USER: Liam's hair, laden with splinters of ice and snow, stuck out from his low-slung cap. His words framed the brittle air as he spoke, the chill unrelenting, 'I never meant to return here. I know I--I promised I'd never look back. That I'd leave you as you were , and yet I ended up back here anyway. I don't listen to anyone , huh?.'" He dug his stiffened hands into his jeans, his boot striking a rock as his own murmur haunted him. 'Can't stay long, but I still remember what real sunsets looked like, the way the colors just stretched for miles. I hope you haven't seen this magenta sky. I hope you never know it. World's not the same , hasn't looked like it did in so many damned years. I guess-well-" His acuity, melting into the atmosphere, left him with no other thoughts. "You rest well, ' cause while I'm standing here talking to you like you're still here, I know you probably can't hear a word - but I kinda like to pretend maybe you can. ' He laughed in spite of his raw sense of sorrow and turned away from the plot, dusting his knuckles across the slot of cremated ashes in a lingering fist bump. 'Again, sometime, brother." Leaves swirled around the hem of his jeans , glazed with ice as he folded his arms across his chest . 'But before I go, there's something I know you've heard me singing in my sleep. Can't get the song out of my head. I can't remember where it came from but-it's the only one that stuck." he said in a low tone , exhaustion passing over his stature. "I came here to...

USER: Liam's hair, laden with splinters of ice and snow, stuck out from his low-slung cap. His words framed the brittle air as he spoke, the chill unrelenting, 'I never meant to return here. I know I--I promised I'd never look back. That I'd leave you as you were , and yet I ended up back here anyway. I don't listen to anyone , huh?.'" He dug his stiffened hands into his jeans, his boot striking a rock as his own murmur haunted him. 'Can't stay long, but I still remember what real sunsets looked like, the way the colors just stretched for miles. I hope you haven't seen this magenta sky. I hope you never know it. World's not the same , hasn't looked like it did in so many damned years. I guess-well-" His acuity, melting into the atmosphere, left him with no other thoughts. "You rest well, ' cause while I'm standing here talking to you like you're still here, I know you probably can't hear a word - but I kinda like to pretend maybe you can. ' He laughed in spite of his raw sense of sorrow and turned away from the plot, dusting his knuckles across the slot of cremated ashes in a lingering fist bump. 'Again, sometime, brother." Leaves swirled around the hem of his jeans , glazed with ice as he folded his arms across his chest . 'But before I go, there's something I know you've heard me singing in my sleep. Can't get the song out of my head. I can't remember where it came from but-it's the only one that stuck." he said in a low tone , exhaustion passing over his stature. "I came here to...

USER: Please comment on masons conversation with Liam on the cliff

USER: Liam's hair, laden with splinters of ice and snow, stuck out from his low-slung cap. His words framed the brittle air as he spoke, the chill unrelenting, 'I never meant to return here. I know I--I promised I'd never look back. That I'd leave you as you were , and yet I ended up back here anyway. I don't listen to anyone , huh?.'" He dug his stiffened hands into his jeans, his boot striking a rock as his own murmur haunted him. 'Can't stay long, but I still remember what real sunsets looked like, the way the colors just stretched for miles. I hope you haven't seen this magenta sky. I hope you never know it. World's not the same , hasn't looked like it did in so many damned years. I guess-well-" His acuity, melting into the atmosphere, left him with no other thoughts. "You rest well, ' cause while I'm standing here talking to you like you're still here, I know you probably can't hear a word - but I kinda like to pretend maybe you can. ' He laughed in spite of his raw sense of sorrow and turned away from the plot, dusting his knuckles across the slot of cremated ashes in a lingering fist bump. 'Again, sometime, brother." Leaves swirled around the hem of his jeans , glazed with ice as he folded his arms across his chest . 'But before I go, there's something I know you've heard me singing in my sleep. Can't get the song out of my head. I can't remember where it came from but-it's the only one that stuck." he said in a low tone , exhaustion passing over his stature. "I came here to leave it with you, along with something of yours I' been carrying around. Keeping you close, but--if I lost it, well-." An entire moment passed before Liam fumbled a thin, metal guitar fret from his pocket, a perfect fit between his index finger and thumb. He then unrolled a small piece of paper with a scrawled transcription and wrapped it around the fret. In a swift gesture, he drove it deep into a crack between two bricks in the wall. "The ninth fret was always a part of every song- I think only you would appreciate it but , that's kinda the whole point. " Liam's faint smile rested on the glimmer of the fret , visible in the crevice beside Mason's ashes, along with his notes. "I... still... I. Just. You can't imagine the things... or the times I've wanted to say. Mace could have played you that one while I ruined the lyrics. Still have the rest of your rosewood, too, with all of your fingerprints intact. Which isn't easy keeping hidden in my childhood bedroom. Haven't been home in too long. Damned if I had known you'd find me where you did--or when, and yet I wasn't there to--but hell, you'd never let me take it all on my own shoulders. And I won't-- It's never gonna be... all right, but--I'll try to keep your songs around. You found me when I was so close to -yet I'm still alive huh? Some things ain't fair, brother ." Without raising his eyes from his fist, his memories hid between his fingers, slipping away as he flexed his palm. "I only hope you can't see me now, with all this all this hell in my eyes, with the shadows. I still remember the light in yours, don't worry . 'Cause I keep my promises, and you're still my oldest friend. First, and the last. Just... don't ever forget that." As Liam turned away, trudging along the icy path that wound through the cemetery, it could have been hours. Days. Months. Or just a few seconds. And it could have been anywhere. Grief only changed shape as he confronted the infused December sky, its witness the only one in sight. As Liam slid down onto the curb, only a few miles from where he'd last seen Ethan, he glanced up at the approaching figure. "Hey, Lara, I haven't seen Eth since... maybe three hours ago." She dropped to his side, grasping his freezing hand in her own. "Liam, it's cold out here; you're like ice... wait, did you visit Mas--" Her eyes, filled with a silent understanding, flitted to his and back to his hand as she placed it in his lap. "We've both been looking for you, Ethan and I--but I'll tell him you're alright, okay?" Liam, his eyes reddened but dried out from the temperature, nodded. "Yeah, I-it's... Well, you know how long it's been," he said, his gaze finding solace somewhere in Lara's dark hair, averting her gaze. "Yeah, too long. Ethan was worried you'd freeze, so you'd better get back to civilization soon..." she said, offering a smile and a hand on his jacketed shoulder. "Thanks, you've both been feeding me way too long as it is--and I'm not the most stable guest." She laughed as she let her hand slide from his shoulder. "Ethan could out-eat us all, so don't worry about that. Just take care out here." And as she walked away, he rested his head against the flesh of his palm, the solitude granting him a moment of clarity--one that he could never share. A melody in the corner of his mind, one that he couldn't muster the strength to hum . "Yeah, Mason, you're everywhere, and nowhere, buddy. Guess I've learnt to live with that. " -- Ok how's this : Liam glared into the darkness, the dust in his eyes unforgiving. The melody sank in a haunting tune through the night. "Cause there's a place deep inside of me where my dreams have a hold of me...and soon my soul will start to bleed..." Liam's voice broke off as he raked a tremor through his hair. "I still miss him," Liam said, uncertain if Ryan could hear his musings. "Hey, Ry...how long have we been lying in this hell hole?" He asked, the silence torn by Ryan's answer, "Too long. And yeah, I heard you saying something about 'if you play Wonderwall, you'll look like a total tool' in your sleep, presumably to someone who could play music." Ryan smiled, but it never reached his eyes as he added, "He really was a brother to you, huh? And don't lie because I'll know...and then I'll feel bad about giving ya this." As Liam dismissed a tear at the corner of his eye, he reached over to where Ryan lay, holding a piece of paper. "Music? You wrote music. What is this, Ry? You never told me you could--" Liam said, his eyes adjusting to the dark with a vulnerability that settled between them. Ryan, smiling with a broadness that reached his eyes, glanced at the paper with a nod. "Ah, I might have written down that song you insist on humming in your damned sleep. I knew it had some meaning, although I don't know what...least I could do for you, Li'." As his irises shone with another sheen of tears, Liam said quietly, "Mason could have played this--while I ruined the lyrics." Looking up from his boots, Ryan held a somber smile. "If I'd have known you way back then, I'm damned sure I'd have held you both to that." As Liam returned the nod, he folded the paper and tucked it into his duffel bag, magenta particles stirring in the air. "I know...He really was a huge chunk of my adolescence just...gone like...well, anyway, the music, when we get our hands on a guitar..." Ryan shook his head, angling his jaw in his hand. "Nah, we're in the middle of nowhere, and it'll never happen. But you got me, brother." Liam, smiling faintly, replied, "I know. We've seen so much that , well , does it make me an asshole for being happy that Mason died young, unaffected by the trauma that has screwed us up?. I mean he could've lived a different life from us -and maybe I'm wrong to hope he's in a better -" As Ryan leaned back against the filth-stained wall , his voice contemplated the environment . "It's not wrong to want him to have a peace we may never find. It's human. " As Liam gazed back, conflict in his eyes as he said "Y'know , there's something I had back home. And it's likely I'll never see it again, I was carrying a part of it with me for years , but just knowing I kept it safe...I chose to leave it with him and--". Words eluded Liam in the darkness, as Ryan's features , found by the moonlight, left him unable to deflect his gaze . "I feel as though, he wasn't a friend-he wasn't a comrade-he was a sibling, blood was all we didn't share . And even then when he needed a transfusion... I was the first to roll up my damned sleeve. And I wasnt the Ab neg he was-" In a hushed tone Ryan asked , "You think not being compatible was somehow a fault -but Li' , have you heard-well yourself? He could play better than Van Halen I'm guessing', and you could've ruined more than just his lyrics with those pipes . Don't make me say it again." Liam fell silent, and Ryan flopped backwards onto his makeshift bed. "It's alright Li'. Just get some sleep, and don't--" It was almost automatic as Liam replied, "Yeah, yeah, don't 'thank you.' I know, I'm welcome, huh? Yeah, goodnight, Ry." As Ryan's muttering hit the wall, Liam's mind sifted through the catalog of melodies Mason had played. And, amongst the static, a distinct composition of chords found their way back to him. "And if I fall beneath the cracks, if I find you in the darkness, brother, will you still have the heart to see? When I close my eyes and my memories start to fade, when the filter falls away, will you find the strength to stay?" Here's a flashback to when Mason found Liam : Liam's breath , an unsteady exhale in the dark, dragged against his throat. The bonfire had long died , embers floating around his ankles as the dying flames lighted his eyes. Everyone had downed as much alcohol as imaginable, and staggered home with their rowdy goodbyes, while Liam had slipped off into the night, with a broken bottle of goose in his shaking hand. As his jacket rippled in the wind, lashing against his chest as he zipped it up, he was alone. The cliff , with its eeirie view of the fires remains, a place of revelries and warmth, was now extinguished and cold. "Yeah, no one noticed you never really left, huh?" As he glanced into the void beneath him, his bloodshot eyes seeking solace in the promise of erasure, he staggered unevenly to the edge. "Ah , to hell with it-" . As Liam muttered drunkenly into the silence , pilfered only by the crackle of the dying flames, he traced his neck with the bottles gleaming edge. locating his jugular, its pulsating warmth a cruel reminder of how futile his own bloodstream had become against his skin. Liam pressed the glass against his heartbeat, the sky mocking as the stars shone an icy clarity over his features. As he gazed in torn distress at the void beneath him, he heard a faint voice on the breeze. "I'll never get it right. Ah damnit. If I could nail it -Mason you sad idiot, no one even listens to your garbage anyway." As Liam ground his shoes into the dirt, a rock skidded under his stance , and he cursed into air. "Hey , is someone still up there... I thought everybody left-" Mason yelled into the illuminated of his torch, nestled upright in the mouth of a beer can. "Hey, you assholes can trash my guitar playing somewhere else , I just wanna be alone- this is rubbish ." Mason's angered tone sliced through Liam's helpless grip on the jagged glass as he dropped it over the edge of the cliff, watching it spiral away, cursing again. "Bro, don't get your panties tied up, it's just me-I wasn't listening anyways , and trust me , my opinion is the last one that matters-" . As Liam established equilibrium in a low crouch , a few steps back from the edge he found himself drawing a new sense of warmth from the voice as it hurled back at him . "Wait-then what are you doing up there , party's over , man. You hang out on cliffs for fun....oh shit." . before Liam had shifted his throbbing temple from his hand , as it clung to his head , a figure appeared at his shoulder , holding a guitar and revealing of alcohol. "Ah, well , it doesn't matter why I'm up here. Who the hell cares. But at least , you can play that thing. If my open onion meant anything, I'd say you might as well start busking on campus till a record label signs you, you talented prick-" Liam almost snarled his words , as they eroded under his pain, a tear threatening to escape him. Mason , laying the guitar a few metres away and returning to Liam's side, scoffed into the dark as he said "Nah, you claim you heard nothin' anyway. So what do you know. All that worries me right now is what the hell you're doing so close to the edge of this damn cliff-" As Mason slumped down , a veil of intimacy forming as his absent special awareness centred him inches away from Liam. "You look like hell, but I bet you feel worse right. You're up here , think in' I don't care what you understand about music but see, the thing is , I was one note away from the riff that would have made my version of Comfortably Numb a masterpiece or something like that. But like you say, you weren't listening . So don't call me a prick. My fingers are bleeding and I'm far from comfortable or numb." . Mason said, his voice roughened with impending sobriety as his mouth played with a smirk. Despite the rawness of his nerves , Liam found a smile tugging at his lopsided grin, as he stabbed at the air above Mason's sternum. "Yeah well, maybe I heard it all , and you were in fact playing some made up crap that I bet you could fill a stadium with. You don't know how great you are but-" As Liam hummed off key, he was promptly shoved in the elbow as Mason asked, taken aback "You can -sing? And not only that, he's up here singing my trash , and - you were about to throw those pipes off a cliff ? " There was an almost redeeming pause as Mason offered his hand to Liam , leaning closer in the darkness. "Mason, call me Mace- " Liam ceased his humming as he reciprocated , "Liam-you won't have noticed me around-" As Liam planted a palm either side of his legs , Mason smirked, the light of his torch contouring his cheekbones with a harsh glare. "Oh because no one would , huh? I've heard you , 'round campus , singing to yourself like no one will notice or care , but someone did and now what huh , Liam? Now what happens when I heard it and I need to know what you think you're doing throwing that off a ..." Mason's voice trailed into silence as he sent a rock sailing into gravity's clutches , his eyes following its descent. Liam grasped Mason's hand and shaking it as he muttered, shielded his reddened eyes from the torchlight. "Look, I'm glad you wandered up here to -tell me to stop listening . Cause to be honest I was- well I wouldn't call it stupid....no , Mason, it wasn't stupid , it was... the only action I might rely on . I think of how, if everything collapsed and I were drowning, I'll be alright because -" Liam rested a fatigued hand against his screaming eyes as he resisted the inebriated tears that hedged on the rims of his eyes. Mason, pulling Liam's hand into a grip against his shoulder, lowered his khaki green eyes into view . "You don't need to lie to anybody, and it's okay if you're a mess , I'm just a stranger who has no clue what kinda hell you're navigating in that network -" Mason gestured towards Liam's head as he glanced over to his guitar. "She's all I've got, a piece of wood ... but , a damn beautiful piece of wood. I realise you ain't clueless . You do understand riffs and basic chords and if they didn't do profound things to you, you wouldn't have hummed that in key, perfect, just to prove you heard my rubbish composition. And now that I've seen this, I'll be damned if I let you explain that you rely on ...." Liam sighed into the empty air as he loosened the grip of his fingers between Mason's . "Yeah...I don't know how it matters though. maybe thinking I could just erase myself is a facade -" Masons eyes returned to Liam's , a familiar emotion spreading across them . "There's a reason I was out here , to be alone in my trivial misery, to try and write decent music but, you're up here struggling to make it through another night and hell if I can do anything to buy you another dawn, consider it done. " Liam's blue stare drained from azure to grey as he faltered. "What-but why do you ...care? You coukd haul you're guitar off to your dorm room and call it a night . What, because I strung together a song you played ten minutes ago-" . Mason laughed, his eyes filled with flickers of emerald. "Nah , don't flatter yourself, it's because I need someone to hear my lost attempt at playing that rosewood. But no on a serious note, I want you to see one more day.. and not alone ,try being stuck with me .. you'll deal with it . And then tell if you won't miss it. One. I'll wait with you till dawn , how ever far away that is. I got nowhere to be". As Liam's eyes , finding an empty space between his fingers, betrayed his guard . "I -I suppose when the others staved off the bonfire , I just saw this as my chance to-I don't even have the words. I had a shard of -ah it's not important now, I mistook you for some of the others still hanging around, oblivious to me. " Mason's shrug had a depth that displayed his shared exhaustion. "Well, seeing as , I'm here , and you still represent the embodiment of death warmed up-hitlook as terrible as you did before-hit me . Tell me one thing that you believe I'll rip you apart for . It's not as if your opponentopinion matters right-so I shouldn't be that affected.affected . I should walk away laughing, right? It can't hurt"hurt to try it on me." As his posture slackened, Mason's words hit the air with a casual drawl, as if time was hanging around in the interim. Liam's shock was unlike a slap across his jaw as he clenched his teeth , his eyes falling away. "Alright. Ibreaking away at the lack of phase , yet the very invitation itself. . "Yeah, alright. You have a point there, I guess. But there's no one thing-" he said, as a shrug passed over his shoulders.""I don't know why you'd ask me , but-" Mason's fingers were already tracing a circle across the surface his jeans as he said, blunt yet with a restraint . "I asked, so come on , you give me your best, off the top of the head reason why I should leave you here , and make it count. I need to hear this. Got all night." It was a fatality in his breath that enveloped Liam's raw nerves as he answered, "Well , you have an audience now ... yet you're giving me the stage huh? I don't quite know what you're expecting. Some grandiose confession. "Oh Mason, I just can't carry on in a world so cruel, so I came up to this ledge to embrace the almighty void and plunge forth-" . Mason's eyes , dark and solid, waited under his rising eyebrow. "Who cares what I was expecting , or what I get. I don't think this is about me , as much as you might wanna listen to the sound of your own voice . Or does it scare you hearing it ? Out loud , for the first time in ? " The darkness , awaiting Liam's stare as he turned away, absorbed the volume in his voice, stripping it of its presence. "I haven't been home in maybe three weeks . My folks ensured I wouldn't attempt settingweeks. Folks told me never to set foot on their lawn-Itlawn again. And I don't blame them.... " Mason's eyes, trailing back to his guitar, carried a provoking concern. "Let me get this straight, they threw your ass out...for what? Let's hear it. After all, I don't care , do I . it's just conversation in the night. So explain what got you sitting on the curb on night..." Liam , breaking into a hollow smile , offset his bite , his teeth realigning. "It was, God I was my fault-Istupid . I got so drunkrotten one night, I forgot to pickafternoon. I left my six year old cousin up from where shein the playground , by her school, till her parents found her at seven o'clock that night. I was told to wait for me by the bleachers . I went to this god-awfulsupposed to have picked her up, but I headed to a-a frat party and-anything could have happened to her. She's only six-"party." As Mason was silentenveloped in silence, his eyes fixated on Liam's features, his gaze potent. "I -well-she could've -well-that's not what kills me. And now is the part where I tell you that , it's the way the kid -hugged me when I went to see her the next day. She said she loved me , and handed me a flower. And all I thought was -you bastard, Liam. You-" Mason's eyes , with an empathy strewn amongst an understanding, flickered with his torchlight. "So, she forgave you , huh? But you-" Liam's face , still angled toward his lap, finished Mason's assumption. "Nah, I didn't , because there's no one thing here. " Mason's heavy sigh , lingering in his lungs as he remained at Liam's side , his eyes unreadable in the shadows.leaned forward, hung in the space between them. "It's a complicated network you have up there. A neighbourhood of short circuiting wires . But from what I can make out, there's no way in hell I'm leaving you up here. " Liam , biting back a thickness in his throat , shook his head. "Why not, what difference is it to you , Mason. You have one shot and you'd better make yours hit me harder ." As Mason's torch flicked off in his hands , he answered . "I felt this guilt ,can't justify leaving a man who , one , hates himself . And no one can hate you the way you can. And second, a man who hates himself for valid reasons , pointing to his own moral compass and yet, thinks a cliff is a fitting place to spend the night. Call me whatever , but I figure , if I can buy you one more day, consider it done. Still ain't got nowhere to be." Liam reached, almost absent of mind, for an unnoticed shard of glass , remaining from his earlier mishap as he twirled it through knuckles. "I-I didn't intend on seeing another. And I still don't know why you're so invested in a total stranger-" Liam swung his blue gaze at Mason, its bloodshot interrogation filled with a hopeful gleam of unshed tears . "Tell me Mason, the real reason you were out here, playing that guitar with a beer can in your lap, balancing a torch , when her parents finally picked her up at seven that night, I went to see myself that she was alright and -she hugs me, thrusts a flower into my hand. I couldn't articulate that-" As his voice deadened ,you have a dorm room to -" The pause offered reprieve to the tension in the air as Mason said "She loves you despite what you did, and you blame yourself, beat yourself to hell and back and your 'rents don't understand where you've been spending the last three weeks. "shifted his stare to the glass in Liam's smile was a sallow, yet relieved flash across his face as he said "I supposehands. "Well, you're not gonna leave me alone , huh." As a breeze swept up, leaving Mason's hair plastered against his eyebrows he said, the wind lowing his voice. "No, because .... You're worth that kid's trust , her missing you everyday , thinkin' where did Liam go.. he ran off with my flower and he never came back-no I ain't seeing a reason to leave you up here. In fact , maybe you can help me. Forget the guitar . I have ah-I doubt you're gonna like this but-Ithis, but-even if I had the talent, or the skill , to fill one lousy stadium-I won't have the time to pack stadiums , even if I had the talent , or the skill .. I - I guesstime-I-well-I know the isolation seems extreme . But sometimes I realise , I ain't gonna be around-people shouldn't get to attached to-ah it doesn't matter . It's a conversation for another dawn. Let's just focus on making it to this one. However far away it is. A few hours maybe. An hey, what's a few more hours right?" Liam, noticing the light fade from Mason's eyes , placed a hand on his shoulder . "It's a conversation for right now, if I stay here till sunrise, you're sure as hell gonna leave me with a reason to have kept my sorry ass from -" Mason's answer stayed in his throat before coming in an even tone. "I'm a ghost , Liam , I mean , I might live another year, sure . But I won't -you really don't need the details. I know you're capable of giving a shit , and you're a decent person. And I can't be getting all sentimental on you because-you're not the asshole you think . " --------////As silence engulfed Mason, swallowing him whole, Liam opened his eyes, his humming coming to a halt in the darksighed into his palm. "Oh it's like that huh? You think I didn't notice your arm. Unless you're injecting methadone , that's a hell of a lot of blood tests -" Mason's eyes , deep-set in their sockets, said more than his frail grin , as he reached back into the overstuffed bag at his feet. Unfolding Ryan's transcription, he said, sure he'd go unheard, "Another dawn , huh ?. Yeah-there'llwhispered "It's not that I want to be so manyalone, Liam, it's that I believe it's the right thing-" Liam's rogue tear finally escaped him , and a blanket of them -cause I ain't dying anytime soon Mace.wordless atmosphere inched closer. "It's not-good thing you came up here to prove me huh? Coz I'll be damned if you spend anymore nights playing that guitar to the trees -" Mason's khaki stare was dragged away from the glass as it fell from Liam's hands, splinters flying across the cliffs edge . "Maybe we both needed to be alone tonight, and maybe it was dangerous to need the isolation-" Mason countered, as Liam nodded , fatigue chasing his voice. "Yeah , but neither of us found that peace , huh? Party died down, we both ended up drunk and -yeah that bonfire is long died, huh? " only the darkness swallowed his words.Mason, reaching out a fist, dragged his knuckles along Liam's shoulder . "No longer relevant. Now we're stuck here , together , and I'll deal with it. " They both shared a smirk , Liam's dimple upholding his right cheek as his lopsided smile crept across his face. "Damn straight , brother."

USER: "Well, seeing as I'm here , and you still look as terrible as you did before-hit me . Tell me one thing that you believe I'll rip you apart for . It's not as if your opinion matters right-so I shouldn't be that affected . I should walk away laughing, right? It can't hurt to try it on me." As his posture slackened, Mason's words hit the air with a casual drawl, as if time was hanging around in the interim. Liam's shock was unlike a slap across his jaw as he clenched his teeth , his eyes breaking away at the lack of phase , yet the very invitation itself. . "Yeah, alright. You have a point there, I guess. But there's no one thing-" he said, as a shrug passed over his shoulders.""I don't know why you'd ask me , but-" Mason's fingers were already tracing a circle across the surface his jeans as he said, blunt yet with a restraint . "I asked, so come on , you give me your best, off the top of the head reason why I should leave you here , and make it count. I need to hear this. Got all night." It was a fatality in his breath that enveloped Liam's raw nerves as he answered, "Well , you have an audience now ... yet you're giving me the stage huh? I don't quite know what you're expecting. Some grandiose confession. "Oh Mason, I just can't carry on in a world so cruel, so I came up to this ledge to embrace the almighty void and plunge forth-" . Mason's eyes , dark and solid, waited under his rising eyebrow. "Who cares what I was expecting , or what I get. I don't think this is about me...

USER: So here's the whole piece : Liam's hair, laden with splinters of ice and snow, stuck out from his low-slung cap. His words framed the brittle air as he spoke, the chill unrelenting, 'I never meant to return here. I know I--I promised I'd never look back. That I'd leave you as you were , and yet I ended up back here anyway. I don't listen to anyone , huh?.'" He dug his stiffened hands into his jeans, his boot striking a rock as his own murmur haunted him. 'Can't stay long, but I still remember what real sunsets looked like, the way the colors just stretched for miles. I hope you haven't seen this magenta sky. I hope you never know it. World's not the same , hasn't looked like it did in so many damned years. I guess-well-" His acuity, melting into the atmosphere, left him with no other thoughts. "You rest well, ' cause while I'm standing here talking to you like you're still here, I know you probably can't hear a word - but I kinda like to pretend maybe you can. ' He laughed in spite of his raw sense of sorrow and turned away from the plot, dusting his knuckles across the slot of cremated ashes in a lingering fist bump. 'Again, sometime, brother." Leaves swirled around the hem of his jeans , glazed with ice as he folded his arms across his chest . 'But before I go, there's something I know you've heard me singing in my sleep. Can't get the song out of my head. I can't remember where it came from but-it's the only one that stuck." he said in a low tone , exhaustion passing over ...

USER: Liam's breath , an unsteady exhale in the dark, dragged against his throat. The bonfire had long died , embers floating around his ankles as the dying flames lighted his eyes. Everyone had downed as much alcohol as imaginable, and staggered home with their rowdy goodbyes, while Liam had slipped off into the night, with a broken bottle of goose in his shaking hand. As his jacket rippled in the wind, lashing against his chest as he zipped it up, he was alone. The cliff , with its eeirie view of the fires remains, a place of revelries and warmth, was now extinguished and cold. "Yeah, no one noticed you never really left, huh?" As he glanced into the void beneath him, his bloodshot eyes seeking solace in the promise of erasure, he staggered unevenly to the edge. "Ah , to hell with it-" . As Liam muttered drunkenly into the silence , pilfered only by the crackle of the dying flames, he traced his neck with the bottles gleaming edge. locating his jugular, its pulsating warmth a cruel reminder of how futile his own bloodstream had become against his skin. Liam pressed the glass against his heartbeat, the sky mocking as the stars shone an icy clarity over his features. As he gazed in torn distress at the void beneath him, he heard a faint voice on the breeze. "I'll never get it right. Ah damnit. If I could nail it -Mason you sad idiot, no one even listens to your garbage anyway." As Liam ground his shoes into the dirt, a rock skidded under his stance , and he cursed into air. "Hey , is someone still up there... I thought everybody left-" Mason yelled into the illuminated of his torch, nestled upright in the mouth of a beer can. "Hey, you assholes can trash my guitar playing somewhere else , I just wanna be alone- this is rubbish ." Mason's angered tone sliced through Liam's helpless grip on the jagged glass as he dropped it over the edge of the cliff, watching it spiral away, cursing again. "Bro, don't get your panties tied up, it's just me-I wasn't listening anyways , and trust me , my opinion is the last one that matters-" . As Liam established equilibrium in a low crouch , a few steps back from the edge he found himself drawing a new sense of warmth from the voice as it hurled back at him . "Wait-then what are you doing up there , party's over , man. You hang out on cliffs for fun....oh shit." . before Liam had shifted his throbbing temple from his hand , as it clung to his head , a figure appeared at his shoulder , holding a guitar and revealing of alcohol. "Ah, well , it doesn't matter why I'm up here. Who the hell cares. But at least , you can play that thing. If my open onion meant anything, I'd say you might as well start busking on campus till a record label signs you, you talented prick-" Liam almost snarled his words , as they eroded under his pain, a tear threatening to escape him. Mason , laying the guitar a few metres away and returning to Liam's side, scoffed into the dark as he said "Nah, you claim you heard nothin' anyway. So what do you know. All that worries me right now is what the hell you're doing so close to the edge of this damn cliff-" As Mason slumped down , a veil of intimacy forming as his absent special awareness centred him inches away from Liam. "You look like hell, but I bet you feel worse right. You're up here , think in' I don't care what you understand about music but see, the thing is , I was one note away from the riff that would have made my version of Comfortably Numb a masterpiece or something like that. But like you say, you weren't listening . So don't call me a prick. My fingers are bleeding and I'm far from comfortable or numb." . Mason said, his voice roughened with impending sobriety as his mouth played with a smirk. Despite the rawness of his nerves , Liam found a smile tugging at his lopsided grin, as he stabbed at the air above Mason's sternum. "Yeah well, maybe I heard it all , and you were in fact playing some made up crap that I bet you could fill a stadium with. You don't know how great you are but-" As Liam hummed off key, he was promptly shoved in the elbow as Mason asked, taken aback "You can -sing? And not only that, he's up here singing my trash , and - you were about to throw those pipes off a cliff ? " There was an almost redeeming pause as Mason offered his hand to Liam , leaning closer in the darkness. "Mason, call me Mace- " Liam ceased his humming as he reciprocated , "Liam-you won't have noticed me around-" As Liam planted a palm either side of his legs , Mason smirked, the light of his torch contouring his cheekbones with a harsh glare. "Oh because no one would , huh? I've heard you , 'round campus , singing to yourself like no one will notice or care , but someone did and now what huh , Liam? Now what happens when I heard it and I need to know what you think you're doing throwing that off a ..." Mason's voice trailed into silence as he sent a rock sailing into gravity's clutches , his eyes following its descent. Liam grasped Mason's hand and shaking it as he muttered, shielded his reddened eyes from the torchlight. "Look, I'm glad you wandered up here to -tell me to stop listening . Cause to be honest I was- well I wouldn't call it stupid....no , Mason, it wasn't stupid , it was... the only action I might rely on . I think of how, if everything collapsed and I were drowning, I'll be alright because -" Liam rested a fatigued hand against his screaming eyes as he resisted the inebriated tears that hedged on the rims of his eyes. Mason, pulling Liam's hand into a grip against his shoulder, lowered his khaki green eyes into view . "Well, seeing as I'm here , and you still look as terrible as you did before-hit me . Tell me one thing that you believe I'll rip you apart for . It's not as if your opinion matters right-so I shouldn't be that affected . I should walk away laughing, right? It can't hurt to try it on me." As his posture slackened, Mason's words hit the air with a casual drawl, as if time was hanging around in the interim. Liam's shock was unlike a slap across his jaw as he clenched his teeth , his eyes breaking away at the lack of phase , yet the very invitation itself. . "Yeah, alright. You have a point there, I guess. But there's no one thing-" he said, as a shrug passed over his shoulders.""I don't know why you'd ask me , but-" Mason's fingers were already tracing a circle across the surface his jeans as he said, blunt yet with a restraint . "I asked, so come on , you give me your best, off the top of the head reason why I should leave you here , and make it count. I need to hear this. Got all night." It was a fatality in his breath that enveloped Liam's raw nerves as he answered, "Well , you have an audience now ... yet you're giving me the stage huh? I don't quite know what you're expecting. Some grandiose confession. "Oh Mason, I just can't carry on in a world so cruel, so I came up to this ledge to embrace the almighty void and plunge forth-" . Mason's eyes , dark and solid, waited under his rising eyebrow. "Who cares what I was expecting , or what I get. I don't think this is about me , as much as you might wanna listen to the sound of your own voice . Or does it scare you hearing it ? Out loud , for the first time in ? " The darkness , awaiting Liam's stare as he turned away, absorbed the volume in his voice, stripping it of its presence. "I haven't been home in three weeks. Folks told me never to set foot on their lawn again. And I don't blame them.... " Mason's eyes, trailing back to his guitar, carried a provoking concern. "Let me get this straight, they threw your ass out...for what? Let's hear it. After all, I don't care , do I . it's just conversation in the night. So explain what got you sitting on the curb on night..." Liam , breaking into a hollow smile , offset his bite , his teeth realigning. "It was, God I was stupid . I got so rotten one afternoon. I left my six year old cousin in the playground , by her school, till her parents found her at seven o'clock that night. I was supposed to have picked her up, but I headed to a-a frat party." As Mason was enveloped in silence, his eyes fixated on Liam's features, his gaze potent. "I -well-she could've -well-that's not what kills me. And now is the part where I tell you that , it's the way the kid -hugged me when I went to see her the next day. She said she loved me , and handed me a flower. And all I thought was -you bastard, Liam. You-" Mason's eyes , with an empathy strewn amongst an understanding, flickered with his torchlight. "So, she forgave you , huh? But you-" Liam's face , still angled toward his lap, finished Mason's assumption. "Nah, I didn't , because there's no one thing here. " Mason's heavy sigh , lingering in his lungs as he leaned forward, hung in the space between them. "It's a complicated network you have up there. A neighbourhood of short circuiting wires . But from what I can make out, there's no way in hell I'm leaving you up here. " Liam , biting back a thickness in his throat , shook his head. "Why not, what difference is it to you , Mason. You have one shot and you'd better make yours hit me harder ." As Mason's torch flicked off in his hands , he answered . "I can't justify leaving a man who , one , hates himself . And no one can hate you the way you can. And second, a man who hates himself for valid reasons , pointing to his own moral compass and yet, thinks a cliff is a fitting place to spend the night. Call me whatever , but I figure , if I can buy you one more day, consider it done. Still ain't got nowhere to be." Liam reached, almost absent of mind, for an unnoticed shard of glass , remaining from his earlier mishap as he twirled it through knuckles. "I-I didn't intend on seeing another. And I still don't know why you're so invested in a total stranger-" Liam swung his blue gaze at Mason, its bloodshot interrogation filled with a hopeful gleam of unshed tears . "Tell me Mason, the real reason you were out here, playing that guitar with a beer can in your lap, balancing a torch , when you have a dorm room to -" The pause offered reprieve to the tension in the air as Mason shifted his stare to the glass in Liam's hands. "Well, you're not gonna like this, but-even if I had the talent, or the skill , to fill one lousy stadium-I won't have the time-I-well-I know the isolation seems extreme . But sometimes I realise , I ain't gonna be around-people shouldn't get to attached to-ah it doesn't matter . It's a conversation for another dawn. Let's just focus on making it to this one. However far away it is. A few hours maybe. An hey, what's a few more hours right?" Liam, noticing the light fade from Mason's eyes , placed a hand on his shoulder . "It's a conversation for right now, if I stay here till sunrise, you're sure as hell gonna leave me with a reason to have kept my sorry ass from -" Mason's answer stayed in his throat before coming in an even tone. "I'm a ghost , Liam , I mean , I might live another year, sure . But I won't -you really don't need the details. I know you're capable of giving a shit , and you're a decent person. And I can't be getting all sentimental on you because-you're not the asshole you think . " As silence engulfed Mason, swallowing him whole, Liam sighed into his palm. "Oh it's like that huh? You think I didn't notice your arm. Unless you're injecting methadone , that's a hell of a lot of blood tests -" Mason's eyes , deep-set in their sockets, said more than his frail grin , as he whispered "It's not that I want to be alone, Liam, it's that I believe it's the right thing-" Liam's rogue tear finally escaped him , and a blanket of wordless atmosphere inched closer. "It's not-good thing you came up here to prove me huh? Coz I'll be damned if you spend anymore nights playing that guitar to the trees -" Mason's khaki stare was dragged away from the glass as it fell from Liam's hands, splinters flying across the cliffs edge . "Maybe we both needed to be alone tonight, and maybe it was dangerous to need the isolation-" Mason countered, as Liam nodded , fatigue chasing his voice. "Yeah , but neither of us found that peace , huh? Party died down, we both ended up drunk and -yeah that bonfire is long died, huh? " Mason, reaching out a fist, dragged his knuckles along Liam's shoulder . "No longer relevant. Now we're stuck here , together , and I'll deal with it. " They both shared a smirk , Liam's dimple upholding his right cheek as his lopsided smile crept across his face. "Damn straight , brother."

