sock, freezing his joints. "Please help me-" he whispered, readjusting his grip on Ryan's shoulder, wrenching his gaze away from the twisted display of inhumanity. Liam's jaw clenched as he then noticed his dehumanizing undergarments strewn across the footpath, along with his boots and shirt. Ryan held his gaze steadfast on Liam's faltering eyes as he approached Liam's belongings, gathering them and subverting the underwear, scuffing it away with his boot. Liam was already sliding toward the dusty ground as Ryan handed him the brusque garments, his expression gentle. "You earned your dignity, just focus on that," he reassured as Liam accepted his ruined clothing with a wince. "Yeah, give me a minute-" he said with a glimmer of resistance in his bloodshot eyes. The drugs in his vision burned with a harsh sting, and Liam shook his head to regain some clarity. "I don't remember how I got here. No damn clue. Now here I am stripped naked- Ry', I'm not even sure what's real or what the Vanderine made me believe--and I only said yes because -". With a jerk, Ryan pulled Liam inward by the waist. "Doesn't matter. We never had a choice. But you put yourself in my place. And they never broke your damn spirit. And I can tell you right now, this is real." Liam, looking away with a nod, fell into silence as he wrestled with the task of dressing himself. Ryan was quick to offer careful attention as he assisted Liam into his jeans. The denim, rough against his bare skin, left his bite crooked with agony. Each movement caused Liam to flinch as he guided his ankle through the hem and then buttoned the waist of the stained jeans . Ryan passed him his destroyed Henley , and Liam yanked it over his shoulders. With a groan , Liam sought leverage in Ryan's grasp, haling himself upright. "Can you walk? Coz we need to find water , c'mon Li' , sweet hydration awaits-". As Liam broke into a grin that reached his pupils with a spark , his feet found equilibrium alongside Ryan's stance. "Hell yeah-I'm dyin' of thirst-" . But as they attempted to leave, Liam's breath was stolen by confronting remnants of his ordeal. He steeled his grip on Ryan's arm as his eyes swept over the discarded bottle of lubricant and plastic glove, turned inside-out on the pavement. "Sick, perverted bastards." Ryan almost spat as his heart was seized by the disarray that had paralysed Liam. Shielded only by Ryan's insistence as he guided Liam past the aftermath , he whispered, his tone punctured with disbelief. "So you're outta your binds and you untied mine, stripped my gag -and-" Liam's head fell to his hand , cradling his temple and gritting his teeth. "A lot of what happened is ..missing Ry' -how many times did they?" Ryan responded with a gun-metal hollowness, his words smoked out by his steady exhale. "Several times at least . Enough times enough for anyone, let's say that." Liam disengaged himself from Ryan's grasp as he diverted the glare that was already rebounding off the asphalt . "I wish you hadn't been forced to watch-" Ryan dragged his legs into co-operation as he anchored himself against Liam. "It was hard yeah-but what they did-I know you think it was a mistake to say yes , but my mistake was to resist-" The air clung to his flesh as Liam dragged his knuckles over his vision , finding a semblance of composure as he argued. "How the hell was it a mistake to avoid-this? Don't you go getting all survivor's guilt on me Ry. " The amber flecks dissolved from Ryan's aspect as he mumbled at the ground , grinding his hands into his pockets. "I just , never mind. We both need water, and shade. And soon." Liam slung a recuperating arm around Ryan's shoulder , and staggered in sync with his footsteps as the navigated the footpath as it winded into potential oblivion... As they walked in shared disorientation, and noon encroached, Liam's psyche was flooded with a flashback. His hand flew to his temple, clutching his hair as the thumping blades of a chopper cut through his thoughts. The unforgiving smash of his torso onto the ground, the impact coursing down his spine as he thrashed across the dirt and onto the pavement, echoed through his chest. "They threw me from a chopper, Ryan, arms bound to my sides. Did they do the same to you? Please tell me you know more than you've been letting on-" At first Ryan hesitated, his words dead on his tongue as he swiped it across his teeth , as he stared out into the distance. "Yeah, after you, they hurled me down here , and I found myself staring into the barrel of a gun. Said there were more captives , but nothing about their sick intentions. Then you know the rest-" With a somber nod, Liam added "Yeah, they brandish the damned pistol in my face and -" Liam exhaled into the particles of oppressive dirt and debris as his posture slackened with the sobering reality of the moment . "I already feel like they've killed me, Ry'. And they'll be