USER: Liam's hair, laden with splinters of ice and snow, stuck out from his low-slung cap. His words framed the brittle air as he spoke, the chill unrelenting, 'I never meant to return here. I know I--I promised I'd never look back. That I'd leave you as you were , and yet I ended up back here anyway. I don't listen to anyone , huh?.'" He dug his stiffened hands into his jeans, his boot striking a rock as his own murmur haunted him. 'Can't stay long, but I still remember what real sunsets looked like, the way the colors just stretched for miles. I hope you haven't seen this magenta sky. I hope you never know it. World's not the same , hasn't looked like it did in so many damned years. I guess-well-" His acuity, melting into the atmosphere, left him with no other thoughts. "You rest well, ' cause while I'm standing here talking to you like you're still here, I know you probably can't hear a word - but I kinda like to pretend maybe you can. ' He laughed in spite of his raw sense of sorrow and turned away from the plot, dusting his knuckles across the slot of cremated ashes in a lingering fist bump. 'Again, sometime, brother." Leaves swirled around the hem of his jeans , glazed with ice as he folded his arms across his chest . 'But before I go, there's something I know you've heard me singing in my sleep. Can't get the song out of my head. I can't remember where it came from but-it's the only one that stuck." he said in a low tone , exhaustion passing over his stature. "I came here to leave it with you, along with something of yours I' been carrying around. Keeping you close, but--if I lost it, well-." An entire moment passed before Liam fumbled a thin, metal guitar fret from his pocket, a perfect fit between his index finger and thumb. He then unrolled a small piece of paper with a scrawled transcription and wrapped it around the fret. In a swift gesture, he drove it deep into a crack between two bricks in the wall. "The ninth fret was always a part of every song- I think only you would appreciate it but , that's kinda the whole point. " Liam's faint smile rested on the glimmer of the fret , visible in the crevice beside Mason's ashes, along with his notes. "I... still... I. Just. You can't imagine the things... or the times I've wanted to say. Mace could have played you that one while I ruined the lyrics. Still have the rest of your rosewood, too, with all of your fingerprints intact. Which isn't easy keeping hidden in my childhood bedroom. Haven't been home in too long. Damned if I had known you'd find me where you did--or when, and yet I wasn't there to--but hell, you'd never let me take it all on my own shoulders. And I won't-- It's never gonna be... all right, but--I'll try to keep your songs around. You found me when I was so close to -yet I'm still alive huh? Some things ain't fair, brother ." Without raising his eyes from his fist, his memories hid between his fingers, slipping away as he flexed his palm. "I only hope you can't see me now, with all this all this hell in my eyes, with the shadows. I still remember the light in yours, don't worry . 'Cause I keep my promises, and you're still my oldest friend. First, and the last. Just... don't ever forget that." As Liam turned away, trudging along the icy path that wound through the cemetery, it could have been hours. Days. Months. Or just a few seconds. And it could have been anywhere. Grief only changed shape as he confronted the infused December sky, its witness the only one in sight. As Liam slid down onto the curb, only a few miles from where he'd last seen Ethan, he glanced up at the approaching figure. "Hey, Lara, I haven't seen Eth since... maybe three hours ago." She dropped to his side, grasping his freezing hand in her own. "Liam, it's cold out here; you're like ice... wait, did you visit Mas--" Her eyes, filled with a silent understanding, flitted to his and back to his hand as she placed it in his lap. "We've both been looking for you, Ethan and I--but I'll tell him you're alright, okay?" Liam, his eyes reddened but dried out from the temperature, nodded. "Yeah, I-it's... Well, you know how long it's been," he said, his gaze finding solace somewhere in Lara's dark hair, averting her gaze. "Yeah, too long. Ethan was worried you'd freeze, so you'd better get back to civilization soon..." she said, offering a smile and a hand on his jacketed shoulder. "Thanks, you've both been feeding me way too long as it is--and I'm not the most stable guest." She laughed as she let her hand slide from his shoulder. "Ethan could out-eat us all, so don't worry about that. Just take care out here." And as she walked away, he rested his head against the flesh of his palm, the solitude granting him a moment of clarity--one that he could never share. A melody in the corner of his mind, one that he couldn't muster the strength to hum . "Yeah, Mason, you're everywhere, and nowhere, buddy. Guess I've learnt to live with that. " -- Ok how's this : Liam glared into the darkness, the dust in his eyes unforgiving. The melody sank in a haunting tune through the night. "Cause there's a place deep inside of me where my dreams have a hold of me...and soon my soul will start to bleed..." Liam's voice broke off as he raked a tremor through his hair. "I still miss him," Liam said, uncertain if Ryan could hear his musings. "Hey, Ry...how long have we been lying in this hell hole?" He asked, the silence torn by Ryan's answer, "Too long. And yeah, I heard you saying something about 'if you play Wonderwall, you'll look like a total tool' in your sleep, presumably to someone who could play music." Ryan smiled, but it never reached his eyes as he added, "He really was a brother to you, huh? And don't lie because I'll know...and then I'll feel bad about giving ya this." As Liam dismissed a tear at the corner of his eye, he reached over to where Ryan lay, holding a piece of paper. "Music? You wrote music. What is this, Ry? You never told me you could--" Liam said, his eyes adjusting to the dark with a vulnerability that settled between them. Ryan, smiling with a broadness that reached his eyes, glanced at the paper with a nod. "Ah, I might have written down that song you insist on humming in your damned sleep. I knew it had some meaning, although I don't know what...least I could do for you, Li'." As his irises shone with another sheen of tears, Liam said quietly, "Mason could have played this--while I ruined the lyrics." Looking up from his boots, Ryan held a somber smile. "If I'd have known you way back then, I'm damned sure I'd have held you both to that." As Liam returned the nod, he folded the paper and tucked it into his duffel bag, magenta particles stirring in the air. "I know...He really was a huge chunk of my adolescence just...gone like...well, anyway, the music, when we get our hands on a guitar..." Ryan shook his head, angling his jaw in his hand. "Nah, we're in the middle of nowhere, and it'll never happen. But you got me, brother." Liam, smiling faintly, replied, "I know. We've seen so much that , well , does it make me an asshole for being happy that Mason died young, unaffected by the trauma that has screwed us up?. I mean he could've lived a different life from us -and maybe I'm wrong to hope he's in a better -" As Ryan leaned back against the filth-stained wall , his voice contemplated the environment . "It's not wrong to want him to have a peace we may never find. It's human. " As Liam gazed back, conflict in his eyes as he said "Y'know , there's something I had back home. And it's likely I'll never see it again, I was carrying a part of it with me for years , but just knowing I kept it safe...I chose to leave it with him and--". Words eluded Liam in the darkness, as Ryan's features , found by the moonlight, left him unable to deflect his gaze . "I feel as though, he wasn't a friend-he wasn't a comrade-he was a sibling, blood was all we didn't share . And even then when he needed a transfusion... I was the first to roll up my damned sleeve. And I wasnt the Ab neg he was-" In a hushed tone Ryan asked , "You think not being compatible was somehow a fault -but Li' , have you heard-well yourself? He could play better than Van Halen I'm guessing', and you could've ruined more than just his lyrics with those pipes . Don't make me say it again." Liam fell silent, and Ryan flopped backwards onto his makeshift bed. "It's alright Li'. Just get some sleep, and don't--" It was almost automatic as Liam replied, "Yeah, yeah, don't 'thank you.' I know, I'm welcome, huh? Yeah, goodnight, Ry." As Ryan's muttering hit the wall, Liam's mind sifted through the catalog of melodies Mason had played. And, amongst the static, a distinct composition of chords found their way back to him. "And if I fall beneath the cracks, if I find you in the darkness, brother, will you still have the heart to see? When I close my eyes and my memories start to fade, when the filter falls away, will you find the strength to stay?" Liam's breath , an unsteady exhale in the dark, dragged against his throat. The bonfire had long died , embers floating around his ankles as the dying flames lighted his eyes. Everyone had downed as much alcohol as imaginable, and staggered home with their rowdy goodbyes, while Liam had slipped off into the night, with a broken bottle of goose in his shaking hand. As his jacket rippled in the wind, lashing against his chest as he zipped it up, he was alone. The cliff , with its eeirie view of the fires remains, a place of revelries and warmth, was now extinguished and cold. "Yeah, no one noticed you never really left, huh?" As he glanced into the void beneath him, his bloodshot eyes seeking solace in the promise of erasure, he staggered unevenly to the edge. "Ah , to hell with it-" . As Liam muttered drunkenly into the silence , pilfered only by the crackle of the dying flames, he traced his neck with the bottles gleaming edge. locating his jugular, its pulsating warmth a cruel reminder of how futile his own bloodstream had become against his skin. Liam pressed the glass against his heartbeat, the sky mocking as the stars shone an icy clarity over his features. As he gazed in torn distress at the void beneath him, he heard a faint voice on the breeze. "I'll never get it right. Ah damnit. If I could nail it -Mason you sad idiot, no one even listens to your garbage anyway." As Liam ground his shoes into the dirt, a rock skidded under his stance , and he cursed into air. "Hey , is someone still up there... I thought everybody left-" Mason yelled into the illuminated of his torch, nestled upright in the mouth of a beer can. "Hey, you assholes can trash my guitar playing somewhere else , I just wanna be alone- this is rubbish ." Mason's angered tone sliced through Liam's helpless grip on the jagged glass as he dropped it over the edge of the cliff, watching it spiral away, cursing again. "Bro, don't get your panties tied up, it's just me-I wasn't listening anyways , and trust me , my opinion is the last one that matters-" . As Liam established equilibrium in a low crouch , a few steps back from the edge he found himself drawing a new sense of warmth from the voice as it hurled back at him . "Wait-then what are you doing up there , party's over , man. You hang out on cliffs for fun....oh shit." . before Liam had shifted his throbbing temple from his hand , as it clung to his head , a figure appeared at his shoulder , holding a guitar and revealing of alcohol. "Ah, well , it doesn't matter why I'm up here. Who the hell cares. But at least , you can play that thing. If my open onion meant anything, I'd say you might as well start busking on campus till a record label signs you, you talented prick-" Liam almost snarled his words , as they eroded under his pain, a tear threatening to escape him. Mason , laying the guitar a few metres away and returning to Liam's side, scoffed into the dark as he said "Nah, you claim you heard nothin' anyway. So what do you know. All that worries me right now is what the hell you're doing so close to the edge of this damn cliff-" As Mason slumped down , a veil of intimacy forming as his absent special awareness centred him inches away from Liam. "You look like hell, but I bet you feel worse right. You're up here , think in' I don't care what you understand about music but see, the thing is , I was one note away from the riff that would have made my version of Comfortably Numb a masterpiece or something like that. But like you say, you weren't listening . So don't call me a prick. My fingers are bleeding and I'm far from comfortable or numb." . Mason said, his voice roughened with impending sobriety as his mouth played with a smirk. Despite the rawness of his nerves , Liam found a smile tugging at his lopsided grin, as he stabbed at the air above Mason's sternum. "Yeah well, maybe I heard it all , and you were in fact playing some made up crap that I bet you could fill a stadium with. You don't know how great you are but-" As Liam hummed off key, he was promptly shoved in the elbow as Mason asked, taken aback "You can -sing? And not only that, he's up here singing my trash , and - you were about to throw those pipes off a cliff ? " There was an almost redeeming pause as Mason offered his hand to Liam , leaning closer in the darkness. "Mason, call me Mace- " Liam ceased his humming as he reciprocated , "Liam-you won't have noticed me around-" As Liam planted a palm either side of his legs , Mason smirked, the light of his torch contouring his cheekbones with a harsh glare. "Oh because no one would , huh? I've heard you , 'round campus , singing to yourself like no one will notice or care , but someone did and now what huh , Liam? Now what happens when I heard it and I need to know what you think you're doing throwing that off a ..." Mason's voice trailed into silence as he sent a rock sailing into gravity's clutches , his eyes following its descent. Liam grasped Mason's hand and shaking it as he muttered, shielded his reddened eyes from the torchlight. "Look, I'm glad you wandered up here to -tell me to stop listening . Cause to be honest I was- well I wouldn't call it stupid....no , Mason, it wasn't stupid , it was... the only action I might rely on . I think of how, if everything collapsed and I were drowning, I'll be alright because -" Liam rested a fatigued hand against his screaming eyes as he resisted the inebriated tears that hedged on the rims of his eyes. Mason, pulling Liam's hand into a grip against his shoulder, lowered his khaki green eyes into view . "Well, seeing as I'm here , and you still look as terrible as you did before-hit me . Tell me one thing that you believe I'll rip you apart for . It's not as if your opinion matters right-so I shouldn't be that affected . I should walk away laughing, right? It can't hurt to try it on me." As his posture slackened, Mason's words hit the air with a casual drawl, as if time was hanging around in the interim. Liam's shock was unlike a slap across his jaw as he clenched his teeth , his eyes breaking away at the lack of phase , yet the very invitation itself. . "Yeah, alright. You have a point there, I guess. But there's no one thing-" he said, as a shrug passed over his shoulders.""I don't know why you'd ask me , but-" Mason's fingers were already tracing a circle across the surface his jeans as he said, blunt yet with a restraint . "I asked, so come on , you give me your best, off the top of the head reason why I should leave you here , and make it count. I need to hear this. Got all night." It was a fatality in his breath that enveloped Liam's raw nerves as he answered, "Well , you have an audience now ... yet you're giving me the stage huh? I don't quite know what you're expecting. Some grandiose confession. "Oh Mason, I just can't carry on in a world so cruel, so I came up to this ledge to embrace the almighty void and plunge forth-" . Mason's eyes , dark and solid, waited under his rising eyebrow. "Who cares what I was expecting , or what I get. I don't think this is about me , as much as you might wanna listen to the sound of your own voice . Or does it scare you hearing it ? Out loud , for the first time in ? " The darkness , awaiting Liam's stare as he turned away, absorbed the volume in his voice, stripping it of its presence. "I haven't been home in three weeks. Folks told me never to set foot on their lawn again. And I don't blame them.... " Mason's eyes, trailing back to his guitar, carried a provoking concern. "Let me get this straight, they threw your ass out...for what? Let's hear it. After all, I don't care , do I . it's just conversation in the night. So explain what got you sitting on the curb on night..." Liam , breaking into a hollow smile , offset his bite , his teeth realigning. "It was, God I was stupid . I got so rotten one afternoon. I left my six year old cousin in the playground , by her school, till her parents found her at seven o'clock that night. I was supposed to have picked her up, but I headed to a-a frat party." As Mason was enveloped in silence, his eyes fixated on Liam's features, his gaze potent. "I -well-she could've -well-that's not what kills me. And now is the part where I tell you that , it's the way the kid -hugged me when I went to see her the next day. She said she loved me , and handed me a flower. And all I thought was -you bastard, Liam. You-" Mason's eyes , with an empathy strewn amongst an understanding, flickered with his torchlight. "So, she forgave you , huh? But you-" Liam's face , still angled toward his lap, finished Mason's assumption. "Nah, I didn't , because there's no one thing here. " Mason's heavy sigh , lingering in his lungs as he leaned forward, hung in the space between them. "It's a complicated network you have up there. A neighbourhood of short circuiting wires . But from what I can make out, there's no way in hell I'm leaving you up here. " Liam , biting back a thickness in his throat , shook his head. "Why not, what difference is it to you , Mason. You have one shot and you'd better make yours hit me harder ." As Mason's torch flicked off in his hands , he answered . "I can't justify leaving a man who , one , hates himself . And no one can hate you the way you can. And second, a man who hates himself for valid reasons , pointing to his own moral compass and yet, thinks a cliff is a fitting place to spend the night. Call me whatever , but I figure , if I can buy you one more day, consider it done. Still ain't got nowhere to be." Liam reached, almost absent of mind, for an unnoticed shard of glass , remaining from his earlier mishap as he twirled it through knuckles. "I-I didn't intend on seeing another. And I still don't know why you're so invested in a total stranger-" Liam swung his blue gaze at Mason, its bloodshot interrogation filled with a hopeful gleam of unshed tears . "Tell me Mason, the real reason you were out here, playing that guitar with a beer can in your lap, balancing a torch , when you have a dorm room to -" The pause offered reprieve to the tension in the air as Mason shifted his stare to the glass in Liam's hands. "Well, you're not gonna like this, but-even if I had the talent, or the skill , to fill one lousy stadium-I won't have the time-I-well-I know the isolation seems extreme . But sometimes I realise , I ain't gonna be around-people shouldn't get to attached to-ah it doesn't matter . It's a conversation for another dawn. Let's just focus on making it to this one. However far away it is. A few hours maybe. An hey, what's a few more hours right?" Liam, noticing the light fade from Mason's eyes , placed a hand on his shoulder . "It's a conversation for right now, if I stay here till sunrise, you're sure as hell gonna leave me with a reason to have kept my sorry ass from -" Mason's answer stayed in his throat before coming in an even tone. "I'm a ghost , Liam , I mean , I might live another year, sure . But I won't -you really don't need the details. I know you're capable of giving a shit , and you're a decent person. And I can't be getting all sentimental on you because-you're not the asshole you think . " As silence engulfed Mason, swallowing him whole, Liam sighed into his palm. "Oh it's like that huh? You think I didn't notice your arm. Unless you're injecting methadone , that's a hell of a lot of blood tests -" Mason's eyes , deep-set in their sockets, said more than his frail grin , as he whispered "It's not that I want to be alone, Liam, it's that I believe it's the right thing-" Liam's rogue tear finally escaped him , and a blanket of wordless atmosphere inched closer. "It's not-good thing you came up here to prove me huh? Coz I'll be damned if you spend anymore nights playing that guitar to the trees -" Mason's khaki stare was dragged away from the glass as it fell from Liam's hands, splinters flying across the cliffs edge . "Maybe we both needed to be alone tonight, and maybe it was dangerous to need the isolation-" Mason countered, as Liam nodded , fatigue chasing his voice. "Yeah , but neither of us found that peace , huh? Party died down, we both ended up drunk and -yeah that bonfire is long died, huh? " Mason, reaching out a fist, dragged his knuckles along Liam's shoulder . "No longer relevant. Now we're stuck here , together , and I'll deal with it. " They both shared a smirk , Liam's dimple upholding his right cheek as his lopsided smile crept across his face. "Damn straight , brother."

USER: Liam's hair, laden with splinters of ice and snow, stuck out from his low-slung cap. His words framed the brittle air as he spoke, the chill unrelenting, 'I never meant to return here. I know I--I promised I'd never look back. That I'd leave you as you were , and yet I ended up back here anyway. I don't listen to anyone , huh?.'" He dug his stiffened hands into his jeans, his boot striking a rock as his own murmur haunted him. 'Can't stay long, but I still remember what real sunsets looked like, the way the colors just stretched for miles. I hope you haven't seen this magenta sky. I hope you never know it. World's not the same , hasn't looked like it did in so many damned years. I guess-well-" His acuity, melting into the atmosphere, left him with no other thoughts. "You rest well, ' cause while I'm standing here talking to you like you're still here, I know you probably can't hear a word - but I kinda like to pretend maybe you can. ' He laughed in spite of his raw sense of sorrow and turned away from the plot, dusting his knuckles across the slot of cremated ashes in a lingering fist bump. 'Again, sometime, brother." Leaves swirled around the hem of his jeans , glazed with ice as he folded his arms across his chest . 'But before I go, there's something I know you've heard me singing in my sleep. Can't get the song out of my head. I can't remember where it came from but-it's the only one that stuck." he said in a low tone , exhaustion passing over his stature. "I came here to...

USER: So it's not immature but rather mature and sophisticated

USER: Liam's hair, laden with splinters of ice and snow, stuck out from his low-slung cap. His words framed the brittle air as he spoke, the chill unrelenting, 'I never meant to return here. I know I--I promised I'd never look back. That I'd leave you as you were , and yet I ended up back here anyway. I don't listen to anyone , huh?.'" He dug his stiffened hands into his jeans, his boot striking a rock as his own murmur haunted him. 'Can't stay long, but I still remember what real sunsets looked like, the way the colors just stretched for miles. I hope you haven't seen this magenta sky. I hope you never know it. World's not the same , hasn't looked like it did in so many damned years. I guess-well-" His acuity, melting into the atmosphere, left him with no other thoughts. "You rest well, ' cause while I'm standing here talking to you like you're still here, I know you probably can't hear a word - but I kinda like to pretend maybe you can. ' He laughed in spite of his raw sense of sorrow and turned away from the plot, dusting his knuckles across the slot of cremated ashes in a lingering fist bump. 'Again, sometime, brother." Leaves swirled around the hem of his jeans , glazed with ice as he folded his arms across his chest . 'But before I go, there's something I know you've heard me singing in my sleep. Can't get the song out of my head. I can't remember where it came from but-it's the only one that stuck." he said in a low tone , exhaustion passing over his stature. "I came here to...

USER: What's some highly realistic and heart rendering dialogue

USER: Filtered 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 hair, ladenears. 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 splinters of ice and snow, stucka 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 from his low-slung cap. His words framed the brittle air as he spoke, the chill unrelenting, 'Iinto 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 meant to return here. I know I--I promised I'd never lookget it back. That I'd leave you as you were , and yet I ended upOh , Rose, my heart breaks for you-" Valen's finger traced the hem of Liam's jeans as he undid the buckle , flicking it back here anyway. I don't listen to anyone , huh?.'"against Liam's stretched abdomen and watching his skin react . He dug his stiffened hands into his jeans, his boot striking a rock as his own murmur haunted him. 'Can't staywhisked 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 Ihis 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 remember what real sunsets looked like, the way the colors just stretched for miles. I hope you haven't seen this magenta sky. I hope youalive 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 know it. World's not the same , hasn't looked like it did in so many damned years. I guess-well-" His acuity, melting into the atmosphere, left, ever , break. " . The silence deafened him with noits 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 thoughts. "You rest well, ' causeuseless 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 standing here talking to you like you're still here, I know you probably can't hear a word - but I kinda like to pretend maybe you can. ' He laughed in spite of his raw sense of sorrow and turned away from the plot, dusting his knuckles across the slot of cremated ashes in a lingering fist bump. 'Again, sometime, brother." Leaves swirled around the hem of his jeans , glazedthe boss. Another day in my office. Another fine opportunity to play with ice as he folded his arms across his chest . 'But before I go, there's something I know you've heard me singing in my sleep. Can't get the song out of my head. I can't remember wherethe clientele." Liam managed a twisted smile , the notion flooring him . "Have you ever ingested it came from but-it's the only one that stuck." he said in a low tone , exhaustion passing over his stature. "I came here to leaveyourself. The Vanderine , what does it with you, along with something of yours I' been carrying around. Keeping you close, but--if I lost it, well-." An entire moment passed before Liam fumbled a thin, metal guitar fret from his pocket, a perfect fit between his index finger and thumb. He then unrolled a small piece of paper with a scrawled transcription and wrapped it around the fret. In a swift gesture, he drove it deep into a crack between two bricks in the wall. "The ninth fret was always a part of every song- I think only you would appreciate it but , that's kinda the whole point. " Liam's faint smile rested on the glimmer of the fret , visible in the crevice beside Mason's ashes, along with his notes. "I... still... I. Just. Youfeel like, you can't imagine the things...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 the times I've wanted to say. Macewill 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 have played youask him that one while I ruined the lyrics. Still have the restisn'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 rosewood, too,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 all ofthe 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 fingerprints intact. Which isn't easy keeping hidden inpulse is faster. And harder. But , it's not my childhood bedroom. Haven't been home in too long. Damned if I had known you'd find me where you did--or when, and yet I wasn't there to--butintention to break you now is it? You will undo yourself in my embrace Liam -" He lay face down on the pavement to hell, you'd never let me take it all on my own shoulders. And I won't-- It's never gonna be... all right, but--I'll try to keep your songs around. You found me when I was so close to -yet I'm still alive huh? Some things ain't fair, brother ." Without raising his eyes from his fist, his memories hid between his fingers, slipping away as he flexed his palm.a maze of stones and ever present magenta particles sifting through his vision as he withheld a gasp. "I only hope you can't see me now, with all this all this hell in my eyes, with the shadows. I still remember the light in yours, don't worry . 'Cause I keep my promises, and you're still my oldest friend. First, and the last. Just... don't ever forget that." Asdamned watch-" Liam turned away, trudging along the icy path that wound through the cemetery, it could have been hours. Days. Months. Or just a few seconds. And it could have been anywhere. Grief only changed shape as he confronted the infused December sky, its witness the only one in sight. As Liam slid down onto the curb, only a few miles from where he'd last seen Ethan, he glanced up at the approaching figure. "Hey, Lara, I haven't seen Eth since... maybe three hours ago." She dropped to his side, grasping his freezing hand in her own. "Liam, it's cold out here; you're like ice... wait, did you visit Mas--" Her eyes, filled with a silent understanding, flitted to his and back to his hand as she placed it in his lap. "We've both been looking for you, Ethan and I--but I'll tell him you're alright, okay?"muttered. Valen , dismissing Liam's frustration, loomed close and yet far enough away to unsettle the balance of intamacy and isolation. "Now Liam, his eyes reddened but dried out from the temperature, nodded. "Yeah, I-it's... Well,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 been," he said, hisall 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 finding solace somewhere in Lara's dark hair, averting her gaze. "Yeah, too long. Ethanrested 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 worried you'd freeze, so you'd better get back to civilization soon..." she said, offering a smile and a handa 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 his jacketed shoulder. "Thanks,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 place I cannot , simply by being extinguished. A flame can just-" the snapping of Valen's fingers caused Liam to blink away a tear , his jaw trembling with the tension as he denied his humanity. His empathy simmered behind his eyelids as he watched the insides of them swim with moisture. "I implore you to kill me first-A suicidal cannon will only light up the sky when the wick burns out. If you exterminate my only reason to breathe-what then? Let me go and have a fading trail -or torture his existence with mine?" . The complexity ignited a strange amusement in Valen's response , eliciting a new depth of laughter . "Ah Liam , you are a mental fortress of entertainment, but even the cryptic suggestion that without him you'll be nothing, you've transcended the reason I am tracing your ribcage with an ease. You are yet to contemplate the heart of my intentions. It may take some time -I'll afford you as long as you need Li' . Ryan has -more than enough time to wait for your revelation. To hear its undertones in your screams. " Liam lay in the cling wrap of sweat, not quite daring to let his mind connect the dots that reeled across the concrete , like a constellation of fallen stars . Whether it had become day, or remained night, failed to matter. The magenta haze was all consuming. Everywhere, and he was nowhere. Ryan had been eerily quiet . And his voice was only a plea away from escaping him. "I knew from the start , your true intention......I've always understood the purpose of my life -to kill me -but not to end my misery. To destroy Ryan. Because unlike me-Ryan believes in -humanity. in dignity. He's everything you can't be . Morally good . You have to end me -to truly leave a mark that will sear like a brand . But good luck with that . Because he did make a promise and you can't stop a lawful good from his word-" Valen's clap, a drawn out slap of his palms together , held a faint mockery. "Perhaps that might have been a nice twist to play with. Killing you, to watch Ryan suffer. Or killing him ti destroy you. Perhaps I may play with my food , or throw in complementaries with the service . Keep thinking Liam. What we don't know , can indeed be dangerous. But what we do know, can be a slow burning nightmare. " As the air crept closer , Liam cursed under his breath. His cards flashed their expiry dates as he almost threw his failed royal flush across the table. But all he mustered was a faint "you'll be waiting a while ... maybe I never figure it out..." Valen , laughing at the delight in his own voice , positioned his mouth at Liam's ear. "You will come to a conclusion , and don't tell me about it. I'll feel it in your waters as you drown" Liam's weakened mindset crumbled with dehydration, and malnourishment, as he grappled with a notion that almost set fire to his lungs. "The Vanderine- you've never ingested it. You won't . Implant it in me. But my body won't make it over the border in this condition. Implant Ryan , he can't hold it down as long as me. Kill Ryan , and torture me . kill me and torture him. kill is both been feedingand the game ends . But there's only one thing-" . Valen's eyes lit up , pyromania dancing wildly in his pupils, "you're getting warmer, Liam. I think you may already be ... burning. Shall I throw you into the ocean yet or would you like a moment?" Liam's blood , screeching to a halt in his veins, choked as he whispered "You need me-alive-because you don't have anyone else left to hide the drug inside of - you were never trying to preserve it , you need -to display it, showcase its fucking beauty , in the middle of nowhere . Have someone , at the right , opportune moment , but what doesn't add up is -why hide it inside me way too long as it is--and. If I'm not thea vessel of transportation , why not just give the damn substance to -why implant it? " Liam's thoughts , blurred together by sheer panic , had him screaming , "Ryan , I'm sorry !" . Preserving his silence, Valen produced a gleaming sac from his pocket , and crouched by Liam's temple , placing and unlacing his boot as he hummed. "I want the world to see , how this drug , this vile responsibility to traffic something so resistant to ingestion , can be hidden inside even the weakest, most stable guest." She laughed as she let her hand slide from his shoulder. "Ethan could out-eat us all, so don't worry about that. Just take care out here."unsaleable , adverse body. And as she walked away, he rested his head against the flesh of his palm, the solitude granting him a moment of clarity--one that he could never share. A melody in the corner of his mind, one that he couldn't muster the strength to hum . "Yeah, Mason, you're everywhere, and nowhere, buddy. Guess I've learnt to live with that. " -- Ok how's this : Liam glared into the darkness, the dust in his eyes unforgiving. The melody sank in a haunting tune through the night. "Cause there's a place , a place deep inside ofyou Liam , that it can be retained . But also , there's a place inside you that I can visit along the way. I won't overstay my welcome, I promise . You're right about me not getting your deteriorated meat suit over any borders but. business calls . And I take walks in the park . I stop to smell the roses . I admire the architecture and I never pass up a stroll through the Sistine Chapel after dark..." In Liam's resounding screams, his voice begged Ryan to hear what he could muster . "Don't ... you ...ever... let my broken body... be your mistake. I'm thanking you, and there's nothing to for-" His mouth, slamming closed with the brutal mercy of the concrete , bleed through his teeth. "Oh , Ryan , he says you're welcome , and there's plenty he can't forget, nor forgive, nor forgo not even forbid. He's bound, and he's listening and oh his heart's beating-so thank him for being alive. thank him for being too pristine to make an exhibition that can illuminate a thousand skies. Thank good 'ol Ryan for not embodying the toxic playground you breathe to life..." In a flinching movement , Liam turned his cheek away, a tear streaking it, unseen . Only the metal walls could witness his release . With an even voice he said, "His promise...when he executes it... he can stand on the edge of the universe, and smile for us both. There's a place neither of us can ever visit. Except him. So send him there, Valen. But know that to win, you lose. I'm dying , it's not a secret, that even without you, I could never survive without freedom, without water , and soon. Without vital nutrients. I'm already gone . But Ryan-" Valen , resting a hand on the back of a Liam's head, countered with a sliver of mock empathy. "Oh , Ryan will smile , when he-goes to a place where you die . And he lives? Or-is his heaven a place you think you can't go ? But what if, you knew Ryan's purpose? Why Liam , do you think, I have retained his bones for so long. He's had no purpose. And yet, he's far more valuable to my operation than you. He can't see it. But ponder , for a moment, where he might be heading , for you... " . As Liam felt the insidious surreality impaling his senses, he was alone in his depraved pyche, and his own screams would fall to a deaf grave. His whisper laced the air. "Ryan is silent , is he not ? And somehow , he's been a bystander . Watching it all, hearing it all. With glass caged eyes. And you need -a witness. To see your exhibition. To be the embodiment of wonderment. But consider this. What if Ryan was that sightless traveller I reserve my landmark for?" Liam began to sing, in perfect key, "'cause there's a place deep inside, where dreams have a hold of me...and soonon me, and it's only a matter of time, before my soul stars to bleed, but if fall beneath the cracks , will darkness welcome me, brother if I find you there , will you still have the heart to see .: cause when I close my eyes , and my memories fade , when I'm bleeding dry , will the filter fall away, will you have the strength to stay...". His rasping lullaby was eerie in the silence , and his heartbeat twisted as he heard a guttural heave from the distance. Ryan's response was entrenched in a watery curse, spoken through a sodden barrier. "Liam, don't you dare start to bleed..."giving in-Not you". Valen was gone from Liam's voice broke off as he raked a tremor through his hair. "I still miss him,"side , and a sickening groan permeated the air . "It would seem, his gag needed a little readjusting..."Looking upward Liam said, uncertain ifdelivered a direct gaze to Valen , one filled with challenge , "now ask, and then know , what Ryan promised me and then ask the depths of your twisted soul , can you live with failure so profound , it could hear his musings. "Hey, Ry...how long haveencompass your soul and -" . Valen's eyes , staring back with a devoid expression, mirrored and ocean of tar as he drawled his words. ".He can't fulfil that promise in binds. We both know that. " Liam smiled , a slow, almost manic smile , his teeth saturated in blood. "But Valen, how do we know , for sure , he hasn't already - has he been lying inhere this whole , grandiose time , watching me , and watching you, through a filter of handicapped brilliance? Is what he sees , far more beautiful than what either of us can imagine?" There was a chill in the air that may have escaped the gates of a hell hole?" He asked, the silence torn by Ryan's answer, "Too long. And yeah, I heard you saying something about 'if you play Wonderwall, you'll look like a total tool' infrozen as Valen stepped back and whispered, "He's physically .... The damned song. My witness is...? Has always been? "I would love the pleasure of exploring your sleep, presumably to someone who could play music."suggestion , Liam. That our Ryan smiled, but it never reached his eyes as he added, "He really was a brother to you, huh? And don't lie because I'll know...and then I'll feel bad about giving ya this.", is blind?" As Liam dismissed a tear at the corner of his eye, he reachedbasked in the palpable terror flowing through Valen's mind he nodded against the concrete ." He lost one of his senses , I suppose the one that strengthened him the most in the end. And he'll be free. No matter what you do , he'll be free . He embraced the literal darkness long ago. My body will never be his memory, burning bright in any sky, in any universe, anywhere...Ponder that. " Valen , almost erased by his innate silence, whispered in a cold, flat , and utterly soul destroying tone "Business , Liam. Can my audience feel? Can my audience imagine? Can the dark corners of Ryan's mind fathom , where I will hide the Vanderine? And what of that, a firework display , far brighter than any I could illustrate. One of his own creation. Listen carefully Ryan , oh listen with the senses you have left: I may have felt my heart drop just a fraction when I learned of your, misfortune but, I have tourism to attend to-you have both served me too kindly , and it's not over to where Ryan lay, holding a piece of paper. "Music? You wrote music. What is this, Ry? You never told me you could--" Liam said, his eyes adjusting to the dark with a vulnerability that settled between them. Ryan, smiling with a broadness that reached his eyes, glanced at the paper with a nod. "Ah, I might have written down that song you insist on humming in your damned sleep. I knew it had some meaning, although I don't know what...least I could do for you, Li'." As his irises shone with another sheen of tears, Liam said quietly, "Mason could have played this--while I ruined the lyrics." Looking up from his boots, Ryan held a somber smile. "If I'd have known you way back then, I'm damned sure I'd have held you both to that." As Liam returned the nod, he folded the paper and tucked it into his duffel bag, magenta particles stirring in the air. "I know...He really was a huge chunk of my adolescence just...gone like...well, anyway, the music, when we get our hands on a guitar..." Ryan shook his head, angling his jaw in his hand. "Nah, we're in the middle of nowhere, and it'll never happen. But you got me, brother." Liam, smiling faintly, replied, "I know. We've seen so much that , well , does it make me an asshole for being happy that Mason died young, unaffected by the trauma that has screwed us up?. I mean he could've lived a different life from us -and maybe I'm wrong to hope he's in a better -" As Ryan leaned back against the filth-stained wall , his voice contemplated the environment . "It's not wrong to want him to have a peace we may never find. It's human.yet. " As Liam gazed back, conflict inclosed his eyes as he said "Y'know , there's, the blow to his nostrils was more than he could bear. "Liam; your sinus cavities . Then , Ryan , I'll sever your binds. As you have earned . Game well played , gentlemen. For keeping your darkest spaces wide open, just for me. " Liam , feeling Valen caress his cheek, pausing his finger at his eyelid , he hummed without tone. "I suspect Ryan can see shadows on a wall .. after all . What is one thing , Liam , that a deaf man can hear, that a quadriplegic can feel, that a man without his tongue can taste .. what is something I hadtangible , real , more set in this world than fear or any emotion that exists. Liam, can you be the thing he can see .. oh tell me? Or keep it inside. I find it flattering in the ..highest sense..that you would call my bluff in the night.." Valen's calm humming hung in the air " I will be back home. And it's likely I'll never, when he proves his universal feelings , his love for my exhibition. Take a moment to embrace the tangibly of his senses. Valen was absent in a dying moment, as Liam heard Ryan's distressed groan. "Ah , Ryan, the wall , in which shadows reflect themselves , it gleams with a rise so delicate. Your corneas, do they welcome my presence, can I touch the wall without your sweet hazel irises tracing my arrival". Liam's heart collapsed against the velocity of its pulse , as Ryan's shadow revolted, and his scream echoed chilling and with ambiguity. "Now , what of that, your games may lead you those dark corners. But, Well , he can see ... sweet Ry' can see it again, Iall . Or can he ? Now that I have touched upon his lying eyes , I may have done some damage on my out. How can one tell . I am the master of a drug operation, not a gauger of eyeballs. My caress is ... gentle . Subtle . A professional never resorts to gratuitous measures . Your insanity is too...precious. But maybe now.. our Ryan is blind . Or he isn't. He can't tell you , Liam, if my bluff was carrying a part ofworth calling, after all . For maybe he is blind and imagining your demise , or maybe he'll be forced to watch, to see it all. . " Ryan's voice , slated with me for years ,grey, came in a hoarse whisper, but just knowing I kept it safe...I chose to leave itfilled with him and--". Words eludedclarity . "Liam... the sunlight.. when we found that bench.. got drunk, and you fell asleep in the park. What did I say to you-" Then the muffled screams followed as Valen secured Ryan's gag over his tongue. Liam in the darkness, aslay with the echoes of Ryan's features , found by the moonlight, left him unable to deflect his gaze . "I feel as though, he wasn't a friend-he wasn't a comrade-he was a sibling, blood was all we didn't share . And even then when he needed a transfusion... I was the first to roll up my damned sleeve. And I wasnt the Ab neg he was-"voice in his skull. It had been warm, yet pleasant , embalming them both in a magenta twilight. In a hushed tone Ryan asked , "You think not being compatible was somehow a fault -but Li' , have you heard-well yourself? He could play better than Van Halen I'm guessing', and you could've ruined more than just his lyrics with those pipes . Don't make me say it again." Liam fell silent, and Ryan flopped backwards onto his makeshift bed. "It's alright Li'. Just get some sleep, and don't--" It was almost automatic as Liam replied, "Yeah, yeah, don't 'thank you.' I know, I'm welcome, huh? Yeah, goodnight, Ry." As Ryan's muttering hit the wall, Liam's mind sifted through the catalog of melodies Mason had played. And, amongst the static, a distinct composition of chords found their way back to him. "And if I fall beneath the cracks, if I find you in the darkness, brother, will you still have the heart to see? When I close my eyes and my memories start to fade, when the filter falls away, will you find the strength to stay?" Liam's breath , an unsteady exhale in the dark, dragged against his throat. The bonfire had long died , embers floating around his ankles as the dying flames lighted his eyes. Everyone had downed as much alcohol as imaginable, and staggered home with their rowdy goodbyes, while Liam had slipped off into the night, with a broken bottle of goose in his shaking hand. As his jacket rippled in the wind, lashing against his chest as he zipped it up, he was alone. The cliff , with its eeirie view of the fires remains, a place of revelries and warmth, was now extinguished and cold. "Yeah, no one noticed you never really left, huh?" As he glanced into the void beneath him, his bloodshot eyes seeking solace in the promise of erasure, he staggered unevenly to the edge. "Ah , to hell with it-" . As Liam muttered drunkenly into the silence , pilfered only by the crackle of the dying flames, he traced his neck with the bottles gleaming edge. locating his jugular, its pulsating warmth a cruel reminder of how futile his own bloodstream had become against his skin. Liam pressed the glass against his heartbeat, the sky mocking as the stars shone an icy clarity over his features. As he gazed in torn distress at the void beneath him, he heard a faint voice on the breeze. "I'll never get it right. Ah damnit. If I could nail it -Mason you sad idiot, no one even listens to your garbage anyway." As Liam ground his shoes into the dirt, a rock skidded under his stance , and he cursed into air. "Hey , is someone still up there... I thought everybody left-" Mason yelled into the illuminated of his torch, nestled upright in the mouth of a beer can. "Hey, you assholes can trash my guitar playing somewhere else , I just wanna be alone- this is rubbish ." Mason's angered tone sliced through Liam's helpless grip on the jagged glass as he dropped it over the edge of the cliff, watching it spiral away, cursing again. "Bro, don't get your panties tied up, it's just me-I wasn't listening anyways , and trust me , my opinion is the last one that matters-" . As Liam established equilibrium in a low crouch , a few steps back from the edge he found himself drawing a new sense of warmth from the voice as it hurled back at him . "Wait-then what are you doing up there , party's over , man. You hang out on cliffs for fun....oh shit." .the moments before Liam had shifted his throbbing templesuccumbed to the inebriation in his veins , Ryan's hazel stare, were alight with flecks of tranquil silence, as he said "it's the nights that are the longest, but dust always falls, it's not quite red, it's not purple, but it always returns . That's thing I've notice about this damned place. Even if they rip my eyes out, so I can't even watch anymore, they'll never rip out my actual heart Li'. They'd never think it could matter. It's the one organ they'll never touch and it's the only one a human truly needs to survive. Even if they choke me, burn me , there's nothing those bastards will strip from his hand , as it clung to his head , a figure appeared at his shoulder , holding a guitar and revealing of alcohol. "Ah, well , it doesn't matter why I'm up here. Who the hell cares. But at least , youthe 'ol ticker right?I'll always have my humanity , they can playtry but-"Liam laughed as the sun bathed Ryan's profile and he felt the warmth of the alcohol taking him under. "Is that thing. If my open onion meant anything, I'd say you might as well start busking on campus till a record label signs you, you talented prick-" Liam almost snarled his words , as they eroded under his pain, a tear threatening to escape him. Mason , laying the guitar a few metres away and returning to Liam's side, scoffed into the dark as he said "Nah, you claim you heard nothin' anyway. So what do you know. All that worries me right now is what the hell you're doing so close to the edge of this damn cliff-" As Mason slumped down , a veil of intimacy forming as his absent special awareness centred him inches away from Liam. "You look like hell, but I bet you feel worse right. You're up here , think in' I don't care what you understand about music but see, the thing is , I was one note away from the riff that would have made my version of Comfortably Numb a masterpiece or something like that. But like you say, you weren't listening . So don't call me a prick. My fingers are bleeding and I'm far from comfortable or numb." . Mason said, his voice roughened with impending sobriety as his mouth played with a smirk. Despite the rawness of his nerves , Liam found a smile tugging at his lopsided grin, as he stabbed at the air above Mason's sternum. "Yeah well, maybe I heard it all , and you were in fact playing some made up crap that I bet you could fill a stadium with. You don't know how great you are but-" As Liam hummed off key, he was promptly shoved in the elbow as Mason asked, taken aback "You can -sing? And not only that, he's up here singing my trash , and - you were about to throw those pipes off a cliff ? " There was an almost redeeming pause as Mason offered his hand to Liam , leaning closer in the darkness. "Mason, call me Mace- " Liam ceased his humming as he reciprocated , "Liam-you won't have noticed me around-" As Liam planted a palm either side of his legs , Mason smirked, the light of his torch contouring his cheekbones with a harsh glare. "Oh because no one would , huh? I've heard you , 'round campus , singing to yourself like no one will notice or care , but someone did and now what huh , Liam? Now what happens when I heard it and I need to know what you think you're doing throwing that off a ..." Mason's voice trailed into silence as he sent a rock sailing into gravity's clutches , his eyes following its descent. Liam grasped Mason's hand and shaking it as he muttered, shielded his reddened eyes from the torchlight. "Look, I'm glad you wandered up here to -tell me to stop listening . Cause to be honest I was- well I wouldn't call it stupid....no , Mason, it wasn't stupid , it was... the only action I might rely on . I think of how, if everything collapsed and I were drowning, I'll be alright because -" Liam rested a fatigued hand against his screaming eyes as he resisted the inebriated tears that hedged on the rims of his eyes. Mason, pulling Liam's hand into a grip against his shoulder, lowered his khaki green eyes into view . "Well, seeing as I'm here , and you still look as terrible as you did before-hit me . Tell me one thing that you believe I'll rip you apart for . It's not as if your opinion matters right-so I shouldn't be that affected . I should walk away laughing, right? It can't hurt to try it on me." As his posture slackened, Mason's words hit the air with a casual drawl, as if time was hanging around in the interim. Liam's shock was unlike a slap across his jaw as he clenched his teeth , his eyes breaking away at the lack of phase , yet the very invitation itself. . "Yeah, alright. You have a point there, I guess. But there's no one thing-" he said, as a shrug passed over his shoulders.""I don't know why you'd ask me , but-" Mason's fingers were already tracing a circle across the surface his jeans as he said, blunt yet with a restraint . "I asked, so come on , you give me your best, off the top of the head reason why I should leave you here , and make it count. I need to hear this. Got all night." It was a fatality in his breath that enveloped Liam's raw nerves as he answered, "Well , you have an audience now ... yet you're giving me the stage huh? I don't quite know what you're expecting. Some grandiose confession. "Oh Mason, I just can't carry on in a world so cruel, so I came up to this ledge to embrace the almighty void and plunge forth-" . Mason's eyes , dark and solid, waited under his rising eyebrow. "Who cares what I was expecting , or what I get. I don't think this is about me , as much as you might wanna listen to the sound of your own voice . Or does it scare you hearing it ? Out loud , for the first time in ? " The darkness , awaiting Liam's stare as he turned away, absorbed the volume in his voice, stripping it of its presence. "I haven't been home in three weeks. Folks told me never to set foot on their lawn again. And I don't blame them.... " Mason's eyes, trailing back to his guitar, carried a provoking concern. "Let me get this straight, they threw your ass out...for what? Let's hear it. After all, I don't care , do I . it's just conversation in the night. So explain what got you sitting on the curb on night..." Liam , breaking into a hollow smile , offset his bite , his teeth realigning. "It was, God I was stupid . I got so rotten one afternoon. I left my six year old cousin in the playground , by her school, till her parents found her at seven o'clock that night. I was supposed to have picked her up, but I headed to a-a frat party." As Mason was enveloped in silence, his eyes fixated on Liam's features, his gaze potent. "I -well-she could've -well-that's not what kills me. And now is the part where I tell you that , it's the way the kid -hugged me when I went to see her the next day. She said she loved me , and handed me a flower. And all I thought was -you bastard, Liam. You-" Mason's eyes , with an empathy strewn amongst an understanding, flickered with his torchlight. "So, she forgave you , huh? But you-" Liam's face , still angled toward his lap, finished Mason's assumption. "Nah, I didn't , because there's no one thing here. " Mason's heavy sigh , lingering in his lungs as he leaned forward, hung in the space between them. "It's a complicated network you have up there. A neighbourhood of short circuiting wires . But from what I can make out, there's no way in hell I'm leaving you up here. " Liam , biting back a thickness in his throat , shook his head. "Why not, what difference is it to you , Mason. You have one shot and you'd better make yours hit me harder ." As Mason's torch flicked off in his hands , he answered . "I can't justify leaving a man who , one , hates himself . And no one can hate you the way you can. And second, a man who hates himself for valid reasons , pointing to his own moral compass and yet, thinks a cliff is a fitting place to spend the night. Call me whatever , but I figure , if I can buy you one more day, consider it done. Still ain't got nowhere to be." Liam reached, almost absent of mind, for an unnoticed shard of glass , remaining from his earlier mishap as he twirled it through knuckles. "I-I didn't intend on seeing another. And I still don't know why you're so invested in a total stranger-" Liam swung his blue gaze at Mason, its bloodshot interrogation filled with a hopeful gleam of unshed tears . "Tell me Mason, the real reason you were out here, playing that guitar with a beer can in your lap, balancing a torch , when you have a dorm room to -" The pause offered reprieve to the tension in the air as Mason shifted his stare to the glass in Liam's hands. "Well, you're not gonna like this, but-even if I had the talent, or the skill , to fill one lousy stadium-I won't have the time-I-well-I know the isolation seems extreme . But sometimes I realise , I ain't gonna be around-people shouldn't get to attached to-ah it doesn't matter . It's a conversation for another dawn. Let's just focus on making it to this one. However far away it is. A few hours maybe. An hey, what's a few more hours right?" Liam, noticing the light fade from Mason's eyes , placed a hand on his shoulder . "It's a conversation for right now, if I stay here till sunrise, you're sure as hell gonna leave me with a reason to have kept my sorry ass from -" Mason's answer stayed in his throat before coming in an even tone. "I'm a ghost , Liam , I mean , I might live another year, sure . But I won't -you really don't need the details. I know you're capable of giving a shit , and you're a decent person. And I can't bea promise Ry' . Are you getting all sentimental on you because-you're not the asshole you think . " As silence engulfed Mason, swallowing him whole, Liam sighed into his palm. "Oh it's like that huh? You think I didn't notice your arm. Unless you're injecting methadone , that's a hell of a lot of blood tests -" Mason's eyes , deep-set in their sockets, said more than his frail grin , as he whispered "It's not that I want to be alone, Liam, it's that I believe it's the right thing-" Liam's rogue tear finally escaped him , and a blanket of wordless atmosphere inched closer. "It's not-good thing you came up here to prove me huh? Coz I'll be damned if you spend anymore nights playing that guitar to the trees -" Mason's khaki stare was dragged away from the glass as it fell from Liam's hands, splinters flying across the cliffs edge . "Maybe we both needed to be alone tonight, and maybe it was dangerous to need the isolation-" Mason countered, as Liam nodded , fatigue chasing his voice. "Yeah , but neither of us found that peace , huh? Party died down, we both ended up drunk and -yeah that bonfire is long died, huh? " Mason, reaching out a fist, dragged his knuckles alongnow. Hold me Ryan oh hold me-" Ryan , slapping a firm hand against Liam's shoulder . "No longer relevant. Now we're stuck here , together , and I'll deal with it.replied "Ah shut the hell up and pass out " They both shared a smirk , Liam's dimple upholding his right cheek as his lopsided smile crept across his face. "Damn straight , brother."dimples punctured the crimson bleed of the light "Will do, brother" he said as he returned a solid arm to Ryan's back. "But before I do I just want to make sure, you never forget what we have here. Whatever they take , this is untouchable ."

USER: Filtered As Valen suctioned his salivaDoes this avoid the pitfalls of immature writing ? Liam's hair, laden with splinters of ice and snow, stuck out from his low-slung cap. His words framed the brittle air as he spoke, the chill unrelenting, 'I never meant to return here. I know I--I promised I'd never look back. That I'd leave you as you were , and yet I ended up back here anyway. I don't listen to anyone , huh?.'" He dug his stiffened hands into his jeans, his boot striking a rock as his own murmur haunted him. 'Can't stay long, but I still remember what real sunsets looked like, the way the colors just stretched for miles. I hope you haven't seen this magenta sky. I hope you never know it. World's not the same , hasn't looked like it did in so many damned years. I guess-well-" His acuity, melting into the atmosphere, left him with no other thoughts. "You rest well, ' cause while I'm standing here talking to you like you're still here, I know you probably can't hear a word - but I kinda like to pretend maybe you can. ' He laughed in spite of his raw sense of sorrow and turned away from the plot, dusting his knuckles across the slot of cremated ashes in a lingering fist bump. 'Again, sometime, brother." Leaves swirled around the cavity of a decaying tooth , draining the marrow of its essence , the soundhem of his jeans , glazed with ice as he folded his arms across his chest . 'But before I go, there's something I know you've heard me singing in my sleep. Can't get the song out of my head. I can't remember where it came from but-it's the only one that stuck." he said in a low tone , exhaustion passing over his stature. "I came here to leave it with you, along with something of yours I' been carrying around. Keeping you close, but--if I lost it, well-." An entire moment passed before Liam fumbled a thin, metal guitar fret from his pocket, a perfect fit between his index finger and thumb. He then unrolled a small piece of paper with a scrawled transcription and wrapped it around the fret. In a swift gesture, he drove it deep into a crack between two bricks in the wall. "The ninth fret 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 ,always a part of every song- I think only you would appreciate it but , that's kinda the whole point. " Liam's faint smile rested on a criminal scale he had fabricatedthe glimmer of the fret , visible in the crevice beside Mason's ashes, along with a woven tapestry that only his sanityhis notes. "I... still... I. Just. You can't imagine the things... or the times I've wanted to say. Mace could have designed.played you that one while I ruined the lyrics. Still have the rest of your rosewood, too, with all of your fingerprints intact. Which isn't easy keeping hidden in my childhood bedroom. Haven't been home in too long. Damned if I had known you'd find me where you did--or when, and yet I wasn't there to--but hell, you'd never let me take it all on my own shoulders. And I won't-- It's never gonna be... all right, but--I'll try to keep your songs around. You found me when I was so close to -yet I'm still alive huh? Some things ain't fair, brother ." Without raising his eyes from his fist, his memories hid between his fingers, slipping away as he flexed his palm. "I only hope you can't see me now, with all this all this hell in my eyes, with the shadows. I still remember the light in yours, don't worry . 'Cause I keep my promises, and you're still my oldest friend. First, and the last. Just... don't ever forget that." As Liam turned away, trudging along the icy path that wound through the cemetery, it could have been hours. Days. Months. Or just a few seconds. And it could have been anywhere. Grief only changed shape as he confronted the infused December sky, its witness the only one in sight. As Liam slid down onto the curb, only a few miles from where he'd last seen Ethan, he glanced up at the approaching figure. "Hey, Lara, I haven't seen Eth since... maybe three hours ago." She dropped to his side, grasping his freezing hand in her own. "Liam, it's cold out here; you're like ice... wait, did you visit Mas--" Her eyes, filled with a silent understanding, flitted to his and back to his hand as she placed it in his lap. "We've both been looking for you, Ethan and I--but I'll tell him you're alright, okay?" Liam, his eyes reddened but dried out from the temperature, nodded. "Yeah, I-it's... Well, you know how long it's been," he said, his gaze finding solace somewhere in Lara's dark hair, averting her gaze. "Yeah, too long. Ethan was worried you'd freeze, so you'd better get back to civilization soon..." she said, offering a smile and a hand on his jacketed shoulder. "Thanks, you've both been feeding me way too long as it is--and I'm not the most stable guest." She laughed as she let her hand slide from his shoulder. "Ethan could out-eat us all, so don't worry about that. Just take care out here." And as she walked away, he rested his head against the flesh of his palm, the solitude granting him a moment of clarity--one that he could never share. A melody in the corner of his mind, one that he couldn't muster the strength to hum . "Yeah, Mason, you're everywhere, and nowhere, buddy. Guess I've learnt to live with that. " -- Ok how's this : Liam glared into the darkness, the dust in his eyes unforgiving. The irreverence spiralledmelody sank in a haunting tune through his knuckles as he flexed them, each crack falling in linethe night. "Cause there's a place deep inside of me where my dreams have a hold of me...and soon my soul will start to bleed..." Liam's voice broke off as he raked a tremor through his hair. "I still miss him," Liam said, uncertain if Ryan could hear his musings. "Hey, Ry...how long have we been lying in this hell hole?" He asked, the silence torn by Ryan's answer, "Too long. And yeah, I heard you saying something about 'if you play Wonderwall, you'll look like a total tool' in your sleep, presumably to someone who could play music." Ryan smiled, but it never reached his eyes as he added, "He really was a brother to you, huh? And don't lie because I'll know...and then I'll feel bad about giving ya this." As Liam dismissed a tear at the corner of his eye, he reached over to where Ryan lay, holding a piece of paper. "Music? You wrote music. What is this, Ry? You never told me you could--" Liam said, his eyes adjusting to the dark with the thud of his uneven gait. "Ah ,a vulnerability that settled between them. Ryan, smiling with a broadness that reached his eyes, glanced at the paper with a nod. "Ah, I might have written down that song you insist on humming in your damned sleep. I knew it had some meaning, although I don't know what...least I could do for you, Li'." As his irises shone with another sheen of tears, Liam said quietly, "Mason could have played this--while I ruined the lyrics." Looking up from his boots, Ryan held a somber smile. "If I'd have known you way back then, I'm damned sure I'd have held you both to that." As Liam returned the nod, he folded the paper and tucked it into his duffel bag, magenta particles stirring in the air. "I know...He really was a huge chunk of my adolescence just...gone like...well, anyway, the music, when we get our hands on a guitar..." Ryan shook his head, angling his jaw in his hand. "Nah, we're in the middle of nowhere, and it'll never happen. But you got me, brother." 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 couldsmiling faintly, replied, "I know. We've seen so much that , well , does it make me screaman asshole for being happy that Mason died young, unaffected by the trauma that has screwed us up?. I mean he could've lived a different life from us -and maybe I'm wrong to hope he's in a better -" As Ryan leaned back against the filth-stained wall , his voice contemplated the environment . "It's not wrong to want him to have a peace we may never find. It's human. " As Liam gazed back, conflict in his eyes as he said "Y'know , there's something I had back home. And it's likely I'll never see it again, I was carrying a part of it with me for years , but just knowing I kept it safe...I chose to leave it with him and--". Words eluded Liam in the darkness, as Ryan's features , found by the moonlight, left him unable to deflect his gaze . "I feel as though, he wasn't a friend-he wasn't a comrade-he was a sibling, blood was all we didn't share . And even then when he needed a transfusion... I was the first to roll up my damned sleeve. And I wasnt the Ab neg he was-" In a hushed tone Ryan asked , "You think not being compatible was somehow a fault -but Li' , have you heard-well yourself? He could play better than Van Halen I'm guessing', and you could've ruined more than just his lyrics with those pipes . Don't make me say it again." Liam fell silent, and Ryan flopped backwards onto his makeshift bed. "It's alright Li'. Just get some sleep, and don't--" It was almost automatic as Liam replied, "Yeah, yeah, don't 'thank you.' I know, I'm welcome, huh? Yeah, goodnight, Ry." As Ryan's muttering hit the wall, Liam's mind sifted through the catalog of melodies Mason had played. And, amongst the static, a distinct composition of chords found their way back to him. "And if I fall beneath the cracks, if I find you in the darkness, brother, will you still have the heart to see? When I close my eyes and my memories start to fade, when the filter falls away, will you find the strength to stay?" Liam's breath , an unsteady exhale in the dark, dragged against his throat. The bonfire had long died , embers floating around his ankles as the dying flames lighted his eyes. Everyone had downed as much alcohol as imaginable, and staggered home with their rowdy goodbyes, while Liam had slipped off into the night, with a broken bottle of goose in his shaking hand. As his jacket rippled in the wind, lashing against his chest as he zipped it up, he was alone. The cliff , with its eeirie view of the fires remains, a place of revelries and warmth, was now extinguished and cold. "Yeah, no one noticed you never really left, huh?" As he glanced into the void beneath him, his bloodshot eyes seeking solace in the promise of erasure, he staggered unevenly to the edge. "Ah , to hell with it-" . As Liam muttered drunkenly into the silence , pilfered only by the crackle of the dying flames, he traced his neck with the bottles gleaming edge. locating his jugular, its pulsating warmth a cruel reminder of how futile his own bloodstream had become against his skin. Liam pressed the glass against his heartbeat, the sky mocking as the stars shone an icy clarity over his features. As he gazed in torn distress at the void beneath him, he heard a faint voice on the breeze. "I'll never get it right. Ah damnit. If I could nail it -Mason you sad idiot, no one even listens to your name?" Valen ,garbage anyway." As Liam ground his shoes into the dirt, a rock skidded under his stance , and he cursed into air. "Hey , is someone still up there... I thought everybody left-" Mason yelled into the illuminated of his torch, nestled upright in the mouth of a beer can. "Hey, you assholes can trash my guitar playing somewhere else , I just wanna be alone- this is rubbish ." Mason's angered tone sliced through Liam's helpless grip on the jagged glass as he dropped it over the edge of the cliff, watching it spiral away, cursing again. "Bro, don't get your panties tied up, it's just me-I wasn't listening anyways , and trust me , my opinion is the last one that matters-" . As Liam established equilibrium in a low crouch , a few steps back from the edge he found himself drawing a new sense of warmth from the voice as it hurled back at him . "Wait-then what are you doing up there , party's over , man. You hang out on cliffs for fun....oh shit." . before Liam had shifted his throbbing temple from his hand , as it clung to his head , a figure appeared at his shoulder , holding a guitar and revealing of alcohol. "Ah, well , it doesn't matter why I'm up here. Who the hell cares. But at least , you can play that thing. If my open onion meant anything, I'd say you might as well start busking on campus till a record label signs you, you talented prick-" Liam almost snarled his words , as they eroded under his pain, a tear threatening to escape him. Mason , laying the guitar a few metres away and returning to Liam's side, scoffed into the dark as he said "Nah, you claim you heard nothin' anyway. So what do you know. All that worries me right now is what the hell you're doing so close to the edge of this damn cliff-" As Mason slumped down , a veil of intimacy forming as his absent special awareness centred him inches away from Liam. "You look like hell, but I bet you feel worse right. You're up here , think in' I don't care what you understand about music but see, the thing is , I was one note away from the riff that would have made my version of Comfortably Numb a masterpiece or something like that. But like you say, you weren't listening . So don't call me a prick. My fingers are bleeding and I'm far from comfortable or numb." . Mason said, his voice roughened 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. "impending sobriety as his mouth played with a smirk. Despite the rawness of his nerves , 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 liefound a smile tugging at his lopsided grin, as he stabbed at the air above Mason's sternum. "Yeah well, maybe I heard it all , and you were in fact playing some made up crap that I bet you could fill a stadium 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 IYou don't 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.great you are but-" 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 againsthummed off key, he was promptly shoved in the elbow as Mason asked, taken aback "You can -sing? And not only that, he's up here singing 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.trash , and - you were about to throw those pipes off a cliff ? " There was an engrained anticipation in the air, spiralling in a tight burst of thrilling panic , asalmost redeeming pause as Mason offered his hand to Liam , leaning closer in the darkness. "Mason, call me Mace- " Liam ceased his humming as he reciprocated , "Liam-you won't have noticed me around-" As Liam planted a palm either side of his legs , Mason smirked, the light of his torch contouring his cheekbones with a harsh glare. "Oh because no one would , huh? I've heard you , 'round campus , singing to yourself like no one will notice or care , but someone did and now what huh , Liam? Now what happens when I heard it and I need to know what you think you're doing throwing that off a ..." Mason's voice trailed into silence as he sent a rock sailing into gravity's clutches , his eyes following its descent. Liam grasped Mason's hand and shaking it as he muttered, shielded his reddened eyes from the torchlight. "Look, I'm glad you wandered up here to -tell me to stop listening . Cause to be honest I was- well I wouldn't call it stupid....no , Mason, it wasn't stupid , it was... the only action I might rely on . I think of how, if everything collapsed and I were drowning, I'll be alright because -" Liam rested a fatigued hand against his screaming eyes as he resisted the inebriated tears that hedged on the rims of his eyes. Mason, pulling Liam's pulse throbbed in his eye sockets, and the veins in his temples tickedhand into a grip against his skin. Then it slithered through the room; Ryan's voice. "Exactly ...one day......eight hours...maybe twenty minutes and...fuck Ishoulder, lowered his khaki green eyes into view . "Well, seeing as I'm here , and you still look as terrible as you did before-hit me . Tell me one thing that you believe I'll rip you apart for . It's not as if your opinion matters right-so I shouldn't be that affected . I should walk away laughing, right? It can't hurt to try it on me." As his posture slackened, Mason's words hit the air with a casual drawl, as if time was hanging around in the interim. Liam's shock was unlike a slap across his jaw as he clenched his teeth , his eyes breaking away at the lack of phase , yet the very invitation itself. . "Yeah, alright. You have a point there, I guess. But there's no one thing-" he said, as a shrug passed over his shoulders.""I don't -"know why you'd ask me , but-" Mason's fingers were already tracing a circle across the surface his jeans as he said, blunt yet with a restraint . There"I asked, so come on , you give me your best, off the top of the head reason why I should leave you here , and make it count. I need to hear this. Got all night." It was a muffled distilling of Ryan'sfatality in his breath that enveloped Liam's raw nerves as he answered, "Well , you have an audience now ... yet you're giving me the stage huh? I don't quite know what you're expecting. Some grandiose confession. "Oh Mason, I just can't carry on in a world so cruel, so I came up to this ledge to embrace the almighty void and plunge forth-" . Mason's eyes , dark and solid, waited under his rising eyebrow. "Who cares what I was expecting , or what I get. I don't think this is about me , as much as you might wanna listen to the sound of your own voice . Or does it scare you hearing it ? Out loud , for the first time in ? " The darkness , awaiting Liam's stare as he turned away, absorbed the volume in his voice, as his gagstripping it of its presence. "I haven't been home in three weeks. Folks told me never to set foot on their lawn again. And I don't blame them.... " Mason's eyes, trailing back to his guitar, carried a provoking concern. "Let me get this straight, they threw your ass out...for what? Let's hear it. After all, I don't care , do I . it's just conversation in the night. So explain what got you sitting on the curb on night..." Liam , breaking into a hollow smile , offset his bite , his teeth realigning. "It was, God I was reinserted between his teeth.stupid . I got so rotten one afternoon. I left my six year old cousin in the playground , by her school, till her parents found her at seven o'clock that night. I was supposed to have picked her up, but I headed to a-a frat party." As Valen's hands came down overMason was enveloped in silence, his eyes fixated on Liam's pulsing ankles, he flinched. "Ah, your pulse is faster.features, his gaze potent. "I -well-she could've -well-that's not what kills me. And harder. But , it's not my intention to break you now is it?the part where I tell you that , it's the way the kid -hugged me when I went to see her the next day. She said she loved me , and handed me a flower. And all I thought was -you bastard, Liam. You-" Mason's eyes , with an empathy strewn amongst an understanding, flickered with his torchlight. "So, she forgave you , huh? But you-" Liam's face , still angled toward his lap, finished Mason's assumption. "Nah, I didn't , because there's no one thing here. " Mason's heavy sigh , lingering in his lungs as he leaned forward, hung in the space between them. "It's a complicated network you have up there. A neighbourhood of short circuiting wires . But from what I can make out, there's no way in hell I'm leaving you up here. " Liam , biting back a thickness in his throat , shook his head. "Why not, what difference is it to you , Mason. 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.have one shot and you'd better make yours hit me harder ." As Mason's torch flicked off in his hands , he answered . "I can't see my damned watch-"justify leaving a man who , one , hates himself . And no one can hate you the way you can. And second, a man who hates himself for valid reasons , pointing to his own moral compass and yet, thinks a cliff is a fitting place to spend the night. Call me whatever , but I figure , if I can buy you one more day, consider it done. Still ain't got nowhere to be." Liam muttered. Valen , dismissingreached, almost absent of mind, for an unnoticed shard of glass , remaining from his earlier mishap as he twirled it through knuckles. "I-I didn't intend on seeing another. And I still don't know why you're so invested in a total stranger-" Liam swung his blue gaze at Mason, its bloodshot interrogation filled with a hopeful gleam of unshed tears . "Tell me Mason, the real reason you were out here, playing that guitar with a beer can in your lap, balancing a torch , when you have a dorm room to -" The pause offered reprieve to the tension in the air as Mason shifted his stare to the glass in Liam's frustration, loomed close and yethands. "Well, you're not gonna like this, but-even if I had the talent, or the skill , to fill one lousy stadium-I won't have the time-I-well-I know the isolation seems extreme . But sometimes I realise , I ain't gonna be around-people shouldn't get to attached to-ah it doesn't matter . It's a conversation for another dawn. Let's just focus on making it to this one. However far enough away to unsettle the balance of intamacy and isolation. "Nowit is. A few hours maybe. An hey, what's a few more hours right?" Liam, noticing the light fade from Mason's eyes , placed a hand on his shoulder . "It's a conversation for right now, 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 tortureI stay here till sunrise, you're sure as hell gonna leave me with Ryan's captivity. But, if he were to die ,a reason to have kept my sorry ass from -" Mason's answer stayed in his throat before me , what do you have left. My wife and three kids-" Valen's reply was as audible as a pin dropping, andcoming in an even tone. "I'm a ghost , Liam resisted his own tears as hands rested on his thorax, I mean , I might live another year, sure . 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 place I cannot , simply by being extinguished. A flame can just-" the snapping of Valen's fingers caused Liam to blink away a tear , his jaw trembling with the tension as he denied his humanity. His empathy simmered behind his eyelids as he watched the insides of them swim with moisture. "I implore you to kill me first-A suicidal cannon will only light up the sky when the wick burns out. If you exterminate my only reason to breathe-what then? Let me go and have a fading trail -or torture his existence with mine?" . The complexity ignited a strange amusement in Valen's response , eliciting a new depth of laughter . "Ah Liam , you are a mental fortress of entertainment, but even the cryptic suggestion that without him you'll be nothing, you've transcended the reason I am tracing your ribcage with an ease. You are yet to contemplate the heart of my intentions. It may take some time -I'll afford you as long as youBut I won't -you really don't need Li' . Ryan has -more than enough time to wait for your revelation. To hear its undertones in your screams. " Liam lay in the cling wrap of sweat, not quite daring to let his mind connect the dots that reeled across the concrete , like a constellation of fallen stars . Whether it had become day, or remained night, failed to matter. The magenta haze was all consuming. Everywhere, and he was nowhere. Ryan had been eerily quiet .the details. I know you're capable of giving a shit , and you're a decent person. And his voice was only a plea away from escaping him. "I knew from the start , your true intention......I've always understood the purpose of my life -to kill me -but not to end my misery. To destroy Ryan. Because unlike me-Ryan believes in -humanity. in dignity. He's everything youI can't be . Morally good . You have to end me -to truly leave a mark that will sear like a brand . But good luck with that . Because he did make a promise and you can't stop a lawful good from his word-" Valen's clap, a drawn out slap of his palms together , held a faint mockery. "Perhaps that might have been a nice twist to play with. Killing you, to watch Ryan suffer. Or killing him ti destroy you. Perhaps I may play with my food , or throw in complementaries with the service . Keep thinking Liam. What we don't know , can indeed be dangerous. But what we do know, can be a slow burning nightmare. " As the air crept closer , Liam cursed under his breath. His cards flashed their expiry dates as he almost threw his failed royal flush across the table. But all he mustered was a faint "you'll be waiting a while ... maybe I never figure it out..." Valen , laughing at the delight in his own voice , positioned his mouth at Liam's ear. "You will come to a conclusion , and don't tell me about it. I'll feel it in your waters as you drown" Liam's weakened mindset crumbled with dehydration, and malnourishment, as he grappled with a notion that almost set fire to his lungs. "The Vanderine- you've never ingested it. You won't . Implant it in me. But my body won't make it over the border in this condition. Implant Ryan , he can't hold it down as long as me. Kill Ryan , and torture me . kill me and torture him. kill is both and the game ends . But there's only one thing-" . Valen's eyes lit up , pyromania dancing wildly in his pupils, "you're getting warmer, Liam. I think you may already be ... burning. Shall I throw you into the ocean yet or would you like a moment?" Liam's blood , screeching to a halt in his veins, choked as he whispered "You need me-alive-because you don't have anyone else left to hide the drug inside of - you were never trying to preserve it , you need -to display it, showcase its fucking beauty , in the middle of nowhere . Have someone , at the right , opportune moment , but what doesn't add up is -why hide it inside me . If I'm not a vessel of transportation , why not just give the damn substance to -why implant it? " Liam's thoughts , blurred together by sheer panic , had him screaming , "Ryan , I'm sorry !" . Preserving his silence, Valen produced a gleaming sac from his pocket , and crouched by Liam's temple , placing and unlacing his boot as he hummed. "I want the world to see , how this drug , this vile responsibility to traffic something so resistant to ingestion , can be hidden inside even the weakest, most unsaleable , adverse body. And there's a place , a place deep inside you Liam , that it can be retained . But also , there's a place inside you that I can visit along the way. I won't overstay my welcome, I promise . You're right about me not getting your deteriorated meat suit over any borders but. business calls . And I take walks in the park . I stop to smell the roses . I admire the architecture and I never pass up a stroll through the Sistine Chapel after dark..." In Liam's resounding screams, his voice begged Ryan to hear what he could muster . "Don't ... you ...ever... let my broken body... be your mistake. I'm thanking you, and there's nothing to for-" His mouth, slamming closed with the brutal mercy of the concrete , bleed through his teeth. "Oh , Ryan , he says you're welcome , and there's plenty he can't forget, nor forgive, nor forgo not even forbid. He's bound, and he's listening and oh his heart's beating-so thank him for being alive. thank him for being too pristine to make an exhibition that can illuminate a thousand skies. Thank good 'ol Ryan for not embodying the toxic playground you breathe to life..." In a flinching movement , Liam turned his cheek away, a tear streaking it, unseen . Only the metal walls could witness his release . With an even voice he said, "His promise...when he executes it... he can stand on the edge of the universe, and smile for us both. There's a place neither of us can ever visit. Except him. So send him there, Valen. But know that to win, you lose. I'm dying , it's not a secret, that even without you, I could never survive without freedom, without water , and soon. Without vital nutrients. I'm already gone . But Ryan-" Valen , resting a hand on the back of a Liam's head, countered with a sliver of mock empathy. "Oh , Ryan will smile , when he-goes to a place where you die . And he lives? Or-is his heaven a place you think you can't go ? But what if, you knew Ryan's purpose? Why Liam , do you think, I have retained his bones for so long. He's had no purpose. And yet, he's far more valuable to my operation than you. He can't see it. But ponder , for a moment, where he might be heading , for you... " . As Liam felt the insidious surreality impaling his senses, he was alone in his depraved pyche, and his own screams would fall to a deaf grave. His whisper laced the air. "Ryan is silent , is he not ? And somehow , he's been a bystander . Watching it all, hearing it all. With glass caged eyes. And you need -a witness. To see your exhibition. To be the embodiment of wonderment. But consider this. What if Ryan was that sightless traveller I reserve my landmark for?" Liam began to sing, in perfect key, "'cause there's a place deep inside, where dreams have a hold on me, and it's only a matter of time, before my soul stars to bleed, but if fall beneath the cracks , will darkness welcome me, brother if I find you there , will you still have the heart to see .: cause when I close my eyes , and my memories fade , when I'm bleeding dry , will the filter fall away, will you have the strength to stay...". His rasping lullaby was eerie in the silence , and his heartbeat twisted as he heard a guttural heave from the distance. Ryan's response was entrenched in a watery curse, spoken through a sodden barrier. "Liam, don't you dare start giving in-Not you". Valen was gone from Liam's side , and a sickening groan permeated the air . "It would seem, his gag needed a little readjusting..."Looking upward Liam delivered a direct gaze to Valen , one filled with challenge , "now ask, and then know , what Ryan promised me and then ask the depths of your twisted soul , can you live with failure so profound , it could encompass your soul and -" . Valen's eyes , staring back with a devoid expression, mirrored and ocean of tar as he drawled his words. ".He can't fulfil that promise in binds. We both know that. " Liam smiled , a slow, almost manic smile , his teeth saturated in blood. "But Valen, how do we know , for sure , he hasn't already - has he been lying here this whole , grandiose time , watching me , and watching you, through a filter of handicapped brilliance? Is what he sees , far more beautiful than what either of us can imagine?" There was a chill in the air that may have escaped the gates of a hell frozen as Valen stepped back and whispered, "He's physically .... The damned song. My witness is...? Has always been? "I would love the pleasure of exploring your suggestion , Liam. That our Ryan , is blind?" As Liam basked in the palpable terror flowing through Valen's mind he nodded against the concrete ." He lost one of his senses , I suppose the one that strengthened him the most in the end. And he'll be free. No matter what you do , he'll be free . He embraced the literal darkness long ago. My body will never be his memory, burning bright in any sky, in any universe, anywhere...Ponder that. " Valen , almost erased by his innate silence, whispered in a cold, flat , and utterly soul destroying tone "Business , Liam. Can my audience feel? Can my audience imagine? Can the dark corners of Ryan's mind fathom , where I will hide the Vanderine? And what of that, a firework display , far brighter than any I could illustrate. One of his own creation. Listen carefully Ryan , oh listen with the senses you have left: I may have felt my heart drop just a fraction when I learned of your, misfortune but, I have tourism to attend to-you have both served me too kindly , and it's not over yet. " As Liam closed his eyes , the blow to his nostrils was more than he could bear. "Liam; your sinus cavities . Then , Ryan , I'll sever your binds. As you have earned . Game well played , gentlemen. For keeping your darkest spaces wide open, just for me. " Liam , feeling Valen caress his cheek, pausing his finger at his eyelid , he hummed without tone. "I suspect Ryan can see shadows on a wall .. after all . What is one thing , Liam , that a deaf man can hear, that a quadriplegic can feel, that a man without his tongue can taste .. what is something tangible , real , more set in this world than fear or any emotion that exists. Liam, can you be the thing he can see .. oh tell me? Or keep it inside. I find it flattering in the ..highest sense..that you would call my bluff in the night.." Valen's calm humming hung in the air " I will be back , when he proves his universal feelings , his love for my exhibition. Take a moment to embrace the tangibly of his senses. Valen was absent in a dying moment, as Liam heard Ryan's distressed groan. "Ah , Ryan, the wall , in which shadows reflect themselves , it gleams with a rise so delicate. Your corneas, do they welcome my presence, can I touch the wall without your sweet hazel irises tracing my arrival". Liam's heart collapsed against the velocity of its pulse , as Ryan's shadow revolted, and his scream echoed chilling and with ambiguity. "Now , what of that, your games may lead you those dark corners. But, Well , he can see ... sweet Ry' can see it all . Or can he ? Now that I have touched upon his lying eyes , I may have done some damage on my out. How can one tell . I am the master of a drug operation, not a gauger of eyeballs. My caress is ... gentle . Subtle . A professional never resorts to gratuitous measures . Your insanity is too...precious. But maybe now.. our Ryan is blind . Or he isn't. He can't tell you , Liam, if my bluff was worth calling, after all . For maybe he is blind and imagining your demise , or maybe he'll be forced to watch, to see it all. . " Ryan's voice , slated with grey, came in a hoarse whisper, but filled with clarity . "Liam... the sunlight.. when we found that bench.. got drunk, and you fell asleep in the park. What did I say to you-" Then the muffled screams followed as Valen secured Ryan's gag over his tongue. Liam lay with the echoes of Ryan's voice in his skull. It had been warm, yet pleasant , embalming them both in a magenta twilight. In the moments before Liam had succumbed to the inebriation in his veins , Ryan's hazel stare, were alight with flecks of tranquil silence, as he said "it's the nights that are the longest, but dust always falls, it's not quite red, it's not purple, but it always returns . That's thing I've notice about this damned place. Even if they rip my eyes out, so I can't even watch anymore, they'll never rip out my actual heart Li'. They'd never think it could matter. It's the one organ they'll never touch and it's the only one a human truly needs to survive. Even if they choke me, burn me , there's nothing those bastards will strip from the 'ol ticker right?I'll always have my humanity , they can try but-"Liam laughed as the sun bathed Ryan's profile and he felt the warmth of the alcohol taking him under. "Is that a promise Ry' . Are you getting all sentimental on you because-you're not the asshole you think . " As silence engulfed Mason, swallowing him whole, Liam sighed into his palm. "Oh it's like that huh? You think I didn't notice your arm. Unless you're injecting methadone , that's a hell of a lot of blood tests -" Mason's eyes , deep-set in their sockets, said more than his frail grin , as he whispered "It's not that I want to be alone, Liam, it's that I believe it's the right thing-" Liam's rogue tear finally escaped him , and a blanket of wordless atmosphere inched closer. "It's not-good thing you came up here to prove me now. Hold me Ryan oh hold me-" Ryan , slapping a firm hand againsthuh? Coz I'll be damned if you spend anymore nights playing that guitar to the trees -" Mason's khaki stare was dragged away from the glass as it fell from Liam's hands, splinters flying across the cliffs edge . "Maybe we both needed to be alone tonight, and maybe it was dangerous to need the isolation-" Mason countered, as Liam nodded , fatigue chasing his voice. "Yeah , but neither of us found that peace , huh? Party died down, we both ended up drunk and -yeah that bonfire is long died, huh? " Mason, reaching out a fist, dragged his knuckles along Liam's shoulder replied "Ah shut the hell up and pass out. "No longer relevant. Now we're stuck here , together , and I'll deal with it. " They both shared a smirk , Liam's dimples punctured the crimson bleed of the light "Will do, brother" he said as he returned a solid arm to Ryan's back. "But before I do I just want to make sure, you never forget what we have here. Whatever they take , this is untouchable ."dimple upholding his right cheek as his lopsided smile crept across his face. "Damn straight , brother."