back. They'll kill us like dogs-" Ryan's complexion drained out a shade of its colour and he shifted his weight under Liam's one sided embrace, maintaining his stare into the spanning horizon. "Well, I'm guessin' they could zone in on us at any moment, and while I've out walked my limits, it's probably only been under a mile. But as I said before , I don't go down easy. " he said, his detached voice peppered with defiance. "Hell yeah you don't " Liam's appreciative chuckle warmed the air along with a resonating smile, shrugging Ryan into closer proximity and supporting his weight. "If I live to see a stiff drink, I owe you . Speaking of which-". Ryan's eyes followed Liam's to a ransacked dumpster further up the path, garbage cascading onto the concrete. "Liam, I don't know that I'm above crawling in there to get out of this sun...just pull the lid down and die of dehy-" Liam interjected as his eyes caught on several bottles of water , his relief interspersed through his laughter. "Don't finish that thought Ry' , I think we might not be the only survivors out here after all-"

Is it more or less lyrical than the previous author

Ok so now tell me about this author : As Valen suctioned his saliva around the cavity of a decaying tooth , draining the marrow of its essence , the sound was distinct. A lingering testament to the sound of unease , the embodiment of reckless abandon. Had he no moral ambiguity, was he grounded in a neutral evil , on a criminal scale he had fabricated with a woven tapestry that only his sanity could have designed. The irreverence spiralled through his knuckles as he flexed them, each crack falling in line with the thud of his uneven gait. "Ah , Liam, you found the darkest place to shine the glint of terror in your eyes. The place where it could shine the brightest, and not one finger did I lift-" His boots, scraping to an unbalanced halt, aligned themselves either side of Liam's ears. As he lay sprawling on the ground, the instinct urging his arms to cradle his bruised ribs, he groaned in response . "You could, if you would enjoy the pleasure , take the entire torch of burning passion , and shove it, blazing and unforgiving, right where no light has ever-" . In a precise moment, sixty seconds and no less, Liam felt his first boot coming unlaced , each tug a whiplash to his ankles, and he smirked . "Ah Valen, silent assault again , huh. but what's to be said to a dead man-who wants to die?" . The tension , only palpable on the surface hairs of Liam's skin, summoned sweat and unease. Elevating his jaw to obtain a level at which he could angle his smirk in a slice of pure , untainted moonlight , he offered "Jist rip the boots off , why kill me soft? When you could make me scream your name?" Valen , with a painstaking timeliness, removed Liam's boot and placed it by his temple. "Oh , we've danced before . I've wined you , dined you. Had you where I wanted you. Not a screamer. But . There's other way's to make a moment last far beyond the fleeting passion of the night. Ways to make a memory burn brighter than a thousand echoes of my name in your fused mouth. " Liam twisted his bound torso in a wretch of unfamiliar discern. His bravado trickled through his protesting veins , fight and fight glands awakening as he let his jaw return to the concrete. "Fear is human, Li' , fear is accessible when you break through the emotions we lie with. But even then, fear is an emotion we all know. What if I can elicit something, deeper? What if , in time , your brain , thrown out into an ocean of fear, choked on the saline of something more sinister?" Liam's grin, as lopsided as ever, his right dimple betraying his amusement in the face of a threat, stayed etch in his cheek. "Oh , show me , captain, how you will steer our ship tonight, as the iceberg melts and we die in a hell frozen over . But tell me , who will die first in this version, Jack, or Rose? How wide is the door going to-" . In an instant , his second boot was by his opposite temple. "Well , maybe it's Rose after all . My feet are overheating in these socks, and besides I know how the story ends . And you know when you cast your locket into that ocean , the one my psyche will drown in, you'll never get it back. Oh , Rose, my heart breaks for you-" Valen's finger traced the hem of Liam's jeans as he undid the buckle , flicking it back against Liam's stretched abdomen and watching his skin react . He whisked the belt away as Liam grunted with the soft force, and Valen explored the curves of Liam's hipbones , lingering a moment too long, but his touch dying away fast enough to sting. In a grinding motion, Liam's teeth captured the heat of his own breath, feeling hands on his calves , as the friction of his denim left a trail of despair. Liam's hands, bound at his sides , clench into fist as Valen's' touch infiltrated his flesh in a crawling , gut wrenching motion, enclosing