USER: Does this avoid the pitfalls of immature writing ? Liam's hair, ladenPlease point out some moving lines Ryan hauled his torso through the splinters of glass, blood saturating his shirt as he crawled on his elbows, his bound legs dragging behind. Finally , as his ankle was freed by the sharp jag of a split window pane beneath him , he kicked away the rope from his feet. As he scanned the horizon, his eyes raw and throbbing with splinters of ice and snow, stuck out from his low-slung cap. His words framed the brittle air as he spoke, the chill unrelenting, 'I never meant to return here. I know I--I promised I'd never look back. That I'd leave you as you were , and yet I ended up back here anyway. I don't listen to anyone , huh?.'" He dug his stiffened hands into his jeans, his boot striking a rock as his own murmurhis pulse , the distinct sound haunted him. 'Can't stay long, but I still remember what real sunsets looked like, the way the colors just stretched for miles. I hope you haven't seen this magenta sky. I hope you never know it. World's not the same , hasn't looked like it did in so many damned years. I guess-well-" His acuity, melting into the atmosphere, left himIt rained through the air from a thousand directions , its distress weaving through his clenching jaw. Willing the noise to anchor itself , he grabbed at his searing temple , its faint persistence causing his head to ache. An unrelenting glare marred his vision, striking his eyes with no other thoughts. "You rest well, ' cause while I'm standing here talking to you like you're still here, I know you probably can't hear a word - but I kinda like to pretend maybe you can. ' He laughed in spite of his raw sense of sorrow and turned away from the plot, dusting his knuckles across the slot of cremated ashes in a lingering fist bump. 'Again, sometime, brother." Leaves swirled around the hem of his jeans , glazed with ice as he folded his arms across his chest . 'But before I go, there's something I know you've heard me singing in my sleep. Can't get the song out of my head. I can't remember where it came from but-it's the only one that stuck." he said in a low tone , exhaustion passing over his stature. "I came here to leave it with you, along with something of yours I' been carrying around. Keeping you close, but--if I lost it, well-." An entire moment passed before Liam fumbled a thin, metal guitar fret from his pocket, a perfect fit between his index finger and thumb. He then unrolled a small piece of paper with a scrawled transcription and wrapped it around the fret. In a swift gesture, he drove it deep into a crack between two bricks in the wall. "The ninth fret was always a part of every song- I think only you would appreciate it but , that's kinda the whole point. " Liam's faint smilescintillating hues of green and white as he rested on the glimmer of the fret , visible in the crevice beside Mason's ashes, along with his notes. "I... still... I. Just. You can't imagine the things... or the times I've wanted to say. Mace could have played you that one while I ruined the lyrics. Still have the rest of your rosewood, too, with all of your fingerprints intact. Which isn't easy keeping hidden in my childhood bedroom. Haven't been home in too long. Damned if I had known you'd find me where you did--or when, and yet I wasn't there to--but hell, you'd never let me take it all on my own shoulders. And I won't-- It's never gonna be... all right, but--I'll try to keep your songs around. You found me when I was so close to -yet I'm still alive huh? Some things ain't fair, brother ." Without raising his eyes from his fist, his memories hid between his fingers, slipping away as he flexed his palm. "I only hope youhis gaze behind his hand. "Liam, I can't see me now, with all this all this hell in my eyes, with the shadows. I still remember the light in yours,, I don't worry . 'Cause I keep my promises, and you're still my oldest friend. First, and the last. Just... don't ever forget that." As Liam turned away, trudging along the icy path that wound through the cemetery, it could have been hours. Days. Months. Or just a few seconds. And it could have been anywhere. Grief only changed shape as he confronted the infused December sky, its witness the only one in sight. As Liam slid down onto the curb, only a few miles from where he'd last seen Ethan, he glanced up at the approaching figure. "Hey, Lara, I haven't seen Eth since... maybe three hours ago." She dropped to his side, grasping his freezing hand in her own. "Liam, it's cold out here; you're like ice... wait, did you visit Mas--" Her eyes, filled with a silent understanding, flitted to his and back to his hand as she placed it in his lap. "We've both been looking for you, Ethan and I--but I'll tell him you're alright, okay?" Liam, his eyes reddened but dried out from the temperature, nodded. "Yeah, I-it's... Well, you know how long we've been out here or why I can't pinpoint the crying-" . .Then , as the deep magenta particles cleared, his heartbeat screamed to a halt. As his eyes froze on the distant figure, her outline framed with the fading daylight, his disgust burned across his tongue as cursed into his forearm . "Liam ... I thought I'd seen my share of hell but ...those bastards don't-the things I'm guessing' she's seen-" Liam , catching up to Ryan in the haze of desolation, ran a hand over his eyes , his weathered stare haunted as she stood crying into blackened hands. "God , I don't know what I expected , but she can't be older than say, five? Assuming she had parents , the father , A, Dead, or B, pleading for the status through his teeth. And the mother-I can't even visit that twisted scenario-And in front of her- is there nothing those bastards won't pervert- " he said, the anger seeping through his teeth as his curse trailed into the heat of the arid air. "We need to move fast, if she moves-" Liam said, his hand finding its way to his nape as he balanced his stiffened neck, unable to find a space uncovered by shattered windows to rest his chin. Ryan braced a hand over Liam's chest, as he said "It's ok Li' ... I've got this." As her face emerged from the heavy clouds of dust, Ryan pulled himself to feet and approached her , his bloodied elbows behind his back as he winced in the dusk, as her crying ceased and she lifted her eyes. " Hey, where's your mom and dad , huh? " Ryan asked, the girl's tiny amber irises , with her large pupils -loaded with trauma , gazed into his... "I -I don't know. I miss them. But why did they-why-why they m-make Daddy take off his shoes . He-says you-get-cut without your shoes. And then they told him to s-say Good-by-goodbye? " Ryan dropped to his knees , her face peering up into his unwavering gaze as he said evenly . "We're gonna find him , ok, but you'll be safe with me and uncle Liam for now. What's your name ? You can call me Ry'" Clutching the remains of a stuffed bear, albeit its left eye handing by a thread , she offered a stammered reply "I-m I'm Lily" . She then brandished four fingers in Ryan's smiling face as she announced , " I'm four years old...how old are you?" . Liam's laugh came from somewhere behind Ryan's head as he answered her. "He's a big number , hold up both hands Ry, " Ryan's smile broadened for the first time in days as he laughed , offering his hand to the child as she entrusted her hand to his grasp. "Uncle Ry' is -ah it doesn't matter. You're gorgeous ain't ya?" She blushed with a crystalline laugh, as her eyes darted and she wound her shoe into the dust. "That's what Daddy always says-but he told not to move no matter what-" she said, her eyes glistening with tears. "But I don't know why Daddy is gone , to the -um -other heaven?" The magenta skies bled behind her fragile silhouette , as Liam bent down beside her. "We think we know-about this other heaven , and we are gonna find mommy too huh?" Her face lit up , the pink hues melting into her glassy stare as she said "Yeah, I wanna see mommy , too ." Liam , smiling despite the uncertain twist of agony in his chest, gestured towards the dilapidated toy in her hand. "Who's this , huh, I bet he's pretty special? We have to make sure that no matter what, we don't lose him. " As he winked , she held up the dust infested bear as it were an earned prize . "He's Sam, he's smaller now... but I still love him ." Liam leaned behind Ryan's head as he said, in a low tone. "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" . As Liam's eyes landed on a pair of boots , placed eerily close together , perfect and stripped of their laces , Ryan's gaze followed. "Yeah Li' , I'm guessin' those are the father's . It's a calling card if I ever saw it. I don't know what she means by this other heaven but, yeah I'm not liking anything about this picture..." The sky echoed the sentiment of despair infused with a faint hope as Lily's hand fluted Ryan's thumb and forefinger with a shaking inquisition. "Uncle Ry-I-I-I don't know where I am....i got left behind ... it's been," hecause I let go of mommy's hand . I'm -I'm sorry-" Liam , deftly grasping her wrist , pulled her into the crux of his elbow. "No , Lily, it's not you fault. You keep Sam safe , so he's lucky you were hanging on tight to him huh?" The light flew back to her eyes as she nodded. "Yeah-but Uncle...um" she said , already disoriented by the encounter., and the dust streaked faces of two men kneeling in the remains of suburbia. "You can call me Uncle Li'- you've made two new friends today huh? How about that?"Her eyes faltered a moment, then she gazed directly into Liam's blue stare, as she lowered her voice to a whisper . "Uncle Li" , don't tell anybody , but I have a secret. I -it's -um-" She leaned closer, whispering into Liam's ear as she said "I found this and I wanted to give it to Daddy but-it's the same color as your eyes". As she produced a wilted morning glory from her pocket , she perched it on Liam's grease laden hair, behind his earlobe. "Oh , you're too -" he said , the gesture unbalancing his compose as he encircled his arm around her waist . "I bet you're tired huh, if you can't walk , do you think you can fit up here?" Liam, patting his shoulders , watched as she nodded , dust falling in her light hair. Hoisting her up , her knees falling either side of his jaw , he guided her hands to his hair. "Hold on tight , I got you. And up we go". Liam rose to his feet , with the aid of Ryan's firm grip hauling him off the ground. Lily was quick to reach out Ryan's hand, grabbing his pinky and swaying it back and forth as he walked alongside Liam. "You're so high up there , is the sky pretty? "He asked, as their footsteps fell in line with the jagged lashings of debris. Through a yawn she said, his gaze finding solace somewhere in Lara's dark hair, averting her gaze. "Yeah, too long. Ethan was worried you'd freeze,"yeah, it's red, I like it...but I'm so tired...I can't sleep till mommy and daddy-umm -I'm scared now ..." Her fingers twisted against Liam's scalp and her chest shook with oncoming tears. He quickly halted , assuring her she could sleep. "You can take a nap up there , we will keep walking so even while you sleep we'll be getting closer to your parents, it's gonna be ok-" . Ryan , reaching up to stroke her hair said quietly "when you wake up we'll still be here , because that's what uncles are for right? And you are stuck with two of us so you're double safe ...but you'd better gethug Sam tight so he doesn't fall huh?" . Lily stuffed the bear down her oversized shirt, and rested her chin in Liam's unkept bed of hair. "He's safe now..." she said , her voice travelling over Liam's head as her eyes slid closed. Ryan glanced out at the horizon, the sun slipping lower, and he nudged Liam. "I'm guessin' that it's been about two miles , and we still don't have an iota of a clue where to start lookin' , and you know the pattern up to this point has been , traffic with the men...torture and kill the women for pure sadistic pleasure. Maybe he even trafficked a few of them two... but I don't know how we tell this kid she might not see either of her folks again-" . As his expression flickered with worry and a foreboding guilt, Liam sighed , pulling the small of Lily's back to civilization soon..."closer to his neck, her stomach flush against his skin. "I don't think we do- I think she's gonna put two and two together -kids just know this shit right? And we might have to ask ourselves something worse, for instance, how do we deal with her total sense of abandonment, the survivors guilt, she's us in a smaller , vulnerable body-" . Ryan slowed his gait, the wear in his voice as he said "Well, not in the sense that she can understand it. We might find them alive yet, and I suspect that the boots mean they want us to find these people. Lily herself is a calling card. I know better than to assume they were disposed of so fast." Liam's eyes were dark with the notion , as the concrete pavement wound its way into an unpromising nowhere. As the night carried a soothing breeze , taking the searing edge from the heat out of the arid air, Lily began to stir. "Daddy-it's cold-I don't wanna sleep yet, I wanna play with Kai-no, I -" . Her shoes kicked against Liam's collarbones as her fists coiled in his strands of textured hair. "Daddy? " Her voice was met by the silence of Ryan's downcast stare as he placed a palm against the back of Lily's head. "You remember me? Uncle Ry' . We found you and Sam, because you got lost , yeah? But you're safe now-" he said, offering a smile and a hand on his jacketed shoulder. "Thanks, you've both been feedingher hair gritty against his skin. Liam , adjusting his neck as she twisted around in his hands yawning , loosened his protective grip. As Lily registered the flower behind his ear, she plucked it out with sleep in her voice. "Oh , I gave this to you, Uncle Li' , I'm gonna pick another one for Daddy coz his eyes are ...orange -like mine-" Ryan , as he smiled at her profile muttered to himself , noting the detail of her fathers appearance. "Hazel eyes...y'know, this doesn't sit right with me way too long as it is--and I'm not the most stable guest." She laughed as she let her hand slide from his shoulder. "Ethan could out-eat us all, so don't worry about that. Just take care out here." And as she walked away, he rested his head against the flesh of his palm, the solitude granting him a moment of clarity--onebecause, that he could never share. A melody in the corner of his mind, one that he couldn't muster the strength to hum . "Yeah, Mason, you're everywhere, and nowhere, buddy. Guess I've learnt to live with that. " -- Ok how's this : Liam glared into the darkness, the dust in his eyes unforgiving. The melody sank in a haunting tune through the night. "Cause there's a place deep inside of memechanism I had when I was seven or eight, where my dreamsbladder would drop and-The worst fear I had wasn't crying , it was having to sit in my own urine while it went cold . That was degradation. " Ryan said, as Liam manoeuvred himself over a crack in the pavement, missing the point in his concentration on the labyrinth of annihilation. "Where you going with this Ry'? " As Ryan wrapped his index finger around Lily's neck as she leaned in his hand, her eyes sliding closed again , he gazed out into the horizon. "What Im saying is , the things we can control, that we don't even consider, like pissin' ourselves, when you're her age , they are your worst enemy, they give you away. And when we figure out what she's afraid to do in front of us and does it anyway, that's when all hell will -" Liam's jaw, its bite realigning, bore the realisation as he removed the flower from behind his ear . As he twisted it in his fingers he said , "Yeah, but that's not what scares me, somehow it's giving me this, thinking she'll see another flower out here , kids got some immense disappointment coming and I'm still processing my own -" . Ryan muttered a few words out of ear shot, his faded voice lost in the impending nightfall. "Well , I hate to say Liam , but we're still no closer to finding this guy. I'm sure he would've been around our age-and in reasonable psychical condition, and I can't sleep thinking about how close he is likely to be, but we gotta give Lily a proper eight hours sleep. If she's tired , that will exacerbate our problem real quick . " With a groan , Liam came to a stop and eased Lily down from his shoulders , and collapsed onto the concrete footpath beside her as she awoke from a micro -slumber. "I -I -Uncle Liam? I remembered you. And Uncle Ry' . She said , , pride in her eyes and recognition in her smile. "You didn't leave me? I fell asleep... I'm sorry..." As Liam seated her on his thigh , and Ryan clamoured down beside them, he slid the morning glory into her hair . "We told you that's what Uncles are for right ? And you have a hold of me...and soon my soul will start to bleed..." Liam's voice broke off as he raked a tremor through his hair. "I still miss him," Liam said, uncertain ifto let Sam get some rest huh? We've been walking so long it's dark now-" Ryan could hear his musings. "Hey, Ry...how long have we been lying in this hell hole?" He asked, the silence torn by Ryan's answer, "Too long. And yeah, I heard you saying something about 'if you play Wonderwall, you'll look like a total tool' in your sleep, presumably to someone who could play music." Ryan smiled,was already coercing some flattened jerky from his pocket as he said "are you hungry , Lily , it's salty but it never reached hiswill help your body keep the water in so you don't get thirsty. But I need you to drink some water for me okay? " . Liam slid his duffel bag off his shoulder and uncapped a metal flask , "well not zero hydration, I forgot about this - here ya go , drink up now and you'll feel better. All that crying you did earlier means you must be thirsty huh?" . bewildered , she grasped the only water she'd consumed that day, drinking without question. "Thanks , Uncle Liam. Daddy always made me and mommy dinner-" as she stared into the sleeve of his jacket, her eyes as he added, "He really was a brother to you, huh? And don't lie because I'll know...and then I'll feel bad about giving ya this." As Liam dismissed a tear at the corner of his eye, he reached over to where Ryan lay, holding a piece of paper. "Music? You wrote music. What is this, Ry? You never told me you could--" Liam said, his eyes adjusting to the dark with a vulnerability that settled between them. Ryan, smiling with a broadness that reached his eyes, glanced at the paper with a nod. "Ah, I might have written down that song you insist on humming in your damned sleep. I knew it had some meaning, although I don't know what...least I could do for you, Li'." As his irises shone with another sheen of tears, Liam said quietly, "Mason could have played this--while I ruined the lyrics." Looking up from his boots, Ryan held a somber smile. "If I'd have known you way back then, I'm damned sure I'd have held you both to that." As Liam returned the nod, he folded the paper and tucked it into his duffel bag, magenta particles stirring in the air. "I know...He really was a huge chunk of my adolescence just...gone like...well, anyway, the music, when we get our hands on a guitar..." Ryan shook his head, angling his jaw in his hand. "Nah, we're in the middle of nowhere, and it'll never happen. But you got me, brother." Liam, smiling faintly, replied, "I know. We've seen so much that , well , does it make me an asshole for being happy that Mason died young, unaffected by the trauma that has screwed us up?. I mean he could've lived a different life from uswere haunted and confused. "There's no dinner anymore , and no bedtime -and maybe I'm wrong to hope he's in a betterno more stories -" As Ryan leaned back against the filth-stained wall , his voice contemplated the environment . "It's not wrong to want him tohanded her the jerky , he said , a calmness in his voice. "Ah, I'm sure your Dad... and your Mom... are missing you too right now. I bet they'd wish they could have a peacemade you dinner , so you better eat all of this huh? So they don't have to worry about you being hungry -" . As she reached for the strip of low grade nutrition, Ryan's stomach protested as it bound with his own starvation. "Aren't you hungry Uncle Rt' you sound hungry..." she said, her laugh returning with its octave of youth contrasting in the night. "Adults can be hungry longer than kids , it's like when you scrape your knee , it heals up fast right, and the more times it happens the less it hurts , so me and uncle Liam are better at being hungry." While she finished the jerky, she nodded , seeming to understand as she placed a hand on Ryan's bloodstained elbow. "It doesn't hurt anymore?" She asked , her pupils widening as the dried blood flaked into Ryan's lap and he grinned . "Nah , but I'm a big number, you're only four so don't worry, we may never find. It's human.won't let you get any scrapes. We're gonna keep you super protected , yeah? " As Lily leaned her head against Liam's abdomen, his jacket enveloping sides of her head, he smirked. "But does Uncle Ryan ever get tired of talking in the third person, or does he always do that when he's driving and the poor guy in front ain't indicating..." . Ryan's snort punctured the air as he answered, "Uncke Liam gazed back, conflict in his eyes as he said "Y'know , there's something I hadneed to find his cork, and cram it back home. And it's likely I'll never see it again, I-" They both laughed as Lily watched them both , a lack of comprehension bringing a smile to her face. "You are both so silly. But don't worry, I won't tell anybody-" she said, before tears welled in her eyes. "I -I -didn't say goodbye to Kai ... he ... was carrying a part of it with me for years , but just knowing I kept it safe...I chose to leave it with him and--". Words eluded Liam in the darkness, as Ryan's features , found by the moonlight, left him unable to deflect his gaze . "I feel as though, he wasn't a friend-he wasn't a comrade-he was a sibling, blood was all we didn't share . And even then when he needed a transfusion... I was the first to roll up my damned sleeve. And I wasnt the Ab neg he was-" In a hushed tone Ryan asked , "You think not being compatible was somehow a fault -but Li' , have you heard-well yourself? He could play better than Van Halen I'm guessing', and you could've ruined more than just his lyrics with those pipes . Don't make me say it again." Liam fell silent, and Ryan flopped backwards onto his makeshift bed. "It's alright Li'. Just get some sleep, and don't--" It was almost automatic as Liam replied, "Yeah, yeah, don't 'thank you.' I know, I'm welcome, huh? Yeah, goodnight, Ry." As Ryan's muttering hit the wall, Liam's mind sifted through the catalog of melodies Mason had played. And, amongst the static, a distinct composition of chords found their way back to him. "And if I fall beneath the cracks, if I find you in the darkness, brother, will you still have the heart to see? When I close my eyes and my memories start to fade, when the filter falls away, will you find the strength to stay?" Liam's breath , an unsteady exhale in the dark, dragged against his throat. The bonfire had long died , embers floating around his ankles as the dying flames lighted his eyes. Everyone had downed as much alcohol as imaginable, and staggered home with their rowdy goodbyes, while Liam had slipped off into the night, with a broken bottle of goose in his shaking hand. As his jacket rippled in the wind, lashing against his chest as he zipped it up, he was alone. The cliff , with its eeirie view of the fires remains, a place of revelries and warmth, was now extinguished and cold. "Yeah, no one noticed you never really left, huh?" As he glanced into the void beneath him, his bloodshot eyes seeking solace in the promise of erasure, he staggered unevenly to the edge. "Ah , to hell with it-" . As Liam muttered drunkenly into the silence , pilfered only by the crackle of the dying flames, he traced his neck with the bottles gleaming edge. locating his jugular, its pulsating warmth a cruel reminder of how futile his own bloodstream had become against his skin. Liam pressed the glass against his heartbeat, the sky mocking as the stars shone an icy clarity over his features. As he gazed in torn distress at the void beneath him, he heard a faint voice on the breeze. "I'll never get it right. Ah damnit. If I could nail it -Mason you sad idiot, no one even listens to your garbage anyway." As Liam ground his shoes into the dirt, a rock skidded under his stance , and he cursed into air. "Hey , is someone still up there... I thought everybody left-" Mason yelled into the illuminated of his torch, nestled upright in the mouth of a beer can. "Hey, you assholes can trash my guitar playing somewhere else , I just wanna be alone-best-maybe he's lost too -and and" No this is rubbish ." Mason's angered tone slicedthe continuation I had in mind : As she voice broke away to her tears , Liam rearranged a stray strand of her hair as he said "And Kai will always be your best friend , no matter what, we don't know where he is but we know he's alive. It's gonna be ok, there's a lot of kids out there who got left behind but they have people looking for them , just like we were looking for you-" Liam said, his voice rough with his own dehydration, as he balanced his fatigue on the runs of his eyes . Ryan lowered his voice as he said "it seems they just leave the children, all part of the calling card bull-I mean , I'd be betting a winning horse that Kai is stranded but deliberately unharmed , I'd feel sick if my stomach lining wasn't tearing itself out-" Liam placed his index finger over Lily's chest as he said , "You can sleep, it's alright, Uncle Ry used to have a friend like Kai , his name was-well let's call him Jack, he used to play guitar and well-he wrote a song. You wanna hear it? now I can't sing very well but ah you'll just have to go easy on uncle Liam tonight huh? . Lily's laughter peppered the clarity in the air as she said "Daddy always says he can't sing but-that means he knows all the words" she clung to the opening of Liam's jacket, the rigid denim sitting heavy around the frame of her face, offering her a semblance of structure as she said "I'm listening, Uncle Li'" . As thoughts of his long deceased friend Mason flooded through Liam's helpless grip on the jagged glass as he dropped it over the edge of the cliff, watching it spiral away, cursing again. "Bro, don't get your panties tied up, it'shis mind , he hummed the melody in the back of his throat, the words caught with no articulation. "She laughed as she said "it doesn't matter if you forgot the words , its just me-I wasn't listening anyways , and trust me , my opinion is the last one that matters-" . As Liam established equilibrium in a low crouch , a few steps back from the edge he found himself drawing a new sense of warmth from the voice as it hurled back at him . "Wait-then what are you doing up there , party's over , man. You hang out on cliffs for fun....oh shit." . before Liam had shifted his throbbing temple from his hand , as it clung to his head , a figure appeared at his shoulder , holding a guitar and revealing of alcohol. "Ah, well ,like mommy's songs-she forgets the words too but it doesn't matter why I'm up here. Who the hell cares. But at least , you can play that thing. If my open onion meant anything, I'd say you might as well start busking on campus till a record label signs you, you talented prick-" Liam almost snarled his words , asmatter. I just hope her and daddy wait for me - do you think they eroded under his pain, a tear threatening to escape him. Mason , laying the guitar a few metres away and returning towill ?" Liam's side, scoffed into the darkeyes flickered with the discolouration of imploring deception as he said "Nah, you claim you heard nothin' anyway. So what do you know. All that worries me right now is what the hell you're doing so close to the edge of this damn cliff-" As Mason slumped down , a veil of intimacy forming as his absent special awareness centred"They will, I just know it" . Ryan's voice, a lulled whisper from behind , pulled him inches away from Liam. "You look like hell, but I bet you feel worse right. You're up here , think in' I don't care what you understand about music but see, the thing is , I was one note away from the riff that would have made my version of Comfortably Numb a masterpiece or something like that. But like you say, you weren't listening . So don't call me a prick. My fingers are bleeding and I'm far from comfortable or numb." . Mason said, his voice roughened with impending sobriety as his mouth played with a smirk. Despite the rawness of his nerves , Liam found a smile tugging at his lopsided grin, as he stabbed at the air above Mason's sternum. "Yeah well, maybe I heard it all , and you were in fact playing some made up crap that I bet you could fill a stadium with. You don't know how great you are but-" As Liam hummed off key, he was promptly shoved in the elbow as Mason asked, taken aback "You can -sing? And not only that, he's up here singing my trash , and - you were about to throw those pipes off a cliff ? "out of forging promises . "Don't go there , Li-" . There was an almost redeeming pause as Mason offered his hand to Liam , leaning closer in the darkness. "Mason, call me Mace- " Liam ceased his humming as he reciprocated , "Liam-youimpregnated silence as she answered , her eyes hollow with an imperceptible emotion. "But , the...man that made Daddy say-goodbye-he-" as the words departed her tiny body , she shivered, and pulled Liam's jacket against her ears "No -I don't remember anymore-" she said, and was consumed in a silence that inhabited Liam's concave lap. As he started down at her, the moonlight caught in her shining eyes , as he sighed into the encroaching midnight. "When you do remember Lily, you can tell us, no matter how tweeting what you saw might have been, we have seen worse things. We won't have noticed me around-" As Liam planted a palm either side of his legs , Mason smirked, the light of his torch contouring his cheekbones with a harsh glare. "Oh because no one would ,be afraid. But for now sleep huh? I've heard you , 'round campus , singing to yourself like no one will notice or care , but someone did and now what huh , Liam? Now what happens when I heard it and I need to know what you think you're doing throwing that off a ..." Mason's voice trailed into silence as he sent a rock sailing into gravity's clutches , his eyes following its descent. Liam grasped Mason's hand and shaking it as he muttered, shielded his reddened eyes from the torchlight. "Look, I'm glad you wandered up here to -tell me to stop listening . Cause to be honest I was- well I wouldn't call it stupid....no , Mason,No more scary thoughts till the morning." The next moment , just as Ryan shook his head, she said the words already edging in his brain. "The other heaven....Daddy said it wasn't stupid ,hell, cause that's a bad place and it was... thewas the other heaven . But -where is the other heaven? Have you been there?" Grappling with the question , Liam gazed at Ryan's lament as he answered without hesitation . "I'm pretty sure I have, and if that's where your father is , I'm as sure as I've been he's coming back , soon , kiddo. Now you get some rest huh? Tomorrow will be a long day" His eyes burnt with the heat radiating through his vision , as he was forced into the crotch of his jeans , his screams escaping his clenched teeth. Next, his shirt was yanked over his shoulders and he screams pierced his skull . "Sienna , no , don't follow me , please" he yelled, his voice entwined with flames of pleading as his captors dragged him across the glass, his skin slashed and erupting with his warm blood . A hand held his jaw close as an arm formed a noose as his body dragged across shards of debris , and the screams of his wife ran down his spine, No Carter , we have to stay together . Lily , hold on to my hand , don't move , sweetheart -I love you baby girl" , she said through tears as her own fate was executed with brutal force. "We have ... intentions for you Sienna , but say goodbye to Carter , he's never coming back from hell" . Sienna, still holding her daughter's hand , broke down , her palms splaying in the shattered windows , their house now blown to smithereens and her husband being removed from the remains of their life. "She's a witness , and she keeps on watching, if she doesn't serve as a vessel she has some pretty eyes . Landon can deal with her...fate." Lily's hand was dropped into the air as Carter screamed at his child , the terror insurmountable. "Don't move Lily , stay by my boots, just don't you leave them , alright? " In an instant, faster than any fire could spread , Siena was gagged and a hessian sack enveloped her screaming body as Carter cursed into the air . "Don't touch her,-Sienna , it'll be alright-" he whispered , his voice strained with agony. The voice was calm, devoid of emotion as it promised . "We won't -touch her-oh you'd only action I might rely on . I think of how, if everything collapsed and I were drowning,wish that we had the time , or the care , for such pleasures -but, Landon is a busy man. Business is-business." Lily's silence haunted the skies as their magenta hues fell in rays around her stance, shaking by her father's boots and clutching the only possession she had left. "Why are you taking Daddy to hell? " her voice hit the open air, and Carter choked out in response to her pleading question , "it's not hell , Lily , it's the other heaven , and I'll be alright because -" Liam rested a fatigued hand against his screaming eyes as he resisted the inebriated tears that hedged on the rims of his eyes. Mason, pulling Liam's handalright, you hear me?" Another voice pierced into a grip against his shoulder, lowered his khaki green eyes into view . "Well, seeing as I'm here , and you still look as terrible as you did before-hit me . Tell me one thing that you believe I'll rip you apart for . It's not as if your opinion matters right-so I shouldn'this skull as he felt Siena's unmoving body fall atop his back as he was flipped over, as his face slammed the unforgiving pane of a door. "Say goodbye Carter, you're going to die after all , you'll be that affected . I should walk away laughing, right? It can't hurt to try it on me." As his posture slackened, Mason's words hit the air with a casual drawl, as if time was hanging around in the interim. Liam's shock was unlike a slap across his jaw as he clenched his teeth , his eyes breaking away at the lack of phase , yet the very invitation itself. . "Yeah, alright. You have a point there, I guess. But there's no one thing-" he said, as a shrug passed over his shoulders.""Iin heaven , or perhaps hell , rotting forever, now won't you? Because men like you don't know why you'd ask me , but-" Mason's fingers were already tracing a circle across the surface his jeans as he said, blunt yet with a restraint . "I asked, so come on , you give me your best, off the top of the head reason why I should leave you here , and make it count. I need to hear this. Got all night." It was a fatality in his breath that enveloped Liam's raw nerves as he answered, "Well , you have an audiencebelong in heaven now ... yet you're giving me the stage huh? I don't quite know what you're expecting. Some grandiose confession. "Oh Mason, I just can't carry on in a world so cruel, so I came up to this ledge to embrace the almighty void and plunge forth-" . Mason's eyes , dark and solid, waited under his rising eyebrow. "Who cares what I was expecting , or what I get. I don't think this is about me , as much as you might wanna listen to the sound of your own voice . Or does it scare you hearing it ? Out loud , for the first time in ? " The darkness , awaiting Liam's stare as he turned away, absorbed the volume in his voice, stripping it of its presence. "I haven't been home in three weeks. Folks told me never to set foot on their lawn again. And I don't blame them.... " Mason's eyes, trailing back to his guitar, carried a provoking concern. "Let me get this straight,do they threw your ass out...for what? Let's hear it. After all, I don't care , do I . it's just conversation in the night. So explain what got you sitting on the curb on night..." Liam , breaking into a hollow smile , offset his bite , his teeth realigning. "It was, God I was stupid . I got so rotten one afternoon. I left my six year old cousin in the playground , by her school, till her parents found her at seven o'clock that night. I was supposed to have picked her up, but I headed to a-a frat party." As Mason was enveloped in silence, his eyes fixated on Liam's features, his gaze potent. "I -well-she could've -well-that's not what kills me. And now is the part where I tell you that , it's the way the kid -hugged me when I went to see her the next day. She said she loved me , and handed me a flower. And all I thought was -you bastard, Liam. You-" Mason's eyes , with an empathy strewn amongst an understanding, flickered with his torchlight. "So, she forgave you , huh? But you-" Liam's face , still angled toward his lap, finished Mason's assumption. "Nah, I didn't , because there's no one thing here. " Mason's heavy sigh , lingering in his lungs as he leaned forward, hung in the space between them. "It's a complicated network you have up there. A neighbourhood of short circuiting wires . But from what I can make out, there's no way in hell I'm leaving you up here. " Liam , biting back a thickness in his throat , shook his head. "Why not, what difference is it to you , Mason. You have one shot and you'd better make yours hit me harder ." As Mason's torch flicked off in his hands , he answered . "I can't justify leaving a man who , one , hates himself . And no one can hate you the way you can. And second, a man who hates himself for valid reasons , pointing to his own moral compass and yet, thinks a cliff is a fitting place to spend the night. Call me whatever , but I figure , if I can buy you one more day, consider it done. Still ain't got nowhere to be." Liam reached, almost absent of mind, for an unnoticed shard of glass , remaining from his earlier mishap as he twirled it through knuckles. "I-I didn't intend on seeing another. And I still don't know why you're so invested in a total stranger-" Liam swung his blue gaze at Mason, its bloodshot interrogation filled with a hopeful gleam of unshed tears . "Tell me Mason, the real reason you were out here, playing that guitar with a beer can in your lap, balancing a torch , when you have a dorm room to -" The pause offered reprieve to the tension in the air as Mason shifted his stare to the glass in Liam's hands. "Well, you're not gonna like this, but-even if I had the talent, or the skill , to fill one lousy stadium-I won't have the time-I-well-I know the isolation seems extreme . But sometimes I realise , I ain't gonna be around-people shouldn't get to attached to-ah it doesn't matter . It's a conversation for another dawn. Let's just focus on making it to this one. However far away it is. A few hours maybe. An hey, what's a few more hours right?" Liam, noticing the light fade from Mason's eyes , placed a hand on his shoulder . "It's a conversation for right now, if I stay here till sunrise, you're sure as hell gonna leave me with a reason to have kept my sorry ass from -" Mason's answer stayed in his throat before coming in an even tone. "I'm a ghost , Liam , I mean , I might live another year, sure . But I won't -you really don't need the details. I know you're capable of giving a shit , and you're a decent person. And I can't be getting all sentimental on you because-you're not the asshole you think . " As silence engulfed Mason, swallowing him whole, Liam sighed into his palm. "Oh it's like that huh? You think I didn't notice your arm. Unless you're injecting methadone , that's a hell of a lot of blood tests -" Mason's eyes , deep-set in their sockets, said more than his frail grin , as he whispered "It's not that I want to be alone, Liam, it's that I believe it's the right thing-" Liam's rogue tear finally escaped him , and a blanket of wordless atmosphere inched closer. "It's not-good thing you came up here to prove me huh? Coz I'll be damned if you spend anymore nights playing that guitar to the trees -" Mason's khaki stare was dragged away from the glass as it fell from Liam's hands, splinters flying across the cliffs edge . "Maybe we both needed to be alone tonight, and maybe it was dangerous to need the isolation-" Mason countered, as Liam nodded , fatigue chasing his voice. "Yeah , but neither of us found that peace , huh? Party died down, we both ended up drunk and -yeah that bonfire is long died, huh? " Mason, reaching out a fist, dragged his knuckles along Liam's shoulder . "No longer relevant. Now we're stuck here , together , and I'll deal with it. " They both shared a smirk , Liam's dimple upholding his right cheek as his lopsided, Carter..." a twisted smile crept across his face. "Damn straight , brother."Carters face as he said , coldly, "I'm not dying anytime soon". As he wrestled his head upwards , leaning in his forearms, he established eye contact with Lily one final time. "I'll be in the other heaven , Lily and it's not Goodbye alright? I love you, you never forget that" he said, a feigned calmness in his voice as her amber irises held the matching flames of hazel and gold of his own as he stared at his four year old daughter . Sliding down by his boots , she buried her face in her hands , and cried, as his screams rang out into the noon sunlight, and he was gone . ////::::: " Morning , Lily , you must be wondering where Daddy went, or where Mommy is hiding ... and you must be sad that they both left you here huh? And I guess uncle Liam ... and uncle Ryan didn't want you anymore either, now you're alone in the other heaven, and Daddy lied didn't he. He's not here. Isn't that sad that no body cares about you at all. Even your bear is ...gone . did you lose him? Why would you let go of him? " The voice, suctioning around a tooth as it deposited saliva at her face , was cold and devoid of care. As she felt the deep burn of rope against her hands she heard a familiar voice whisper near her ear. "Lily, don't cry, it'll be alright, this is the other heaven, and you're alive, you're ok. You listen to me , I'm here with you and this is a place where good people have to go when bad people try to take them away from each other. But you're safe cause we can escape the bad people and go home together now" , Carter said, his voice a rasp against the concrete as he struggled to vocally reach his daughter who lay beside him, blindfolded and bound . As Lily turned her head, all she was met with was darkness , as she whispered "Daddy?" . Carter, with his heart containing his racing pulse as he watched Sienna in his peripheral vision, was stung by his own tears. The ice of the initial voice crept around her as it taunted "Did you just hear Daddy? No... he's gone. You must like to play pretend , imagine things? like all kids do....", the voice said, flat yet menacing . As Carter bucked his locked jaw against the ground, he immediately sensed his gag inching tighter into his mouth. "You're just a dream, Carter, so best act like one, if you want her to remain...well you don't need a paraphrase ." , Landon said , as he slammed a palm over Carters nape. "Valen, you know Liam is starting to grate on my nerves...he drones right into my temporal lobe. " As another deposit of saliva hit the concrete Valen said, "Ah yes, Liam ...bearer of my recurring nightmares... or are they dreams ... I find him brilliant...and fascinating . His psyche has an intricacy that is , enthralling ... and Ryan, ah he's the magic number in the grand lotto of psychological thrill . But Carter here, and Sienna...now I've seen some light shows with scintillating colors but... none so vibrant ... so enriched with potential. Let's see how bright they both shine in the cavities of their own-" Liam's voice tore through his gag as he snarled ."Getting you bent would satisfy me in ways I can't straddle, so by all means leave my legs tied together for a moment longer , oh dark traveller ." Carter's eyes glistened with the moonlight as he bit back his emerging laughter, and closed his eyes as his binds ensnared him. "Sienna" Carter growled, his throat closing in around his breath . "Sienna, if you can hear me , it's not Lily, it's a sick ploy to terrify you-" Liam , as if pre-meditatively catching Carter's desperation, he whispered into the air , a moment before Carter could speak. . "Kid is silent for a reason.... Because think , mull over the consequences of child pornography, my sweet Valen, serenity now. Is my lover in the night going to dance with his morals in the darkest place. Would he have no sanctity . Oh maybe he doesn't care-or maybe your daughter is just a sack and he's romancing her like she could scream. " . Liam's proceeding groan tore a grunt from Carter . "Sienna he's right, the kid is just a burlap sack.A ploy ...Lily's still out there somewhere ...and we have to believe she's alive -" he said, a violent blow to his tailbone catching his tongue in his teeth. As tears escaped his eyes, Lily's terrified eyes barred, and her mouth gagged , it was a fire in his bound hands. As she started crying , through her gag her voice was almost inaudible, and Liam kept her voice covered with his commentary. "Oh sing on the breeze, sailor , your lover-buoy is floating a little far from the ship-" Ryan finally dislodged his gag, his saliva hitting the ground. "It's alright Lily , don't cry, uncle Liam is..silly huh, but you'll be ok , Uncle Ry knows about the flower you picked for Daddy, the blue one? You remember that?" As the moonlight outlined her features , her voice faded into silence as she mumbled "yeah, it was just like Uncle Liam's eyes , but prettier , I want to pick one for Daddy , an orange one , I remembered , cause daddy's eyes are orange ...and Mommy's eyes are green so, I don't know a green flower .. do you know a green one Uncle Ryan, because ..Because maybe mommy is sad and I want her to be happy. " As tears crept into her voice , Ryan maintained his even tone. "Hey Lily, do you know what is green? Leaves , and if you pick all the flowers you can imagine , they will all have green leaves , and they'll be colorful too. How about that , huh? Mommy will be so happy. But you can sleep if you're tired , Uncle Liam is kind of funny huh? " She offered a faint smile as her head shook ," yeah hes funny, but he's not the handsome uncle, you are Ry' . But not as handsome as Daddy-" --------//// Carter's voice was strained against the clouds of dust , filtering through drawn shutters . A cruel sun rose as he lay bound in the darkness of a new day, his daughter still frozen in the blanket of pale magenta daylight. "Lily, Daddy is still here, and Mommy too... you picked some flowers with uncle Ryan , a blue one? I think that flower is called a morning glory and you know why? Because the sky is bluest in the morning . " For a fleeting moment, the ropes against his flesh were salved by her faint whisper "I told Uncle Ry' that the sky was pretty because it was red. But sometimes it's blue too... is it still out there? " Carter's eyes , bloodshot with his lack of sleep, trailed to the broken fragments of harsh glare as he said "I promise you , it's still out there , and we will pick mommy some flowers , just you and me. Do you miss her? It's ok , Lily , I miss her too but uncle Liam is gonna save her too. If he keeps talking long enough, we'll all be home soon. Uncle Liam is clever , even though we can't really understand what he's saying." Ryan's voice cut through the stillness , as his gag was reigned in. A muffled curse followed. Liam released a low sneer , his voice venomous as he drawled his words . "Oh , virgin Statue of Liberty, that the French bestowed upon my heart , shall she have entry to my American channel. Say, can you see - ." Valen , flexing his knuckles in a deliberate movement, grazed Liam's cheek as he said "Oh he never stops , it's two measures futile, one measure spirit I intend to break. But not this passing in the night . Ah, Liam has a role on the chessboard , he can only dream of what it might be ...but today, is your moment Carter, to dance like a bear on hot coals. And I don't expect a performance, I may be only too aware of the beauty in your humanity breaking . That when I see you coming undone for your wife, your sweet child 'o mine. " As Carter's ribcage flinched inside his chest, he stifled a pained growl as his throat closed in around his breath, his airways restricted . "You.. won't..touch-my daughter-" . As Valens boots rested aside Carter's shuttered vision, slats of light cursing his eyelids , he felt a cold hand trace his neck. "Oh , Carter, my hands aren't to be feared if you're psyche is be ..conserved . Never mistake my intentions. I am if nothing else, a professional. I do have a drug to implant. Business to attend to. But. I can enjoy the fluctuations in the stock market. The retention is dependent on the success . Or to that effect. But scream if you undervalue your reserves. By all means, scream those lungs inside out." Liam's voice was a warm , yet defiant interjection , "Oh he always says shit like that, indulgent bastard who adores the sound of his own voice almost as much as the color of my baby blues, but none of us are breaking ..or dancing . You touch the kid and we will light your wick and the whole damn-". Carter's voice was strained against the clouds of dust , filtering through drawn shutters . A cruel sun rose as he lay bound in the darkness of a new day, his daughter still frozen in the blanket of pale magenta daylight. "Lily, Daddy is still here, and Mommy too... you picked some flowers with uncle Ryan , a blue one? I think that flower is called a morning glory and you know why? Because the sky is bluest in the morning . " For a fleeting moment, the ropes against his flesh were salved by her faint whisper "I told Uncle Ry' that the sky was pretty because it was red. But sometimes it's blue too... is it still out there? " Carter's eyes , bloodshot with his lack of sleep, trailed to the broken fragments of harsh glare as he said "I promise you , it's still out there , and we will pick mommy some flowers , just you and me. Do you miss her? It's ok , Lily , I miss her too but uncle Liam is gonna save her too. If he keeps talking long enough, we'll all be home soon. Uncle Liam is clever , even though we can't really understand what he's saying." Ryan's voice cut through the stillness , as his gag was reigned in. A muffled curse followed. Liam released a low sneer , his voice venomous as he drawled his words . "Oh , virgin Statue of Liberty, that the French bestowed upon my heart , shall she have entry to my American channel. Say, can you see - ." Valen , flexing his knuckles in a deliberate movement, grazed Liam's cheek as he said "Oh he never stops , it's two measures futile, one measure spirit I intend to break. But not this passing in the night . Ah, Liam has a role on the chessboard , he can only dream of what it might be ...but today, is your moment Carter, to dance like a bear on hot coals. And I don't expect a performance, I may be only too aware of the beauty in your humanity breaking . That when I see you coming undone for your wife, your sweet child 'o mine. " As Carter's ribcage flinched inside his chest, he stifled a pained growl as his throat closed in around his breath, his airways restricted . "You... won't...touch-my daughter-" . As Valens boots rested aside Carter's shuttered vision, slats of light cursing his eyelids , he felt a cold hand trace his neck. "Oh , Carter, my hands aren't to be feared if you're psyche is be ...conserved . Never mistake my intentions. I am if nothing else, a professional. I do have a drug to implant. Business to attend to. But. I can enjoy the fluctuations in the stock market. The retention is dependent on the success . Or to that effect. But scream if you undervalue your reserves. By all means, scream those lungs inside out." Liam's voice was a warm , yet defiant interjection , "Oh he always says shit like that, indulgent bastard who adores the sound of his own voice almost as much as the color of my baby blues, but none of us are breaking ...or dancing . You touch the kid and we will light your wick and the whole damn-". As Carter grasped her wrist, 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 .She'd been there , on 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-". 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-planted? Carter. Well there's always ...this." A wilted blue flower, azure in its hue yet tainted with the shades of amber that gazed at him as his retinas burned. His blindfold , pushed upwards as his eyes fluttered open, exposed his gold flecked irises to the petals by his eyelashes. "The one she picked...for you, Daddy? Ah. The one she wore in her hair when-" Carter twisted his head away as tears moistened the delicate remnants of his daughter's innocence."My wife...Sienna, you bastards threw her dead body onto my back...not my little girl...she was ...she was left behind . A calling card" Carters voice danced with a confusion from a hell within his torn psyche , the freedom of his untied hands a mockery. "Carter , do you believe , in the "other heaven... the one where , you aren't dead because , oh, you're not in heaven, nor in hell . Where then, father, might you be? Tell her Carter ... " As his teeth clenched against the blood in his mouth , he growled "Why ... have the nerve to stare me in my eyes and tell me the reason. Close. So I can feel the answer ringing in my skull forever. You never mince a word , right? So one chance is more than enough." Valen's voice appeared at his eardrum , breeding each word in fertile soil. "Maybe, this , is the greatest show , the brightest to ever burn at the end of the singular rope..." Carter's eyes, dead with a smile of depravity slithering across his pupils, stalled. "Or perhaps, you neglected one detail , when you tore me away , with no way of protecting them, maybe it skipped your psychotropic labyrinth of utter bullshit. That I wouldn't notice. Everything. About . My . Wife. And . My . Daughter. " Valen, as if sensing the opportune richness of the moment, silenced Liam "Don't try, blue eyes, he's got the floor...". As Carter gazed through half closed lids at Liam's outline, his menace of a smile , he drawled against the concrete, his heart crawling to a slow. "She dropped Lily's hand . She let go. Sienna ...let , go .and then , what did my daughter do? She stayed. And I trusted she would. I knew she'd be found. Alive. I noticed they operate on a plane that you cannot fathom. Take my fascinating damned mind and have at it. I don't need it anymore. Because there's one place in the temple you can't visit. It's gone forever. " Carters tears stung his eyes as they feel , the concrete inching closer as morphed to dry, emancipated retches. Valens boots remained at his head as he offered a slow clap. "I'm done with the display, leave him here to die . With them. Body count three. And yet the Vanderine goes unhidden and I have business to attend to." ------------