Liam's lower leg in a chokehold of perverted warmth. Then, his finger travelled up Liam's thigh, drawing forth a shuddered breath that held the deep seated flames of primal , undeniable fear. A threshold of whitewashed oblivion submerged with profound hyper sanity , the sense of realism brushing over the surface of Liam's awareness. "There's a place, I haven't explored . A place I haven't had the pleasure of touring. The many sights , the many terrains, the stunning architecture-". Valen wallowed with deliberate pause, awaiting the quickening of Liam's heartbeat. His hands rested behind Liam's knees, pressed into the pulse points as he gasped , his voice low. "Ah, it grows faster , for me-" Valen's whisper enter the air , cold yet impregnated with an appreciation beyond measure. Liam's flinch as transgression travelled with prominence, through his thighs and he thrust his pelvis into the concrete Valen remained silent. "Well, it wouldn't exactly do you any good to repeat history -I'm still alive and so is Ryan-and Victor-Logan-shall I go on. I'm your greatest failure yet -" . Valen's touch remained unwavering in the darkness , as he called out, his voice devoid of emotion. "Hey Ry', have you severed your binds yet, or is that gag making breathing a little difficult?" . There was a muffled scream , serving as an insidious reply, and Liam felt his eyes slam shut under the influence of horror. "Damnit", he cursed as Valen maintained his silent presence , challenging Liam to ask , as he resisted, his teeth driven shut in anguish, "you don't want to know , huh? " Liam begged his bloodline to slow, if only to thrive his captor of satisfaction in his fear . "Tape recording. You don't have Ryan. " Valen sneered at the estimation . "Ponder that. A tape recording . Is he alive , Liam? Maybe I don't have Ryan... anymore. Or I do. Who can tell. Reality is a tool. " Liam , growling in disbelief , felt the rage build as he said , his voice plated with an insulation . "I'd tell you to go to hell but-we're already in some sick version of it-not that I'll break. I'll never , ever , break. " . The silence deafened him with its persistence, the truth biting at the edges of his mind . "I don't intend to break you Liam, I don't want to see you suffer-I want to feel you descending into that place-that pocket of darkness only you know about-". Liam only laughed in defiance , "oh I reserve that landmark for the blind-" . In a sudden thrash , Liam threw his head back , and Valen groaned at the impact to his skull. "You know that after you , and Ryan , and the other useless fools , none of you have served a purpose to the Vanderine, to the drug's survival , and yet, while it won't serve my purpose to implant you -again-I don't have the strength to resist. Business. And I'm the boss. Another day in my office. Another fine opportunity to play with the clientele." Liam managed a twisted smile , the notion flooring him . "Have you ever ingested it yourself. The Vanderine , what does it feel like, you can't imagine the dreams I've had, the ideas I've been invested with-" Valen's cool trail of voice interlaced with the stagnant air . "Have, in any of these dreamscapes Liam , have you encountered this-" . In a swift movement, Liam's abdomen was against the concrete on a deeper level. "Nah, but you and me , me and you-there's really no end to the scenarios -" Valen, his voice fading an inch into the background, expensed a proposition. "There may be a way to embed the drug, that you're disposable bowels failed at tolerating. " then as Vaken removed the heat of his touch from Liam's pulse points , his blood flow was syringed with a profound chill. Liam shivered , as he said, observing the perverted truth encroaching on his existence "It seems however , that my entire digestive system is a ravaged wasteland , explored to the last inch, every cavity stripped and yet the darkest space is still untouched , pure, unvarnished-." Valen's breath was at his ear as his low voice caressed the silence, a threat in its proximal absence as it crept further away. "And yet, your vocal cords survived the trauma , but, Liam . I don't want to cause you to scream ,only to hear your voice echoing into that mouth... But I wonder if Ryan would care to indulge in the reminder of his mistake-his failure. Would he write a little harder at the sound of your pleas-" Valen said, in a lingering snarl. As Liam fought the urge to retch, wincing , the taunt of the potential voice recording pierced the air , the muffled scream lacing his mind and entangling with his resistance. "I'll need proof before I believe you captured Ryan, I'll need to feel his pulse against mine ...I'll need to feel the reverberation of his cries against my chest -" The air held a disconcerting void in its hands as Valen's unsynchronised gait dragged across the ground. "Will I dangle the carrot until the horse starves out of