USER: Please pointIs this emotionally resent and maturely written : Masonry Liam's hair, laden with splinters of ice and snow, stuck out some moving lines Ryan hauled his torso through the splinters of glass, blood saturating his shirt as he crawled on his elbows, his bound legs dragging behind. Finally , as his ankle was freed by the sharp jag of a split window pane beneath him , he kicked away the rope from his feet. As he scanned the horizon, his eyes raw and throbbing with his pulse , the distinct soundlow-slung cap. His words framed the brittle air as he spoke, the chill unrelenting, 'I never meant to return here. I know I--I promised I'd never look back. That I'd leave you as you were , and yet I ended up back here anyway. I don't listen to anyone , huh?.'" He dug his stiffened hands into his jeans, his boot striking a rock as his own murmur haunted him. It rained through the air'Can't stay long, but I still remember what real sunsets looked like, the way the colors just stretched for miles. I hope you haven't seen this magenta sky. I hope you never know it. World's not the same , hasn't looked like it did in so many damned years. I guess-well-" His acuity, melting into the atmosphere, left him with no other thoughts. "You rest well, ' cause while I'm standing here talking to you like you're still here, I know you probably can't hear a word - but I kinda like to pretend maybe you can. ' He laughed in spite of his raw sense of sorrow and turned away from a thousand directions , its distress weaving through his clenching jaw. Willing the noise to anchor itself , he grabbed at his searing temple , itsthe plot, dusting his knuckles across the slot of cremated ashes in a lingering fist bump. 'Again, sometime, brother." Leaves swirled around the hem of his jeans , glazed with ice as he folded his arms across his chest . 'But before I go, there's something I know you've heard me singing in my sleep. Can't get the song out of my head. I can't remember where it came from but-it's the only one that stuck." he said in a low tone , exhaustion passing over his stature. "I came here to leave it with you, along with something of yours I' been carrying around. Keeping you close, but--if I lost it, well-." An entire moment passed before Liam fumbled a thin, metal guitar fret from his pocket, a perfect fit between his index finger and thumb. He then unrolled a small piece of paper with a scrawled transcription and wrapped it around the fret. In a swift gesture, he drove it deep into a crack between two bricks in the wall. "The ninth fret was always a part of every song- I think only you would appreciate it but , that's kinda the whole point. " Liam's faint persistence causing his head to ache. An unrelenting glare marred his vision, strikingsmile rested on the glimmer of the fret , visible in the crevice beside Mason's ashes, along with his notes. "I... still... I. Just. You can't imagine the things... or the times I've wanted to say. Mace could have played you that one while I ruined the lyrics. Still have the rest of your rosewood, too, with all of your fingerprints intact. Which isn't easy keeping hidden in my childhood bedroom. Haven't been home in too long. Damned if I had known you'd find me where you did--or when, and yet I wasn't there to--but hell, you'd never let me take it all on my own shoulders. And I won't-- It's never gonna be... all right, but--I'll try to keep your songs around. You found me when I was so close to -yet I'm still alive huh? Some things ain't fair, brother ." Without raising his eyes with scintillating hues of green and white as he rested his gaze behind his hand. "Liam, Ifrom his fist, his memories hid between his fingers, slipping away as he flexed his palm. "I only hope you can't see , Ime now, with all this all this hell in my eyes, with the shadows. I still remember the light in yours, don't worry . 'Cause I keep my promises, and you're still my oldest friend. First, and the last. Just... don't ever forget that." As Liam turned away, trudging along the icy path that wound through the cemetery, it could have been hours. Days. Months. Or just a few seconds. And it could have been anywhere. Grief only changed shape as he confronted the infused December sky, its witness the only one in sight. As Liam slid down onto the curb, only a few miles from where he'd last seen Ethan, he glanced up at the approaching figure. "Hey, Lara, I haven't seen Eth since... maybe three hours ago." She dropped to his side, grasping his freezing hand in her own. "Liam, it's cold out here; you're like ice... wait, did you visit Mas--" Her eyes, filled with a silent understanding, flitted to his and back to his hand as she placed it in his lap. "We've both been looking for you, Ethan and I--but I'll tell him you're alright, okay?" Liam, his eyes reddened but dried out from the temperature, nodded. "Yeah, I-it's... Well, you know how long it's been," he said, his gaze finding solace somewhere in Lara's dark hair, averting her gaze. "Yeah, too long. Ethan was worried you'd freeze, so you'd better get back to civilization soon..." she said, offering a smile and a hand on his jacketed shoulder. "Thanks, you've both been feeding me way too long as it is--and I'm not the most stable guest." She laughed as she let her hand slide from his shoulder. "Ethan could out-eat us all, so don't worry about that. Just take care out here." And as she walked away, he rested his head against the flesh of his palm, the solitude granting him a moment of clarity--one that he could never share. A melody in the corner of his mind, one that he couldn't muster the strength to hum . "Yeah, Mason, you're everywhere, and nowhere, buddy. Guess I've learnt to live with that. " -- Ok how's this : Liam glared into the darkness, the dust in his eyes unforgiving. The melody sank in a haunting tune through the night. "Cause there's a place deep inside of me where my dreams have a hold of me...and soon my soul will start to bleed..." Liam's voice broke off as he raked a tremor through his hair. "I still miss him," Liam said, uncertain if Ryan could hear his musings. "Hey, Ry...how long have we been lying in this hell hole?" He asked, the silence torn by Ryan's answer, "Too long. And yeah, I heard you saying something about 'if you play Wonderwall, you'll look like a total tool' in your sleep, presumably to someone who could play music." Ryan smiled, but it never reached his eyes as he added, "He really was a brother to you, huh? And don't lie because I'll know...and then I'll feel bad about giving ya this." As Liam dismissed a tear at the corner of his eye, he reached over to where Ryan lay, holding a piece of paper. "Music? You wrote music. What is this, Ry? You never told me you could--" Liam said, his eyes adjusting to the dark with a vulnerability that settled between them. Ryan, smiling with a broadness that reached his eyes, glanced at the paper with a nod. "Ah, I might have written down that song you insist on humming in your damned sleep. I knew it had some meaning, although I don't know what...least I could do for you, Li'." As his irises shone with another sheen of tears, Liam said quietly, "Mason could have played this--while I ruined the lyrics." Looking up from his boots, Ryan held a somber smile. "If I'd have known you way back then, I'm damned sure I'd have held you both to that." As Liam returned the nod, he folded the paper and tucked it into his duffel bag, magenta particles stirring in the air. "I know...He really was a huge chunk of my adolescence just...gone like...well, anyway, the music, when we get our hands on a guitar..." Ryan shook his head, angling his jaw in his hand. "Nah, we're in the middle of nowhere, and it'll never happen. But you got me, brother." Liam, smiling faintly, replied, "I know. We've seen so much that , well , does it make me an asshole for being happy that Mason died young, unaffected by the trauma that has screwed us up?. I mean he could've lived a different life from us -and maybe I'm wrong to hope he's in a better -" As Ryan leaned back against the filth-stained wall , his voice contemplated the environment . "It's not wrong to want him to have a peace we may never find. It's human. " As Liam gazed back, conflict in his eyes as he said "Y'know , there's something I had back home. And it's likely I'll never see it again, I was carrying a part of it with me for years , but just knowing I kept it safe...I chose to leave it with him and--". Words eluded Liam in the darkness, as Ryan's features , found by the moonlight, left him unable to deflect his gaze . "I feel as though, he wasn't a friend-he wasn't a comrade-he was a sibling, blood was all we didn't share . And even then when he needed a transfusion... I was the first to roll up my damned sleeve. And I wasnt the Ab neg he was-" In a hushed tone Ryan asked , "You think not being compatible was somehow a fault -but Li' , have you heard-well yourself? He could play better than Van Halen I'm guessing', and you could've ruined more than just his lyrics with those pipes . Don't make me say it again." Liam fell silent, and Ryan flopped backwards onto his makeshift bed. "It's alright Li'. Just get some sleep, and don't--" It was almost automatic as Liam replied, "Yeah, yeah, don't 'thank you.' I know, I'm welcome, huh? Yeah, goodnight, Ry." As Ryan's muttering hit the wall, Liam's mind sifted through the catalog of melodies Mason had played. And, amongst the static, a distinct composition of chords found their way back to him. "And if I fall beneath the cracks, if I find you in the darkness, brother, will you still have the heart to see? When I close my eyes and my memories start to fade, when the filter falls away, will you find the strength to stay?" Liam's breath , an unsteady exhale in the dark, dragged against his throat. The bonfire had long died , embers floating around his ankles as the dying flames lighted his eyes. Everyone had downed as much alcohol as imaginable, and staggered home with their rowdy goodbyes, while Liam had slipped off into the night, with a broken bottle of goose in his shaking hand. As his jacket rippled in the wind, lashing against his chest as he zipped it up, he was alone. The cliff , with its eeirie view of the fires remains, a place of revelries and warmth, was now extinguished and cold. "Yeah, no one noticed you never really left, huh?" As he glanced into the void beneath him, his bloodshot eyes seeking solace in the promise of erasure, he staggered unevenly to the edge. "Ah , to hell with it-" . As Liam muttered drunkenly into the silence , pilfered only by the crackle of the dying flames, he traced his neck with the bottles gleaming edge. locating his jugular, its pulsating warmth a cruel reminder of how futile his own bloodstream had become against his skin. Liam pressed the glass against his heartbeat, the sky mocking as the stars shone an icy clarity over his features. As he gazed in torn distress at the void beneath him, he heard a faint voice on the breeze. "I'll never get it right. Ah damnit. If I could nail it -Mason you sad idiot, no one even listens to your garbage anyway." As Liam ground his shoes into the dirt, a rock skidded under his stance , and he cursed into air. "Hey , is someone still up there... I thought everybody left-" Mason yelled into the illuminated of his torch, nestled upright in the mouth of a beer can. "Hey, you assholes can trash my guitar playing somewhere else , I just wanna be alone- this is rubbish ." Mason's angered tone sliced through Liam's helpless grip on the jagged glass as he dropped it over the edge of the cliff, watching it spiral away, cursing again. "Bro, don't get your panties tied up, it's just me-I wasn't listening anyways , and trust me , my opinion is the last one that matters-" . As Liam established equilibrium in a low crouch , a few steps back from the edge he found himself drawing a new sense of warmth from the voice as it hurled back at him . "Wait-then what are you doing up there , party's over , man. You hang out on cliffs for fun....oh shit." . before Liam had shifted his throbbing temple from his hand , as it clung to his head , a figure appeared at his shoulder , holding a guitar and revealing of alcohol. "Ah, well , it doesn't matter why I'm up here. Who the hell cares. But at least , you can play that thing. If my open onion meant anything, I'd say you might as well start busking on campus till a record label signs you, you talented prick-" Liam almost snarled his words , as they eroded under his pain, a tear threatening to escape him. Mason , laying the guitar a few metres away and returning to Liam's side, scoffed into the dark as he said "Nah, you claim you heard nothin' anyway. So what do you know. All that worries me right now is what the hell you're doing so close to the edge of this damn cliff-" As Mason slumped down , a veil of intimacy forming as his absent special awareness centred him inches away from Liam. "You look like hell, but I bet you feel worse right. You're up here , think in' I don't care what you understand about music but see, the thing is , I was one note away from the riff that would have made my version of Comfortably Numb a masterpiece or something like that. But like you say, you weren't listening . So don't call me a prick. My fingers are bleeding and I'm far from comfortable or numb." . Mason said, his voice roughened with impending sobriety as his mouth played with a smirk. Despite the rawness of his nerves , Liam found a smile tugging at his lopsided grin, as he stabbed at the air above Mason's sternum. "Yeah well, maybe I heard it all , and you were in fact playing some made up crap that I bet you could fill a stadium with. You don't know how long we've been outgreat you are but-" As Liam hummed off key, he was promptly shoved in the elbow as Mason asked, taken aback "You can -sing? And not only that, he's up here singing my trash , and - you were about to throw those pipes off a cliff ? " There was an almost redeeming pause as Mason offered his hand to Liam , leaning closer in the darkness. "Mason, call me Mace- " Liam ceased his humming as he reciprocated , "Liam-you won't have noticed me around-" As Liam planted a palm either side of his legs , Mason smirked, the light of his torch contouring his cheekbones with a harsh glare. "Oh because no one would , huh? I've heard you , 'round campus , singing to yourself like no one will notice or why I can't pinpoint the crying-" . .Then , as the deep magenta particles cleared, his heartbeat screamed to a halt. As his eyes froze on the distant figure, her outline framed with the fading daylight, his disgust burned across his tongue as cursed into his forearm . "Liam ... I thought I'd seen my share of hellcare , but ...those bastards don't-the things I'm guessing' she's seen-" Liam , catching up to Ryan in the haze of desolation, ran a hand over his eyes , his weathered stare haunted as she stood crying into blackened hands. "God , I don'tsomeone did and now what huh , Liam? Now what happens when I heard it and I need to know what I expected , but she can't be older than say, five? Assuming she had parents , the father , A, Dead, or B, pleading for the status through his teeth. And the mother-I can't even visityou think you're doing throwing that twisted scenario-And in front of her- is there nothing those bastards won't pervert- " he said, the anger seeping through his teeth as his curseoff a ..." Mason's voice trailed into the heat of the arid air. "We need to move fast,silence as he sent a rock sailing into gravity's clutches , his eyes following its descent. Liam grasped Mason's hand and shaking it as he muttered, shielded his reddened eyes from the torchlight. "Look, I'm glad you wandered up here to -tell me to stop listening . Cause to be honest I was- well I wouldn't call it stupid....no , Mason, it wasn't stupid , it was... the only action I might rely on . I think of how, if she moves-"everything collapsed and I were drowning, I'll be alright because -" Liam rested a fatigued hand against his screaming eyes as he resisted the inebriated tears that hedged on the rims of his eyes. Mason, pulling Liam's hand into a grip against his shoulder, lowered his khaki green eyes into view . "Well, seeing as I'm here , and you still look as terrible as you did before-hit me . Tell me one thing that you believe I'll rip you apart for . It's not as if your opinion matters right-so I shouldn't be that affected . I should walk away laughing, right? It can't hurt to try it on me." As his posture slackened, Mason's words hit the air with a casual drawl, as if time was hanging around in the interim. Liam's shock was unlike a slap across his jaw as he clenched his teeth , his eyes breaking away at the lack of phase , yet the very invitation itself. . "Yeah, alright. You have a point there, I guess. But there's no one thing-" he said, his hand finding its way to his nape as he balanced his stiffened neck, unable to find a space uncovered by shattered windows to rest his chin. Ryan braced a handas a shrug passed over Liam's chest, as he said "It's ok Li' ... I've got this." As her face emerged from the heavy clouds of dust, Ryan pulled himself to feet and approached her , his bloodied elbows behind his back as he winced in the dusk, as her crying ceased and she lifted her eyes. " Hey, where's your mom and dad , huh? " Ryan asked, the girl's tiny amber irises , with her large pupils -loaded with trauma , gazed into his... "I -I don't know. I miss them. But why did they-why-why they m-make Daddy take off his shoes . He-says you-get-cut without your shoes. And then they told him to s-say Good-by-goodbye? " Ryan dropped to his knees , her face peering up into his unwavering gaze as he said evenly . "We're gonna find him , ok, but you'll be safe with me and uncle Liam for now. What's your name ? You can call me Ry'" Clutching the remains of a stuffed bear, albeit its left eye handing by a thread , she offered a stammered reply "I-m I'm Lily" . She then brandished four fingers in Ryan's smiling face as she announced , " I'm four years old...how old are you?" . Liam's laugh came from somewhere behind Ryan's head as he answered her. "He's a big number , hold up both hands Ry, " Ryan's smile broadened for the first time in days as he laughed , offering his hand to the child as she entrusted her hand to his grasp. "Uncle Ry' is -ah it doesn't matter. You're gorgeous ain't ya?" She blushed with a crystalline laugh, as her eyes darted and she wound her shoe into the dust. "That's what Daddy always says-but he told not to move no matter what-" she said, her eyes glistening with tears. "But Ihis shoulders.""I don't know why Daddyyou'd ask me , but-" Mason's fingers were already tracing a circle across the surface his jeans as he said, blunt yet with a restraint . "I asked, so come on , you give me your best, off the top of the head reason why I should leave you here , and make it count. I need to hear this. Got all night." It was a fatality in his breath that enveloped Liam's raw nerves as he answered, "Well , you have an audience now ... yet you're giving me the stage huh? I don't quite know what you're expecting. Some grandiose confession. "Oh Mason, I just can't carry on in a world so cruel, so I came up to this ledge to embrace the almighty void and plunge forth-" . Mason's eyes , dark and solid, waited under his rising eyebrow. "Who cares what I was expecting , or what I get. I don't think this is gone , to the -um -other heaven?"about me , as much as you might wanna listen to the sound of your own voice . Or does it scare you hearing it ? Out loud , for the first time in ? " The magenta skies bled behinddarkness , awaiting Liam's stare as he turned away, absorbed the volume in his voice, stripping it of its presence. "I haven't been home in three weeks. Folks told me never to set foot on their lawn again. And I don't blame them.... " Mason's eyes, trailing back to his guitar, carried a provoking concern. "Let me get this straight, they threw your ass out...for what? Let's hear it. After all, I don't care , do I . it's just conversation in the night. So explain what got you sitting on the curb on night..." Liam , breaking into a hollow smile , offset his bite , his teeth realigning. "It was, God I was stupid . I got so rotten one afternoon. I left my six year old cousin in the playground , by her fragile silhouette , asschool, till her parents found her at seven o'clock that night. I was supposed to have picked her up, but I headed to a-a frat party." As Mason was enveloped in silence, his eyes fixated on Liam's features, his gaze potent. "I -well-she could've -well-that's not what kills me. And now is the part where I tell you that , it's the way the kid -hugged me when I went to see her the next day. She said she loved me , and handed me a flower. And all I thought was -you bastard, Liam. You-" Mason's eyes , with an empathy strewn amongst an understanding, flickered with his torchlight. "So, she forgave you , huh? But you-" Liam's face , still angled toward his lap, finished Mason's assumption. "Nah, I didn't , because there's no one thing here. " Mason's heavy sigh , lingering in his lungs as he leaned forward, hung in the space between them. "It's a complicated network you have up there. A neighbourhood of short circuiting wires . But from what I can make out, there's no way in hell I'm leaving you up here. " Liam bent down beside her. "We, biting back a thickness in his throat , shook his head. "Why not, what difference is it to you , Mason. You have one shot and you'd better make yours hit me harder ." As Mason's torch flicked off in his hands , he answered . "I can't justify leaving a man who , one , hates himself . And no one can hate you the way you can. And second, a man who hates himself for valid reasons , pointing to his own moral compass and yet, thinks a cliff is a fitting place to spend the night. Call me whatever , but I figure , if I can buy you one more day, consider it done. Still ain't got nowhere to be." Liam reached, almost absent of mind, for an unnoticed shard of glass , remaining from his earlier mishap as he twirled it through knuckles. "I-I didn't intend on seeing another. And I still don't know why you're so invested in a total stranger-" Liam swung his blue gaze at Mason, its bloodshot interrogation filled with a hopeful gleam of unshed tears . "Tell me Mason, the real reason you were out here, playing that guitar with a beer can in your lap, balancing a torch , when you have a dorm room to -" The pause offered reprieve to the tension in the air as Mason shifted his stare to the glass in Liam's hands. "Well, you're not gonna like this, but-even if I had the talent, or the skill , to fill one lousy stadium-I won't have the time-I-well-I know the isolation seems extreme . But sometimes I realise , I ain't gonna be around-people shouldn't get to attached to-ah it doesn't matter . It's a conversation for another dawn. Let's just focus on making it to this one. However far away it is. A few hours maybe. An hey, what's a few more hours right?" Liam, noticing the light fade from Mason's eyes , placed a hand on his shoulder . "It's a conversation for right now, if I stay here till sunrise, you're sure as hell gonna leave me with a reason to have kept my sorry ass from -" Mason's answer stayed in his throat before coming in an even tone. "I'm a ghost , Liam , I mean , I might live another year, sure . But I won't -you really don't need the details. I know you're capable of giving a shit , and you're a decent person. And I can't be getting all sentimental on you because-you're not the asshole you think we know-about this other heaven , and we are gonna find mommy too huh?" Her face lit up , the pink hues melting into her glassy stare as she said "Yeah, I wanna see mommy , too ." Liam , smiling despite the uncertain twist of agony in his chest, gestured towards the dilapidated toy in her hand. "Who's this , huh, I bet he's pretty special? We have to make sure that no matter what, we don't lose him.. " As he winked , she held up the dust infested bear as it were an earned prize . "He's Sam, he's smaller now... but I still lovesilence engulfed Mason, swallowing him ." Liam leaned behind Ryan's head as he said, in a low tone. "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" . As Liam's eyes landed on a pair of boots , placed eerily close together , perfect and stripped of their laces , Ryan's gaze followed. "Yeah Li' , I'm guessin' those are the father's . It's a calling card if I ever saw it. I don't know what she means by this other heaven but, yeah I'm not liking anything about this picture..." The sky echoed the sentiment of despair infused with a faint hope as Lily's hand fluted Ryan's thumb and forefinger with a shaking inquisition. "Uncle Ry-I-I-I don't know where I am....i got left behind ... it's cause I let go of mommy's hand . I'm -I'm sorry-" Liam , deftly grasping her wrist , pulled her into the crux of his elbow. "No , Lily, it's not you fault. You keep Sam safe , so he's lucky you were hanging on tight to him huh?" The light flew back to her eyes as she nodded. "Yeah-but Uncle...um" she said , already disoriented by the encounter., and the dust streaked faces of two men kneeling in the remains of suburbia. "You can call me Uncle Li'- you've made two new friends today huh? How about that?"Her eyes faltered a moment, then she gazed directly into Liam's blue stare, as she lowered her voice to a whisper . "Uncle Li" , don't tell anybody , but I have a secret. I -it's -um-" She leaned closer, whispering into Liam's ear as she said "I found this and I wanted to give it to Daddy but-it's the same color as your eyes". As she produced a wilted morning glory from her pocket , she perched it on Liam's grease laden hair, behind his earlobe. "Oh , you're too -" he said , the gesture unbalancing his compose as he encircled his arm around her waist . "I bet you're tired huh, if you can't walk , do you think you can fit up here?" Liam, patting his shoulders , watched as she nodded , dust falling in her light hair. Hoisting her up , her knees falling either side of his jaw , he guided her hands to his hair. "Hold on tight , I got you. And up we go". Liam rose to his feet , with the aid of Ryan's firm grip hauling him off the ground. Lily was quick to reach out Ryan's hand, grabbing his pinky and swaying it back and forth as he walked alongside Liam. "You're so high up there , is the sky pretty? "He asked, as their footsteps fell in line with the jagged lashings of debris. Through a yawn she said, "yeah, it's red, I like it...but I'm so tired...I can't sleep till mommy and daddy-umm -I'm scared now ..." Her fingers twisted against Liam's scalp and her chest shook with oncoming tears. He quickly halted , assuring her she could sleep. "You can take a nap up there , we will keep walking so even while you sleep we'll be getting closer to your parents, it's gonna be ok-" . Ryan , reaching up to stroke her hair said quietly "when you wake up we'll still be here , because that's what uncles are for right? And you are stuck with two of us so you're double safe ...but you'd better hug Sam tight so he doesn't fall huh?" . Lily stuffed the bear down her oversized shirt, and rested her chin in Liam's unkept bed of hair. "He's safe now..." she said , her voice travelling over Liam's head as her eyes slid closed. Ryan glanced out at the horizon, the sun slipping lower, and he nudged Liam. "I'm guessin' that it's been about two miles , and we still don't have an iota of a clue where to start lookin' , and you know the pattern up to this point has been , traffic with the men...torture and kill the women for pure sadistic pleasure. Maybe he even trafficked a few of them two... but I don't know how we tell this kid she might not see either of her folks again-" . As his expression flickered with worry and a foreboding guilt,whole, Liam sighed , pulling the small of Lily's back closer to his neck, her stomach flush against his skin. "I don'tinto his palm. "Oh it's like that huh? You think I didn't notice your arm. Unless you're injecting methadone , that's a hell of a lot of blood tests -" Mason's eyes , deep-set in their sockets, said more than his frail grin , as he whispered "It's not that I want to be alone, Liam, it's that I believe it's the right thing-" Liam's rogue tear finally escaped him , and a blanket of wordless atmosphere inched closer. "It's not-good thing you came up here to prove me huh? Coz I'll be damned if you spend anymore nights playing that guitar to the trees -" Mason's khaki stare was dragged away from the glass as it fell from Liam's hands, splinters flying across the cliffs edge . "Maybe we do- I think she's gonna put two and twoboth needed to be alone tonight, and maybe it was dangerous to need the isolation-" Mason countered, as Liam nodded , fatigue chasing his voice. "Yeah , but neither of us found that peace , huh? Party died down, we both ended up drunk and -yeah that bonfire is long died, huh? " Mason, reaching out a fist, dragged his knuckles along Liam's shoulder . "No longer relevant. Now we're stuck here , together -kids just know this shit right? And we might have to ask ourselves something worse, for instance, how do we, and I'll deal with her total sense of abandonment, the survivors guilt, she's us in a smaller , vulnerable body-" . Ryan slowed his gait, the wear in his voice as he said "Well, not in the sense that she can understand it. We might find them alive yet, and I suspect that the boots mean they want us to find these people. Lily herself is a calling card. I know better than to assume they were disposed of so fast." Liam's eyes were dark with the notion , as the concrete pavement wound its way into an unpromising nowhere. As the night carried a soothing breeze , taking the searing edge from the heat out of the arid air, Lily began to stir. "Daddy-it's cold-I don't wanna sleep yet, I wanna play with Kai-no, I -" . Her shoes kicked against Liam's collarbones as her fists coiled in his strands of textured hair. "Daddy? " Her voice was met by the silence of Ryan's downcast stare as he placed a palm against the back of Lily's head. "You remember me? Uncle Ry' . We found you and Sam, because you got lost , yeah? But you're safe now-" he said, her hair gritty against his skin. Liam , adjusting his neck as she twisted around in his hands yawning , loosened his protective grip. As Lily registered the flower behind his ear, she plucked it out with sleep in her voice. "Oh , I gave this to you, Uncle Li' , I'm gonna pick another one for Daddy coz his eyes are ...orange -like mine-" Ryan , as he smiled at her profile muttered to himself , noting the detail of her fathers appearance. "Hazel eyes...y'know, this doesn't sit right with me because, that mechanism I had when I was seven or eight, where my bladder would drop and-The worst fear I had wasn't crying , it was having to sit in my own urine while it went cold . That was degradation. " Ryan said, as Liam manoeuvred himself over a crack in the pavement, missing the point in his concentration on the labyrinth of annihilation. "Where you going with this Ry'? " As Ryan wrapped his index finger around Lily's neck as she leaned in his hand, her eyes sliding closed again , he gazed out into the horizon. "What Im saying is , the things we can control, that we don't even consider, like pissin' ourselves, when you're her age , they are your worst enemy, they give you away. And when we figure out what she's afraid to do in front of us and does it anyway, that's when all hell will -" Liam's jaw, its bite realigning, bore the realisation as he removed the flower from behind his ear . As he twisted it in his fingers he said , "Yeah, but that's not what scares me, somehow it's giving me this, thinking she'll see another flower out here , kids got some immense disappointment coming and I'm still processing my own -" . Ryan muttered a few words out of ear shot, his faded voice lost in the impending nightfall. "Well , I hate to say Liam , but we're still no closer to finding this guy. I'm sure he would've been around our age-and in reasonable psychical condition, and I can't sleep thinking about how close he is likely to be, but we gotta give Lily a proper eight hours sleep. If she's tired , that will exacerbate our problem real quick . " With a groan , Liam came to a stop and eased Lily down from his shoulders , and collapsed onto the concrete footpath beside her as she awoke from a micro -slumber. "I -I -Uncle Liam? I remembered you. And Uncle Ry' . She said , , pride in her eyes and recognition in her smile. "You didn't leave me? I fell asleep... I'm sorry..." As Liam seated her on his thigh , and Ryan clamoured down beside them, he slid the morning glory into her hair . "We told you that's what Uncles are for right ? And you have to let Sam get some rest huh? We've been walking so long it's dark now-" Ryan was already coercing some flattened jerky from his pocket as he said "are you hungry , Lily , it's salty but it will help your body keep the water in so you don't get thirsty. But I need you to drink some water for me okay? " . Liam slid his duffel bag off his shoulder and uncapped a metal flask , "well not zero hydration, I forgot about this - here ya go , drink up now and you'll feel better. All that crying you did earlier means you must be thirsty huh?" . bewildered , she grasped the only water she'd consumed that day, drinking without question. "Thanks , Uncle Liam. Daddy always made me and mommy dinner-" as she stared into the sleeve of his jacket, her eyes were haunted and confused. "There's no dinner anymore , and no bedtime -and no more stories -" As Ryan handed her the jerky , he said , a calmness in his voice. "Ah, I'm sure your Dad... and your Mom... are missing you too right now. I bet they'd wish they could have made you dinner , so you better eat all of this huh? So they don't have to worry about you being hungry -" . As she reached for the strip of low grade nutrition, Ryan's stomach protested as it bound with his own starvation. "Aren't you hungry Uncle Rt' you sound hungry..." she said, her laugh returning with its octave of youth contrasting in the night. "Adults can be hungry longer than kids , it's like when you scrape your knee , it heals up fast right, and the more times it happens the less it hurts , so me and uncle Liam are better at being hungry." While she finished the jerky, she nodded , seeming to understand as she placed a hand on Ryan's bloodstained elbow. "It doesn't hurt anymore?" She asked , her pupils widening as the dried blood flaked into Ryan's lap and he grinned . "Nah , but I'm a big number, you're only four so don't worry, we won't let you get any scrapes. We're gonna keep you super protected , yeah? " As Lily leaned her head against Liam's abdomen, his jacket enveloping sides of her head, he smirked. "But does Uncle Ryan ever get tired of talking in the third person, or does he always do that when he's driving and the poor guy in front ain't indicating..." . Ryan's snort punctured the air as he answered, "Uncke Liam need to find his cork, and cram it back -" They both laughed as Lily watched them both , a lack of comprehension bringing a smile to her face. "You are both so silly. But don't worry, I won't tell anybody-" she said, before tears welled in her eyes. "I -I -didn't say goodbye to Kai ... he ... was my best-maybe he's lost too -and and" No this is the continuation I had in mind : As she voice broke away to her tears , Liam rearranged a stray strand of her hair as he said "And Kai will always be your best friend , no matter what, we don't know where he is but we know he's alive. It's gonna be ok, there's a lot of kids out there who got left behind but they have people looking for them , just like we were looking for you-" Liam said, his voice rough with his own dehydration, as he balanced his fatigue on the runs of his eyes . Ryan lowered his voice as he said "it seems they just leave the children, all part of the calling card bull-I mean , I'd be betting a winning horse that Kai is stranded but deliberately unharmed , I'd feel sick if my stomach lining wasn't tearing itself out-" Liam placed his index finger over Lily's chest as he said , "You can sleep, it's alright, Uncle Ry used to have a friend like Kai , his name was-well let's call him Jack, he used to play guitar and well-he wrote a song. You wanna hear it? now I can't sing very well but ah you'll just have to go easy on uncle Liam tonight huh? . Lily's laughter peppered the clarity in the air as she said "Daddy always says he can't sing but-that means he knows all the words" she clung to the opening ofshared a smirk , Liam's jacket, the rigid denim sitting heavy around the frame of her face, offering her a semblance of structure as she said "I'm listening, Uncle Li'" . As thoughts of his long deceased friend Mason flooded through his mind , he hummed the melody in the back of his throat, the words caught with no articulation. "She laughed as she said "it doesn't matter if you forgot the words , its just like mommy's songs-she forgets the words too but it doesn't matter. I just hope her and daddy wait for me - do you think they will ?" Liam's eyes flickered with the discolouration of imploring deception as he said "They will, I just know it" . Ryan's voice, a lulled whisper from behind , pulled him out of forging promises . "Don't go there , Li-" . There was an impregnated silence as she answered , her eyes hollow with an imperceptible emotion. "But , the...man that made Daddy say-goodbye-he-" as the words departed her tiny body , she shivered, and pulled Liam's jacket against her ears "No -I don't remember anymore-" she said, and was consumed in a silence that inhabited Liam's concave lap. As he started down at her, the moonlight caught in her shining eyes , as he sighed into the encroaching midnight. "When you do remember Lily, you can tell us, no matter how tweeting what you saw might have been, we have seen worse things. We won't be afraid. But for now sleep huh? No more scary thoughts till the morning." The next moment , just as Ryan shook his head, she said the words already edging in his brain. "The other heaven....Daddy said it wasn't hell, cause that's a bad place and it was the other heaven . But -where is the other heaven? Have you been there?" Grappling with the question , Liam gazed at Ryan's lament as he answered without hesitation . "I'm pretty sure I have, and if that's where your father is , I'm as sure as I've been he's coming back , soon , kiddo. Now you get some rest huh? Tomorrow will be a long day" His eyes burnt with the heat radiating through his vision , as he was forced into the crotch of his jeans , his screams escaping his clenched teeth. Next, his shirt was yanked over his shoulders and he screams pierced his skull . "Sienna , no , don't follow me , please" he yelled, his voice entwined with flames of pleading as his captors dragged him across the glass, his skin slashed and erupting with his warm blood . A hand held his jaw close as an arm formed a noose as his body dragged across shards of debris , and the screams of his wife ran down his spine, No Carter , we have to stay together . Lily , hold on to my hand , don't move , sweetheart -I love you baby girl" , she said through tears as her own fate was executed with brutal force. "We have ... intentions for you Sienna , but say goodbye to Carter , he's never coming back from hell" . Sienna, still holding her daughter's hand , broke down , her palms splaying in the shattered windows , their house now blown to smithereens and her husband being removed from the remains of their life. "She's a witness , and she keeps on watching, if she doesn't serve as a vessel she has some pretty eyes . Landon can deal with her...fate." Lily's hand was dropped into the air as Carter screamed at his child , the terror insurmountable. "Don't move Lily , stay by my boots, just don't you leave them , alright? " In an instant, faster than any fire could spread , Siena was gagged and a hessian sack enveloped her screaming body as Carter cursed into the air . "Don't touch her,-Sienna , it'll be alright-" he whispered , his voice strained with agony. The voice was calm, devoid of emotion as it promised . "We won't -touch her-oh you'd only wish that we had the time , or the care , for such pleasures -but, Landon is a busy man. Business is-business." Lily's silence haunted the skies as their magenta hues fell in rays around her stance, shaking by her father's boots and clutching the only possession she had left. "Why are you taking Daddy to hell? " her voice hit the open air, and Carter choked out in response to her pleading question , "it's not hell , Lily , it's the other heaven , and I'll be alright, you hear me?" Another voice pierced into his skull as he felt Siena's unmoving body fall atop his back as he was flipped over, as his face slammed the unforgiving pane of a door. "Say goodbye Carter, you're going to die after all , you'll be in heaven , or perhaps hell , rotting forever, now won't you? Because men like you don't belong in heaven now do they , Carter..." a twisteddimple upholding his right cheek as his lopsided smile crept across Carters face as he said , coldly, "I'm not dying anytime soon". As he wrestled his head upwards , leaning in his forearms, he established eye contact with Lily one final time. "I'll be in the other heaven , Lily and it's not Goodbye alright? I love you, you never forget that" he said, a feigned calmness in his voice as her amber irises held the matching flames of hazel and gold of his own as he stared at his four year old daughter . Sliding down by his boots , she buried her face in her hands , and cried, as his screams rang out into the noon sunlight, and he was gone . ////::::: " Morning , Lily , you must be wondering where Daddy went, or where Mommy is hiding ... and you must be sad that they both left you here huh? And I guess uncle Liam ... and uncle Ryan didn't want you anymore either, now you're alone in the other heaven, and Daddy lied didn't he. He's not here. Isn't that sad that no body cares about you at all. Even your bear is ...gone . did you lose him? Why would you let go of him? " The voice, suctioning around a tooth as it deposited saliva at her face , was cold and devoid of care. As she felt the deep burn of rope against her hands she heard a familiar voice whisper near her ear. "Lily, don't cry, it'll be alright, this is the other heaven, and you're alive, you're ok. You listen to me , I'm here with you and this is a place where good people have to go when bad people try to take them away from each other. But you're safe cause we can escape the bad people and go home together now" , Carter said, his voice a rasp against the concrete as he struggled to vocally reach his daughter who lay beside him, blindfolded and bound . As Lily turned her head, all she was met with was darkness , as she whispered "Daddy?" . Carter, with his heart containing his racing pulse as he watched Sienna in his peripheral vision, was stung by his own tears. The ice of the initial voice crept around her as it taunted "Did you just hear Daddy? No... he's gone. You must like to play pretend , imagine things? like all kids do....", the voice said, flat yet menacing . As Carter bucked his locked jaw against the ground, he immediately sensed his gag inching tighter into his mouth. "You're just a dream, Carter, so best act like one, if you want her to remain...well you don't need a paraphrase ." , Landon said , as he slammed a palm over Carters nape. "Valen, you know Liam is starting to grate on my nerves...he drones right into my temporal lobe. " As another deposit of saliva hit the concrete Valen said, "Ah yes, Liam ...bearer of my recurring nightmares... or are they dreams ... I find him brilliant...and fascinating . His psyche has an intricacy that is , enthralling ... and Ryan, ah he's the magic number in the grand lotto of psychological thrill . But Carter here, and Sienna...now I've seen some light shows with scintillating colors but... none so vibrant ... so enriched with potential. Let's see how bright they both shine in the cavities of their own-" Liam's voice tore through his gag as he snarled ."Getting you bent would satisfy me in ways I can't straddle, so by all means leave my legs tied together for a moment longer , oh dark traveller ." Carter's eyes glistened with the moonlight as he bit back his emerging laughter, and closed his eyes as his binds ensnared him. "Sienna" Carter growled, his throat closing in around his breath . "Sienna, if you can hear me , it's not Lily, it's a sick ploy to terrify you-" Liam , as if pre-meditatively catching Carter's desperation, he whispered into the air , a moment before Carter could speak. . "Kid is silent for a reason.... Because think , mull over the consequences of child pornography, my sweet Valen, serenity now. Is my lover in the night going to dance with his morals in the darkest place. Would he have no sanctity . Oh maybe he doesn't care-or maybe your daughter is just a sack and he's romancing her like she could scream. " . Liam's proceeding groan tore a grunt from Carter . "Sienna he's right, the kid is just a burlap sack.A ploy ...Lily's still out there somewhere ...and we have to believe she's alive -" he said, a violent blow to his tailbone catching his tongue in his teeth. As tears escaped his eyes, Lily's terrified eyes barred, and her mouth gagged , it was a fire in his bound hands. As she started crying , through her gag her voice was almost inaudible, and Liam kept her voice covered with his commentary. "Oh sing on the breeze, sailor , your lover-buoy is floating a little far from the ship-" Ryan finally dislodged his gag, his saliva hitting the ground. "It's alright Lily , don't cry, uncle Liam is..silly huh, but you'll be ok , Uncle Ry knows about the flower you picked for Daddy, the blue one? You remember that?" As the moonlight outlined her features , her voice faded into silence as she mumbled "yeah, it was just like Uncle Liam's eyes , but prettier , I want to pick one for Daddy , an orange one , I remembered , cause daddy's eyes are orange ...and Mommy's eyes are green so, I don't know a green flower .. do you know a green one Uncle Ryan, because ..Because maybe mommy is sad and I want her to be happy. " As tears crept into her voice , Ryan maintained his even tone. "Hey Lily, do you know what is green? Leaves , and if you pick all the flowers you can imagine , they will all have green leaves , and they'll be colorful too. How about that , huh? Mommy will be so happy. But you can sleep if you're tired , Uncle Liam is kind of funny huh? " She offered a faint smile as her head shook ," yeah hes funny, but he's not the handsome uncle, you are Ry' . But not as handsome as Daddy-" --------//// Carter's voice was strained against the clouds of dust , filtering through drawn shutters . A cruel sun rose as he lay bound in the darkness of a new day, his daughter still frozen in the blanket of pale magenta daylight. "Lily, Daddy is still here, and Mommy too... you picked some flowers with uncle Ryan , a blue one? I think that flower is called a morning glory and you know why? Because the sky is bluest in the morning . " For a fleeting moment, the ropes against his flesh were salved by her faint whisper "I told Uncle Ry' that the sky was pretty because it was red. But sometimes it's blue too... is it still out there? " Carter's eyes , bloodshot with his lack of sleep, trailed to the broken fragments of harsh glare as he said "I promise you , it's still out there , and we will pick mommy some flowers , just you and me. Do you miss her? It's ok , Lily , I miss her too but uncle Liam is gonna save her too. If he keeps talking long enough, we'll all be home soon. Uncle Liam is clever , even though we can't really understand what he's saying." Ryan's voice cut through the stillness , as his gag was reigned in. A muffled curse followed. Liam released a low sneer , his voice venomous as he drawled his words . "Oh , virgin Statue of Liberty, that the French bestowed upon my heart , shall she have entry to my American channel. Say, can you see - ." Valen , flexing his knuckles in a deliberate movement, grazed Liam's cheek as he said "Oh he never stops , it's two measures futile, one measure spirit I intend to break. But not this passing in the night . Ah, Liam has a role on the chessboard , he can only dream of what it might be ...but today, is your moment Carter, to dance like a bear on hot coals. And I don't expect a performance, I may be only too aware of the beauty in your humanity breaking . That when I see you coming undone for your wife, your sweet child 'o mine. " As Carter's ribcage flinched inside his chest, he stifled a pained growl as his throat closed in around his breath, his airways restricted . "You.. won't..touch-my daughter-" . As Valens boots rested aside Carter's shuttered vision, slats of light cursing his eyelids , he felt a cold hand trace his neck. "Oh , Carter, my hands aren't to be feared if you're psyche is be ..conserved . Never mistake my intentions. I am if nothing else, a professional. I do have a drug to implant. Business to attend to. But. I can enjoy the fluctuations in the stock market. The retention is dependent on the success . Or to that effect. But scream if you undervalue your reserves. By all means, scream those lungs inside out." Liam's voice was a warm , yet defiant interjection , "Oh he always says shit like that, indulgent bastard who adores the sound of his own voice almost as much as the color of my baby blues, but none of us are breaking ..or dancing . You touch the kid and we will light your wick and the whole damn-". Carter's voice was strained against the clouds of dust , filtering through drawn shutters . A cruel sun rose as he lay bound in the darkness of a new day, his daughter still frozen in the blanket of pale magenta daylight. "Lily, Daddy is still here, and Mommy too... you picked some flowers with uncle Ryan , a blue one? I think that flower is called a morning glory and you know why? Because the sky is bluest in the morning . " For a fleeting moment, the ropes against his flesh were salved by her faint whisper "I told Uncle Ry' that the sky was pretty because it was red. But sometimes it's blue too... is it still out there? " Carter's eyes , bloodshot with his lack of sleep, trailed to the broken fragments of harsh glare as he said "I promise you , it's still out there , and we will pick mommy some flowers , just you and me. Do you miss her? It's ok , Lily , I miss her too but uncle Liam is gonna save her too. If he keeps talking long enough, we'll all be home soon. Uncle Liam is clever , even though we can't really understand what he's saying." Ryan's voice cut through the stillness , as his gag was reigned in. A muffled curse followed. Liam released a low sneer , his voice venomous as he drawled his words . "Oh , virgin Statue of Liberty, that the French bestowed upon my heart , shall she have entry to my American channel. Say, can you see - ." Valen , flexing his knuckles in a deliberate movement, grazed Liam's cheek as he said "Oh he never stops , it's two measures futile, one measure spirit I intend to break. But not this passing in the night . Ah, Liam has a role on the chessboard , he can only dream of what it might be ...but today, is your moment Carter, to dance like a bear on hot coals. And I don't expect a performance, I may be only too aware of the beauty in your humanity breaking . That when I see you coming undone for your wife, your sweet child 'o mine. " As Carter's ribcage flinched inside his chest, he stifled a pained growl as his throat closed in around his breath, his airways restricted . "You... won't...touch-my daughter-" . As Valens boots rested aside Carter's shuttered vision, slats of light cursing his eyelids , he felt a cold hand trace his neck. "Oh , Carter, my hands aren't to be feared if you're psyche is be ...conserved . Never mistake my intentions. I am if nothing else, a professional. I do have a drug to implant. Business to attend to. But. I can enjoy the fluctuations in the stock market. The retention is dependent on the success . Or to that effect. But scream if you undervalue your reserves. By all means, scream those lungs inside out." Liam's voice was a warm , yet defiant interjection , "Oh he always says shit like that, indulgent bastard who adores the sound of his own voice almost as much as the color of my baby blues, but none of us are breaking ...or dancing . You touch the kid and we will light your wick and the whole damn-". As Carter grasped her wrist, 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 .She'd been there , on 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-". 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-planted? Carter. Well there's always ...this." A wilted blue flower, azure in its hue yet tainted with the shades of amber that gazed at him as his retinas burned. His blindfold , pushed upwards as his eyes fluttered open, exposed his gold flecked irises to the petals by his eyelashes. "The one she picked...for you, Daddy? Ah. The one she wore in her hair when-" Carter twisted his head away as tears moistened the delicate remnants of his daughter's innocence."My wife...Sienna, you bastards threw her dead body onto my back...not my little girl...she was ...she was left behind . A calling card" Carters voice danced with a confusion from a hell within his torn psyche , the freedom of his untied hands a mockery. "Carter , do you believe , in the "other heaven... the one where , you aren't dead because , oh, you're not in heaven, nor in hell . Where then, father, might you be? Tell her Carter ... " As his teeth clenched against the blood in his mouth , he growled "Why ... have the nerve to stare me in my eyes and tell me the reason. Close. So I can feel the answer ringing in my skull forever. You never mince a word , right? So one chance is more than enough." Valen's voice appeared at his eardrum , breeding each word in fertile soil. "Maybe, this , is the greatest show , the brightest to ever burn at the end of the singular rope..." Carter's eyes, dead with a smile of depravity slithering across his pupils, stalled. "Or perhaps, you neglected one detail , when you tore me away , with no way of protecting them, maybe it skipped your psychotropic labyrinth of utter bullshit. That I wouldn't notice. Everything. About . My . Wife. And . My . Daughter. " Valen, as if sensing the opportune richness of the moment, silenced Liam "Don't try, blue eyes, he's got the floor...". As Carter gazed through half closed lids at Liam's outline, his menace of a smile , he drawled against the concrete, his heart crawling to a slow. "She dropped Lily's hand . She let go. Sienna ...let , go .and then , what did my daughter do? She stayed. And I trusted she would. I knew she'd be found. Alive. I noticed they operate on a plane that you cannot fathom. Take my fascinating damned mind and have at it. I don't need it anymore. Because there's one place in the temple you can't visit. It's gone forever. " Carters tears stung his eyes as they feel , the concrete inching closer as morphed to dry, emancipated retches. Valens boots remained at his head as he offered a slow clap. "I'm done with the display, leave him here to die . With them. Body count three. And yet the Vanderine goes unhidden and I have business to attend to." ------------his face. "Damn straight , brother."

USER: Is this emotionally resent and maturely written : Masonry Liam's hair, ladenRyan hauled his torso through the splinters of glass, blood saturating his shirt as he crawled on his elbows, his bound legs dragging behind. Finally , as his ankle was freed by the sharp jag of a split window pane beneath him , he kicked away the rope from his feet. As he scanned the horizon, his eyes raw and throbbing with splinters of ice and snow, stuck out from his low-slung cap. His words framed the brittle air as he spoke, the chill unrelenting, 'I never meant to return here. I know I--I promised I'd never look back. That I'd leave you as you were , and yet I ended up back here anyway. I don't listen to anyone , huh?.'" He dug his stiffened hands into his jeans, his boot striking a rock as his own murmurhis pulse , the distinct sound haunted him. 'Can't stay long, but I still remember what real sunsets looked like, the way the colors just stretched for miles. I hope you haven't seen this magenta sky. I hope you never know it. World's not the same , hasn't looked like it did in so many damned years. I guess-well-" His acuity, melting into the atmosphere, left himIt rained through the air from a thousand directions , its distress weaving through his clenching jaw. Willing the noise to anchor itself , he grabbed at his searing temple , its faint persistence causing his head to ache. An unrelenting glare marred his vision, striking his eyes with no other thoughts. "You rest well, ' cause while I'm standing here talking to you like you're still here, I know you probably can't hear a word - but I kinda like to pretend maybe you can. ' He laughed in spite of his raw sense of sorrow and turned away from the plot, dusting his knuckles across the slot of cremated ashes in a lingering fist bump. 'Again, sometime, brother." Leaves swirled around the hem of his jeans , glazed with ice as he folded his arms across his chest . 'But before I go, there's something I know you've heard me singing in my sleep. Can't get the song out of my head. I can't remember where it came from but-it's the only one that stuck." he said in a low tone , exhaustion passing over his stature. "I came here to leave it with you, along with something of yours I' been carrying around. Keeping you close, but--if I lost it, well-." An entire moment passed before Liam fumbled a thin, metal guitar fret from his pocket, a perfect fit between his index finger and thumb. He then unrolled a small piece of paper with a scrawled transcription and wrapped it around the fret. In a swift gesture, he drove it deep into a crack between two bricks in the wall. "The ninth fret was always a part of every song- I think only you would appreciate it but , that's kinda the whole point. " Liam's faint smilescintillating hues of green and white as he rested on the glimmer of the fret , visible in the crevice beside Mason's ashes, along with his notes. "I... still... I. Just. You can't imagine the things... or the times I've wanted to say. Mace could have played you that one while I ruined the lyrics. Still have the rest of your rosewood, too, with all of your fingerprints intact. Which isn't easy keeping hidden in my childhood bedroom. Haven't been home in too long. Damned if I had known you'd find me where you did--or when, and yet I wasn't there to--but hell, you'd never let me take it all on my own shoulders. And I won't-- It's never gonna be... all right, but--I'll try to keep your songs around. You found me when I was so close to -yet I'm still alive huh? Some things ain't fair, brother ." Without raising his eyes from his fist, his memories hid between his fingers, slipping away as he flexed his palm. "I only hope youhis gaze behind his hand. "Liam, I can't see me now, with all this all this hell in my eyes, with the shadows. I still remember the light in yours,, I don't worry . 'Cause I keep my promises, and you're still my oldest friend. First, and the last. Just... don't ever forget that." As Liam turned away, trudging along the icy path that wound through the cemetery, it could have been hours. Days. Months. Or just a few seconds. And it could have been anywhere. Grief only changed shape as he confronted the infused December sky, its witness the only one in sight. As Liam slid down onto the curb, only a few miles from where he'd last seen Ethan, he glanced up at the approaching figure. "Hey, Lara, I haven't seen Eth since... maybe three hours ago." She dropped to his side, grasping his freezing hand in her own. "Liam, it's cold out here; you're like ice... wait, did you visit Mas--" Her eyes, filled with a silent understanding, flitted to his and back to his hand as she placed it in his lap. "We've both been looking for you, Ethan and I--but I'll tell him you're alright, okay?" Liam, his eyes reddened but dried out from the temperature, nodded. "Yeah, I-it's... Well, you know how long we've been out here or why I can't pinpoint the crying-" . .Then , as the deep magenta particles cleared, his heartbeat screamed to a halt. As his eyes froze on the distant figure, her outline framed with the fading daylight, his disgust burned across his tongue as cursed into his forearm . "Liam ... I thought I'd seen my share of hell but ...those bastards don't-the things I'm guessing' she's seen-" Liam , catching up to Ryan in the haze of desolation, ran a hand over his eyes , his weathered stare haunted as she stood crying into blackened hands. "God , I don't know what I expected , but she can't be older than say, five? Assuming she had parents , the father , A, Dead, or B, pleading for the status through his teeth. And the mother-I can't even visit that twisted scenario-And in front of her- is there nothing those bastards won't pervert- " he said, the anger seeping through his teeth as his curse trailed into the heat of the arid air. "We need to move fast, if she moves-" Liam said, his hand finding its way to his nape as he balanced his stiffened neck, unable to find a space uncovered by shattered windows to rest his chin. Ryan braced a hand over Liam's chest, as he said "It's ok Li' ... I've got this." As her face emerged from the heavy clouds of dust, Ryan pulled himself to feet and approached her , his bloodied elbows behind his back as he winced in the dusk, as her crying ceased and she lifted her eyes. " Hey, where's your mom and dad , huh? " Ryan asked, the girl's tiny amber irises , with her large pupils -loaded with trauma , gazed into his... "I -I don't know. I miss them. But why did they-why-why they m-make Daddy take off his shoes . He-says you-get-cut without your shoes. And then they told him to s-say Good-by-goodbye? " Ryan dropped to his knees , her face peering up into his unwavering gaze as he said evenly . "We're gonna find him , ok, but you'll be safe with me and uncle Liam for now. What's your name ? You can call me Ry'" Clutching the remains of a stuffed bear, albeit its left eye handing by a thread , she offered a stammered reply "I-m I'm Lily" . She then brandished four fingers in Ryan's smiling face as she announced , " I'm four years old...how old are you?" . Liam's laugh came from somewhere behind Ryan's head as he answered her. "He's a big number , hold up both hands Ry, " Ryan's smile broadened for the first time in days as he laughed , offering his hand to the child as she entrusted her hand to his grasp. "Uncle Ry' is -ah it doesn't matter. You're gorgeous ain't ya?" She blushed with a crystalline laugh, as her eyes darted and she wound her shoe into the dust. "That's what Daddy always says-but he told not to move no matter what-" she said, her eyes glistening with tears. "But I don't know why Daddy is gone , to the -um -other heaven?" The magenta skies bled behind her fragile silhouette , as Liam bent down beside her. "We think we know-about this other heaven , and we are gonna find mommy too huh?" Her face lit up , the pink hues melting into her glassy stare as she said "Yeah, I wanna see mommy , too ." Liam , smiling despite the uncertain twist of agony in his chest, gestured towards the dilapidated toy in her hand. "Who's this , huh, I bet he's pretty special? We have to make sure that no matter what, we don't lose him. " As he winked , she held up the dust infested bear as it were an earned prize . "He's Sam, he's smaller now... but I still love him ." Liam leaned behind Ryan's head as he said, in a low tone. "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" . As Liam's eyes landed on a pair of boots , placed eerily close together , perfect and stripped of their laces , Ryan's gaze followed. "Yeah Li' , I'm guessin' those are the father's . It's a calling card if I ever saw it. I don't know what she means by this other heaven but, yeah I'm not liking anything about this picture..." The sky echoed the sentiment of despair infused with a faint hope as Lily's hand fluted Ryan's thumb and forefinger with a shaking inquisition. "Uncle Ry-I-I-I don't know where I am....i got left behind ... it's been," hecause I let go of mommy's hand . I'm -I'm sorry-" Liam , deftly grasping her wrist , pulled her into the crux of his elbow. "No , Lily, it's not you fault. You keep Sam safe , so he's lucky you were hanging on tight to him huh?" The light flew back to her eyes as she nodded. "Yeah-but Uncle...um" she said , already disoriented by the encounter., and the dust streaked faces of two men kneeling in the remains of suburbia. "You can call me Uncle Li'- you've made two new friends today huh? How about that?"Her eyes faltered a moment, then she gazed directly into Liam's blue stare, as she lowered her voice to a whisper . "Uncle Li" , don't tell anybody , but I have a secret. I -it's -um-" She leaned closer, whispering into Liam's ear as she said "I found this and I wanted to give it to Daddy but-it's the same color as your eyes". As she produced a wilted morning glory from her pocket , she perched it on Liam's grease laden hair, behind his earlobe. "Oh , you're too -" he said , the gesture unbalancing his compose as he encircled his arm around her waist . "I bet you're tired huh, if you can't walk , do you think you can fit up here?" Liam, patting his shoulders , watched as she nodded , dust falling in her light hair. Hoisting her up , her knees falling either side of his jaw , he guided her hands to his hair. "Hold on tight , I got you. And up we go". Liam rose to his feet , with the aid of Ryan's firm grip hauling him off the ground. Lily was quick to reach out Ryan's hand, grabbing his pinky and swaying it back and forth as he walked alongside Liam. "You're so high up there , is the sky pretty? "He asked, as their footsteps fell in line with the jagged lashings of debris. Through a yawn she said, his gaze finding solace somewhere in Lara's dark hair, averting her gaze. "Yeah, too long. Ethan was worried you'd freeze,"yeah, it's red, I like it...but I'm so tired...I can't sleep till mommy and daddy-umm -I'm scared now ..." Her fingers twisted against Liam's scalp and her chest shook with oncoming tears. He quickly halted , assuring her she could sleep. "You can take a nap up there , we will keep walking so even while you sleep we'll be getting closer to your parents, it's gonna be ok-" . Ryan , reaching up to stroke her hair said quietly "when you wake up we'll still be here , because that's what uncles are for right? And you are stuck with two of us so you're double safe ...but you'd better gethug Sam tight so he doesn't fall huh?" . Lily stuffed the bear down her oversized shirt, and rested her chin in Liam's unkept bed of hair. "He's safe now..." she said , her voice travelling over Liam's head as her eyes slid closed. Ryan glanced out at the horizon, the sun slipping lower, and he nudged Liam. "I'm guessin' that it's been about two miles , and we still don't have an iota of a clue where to start lookin' , and you know the pattern up to this point has been , traffic with the men...torture and kill the women for pure sadistic pleasure. Maybe he even trafficked a few of them two... but I don't know how we tell this kid she might not see either of her folks again-" . As his expression flickered with worry and a foreboding guilt, Liam sighed , pulling the small of Lily's back to civilization soon..." shecloser to his neck, her stomach flush against his skin. "I don't think we do- I think she's gonna put two and two together -kids just know this shit right? And we might have to ask ourselves something worse, for instance, how do we deal with her total sense of abandonment, the survivors guilt, she's us in a smaller , vulnerable body-" . Ryan slowed his gait, the wear in his voice as he said "Well, not in the sense that she can understand it. We might find them alive yet, and I suspect that the boots mean they want us to find these people. Lily herself is a calling card. I know better than to assume they were disposed of so fast." Liam's eyes were dark with the notion , as the concrete pavement wound its way into an unpromising nowhere. As the night carried a soothing breeze , taking the searing edge from the heat out of the arid air, Lily began to stir. "Daddy-it's cold-I don't wanna sleep yet, I wanna play with Kai-no, I -" . Her shoes kicked against Liam's collarbones as her fists coiled in his strands of textured hair. "Daddy? " Her voice was met by the silence of Ryan's downcast stare as he placed a palm against the back of Lily's head. "You remember me? Uncle Ry' . We found you and Sam, because you got lost , yeah? But you're safe now-" he said, offering a smile and a hand on his jacketed shoulder. "Thanks, you've both been feedingher hair gritty against his skin. Liam , adjusting his neck as she twisted around in his hands yawning , loosened his protective grip. As Lily registered the flower behind his ear, she plucked it out with sleep in her voice. "Oh , I gave this to you, Uncle Li' , I'm gonna pick another one for Daddy coz his eyes are ...orange -like mine-" Ryan , as he smiled at her profile muttered to himself , noting the detail of her fathers appearance. "Hazel eyes...y'know, this doesn't sit right with me way too long as it is--and I'm not the most stable guest." She laughed as she let her hand slide from his shoulder. "Ethan could out-eat us all, so don't worry about that. Just take care out here." And as she walked away, he rested his head against the flesh of his palm, the solitude granting him a moment of clarity--onebecause, that he could never share. A melody in the corner of his mind, one that he couldn't muster the strength to hum . "Yeah, Mason, you're everywhere, and nowhere, buddy. Guess I've learnt to live with that. " -- Ok how's this : Liam glared into the darkness, the dust in his eyes unforgiving. The melody sank in a haunting tune through the night. "Cause there's a place deep inside of memechanism I had when I was seven or eight, where my dreamsbladder would drop and-The worst fear I had wasn't crying , it was having to sit in my own urine while it went cold . That was degradation. " Ryan said, as Liam manoeuvred himself over a crack in the pavement, missing the point in his concentration on the labyrinth of annihilation. "Where you going with this Ry'? " As Ryan wrapped his index finger around Lily's neck as she leaned in his hand, her eyes sliding closed again , he gazed out into the horizon. "What Im saying is , the things we can control, that we don't even consider, like pissin' ourselves, when you're her age , they are your worst enemy, they give you away. And when we figure out what she's afraid to do in front of us and does it anyway, that's when all hell will -" Liam's jaw, its bite realigning, bore the realisation as he removed the flower from behind his ear . As he twisted it in his fingers he said , "Yeah, but that's not what scares me, somehow it's giving me this, thinking she'll see another flower out here , kids got some immense disappointment coming and I'm still processing my own -" . Ryan muttered a few words out of ear shot, his faded voice lost in the impending nightfall. "Well , I hate to say Liam , but we're still no closer to finding this guy. I'm sure he would've been around our age-and in reasonable psychical condition, and I can't sleep thinking about how close he is likely to be, but we gotta give Lily a proper eight hours sleep. If she's tired , that will exacerbate our problem real quick . " With a groan , Liam came to a stop and eased Lily down from his shoulders , and collapsed onto the concrete footpath beside her as she awoke from a micro -slumber. "I -I -Uncle Liam? I remembered you. And Uncle Ry' . She said , , pride in her eyes and recognition in her smile. "You didn't leave me? I fell asleep... I'm sorry..." As Liam seated her on his thigh , and Ryan clamoured down beside them, he slid the morning glory into her hair . "We told you that's what Uncles are for right ? And you have a hold of me...and soon my soul will start to bleed..." Liam's voice broke off as he raked a tremor through his hair. "I still miss him," Liam said, uncertain ifto let Sam get some rest huh? We've been walking so long it's dark now-" Ryan could hear his musings. "Hey, Ry...how long have we been lying in this hell hole?" He asked, the silence torn by Ryan's answer, "Too long. And yeah, I heard you saying something about 'if you play Wonderwall, you'll look like a total tool' in your sleep, presumably to someone who could play music." Ryan smiled,was already coercing some flattened jerky from his pocket as he said "are you hungry , Lily , it's salty but it never reached hiswill help your body keep the water in so you don't get thirsty. But I need you to drink some water for me okay? " . Liam slid his duffel bag off his shoulder and uncapped a metal flask , "well not zero hydration, I forgot about this - here ya go , drink up now and you'll feel better. All that crying you did earlier means you must be thirsty huh?" . bewildered , she grasped the only water she'd consumed that day, drinking without question. "Thanks , Uncle Liam. Daddy always made me and mommy dinner-" as she stared into the sleeve of his jacket, her eyes as he added, "He really was a brother to you, huh? And don't lie because I'll know...and then I'll feel bad about giving ya this." As Liam dismissed a tear at the corner of his eye, he reached over to where Ryan lay, holding a piece of paper. "Music? You wrote music. What is this, Ry? You never told me you could--" Liam said, his eyes adjusting to the dark with a vulnerability that settled between them. Ryan, smiling with a broadness that reached his eyes, glanced at the paper with a nod. "Ah, I might have written down that song you insist on humming in your damned sleep. I knew it had some meaning, although I don't know what...least I could do for you, Li'." As his irises shone with another sheen of tears, Liam said quietly, "Mason could have played this--while I ruined the lyrics." Looking up from his boots, Ryan held a somber smile. "If I'd have known you way back then, I'm damned sure I'd have held you both to that." As Liam returned the nod, he folded the paper and tucked it into his duffel bag, magenta particles stirring in the air. "I know...He really was a huge chunk of my adolescence just...gone like...well, anyway, the music, when we get our hands on a guitar..." Ryan shook his head, angling his jaw in his hand. "Nah, we're in the middle of nowhere, and it'll never happen. But you got me, brother." Liam, smiling faintly, replied, "I know. We've seen so much that , well , does it make me an asshole for being happy that Mason died young, unaffected by the trauma that has screwed us up?. I mean he could've lived a different life from uswere haunted and confused. "There's no dinner anymore , and no bedtime -and maybe I'm wrong to hope he's in a betterno more stories -" As Ryan leaned back against the filth-stained wall , his voice contemplated the environment . "It's not wrong to want him tohanded her the jerky , he said , a calmness in his voice. "Ah, I'm sure your Dad... and your Mom... are missing you too right now. I bet they'd wish they could have a peacemade you dinner , so you better eat all of this huh? So they don't have to worry about you being hungry -" . As she reached for the strip of low grade nutrition, Ryan's stomach protested as it bound with his own starvation. "Aren't you hungry Uncle Rt' you sound hungry..." she said, her laugh returning with its octave of youth contrasting in the night. "Adults can be hungry longer than kids , it's like when you scrape your knee , it heals up fast right, and the more times it happens the less it hurts , so me and uncle Liam are better at being hungry." While she finished the jerky, she nodded , seeming to understand as she placed a hand on Ryan's bloodstained elbow. "It doesn't hurt anymore?" She asked , her pupils widening as the dried blood flaked into Ryan's lap and he grinned . "Nah , but I'm a big number, you're only four so don't worry, we may never find. It's human.won't let you get any scrapes. We're gonna keep you super protected , yeah? " As Lily leaned her head against Liam's abdomen, his jacket enveloping sides of her head, he smirked. "But does Uncle Ryan ever get tired of talking in the third person, or does he always do that when he's driving and the poor guy in front ain't indicating..." . Ryan's snort punctured the air as he answered, "Uncke Liam gazed back, conflict in his eyes as he said "Y'know , there's something I hadneed to find his cork, and cram it back home. And it's likely I'll never see it again, I-" They both laughed as Lily watched them both , a lack of comprehension bringing a smile to her face. "You are both so silly. But don't worry, I won't tell anybody-" she said, before tears welled in her eyes. "I -I -didn't say goodbye to Kai ... he ... was carrying a part of it with me for years , but just knowing I kept it safe...I chose to leave it with him and--". Words eluded Liam in the darkness, as Ryan's features , found by the moonlight, left him unable to deflect his gaze . "I feel as though, he wasn't a friend-he wasn't a comrade-he was a sibling, blood was all we didn't share . And even then when he needed a transfusion... I was the first to roll up my damned sleeve. And I wasnt the Ab neg he was-" In a hushed tone Ryan asked , "You think not being compatible was somehow a fault -but Li' , have you heard-well yourself? He could play better than Van Halen I'm guessing', and you could've ruined more than just his lyrics with those pipes . Don't make me say it again." Liam fell silent, and Ryan flopped backwards onto his makeshift bed. "It's alright Li'. Just get some sleep, and don't--" It was almost automatic as Liam replied, "Yeah, yeah, don't 'thank you.' I know, I'm welcome, huh? Yeah, goodnight, Ry." As Ryan's muttering hit the wall, Liam's mind sifted through the catalog of melodies Mason had played. And, amongst the static, a distinct composition of chords found their way back to him. "And if I fall beneath the cracks, if I find you in the darkness, brother, will you still have the heart to see? When I close my eyes and my memories start to fade, when the filter falls away, will you find the strength to stay?" Liam's breath , an unsteady exhale in the dark, dragged against his throat. The bonfire had long died , embers floating around his ankles as the dying flames lighted his eyes. Everyone had downed as much alcohol as imaginable, and staggered home with their rowdy goodbyes, while Liam had slipped off into the night, with a broken bottle of goose in his shaking hand. As his jacket rippled in the wind, lashing against his chest as he zipped it up, he was alone. The cliff , with its eeirie view of the fires remains, a place of revelries and warmth, was now extinguished and cold. "Yeah, no one noticed you never really left, huh?" As he glanced into the void beneath him, his bloodshot eyes seeking solace in the promise of erasure, he staggered unevenly to the edge. "Ah , to hell with it-" . As Liam muttered drunkenly into the silence , pilfered only by the crackle of the dying flames, he traced his neck with the bottles gleaming edge. locating his jugular, its pulsating warmth a cruel reminder of how futile his own bloodstream had become against his skin. Liam pressed the glass against his heartbeat, the sky mocking as the stars shone an icy clarity over his features. As he gazed in torn distress at the void beneath him, he heard a faint voice on the breeze. "I'll never get it right. Ah damnit. If I could nail it -Mason you sad idiot, no one even listens to your garbage anyway." As Liam ground his shoes into the dirt, a rock skidded under his stance , and he cursed into air. "Hey , is someone still up there... I thought everybody left-" Mason yelled into the illuminated of his torch, nestled upright in the mouth of a beer can. "Hey, you assholes can trash my guitar playing somewhere else , I just wanna be alone-best-maybe he's lost too -and and" No this is rubbish ." Mason's angered tone slicedthe continuation I had in mind : As she voice broke away to her tears , Liam rearranged a stray strand of her hair as he said "And Kai will always be your best friend , no matter what, we don't know where he is but we know he's alive. It's gonna be ok, there's a lot of kids out there who got left behind but they have people looking for them , just like we were looking for you-" Liam said, his voice rough with his own dehydration, as he balanced his fatigue on the runs of his eyes . Ryan lowered his voice as he said "it seems they just leave the children, all part of the calling card bull-I mean , I'd be betting a winning horse that Kai is stranded but deliberately unharmed , I'd feel sick if my stomach lining wasn't tearing itself out-" Liam placed his index finger over Lily's chest as he said , "You can sleep, it's alright, Uncle Ry used to have a friend like Kai , his name was-well let's call him Jack, he used to play guitar and well-he wrote a song. You wanna hear it? now I can't sing very well but ah you'll just have to go easy on uncle Liam tonight huh? . Lily's laughter peppered the clarity in the air as she said "Daddy always says he can't sing but-that means he knows all the words" she clung to the opening of Liam's jacket, the rigid denim sitting heavy around the frame of her face, offering her a semblance of structure as she said "I'm listening, Uncle Li'" . As thoughts of his long deceased friend Mason flooded through Liam's helpless grip on the jagged glass as he dropped it over the edge of the cliff, watching it spiral away, cursing again. "Bro, don't get your panties tied up, it'shis mind , he hummed the melody in the back of his throat, the words caught with no articulation. "She laughed as she said "it doesn't matter if you forgot the words , its just me-I wasn't listening anyways , and trust me , my opinion is the last one that matters-" . As Liam established equilibrium in a low crouch , a few steps back from the edge he found himself drawing a new sense of warmth from the voice as it hurled back at him . "Wait-then what are you doing up there , party's over , man. You hang out on cliffs for fun....oh shit." . before Liam had shifted his throbbing temple from his hand , as it clung to his head , a figure appeared at his shoulder , holding a guitar and revealing of alcohol. "Ah, well ,like mommy's songs-she forgets the words too but it doesn't matter why I'm up here. Who the hell cares. But at least , you can play that thing. If my open onion meant anything, I'd say you might as well start busking on campus till a record label signs you, you talented prick-" Liam almost snarled his words , asmatter. I just hope her and daddy wait for me - do you think they eroded under his pain, a tear threatening to escape him. Mason , laying the guitar a few metres away and returning towill ?" Liam's side, scoffed into the darkeyes flickered with the discolouration of imploring deception as he said "Nah, you claim you heard nothin' anyway. So what do you know. All that worries me right now is what the hell you're doing so close to the edge of this damn cliff-" As Mason slumped down , a veil of intimacy forming as his absent special awareness centred"They will, I know it" . Ryan's voice, a lulled whisper from behind , pulled him inches away from Liam. "You look like hell, but I bet you feel worse right. You're up here , think in' I don't care what you understand about music but see, the thing is , I was one note away from the riff that would have made my version of Comfortably Numb a masterpiece or something like that. But like you say, you weren't listening . So don't call me a prick. My fingers are bleeding and I'm far from comfortable or numb." . Mason said, his voice roughened with impending sobriety as his mouth played with a smirk. Despite the rawness of his nerves , Liam found a smile tugging at his lopsided grin, as he stabbed at the air above Mason's sternum. "Yeah well, maybe I heard it all , and you were in fact playing some made up crap that I bet you could fill a stadium with. You don't know how great you are but-" As Liam hummed off key, he was promptly shoved in the elbow as Mason asked, taken aback "You can -sing? And not only that, he's up here singing my trash , and - you were about to throw those pipes off a cliff ? "out of forging promises . "Don't go there , Li-" . There was an almost redeeming pause as Mason offered his hand toimpregnated silence as she answered , her eyes hollow with an imperceptible emotion. "But , the...man that made Daddy say-goodbye-he-" as the words departed her tiny body , she shivered, and pulled Liam's jacket against her ears. "No -I don't remember anymore-" she said, and was consumed in a silence that inhabited Liam's concave lap. As he started down at her, the moonlight caught in her shining eyes , as he sighed into the encroaching midnight. "When you do remember Lily, you can tell us, no matter how terrible what you saw might have been, we've seen worse things. We won't be afraid. But for now , you get some sleep huh? No more scary thoughts till the morning." The next moment , just as Ryan shook his head, she said the words already edging in his brain. "Uncle , Liam , leaning closer in the darkness. "Mason, call me Mace-. Maybe I remember.. um. The man , he wasn't angry, he was...scary but I don't-know-why? " Liam ceased his humming as he reciprocated , "Liam-you won'twhispered against her hair as he nestled further into his jacket "we are gonna find that man, so no more worrying about him. uncle Liam will bring your Daddy back -" Her voice pressed into the fibres of his denim as she whispered back , "The other heaven....Daddy said it wasn't hell, cause that's a bad place and it was the other heaven . But -where is the other heaven? Have you been there?" Grappling with the question , Liam gazed at Ryan's lament as he answered without hesitation . "I'm pretty sure I have, and if that's where your Dad is , he's coming back , soon , kiddo. Now you get some rest huh? Need to keep that strength up for when you give him the biggest hug you can. Liam could feel Ryan's eyes rolling at the back of his head as he rasped . "Liam, you can deal with your bed...you soft bast-" As Liam's chafed lips stretched into a smile her shook against Lily as she fell asleep. "Can't help it Ry' . And yeah , I'll be sleeping in my grave for this-unless we actually find him . And I have noticedevery intention of uncovering Valen yet again" Ryan's smile danced with a worn acceptance. "Yeah, I wouldn't dream of stopping you brother. but please, don't get too attached to-" As Liam's sigh lightly disturbed her hair he traced a thumb across her face, zipping his jacket down to meet he forehead. "I told you I have an existential problem with children being-". As Ryan's hand came to rest on Liam's shoulder he said ."Yeah. Its what keeps me around-"going, Li'" As Liam planted a palm either side of his legs , Mason smirked, the light of his torch contouring his cheekbones with a harsh glare. "Oh because no one would , huh? I've heard you , 'round campus , singing to yourself like no one will notice or care , but someone did and now what huh , Liam? Now what happens when I heard it and I need to know what you think you're doing throwing that off a ..." Mason's voice trailedleveraged his body closer to the ground, creating a bed to facilitate Lil'y's sleeping body, he said "C'mon Ry, look into my baby blues and tell me , you haven't lost the tiniest piece of your heart to this kid-" . A laugh , precedented by the inevitable , came from Ryan's direction. "Okay, yeah. she's a good kid and , her parents, damn , they aren't the people who deserve-" a prevailing silence as he sent a rock sailing into gravity's clutches , his eyes following its descent.met Ryan's lament as Liam grasped Mason's hand and shaking it as he muttered, shielded his reddened eyes from the torchlight. "Look, I'm glad you wandered up here to -tell me to stop listening . Cause to be honest I was- well I wouldn't call it stupid....no , Mason, it wasn't stupid , it was... the only action I might rely on . I think of how, if everything collapsed and I were drowning, I'll be alright because -" Liam rested a fatigued hand against his screaming eyes as he resisted the inebriated tears that hedged on the rims of his eyes. Mason, pulling Liam's hand into a grip against his shoulder, lowered his khaki green eyes into view . "Well, seeing as I'm here , and you still look as terrible as you did before-hit me . Tell me one thing that you believe I'll rip you apart for . It's not as if your opinion matters right-so I shouldn't be that affected . I should walk away laughing, right? It can't hurt to try it on me." As his posture slackened, Mason's words hit the air with a casual drawl, as if time was hanging around in the interim. Liam's shock was unlike a slap across his jaw as he clenched his teeth , his eyes breaking away at the lack of phase , yet the very invitation itself. . "Yeah, alright. You have a point there, I guess. But there's no one thing-" he said, as a shrug passed over his shoulders.""I don't know why you'd ask me , but-" Mason's fingers were already tracing a circle across the surface his jeans as he said, blunt yet with a restraint . "I asked, so come on , you give me your best, off the top of the head reason why I should leave you here , and make it count. I need to hear this. Got all night." It was a fatality in his breath that enveloped Liam's raw nerves as he answered, "Well , you have an audience now ... yet you're giving me the stage huh? I don't quite know what you're expecting. Some grandiose confession. "Oh Mason, I just can't carry on in a world so cruel, so I came up to this ledge to embrace the almighty void and plunge forth-" . Mason's eyes , dark and solid, waited under his rising eyebrow. "Who cares what I was expecting , or what I get. I don't think this is about me , as much as you might wanna listen to the sound of your own voice . Or does it scare you hearing it ? Out loud , for the first time in ? " The darkness , awaiting Liam's stare as he turned away, absorbed the volume in his voice, stripping it of its presence. "I haven't been home in three weeks. Folks told me never to set foot on their lawn again. And I don't blame them.... " Mason's eyes, trailing back to his guitar, carried a provoking concern. "Let me get this straight, they threw your ass out...for what? Let's hear it. After all, I don't care , do I . it's just conversation in the night. So explain what got you sitting on the curb on night..." Liam , breaking into a hollow smile , offset his bite , his teeth realigning. "It was, God I was stupid . I got so rotten one afternoon. I left my six year old cousin in the playground , by her school, till her parents found her at seven o'clock that night. I was supposed to have picked her up, but I headed to a-a frat party." As Mason was enveloped in silence, his eyes fixated on Liam's features, his gaze potent. "I -well-she could've -well-that's not what kills me. And now is the part where I tell you that , it's the way the kid -hugged me when I went to see her the next day. She said she loved me , and handed me a flower. And all I thought was -you bastard, Liam. You-" Mason's eyes , with an empathy strewn amongst an understanding, flickered with his torchlight. "So, she forgave you , huh? But you-" Liam's face , still angled toward his lap, finished Mason's assumption. "Nah, I didn't , because there's no one thing here. " Mason's heavy sigh , lingering in his lungs as he leaned forward, hung in the space between them. "It's a complicated network you have up there. A neighbourhood of short circuiting wires . But from what I can make out, there's no way in hell I'm leaving you up here. " Liam , biting back a thickness in his throat , shook his head. "Why not, what difference is it to you , Mason. You have one shot and you'd better make yours hit me harder ." As Mason's torch flicked off in his hands , he answered . "I can't justify leaving a man who , one , hates himself . And no one can hate you the way you can. And second, a man who hates himself for valid reasons , pointing to his own moral compass and yet, thinks a cliff is a fitting place to spend the night. Call me whatever , but I figure , if I can buy you one more day, consider it done. Still ain't got nowhere to be." Liam reached, almost absent of mind, for an unnoticed shard of glass , remaining from his earlier mishap as he twirled it through knuckles. "I-I didn't intend on seeing another. And I still don't know why you're so invested in a total stranger-" Liam swung his blue gaze at Mason, its bloodshot interrogation filled with a hopeful gleam of unshed tears . "Tell me Mason, the real reason you were out here, playing that guitar with a beer can in your lap, balancing a torch , when you have a dorm room to -" The pause offered reprieve to the tension in the air as Mason shifted his stare to the glass in Liam's hands. "Well, you're not gonna like this, but-even if I had the talent, or the skill , to fill one lousy stadium-I won't have the time-I-well-I know the isolation seems extreme . But sometimes I realise , I ain't gonna be around-people shouldn't get to attached to-ah it doesn't matter . It's a conversation for another dawn. Let's just focus on making it to this one. However far away it is. A few hours maybe. An hey, what's a few more hours right?" Liam, noticing the light fade from Mason's eyes , placed a hand on his shoulder . "It's a conversation for right now, if I stay here till sunrise, you're sure as hell gonna leave me with a reason to have kept my sorry ass from -" Mason's answer stayed in his throat before coming in an even tone. "I'm a ghost , Liam , I mean , I might live another year, sure . But I won't -you really don't need the details. I know you're capable of giving a shit , and you're a decent person. And I can't be getting all sentimental on you because-you're not the asshole you think . " As silence engulfed Mason, swallowing him whole, Liam sighed into his palm. "Oh it's like that huh? You think I didn't notice your arm. Unless you're injecting methadone , that's a hell of a lot of blood tests -" Mason's eyes , deep-set in their sockets, said more than his frail grin , as he whispered "It's not that I want to be alone, Liam, it's that I believe it's the right thing-" Liam's rogue tear finally escaped him , and a blanket of wordless atmosphere inched closer. "It's not-good thing you came up here to prove me huh? Coz I'll be damned if you spend anymore nights playing that guitar to the trees -" Mason's khaki stare was dragged away from the glass as it fell from Liam's hands, splinters flying across the cliffs edge . "Maybe we both needed to be alone tonight, and maybe it was dangerous to need the isolation-" Mason countered, as Liam nodded , fatigue chasing his voice. "Yeah , but neither of us found that peace , huh? Party died down, we both ended up drunk and -yeah that bonfire is long died, huh? " Mason, reaching out a fist, dragged his knuckles along Liam's shoulder . "No longer relevant. Now we're stuck here , together , and I'll deal with it. " They both shared a smirk , Liam's dimple upholding his right cheek as his lopsided smile crept across his face. "Damn straight , brother."retreated to silence.