spite , or will I strip his gag and ask him something that only the present moment has the captivity to answer ?" Liam's stomach, dropping into its seventh circle of condemnation, raged with nausea. "There's nothing you could ask him that isn't predetermined-nothing-" he said, almost with a spit of poised saliva. Liam felt his own fear deceiving him with a deft profanity as he cursed into a whisper, and ground his jaw. Valen taunted , seeming closer to the doorway than a moment earlier. "Oh sweet Ry' , is it a shame that , when you abandoned Liam in the heat of your desperation , that he became my chew toy. Well riddle me this -exactly how long ago was it that you left him?. Tell me the minutes , the hours , the seconds. When you can -" Liam then spat , his tongue enraged with the constraints of his binds "Shit..." Liam lamented, awaiting Ryan's response. There was an engrained anticipation in the air, spiralling in a tight burst of thrilling panic , as Liam's pulse throbbed in his eye sockets, and the veins in his temples ticked against his skin. Then it slithered through the room; Ryan's voice. "Exactly ...one day......eight hours...maybe twenty minutes and...fuck I don't -" . There was a muffled distilling of Ryan's voice, as his gag was reinserted between his teeth. As Valen's hands came down over Liam's pulsing ankles, he flinched. "Ah, your pulse is faster. And harder. But , it's not my intention to break you now is it? You will undo yourself in my embrace Liam -" He lay face down on the pavement to hell, a maze of stones and ever present magenta particles sifting through his vision as he withheld a gasp. "I can't see my damned watch-" Liam muttered. Valen , dismissing Liam's frustration, loomed close and yet far enough away to unsettle the balance of intamacy and isolation. "Now Liam, if you know how long you've been alone, berating yourself for urging him to forget your existence, if you can find the answer within yourself, to the question. Well then, you know if it's all just a tape recorded dream? . Or perhaps ...it's a reality. A truth that Ryan lies bound , and as his mistake , your heart beats on his time, borrowed for you. Be grateful to hear him. Or regret that you will..." Liam's eyes slid closed as his mind was transported to the previous night. Ryan's eyes, swallowed by the insufficiency of the street light, had borne a sharp hesitation as he'd hailed the oncoming traffic. A lone , sleek black Chevrolet, coming to a halt , had been the only traffic on the bare highway of promise married with ultimatum . "I'll go Liam, if this will save you , buy you some time. I mean , it's wrong and I know it , and I don't feel I'm doing you right, but, I owe you." Ryan's gaze rested on a space between the stars as his voice hollowed out, a cool edge welding his plea. "Please don't thank me. Not ever. But ...forgive me . In time I need to know that you'll see what I'm doing as what I have to -for you , and not as some calculated mistake. " Liam , gazing directly into Ryan's peripheral vision, said , without missing a beat. "Ry' , I'm telling you to do this , don't you ever blame yourself for what happens -don't you dare, for one second , frame this in your mind as betrayal-" Ryan then pulled Liam into a hug that burned with regret , their shoulders drawn together with a deliberate force, as Ryan's arm came down over Liam's back. Reciprocating with a firm arm around Ryan's neck, he placed an open palm on the back of his head. "Don't let them strip your humanity , now go-" There was a desperation in Ryan's grip as his his palm searched for extra time in Liam's jacket, his fingers twisting through the fabric. "Damnit, if they break us-I just need you to know; We've seen hell, and there may be no heaven , but there's being alive . cling onto that , Li' ." Liam flashed a lopsided grin, his right dimple enlivening its usual position as he smiled "Well give the bastards hell, Ry, I'll see you on the other side-" As Ryan stalled a second longer he added , "I'd better, and that's a threat." His slate -gray inflection , with an ounce of its coolness heated with urgency , rasped as he released Liam from his embrace and backed away as if he were weighed down with bricks. The passenger door caught in the moonlight as he slid down into the Chevrolet and disappeared. Liam's eyes flew open , and the scorn of his binds jolted him into reality. "So the plan is , to torture me with Ryan's captivity. But, if he were to die , before me , what do you have left. My wife and three kids-" Valen's reply was as audible as a pin dropping, and Liam resisted his own tears as hands rested on his thorax . a finger escalated his ribcage , now a perilous stairway to his primal despair. "Ah Liam, joke of your imaginary life, but do not call the bluff on the only real family you have , his life is-disposable , but fascinating beautiful in the way it could visit that