USER: Ryan hauled his torso through the splinters of glass, blood saturating his shirt as he crawled on his elbows, his bound legs dragging behind. Finally , as his ankle was freed by the sharp jag of a split window pane beneath him , he kicked away the rope from his feet. As he scanned the horizon, his eyes raw and throbbing with his pulse , the distinct sound haunted him. It rained through the air from a thousand directions , its distress weaving through his clenching jaw. Willing the noise to anchor itself , he grabbed at his searing temple , its faint persistence causing his head to ache. An unrelenting glare marred his vision, striking his eyes with scintillating hues of green and white as he rested his gaze behind his hand. "Liam, I can't see , I don't know how long we've been out here or why I can't pinpoint the crying-" . .Then , as the deep magenta particles cleared, his heartbeat screamed to a halt. As his eyes froze on the distant figure, her outline framed with the fading daylight, his disgust burned across his tongue as cursed into his forearm . "Liam ... I thought I'd seen my share of hell but ...those bastards don't-the things I'm guessing' she's seen-" Liam , catching up to Ryan in the haze of desolation, ran a hand over his eyes , his weathered stare haunted as she stood crying into blackened hands. "God , I don't know what I expected , but she can't be older than say, five? Assuming she had parents , the father , A, Dead, or B, pleading for the status through his teeth. And the mother-I can't even visit that twisted scenario-And in front of her- is there nothing those bastards won't pervert- " he said, the anger seeping through his teeth as his curse trailed into the heat of the arid air. "We need to move fast, if she moves-" Liam said, his hand finding its way to his nape as he balanced his stiffened neck, unable to find a space uncovered by shattered windows to rest his chin. Ryan braced a hand over Liam's chest, as he said "It's ok Li' ... I've got this." As her face emerged from the heavy clouds of dust, Ryan pulled himself to feet and approached her , his bloodied elbows behind his back as he winced in the dusk, as her crying ceased and she lifted her eyes. " Hey, where's your mom and dad , huh? " Ryan asked, the girl's tiny amber irises , with her large pupils -loaded with trauma , gazed into his... "I -I don't know. I miss them. But why did they-why-why they m-make Daddy take off his shoes . He-says you-get-cut without your shoes. And then they told him to s-say Good-by-goodbye? " Ryan dropped to his knees , her face peering up into his unwavering gaze as he said evenly . "We're gonna find him , ok, but you'll be safe with me and uncle Liam for now. What's your name ? You can call me Ry'" Clutching the remains of a stuffed bear, albeit its left eye handing by a thread , she offered a stammered reply "I-m I'm Lily" . She then brandished four fingers in Ryan's smiling face as she announced , " I'm four years old...how old are you?" . Liam's laugh came from somewhere behind Ryan's head as he answered her. "He's a big number , hold up both hands Ry, " Ryan's smile broadened for the first time in days as he laughed , offering his hand to the child as she entrusted her hand to his grasp. "Uncle Ry' is -ah it doesn't matter. You're gorgeous ain't ya?" She blushed with a crystalline laugh, as her eyes darted and she wound her shoe into the dust. "That's what Daddy always says-but he told not to move no matter what-" she said, her eyes glistening with tears. "But I don't know why Daddy is gone , to the -um -other heaven?" The magenta skies bled behind her fragile silhouette , as Liam bent down beside her. "We think we know-about this other heaven , and we are gonna find mommy too huh?" Her face lit up , the pink hues melting into her glassy stare as she said "Yeah, I wanna see mommy , too ." Liam , smiling despite the uncertain twist of agony in his chest, gestured towards the dilapidated toy in her hand. "Who's this , huh, I bet he's pretty special? We have to make sure that no matter what, we don't lose him. " As he winked , she held up the dust infested bear as it were an earned prize . "He's Sam, he's smaller now... but I still love him ." Liam leaned behind Ryan's head as he said, in a low tone. "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" . As Liam's eyes landed on a pair of boots , placed eerily close together , perfect and stripped of their laces , Ryan's gaze followed. "Yeah Li' , I'm guessin' those are the father's . It's a calling card if I ever saw it. I don't know what she means by this other heaven but, yeah I'm not liking anything about this picture..." The sky echoed the sentiment of despair infused with a faint hope as Lily's hand fluted Ryan's thumb and forefinger with a shaking inquisition. "Uncle Ry-I-I-I don't know where I am....i got left behind ... it's cause I let go of mommy's hand . I'm -I'm sorry-" Liam , deftly grasping her wrist , pulled her into the crux of his elbow. "No , Lily, it's not you fault. You keep Sam safe , so he's lucky you were hanging on tight to him huh?" The light flew back to her eyes as she nodded. "Yeah-but Uncle...um" she said , already disoriented by the encounter., and the dust streaked faces of two men kneeling in the remains of suburbia. "You can call me Uncle Li'- you've made two new friends today huh? How about that?"Her eyes faltered a moment, then she gazed directly into Liam's blue stare, as she lowered her voice to a whisper . "Uncle Li" , don't tell anybody , but I have a secret. I -it's -um-" She leaned closer, whispering into Liam's ear as she said "I found this and I wanted to give it to Daddy but-it's the same color as your eyes". As she produced a wilted morning glory from her pocket , she perched it on Liam's grease laden hair, behind his earlobe. "Oh , you're too -" he said , the gesture unbalancing his compose as he encircled his arm around her waist . "I bet you're tired huh, if you can't walk , do you think you can fit up here?" Liam, patting his shoulders , watched as she nodded , dust falling in her light hair. Hoisting her up , her knees falling either side of his jaw , he guided her hands to his hair. "Hold on tight , I got you. And up we go". Liam rose to his feet , with the aid of Ryan's firm grip hauling him off the ground. Lily was quick to reach out Ryan's hand, grabbing his pinky and swaying it back and forth as he walked alongside Liam. "You're so high up there , is the sky pretty? "He asked, as their footsteps fell in line with the jagged lashings of debris. Through a yawn she said, "yeah, it's red, I like it...but I'm so tired...I can't sleep till mommy and daddy-umm -I'm scared now ..." Her fingers twisted against Liam's scalp and her chest shook with oncoming tears. He quickly halted , assuring her she could sleep. "You can take a nap up there , we will keep walking so even while you sleep we'll be getting closer to your parents, it's gonna be ok-" . Ryan , reaching up to stroke her hair said quietly "when you wake up we'll still be here , because that's what uncles are for right? And you are stuck with two of us so you're double safe ...but you'd better hug Sam tight so he doesn't fall huh?" . Lily stuffed the bear down her oversized shirt, and rested her chin in Liam's unkept bed of hair. "He's safe now..." she said , her voice travelling over Liam's head as her eyes slid closed. Ryan glanced out at the horizon, the sun slipping lower, and he nudged Liam. "I'm guessin' that it's been about two miles , and we still don't have an iota of a clue where to start lookin' , and you know the pattern up to this point has been , traffic with the men...torture and kill the women for pure sadistic pleasure. Maybe he even trafficked a few of them two... but I don't know how we tell this kid she might not see either of her folks again-" . As his expression flickered with worry and a foreboding guilt, Liam sighed , pulling the small of Lily's back closer to his neck, her stomach flush against his skin. "I don't think we do- I think she's gonna put two and two together -kids just know this shit right? And we might have to ask ourselves something worse, for instance, how do we deal with her total sense of abandonment, the survivors guilt, she's us in a smaller , vulnerable body-" . Ryan slowed his gait, the wear in his voice as he said "Well, not in the sense that she can understand it. We might find them alive yet, and I suspect that the boots mean they want us to find these people. Lily herself is a calling card. I know better than to assume they were disposed of so fast." Liam's eyes were dark with the notion , as the concrete pavement wound its way into an unpromising nowhere. As the night carried a soothing breeze , taking the searing edge from the heat out of the arid air, Lily began to stir. "Daddy-it's cold-I don't wanna sleep yet, I wanna play with Kai-no, I -" . Her shoes kicked against Liam's collarbones as her fists coiled in his strands of textured hair. "Daddy? " Her voice was met by the silence of Ryan's downcast stare as he placed a palm against the back of Lily's head. "You remember me? Uncle Ry' . We found you and Sam, because you got lost , yeah? But you're safe now-" he said, her hair gritty against his skin. Liam , adjusting his neck as she twisted around in his hands yawning , loosened his protective grip. As Lily registered the flower behind his ear, she plucked it out with sleep in her voice. "Oh , I gave this to you, Uncle Li' , I'm gonna pick another one for Daddy coz his eyes are ...orange -like mine-" Ryan , as he smiled at her profile muttered to himself , noting the detail of her fathers appearance. "Hazel eyes...y'know, this doesn't sit right with me because, that mechanism I had when I was seven or eight, where my bladder would drop and-The worst fear I had wasn't crying , it was having to sit in my own urine while it went cold . That was degradation. " Ryan said, as Liam manoeuvred himself over a crack in the pavement, missing the point in his concentration on the labyrinth of annihilation. "Where you going with this Ry'? " As Ryan wrapped his index finger around Lily's neck as she leaned in his hand, her eyes sliding closed again , he gazed out into the horizon. "What Im saying is , the things we can control, that we don't even consider, like pissin' ourselves, when you're her age , they are your worst enemy, they give you away. And when we figure out what she's afraid to do in front of us and does it anyway, that's when all hell will -" Liam's jaw, its bite realigning, bore the realisation as he removed the flower from behind his ear . As he twisted it in his fingers he said , "Yeah, but that's not what scares me, somehow it's giving me this, thinking she'll see another flower out here , kids got some immense disappointment coming and I'm still processing my own -" . Ryan muttered a few words out of ear shot, his faded voice lost in the impending nightfall. "Well , I hate to say Liam , but we're still no closer to finding this guy. I'm sure he would've been around our age-and in reasonable psychical condition, and I can't sleep thinking about how close he is likely to be, but we gotta give Lily a proper eight hours sleep. If she's tired , that will exacerbate our problem real quick . " With a groan , Liam came to a stop and eased Lily down from his shoulders , and collapsed onto the concrete footpath beside her as she awoke from a micro -slumber. "I -I -Uncle Liam? I remembered you. And Uncle Ry' . She said , , pride in her eyes and recognition in her smile. "You didn't leave me? I fell asleep... I'm sorry..." As Liam seated her on his thigh , and Ryan clamoured down beside them, he slid the morning glory into her hair . "We told you that's what Uncles are for right ? And you have to let Sam get some rest huh? We've been walking so long it's dark now-" Ryan was already coercing some flattened jerky from his pocket as he said "are you hungry , Lily , it's salty but it will help your body keep the water in so you don't get thirsty. But I need you to drink some water for me okay? " . Liam slid his duffel bag off his shoulder and uncapped a metal flask , "well not zero hydration, I forgot about this - here ya go , drink up now and you'll feel better. All that crying you did earlier means you must be thirsty huh?" . bewildered , she grasped the only water she'd consumed that day, drinking without question. "Thanks , Uncle Liam. Daddy always made me and mommy dinner-" as she stared into the sleeve of his jacket, her eyes were haunted and confused. "There's no dinner anymore , and no bedtime -and no more stories -" As Ryan handed her the jerky , he said , a calmness in his voice. "Ah, I'm sure your Dad... and your Mom... are missing you too right now. I bet they'd wish they could have made you dinner , so you better eat all of this huh? So they don't have to worry about you being hungry -" . As she reached for the strip of low grade nutrition, Ryan's stomach protested as it bound with his own starvation. "Aren't you hungry Uncle Rt' you sound hungry..." she said, her laugh returning with its octave of youth contrasting in the night. "Adults can be hungry longer than kids , it's like when you scrape your knee , it heals up fast right, and the more times it happens the less it hurts , so me and uncle Liam are better at being hungry." While she finished the jerky, she nodded , seeming to understand as she placed a hand on Ryan's bloodstained elbow. "It doesn't hurt anymore?" She asked , her pupils widening as the dried blood flaked into Ryan's lap and he grinned . "Nah , but I'm a big number, you're only four so don't worry, we won't let you get any scrapes. We're gonna keep you super protected , yeah? " As Lily leaned her head against Liam's abdomen, his jacket enveloping sides of her head, he smirked. "But does Uncle Ryan ever get tired of talking in the third person, or does he always do that when he's driving and the poor guy in front ain't indicating..." . Ryan's snort punctured the air as he answered, "Uncke Liam need to find his cork, and cram it back -" They both laughed as Lily watched them both , a lack of comprehension bringing a smile to her face. "You are both so silly. But don't worry, I won't tell anybody-" she said, before tears welled in her eyes. "I -I -didn't say goodbye to Kai ... he ... was my best-maybe he's lost too -and and" No this is the continuation I had in mind : As she voice broke away to her tears , Liam rearranged a stray strand of her hair as he said "And Kai will always be your best friend , no matter what, we don't know where he is but we know he's alive. It's gonna be ok, there's a lot of kids out there who got left behind but they have people looking for them , just like we were looking for you-" Liam said, his voice rough with his own dehydration, as he balanced his fatigue on the runs of his eyes . Ryan lowered his voice as he said "it seems they just leave the children, all part of the calling card bull-I mean , I'd be betting a winning horse that Kai is stranded but deliberately unharmed , I'd feel sick if my stomach lining wasn't tearing itself out-" Liam placed his index finger over Lily's chest as he said , "You can sleep, it's alright, Uncle Ry used to have a friend like Kai , his name was-well let's call him Jack, he used to play guitar and well-he wrote a song. You wanna hear it? now I can't sing very well but ah you'll just have to go easy on uncle Liam tonight huh? . Lily's laughter peppered the clarity in the air as she said "Daddy always says he can't sing but-that means he knows all the words" she clung to the opening of Liam's jacket, the rigid denim sitting heavy around the frame of her face, offering her a semblance of structure as she said "I'm listening, Uncle Li'" . As thoughts of his long deceased friend Mason flooded through his mind , he hummed the melody in the back of his throat, the words caught with no articulation. "She laughed as she said "it doesn't matter if you forgot the words , its just like mommy's songs-she forgets the words too but it doesn't matter. I just hope her and daddy wait for me - do you think they will ?" Liam's eyes flickered with the discolouration of imploring deception as he said "They will, I know it" . Ryan's voice, a lulled whisper from behind , pulled him out of forging promises . "Don't go there , Li-" . There was an impregnated silence as she answered , her eyes hollow with an imperceptible emotion. "But , the...man that made Daddy say-goodbye-he-" as the words departed her tiny body , she shivered, and pulled Liam's jacket against her ears. "No -I don't remember anymore-" she said, and was consumed in a silence that inhabited Liam's concave lap. As he started down at her, the moonlight caught in her shining eyes , as he sighed into the encroaching midnight. "When you do remember Lily, you can tell us, no matter how terrible what you saw might have been, we've seen worse things. We won't be afraid. But for now , you get some sleep huh? No more scary thoughts till the morning." The next moment , just as Ryan shook his head, she said the words already edging in his brain. "Uncle , Liam . Maybe I remember.. um. The man , he wasn't angry, he was...scary but I don't-know-why? " Liam whispered against her hair as he nestled further into his jacket "we are gonna find that man, so no more worrying about him. uncle Liam will bring your Daddy back -" Her voice pressed into the fibres of his denim as she whispered back , "The other heaven....Daddy said it wasn't hell, cause that's a bad place and it was the other heaven . But -where is the other heaven? Have you been there?" Grappling with the question , Liam gazed at Ryan's lament as he answered without hesitation . "I'm pretty sure I have, and if that's where your Dad is , he's coming back , soon , kiddo. Now you get some rest huh? Need to keep that strength up for when you give him the biggest hug you can. Liam could feel Ryan's eyes rolling at the back of his head as he rasped . "Liam, you can deal with your bed...you soft bast-" As Liam's chafed lips stretched into a smile her shook against Lily as she fell asleep. "Can't help it Ry' . And yeah , I'll be sleeping in my grave for this-unless we actually find him . And I have every intention of uncovering Valen yet again" Ryan's smile danced with a worn acceptance. "Yeah, I wouldn't dream of stopping you brother. but please, don't get too attached to-" As Liam's sigh lightly disturbed her hair he traced a thumb across her face, zipping his jacket down to meet he forehead. "I told you I have an existential problem with children being-". As Ryan's hand came to rest on Liam's shoulder he said ."Yeah. Its what keeps me going, Li'" As Liam leveraged his body closer to the ground, creating a bed to facilitate Lil'y's sleeping body, he said "C'mon Ry, look into my baby blues and tell me , you haven't lost the tiniest piece of your heart to this kid-" . A laugh , precedented by the inevitable , came from Ryan's direction. "Okay, yeah. she's a good kid and , her parents, damn , they aren't the people who deserve-" a prevailing silence met Ryan's lament as Liam retreated to silence. iam's eyes skirted her tiny features and he added "I can tell by the way she handed me that flower , like it was a treasure she couldn't entrust on a random stranger. Know what kind of a people raise a four year who guards her kindness because she fathoms it's power?" Met with Ryan's sigh, he felt fatigue claiming him . "Yeah , the type we will find , we'd better get some sleep "

USER: Ryan hauled his torso through theIs this authors style gritty and impactful: Masonry Liam's hair, laden with splinters of glass, blood saturating his shirt as he crawled on his elbows, his bound legs dragging behind. Finally , as his ankle was freed by the sharp jag of a split window pane beneath him , he kicked away the ropeice and snow, stuck out from his feet. As he scanned the horizon, his eyes raw and throbbing with his pulse , the distinct soundlow-slung cap. His words framed the brittle air as he spoke, the chill unrelenting, 'I never meant to return here. I know I--I promised I'd never look back. That I'd leave you as you were , and yet I ended up back here anyway. I don't listen to anyone , huh?.'" He dug his stiffened hands into his jeans, his boot striking a rock as his own murmur haunted him. It rained through the air'Can't stay long, but I still remember what real sunsets looked like, the way the colors just stretched for miles. I hope you haven't seen this magenta sky. I hope you never know it. World's not the same , hasn't looked like it did in so many damned years. I guess-well-" His acuity, melting into the atmosphere, left him with no other thoughts. "You rest well, ' cause while I'm standing here talking to you like you're still here, I know you probably can't hear a word - but I kinda like to pretend maybe you can. ' He laughed in spite of his raw sense of sorrow and turned away from a thousand directions , its distress weaving through his clenching jaw. Willing the noise to anchor itself , he grabbed at his searing temple , itsthe plot, dusting his knuckles across the slot of cremated ashes in a lingering fist bump. 'Again, sometime, brother." Leaves swirled around the hem of his jeans , glazed with ice as he folded his arms across his chest . 'But before I go, there's something I know you've heard me singing in my sleep. Can't get the song out of my head. I can't remember where it came from but-it's the only one that stuck." he said in a low tone , exhaustion passing over his stature. "I came here to leave it with you, along with something of yours I' been carrying around. Keeping you close, but--if I lost it, well-." An entire moment passed before Liam fumbled a thin, metal guitar fret from his pocket, a perfect fit between his index finger and thumb. He then unrolled a small piece of paper with a scrawled transcription and wrapped it around the fret. In a swift gesture, he drove it deep into a crack between two bricks in the wall. "The ninth fret was always a part of every song- I think only you would appreciate it but , that's kinda the whole point. " Liam's faint persistence causing his head to ache. An unrelenting glare marred his vision, strikingsmile rested on the glimmer of the fret , visible in the crevice beside Mason's ashes, along with his notes. "I... still... I. Just. You can't imagine the things... or the times I've wanted to say. Mace could have played you that one while I ruined the lyrics. Still have the rest of your rosewood, too, with all of your fingerprints intact. Which isn't easy keeping hidden in my childhood bedroom. Haven't been home in too long. Damned if I had known you'd find me where you did--or when, and yet I wasn't there to--but hell, you'd never let me take it all on my own shoulders. And I won't-- It's never gonna be... all right, but--I'll try to keep your songs around. You found me when I was so close to -yet I'm still alive huh? Some things ain't fair, brother ." Without raising his eyes with scintillating hues of green and white as he rested his gaze behind his hand. "Liam, Ifrom his fist, his memories hid between his fingers, slipping away as he flexed his palm. "I only hope you can't see , Ime now, with all this all this hell in my eyes, with the shadows. I still remember the light in yours, don't worry . 'Cause I keep my promises, and you're still my oldest friend. First, and the last. Just... don't ever forget that." As Liam turned away, trudging along the icy path that wound through the cemetery, it could have been hours. Days. Months. Or just a few seconds. And it could have been anywhere. Grief only changed shape as he confronted the infused December sky, its witness the only one in sight. As Liam slid down onto the curb, only a few miles from where he'd last seen Ethan, he glanced up at the approaching figure. "Hey, Lara, I haven't seen Eth since... maybe three hours ago." She dropped to his side, grasping his freezing hand in her own. "Liam, it's cold out here; you're like ice... wait, did you visit Mas--" Her eyes, filled with a silent understanding, flitted to his and back to his hand as she placed it in his lap. "We've both been looking for you, Ethan and I--but I'll tell him you're alright, okay?" Liam, his eyes reddened but dried out from the temperature, nodded. "Yeah, I-it's... Well, you know how long it's been," he said, his gaze finding solace somewhere in Lara's dark hair, averting her gaze. "Yeah, too long. Ethan was worried you'd freeze, so you'd better get back to civilization soon..." she said, offering a smile and a hand on his jacketed shoulder. "Thanks, you've both been feeding me way too long as it is--and I'm not the most stable guest." She laughed as she let her hand slide from his shoulder. "Ethan could out-eat us all, so don't worry about that. Just take care out here." And as she walked away, he rested his head against the flesh of his palm, the solitude granting him a moment of clarity--one that he could never share. A melody in the corner of his mind, one that he couldn't muster the strength to hum . "Yeah, Mason, you're everywhere, and nowhere, buddy. Guess I've learnt to live with that. " -- Ok how's this : Liam glared into the darkness, the dust in his eyes unforgiving. The melody sank in a haunting tune through the night. "Cause there's a place deep inside of me where my dreams have a hold of me...and soon my soul will start to bleed..." Liam's voice broke off as he raked a tremor through his hair. "I still miss him," Liam said, uncertain if Ryan could hear his musings. "Hey, Ry...how long have we been lying in this hell hole?" He asked, the silence torn by Ryan's answer, "Too long. And yeah, I heard you saying something about 'if you play Wonderwall, you'll look like a total tool' in your sleep, presumably to someone who could play music." Ryan smiled, but it never reached his eyes as he added, "He really was a brother to you, huh? And don't lie because I'll know...and then I'll feel bad about giving ya this." As Liam dismissed a tear at the corner of his eye, he reached over to where Ryan lay, holding a piece of paper. "Music? You wrote music. What is this, Ry? You never told me you could--" Liam said, his eyes adjusting to the dark with a vulnerability that settled between them. Ryan, smiling with a broadness that reached his eyes, glanced at the paper with a nod. "Ah, I might have written down that song you insist on humming in your damned sleep. I knew it had some meaning, although I don't know what...least I could do for you, Li'." As his irises shone with another sheen of tears, Liam said quietly, "Mason could have played this--while I ruined the lyrics." Looking up from his boots, Ryan held a somber smile. "If I'd have known you way back then, I'm damned sure I'd have held you both to that." As Liam returned the nod, he folded the paper and tucked it into his duffel bag, magenta particles stirring in the air. "I know...He really was a huge chunk of my adolescence just...gone like...well, anyway, the music, when we get our hands on a guitar..." Ryan shook his head, angling his jaw in his hand. "Nah, we're in the middle of nowhere, and it'll never happen. But you got me, brother." Liam, smiling faintly, replied, "I know. We've seen so much that , well , does it make me an asshole for being happy that Mason died young, unaffected by the trauma that has screwed us up?. I mean he could've lived a different life from us -and maybe I'm wrong to hope he's in a better -" As Ryan leaned back against the filth-stained wall , his voice contemplated the environment . "It's not wrong to want him to have a peace we may never find. It's human. " As Liam gazed back, conflict in his eyes as he said "Y'know , there's something I had back home. And it's likely I'll never see it again, I was carrying a part of it with me for years , but just knowing I kept it safe...I chose to leave it with him and--". Words eluded Liam in the darkness, as Ryan's features , found by the moonlight, left him unable to deflect his gaze . "I feel as though, he wasn't a friend-he wasn't a comrade-he was a sibling, blood was all we didn't share . And even then when he needed a transfusion... I was the first to roll up my damned sleeve. And I wasnt the Ab neg he was-" In a hushed tone Ryan asked , "You think not being compatible was somehow a fault -but Li' , have you heard-well yourself? He could play better than Van Halen I'm guessing', and you could've ruined more than just his lyrics with those pipes . Don't make me say it again." Liam fell silent, and Ryan flopped backwards onto his makeshift bed. "It's alright Li'. Just get some sleep, and don't--" It was almost automatic as Liam replied, "Yeah, yeah, don't 'thank you.' I know, I'm welcome, huh? Yeah, goodnight, Ry." As Ryan's muttering hit the wall, Liam's mind sifted through the catalog of melodies Mason had played. And, amongst the static, a distinct composition of chords found their way back to him. "And if I fall beneath the cracks, if I find you in the darkness, brother, will you still have the heart to see? When I close my eyes and my memories start to fade, when the filter falls away, will you find the strength to stay?" Liam's breath , an unsteady exhale in the dark, dragged against his throat. The bonfire had long died , embers floating around his ankles as the dying flames lighted his eyes. Everyone had downed as much alcohol as imaginable, and staggered home with their rowdy goodbyes, while Liam had slipped off into the night, with a broken bottle of goose in his shaking hand. As his jacket rippled in the wind, lashing against his chest as he zipped it up, he was alone. The cliff , with its eeirie view of the fires remains, a place of revelries and warmth, was now extinguished and cold. "Yeah, no one noticed you never really left, huh?" As he glanced into the void beneath him, his bloodshot eyes seeking solace in the promise of erasure, he staggered unevenly to the edge. "Ah , to hell with it-" . As Liam muttered drunkenly into the silence , pilfered only by the crackle of the dying flames, he traced his neck with the bottles gleaming edge. locating his jugular, its pulsating warmth a cruel reminder of how futile his own bloodstream had become against his skin. Liam pressed the glass against his heartbeat, the sky mocking as the stars shone an icy clarity over his features. As he gazed in torn distress at the void beneath him, he heard a faint voice on the breeze. "I'll never get it right. Ah damnit. If I could nail it -Mason you sad idiot, no one even listens to your garbage anyway." As Liam ground his shoes into the dirt, a rock skidded under his stance , and he cursed into air. "Hey , is someone still up there... I thought everybody left-" Mason yelled into the illuminated of his torch, nestled upright in the mouth of a beer can. "Hey, you assholes can trash my guitar playing somewhere else , I just wanna be alone- this is rubbish ." Mason's angered tone sliced through Liam's helpless grip on the jagged glass as he dropped it over the edge of the cliff, watching it spiral away, cursing again. "Bro, don't get your panties tied up, it's just me-I wasn't listening anyways , and trust me , my opinion is the last one that matters-" . As Liam established equilibrium in a low crouch , a few steps back from the edge he found himself drawing a new sense of warmth from the voice as it hurled back at him . "Wait-then what are you doing up there , party's over , man. You hang out on cliffs for fun....oh shit." . before Liam had shifted his throbbing temple from his hand , as it clung to his head , a figure appeared at his shoulder , holding a guitar and revealing of alcohol. "Ah, well , it doesn't matter why I'm up here. Who the hell cares. But at least , you can play that thing. If my open onion meant anything, I'd say you might as well start busking on campus till a record label signs you, you talented prick-" Liam almost snarled his words , as they eroded under his pain, a tear threatening to escape him. Mason , laying the guitar a few metres away and returning to Liam's side, scoffed into the dark as he said "Nah, you claim you heard nothin' anyway. So what do you know. All that worries me right now is what the hell you're doing so close to the edge of this damn cliff-" As Mason slumped down , a veil of intimacy forming as his absent special awareness centred him inches away from Liam. "You look like hell, but I bet you feel worse right. You're up here , think in' I don't care what you understand about music but see, the thing is , I was one note away from the riff that would have made my version of Comfortably Numb a masterpiece or something like that. But like you say, you weren't listening . So don't call me a prick. My fingers are bleeding and I'm far from comfortable or numb." . Mason said, his voice roughened with impending sobriety as his mouth played with a smirk. Despite the rawness of his nerves , Liam found a smile tugging at his lopsided grin, as he stabbed at the air above Mason's sternum. "Yeah well, maybe I heard it all , and you were in fact playing some made up crap that I bet you could fill a stadium with. You don't know how long we've been outgreat you are but-" As Liam hummed off key, he was promptly shoved in the elbow as Mason asked, taken aback "You can -sing? And not only that, he's up here singing my trash , and - you were about to throw those pipes off a cliff ? " There was an almost redeeming pause as Mason offered his hand to Liam , leaning closer in the darkness. "Mason, call me Mace- " Liam ceased his humming as he reciprocated , "Liam-you won't have noticed me around-" As Liam planted a palm either side of his legs , Mason smirked, the light of his torch contouring his cheekbones with a harsh glare. "Oh because no one would , huh? I've heard you , 'round campus , singing to yourself like no one will notice or why I can't pinpoint the crying-" . .Then , as the deep magenta particles cleared, his heartbeat screamed to a halt. As his eyes froze on the distant figure, her outline framed with the fading daylight, his disgust burned across his tongue as cursed into his forearm . "Liam ... I thought I'd seen my share of hellcare , but ...those bastards don't-the things I'm guessing' she's seen-" Liam , catching up to Ryan in the haze of desolation, ran a hand over his eyes , his weathered stare haunted as she stood crying into blackened hands. "God , I don'tsomeone did and now what huh , Liam? Now what happens when I heard it and I need to know what I expected , but she can't be older than say, five? Assuming she had parents , the father , A, Dead, or B, pleading for the status through his teeth. And the mother-I can't even visityou think you're doing throwing that twisted scenario-And in front of her- is there nothing those bastards won't pervert- " he said, the anger seeping through his teeth as his curseoff a ..." Mason's voice trailed into the heat of the arid air. "We need to move fast,silence as he sent a rock sailing into gravity's clutches , his eyes following its descent. Liam grasped Mason's hand and shaking it as he muttered, shielded his reddened eyes from the torchlight. "Look, I'm glad you wandered up here to -tell me to stop listening . Cause to be honest I was- well I wouldn't call it stupid....no , Mason, it wasn't stupid , it was... the only action I might rely on . I think of how, if she moves-"everything collapsed and I were drowning, I'll be alright because -" Liam rested a fatigued hand against his screaming eyes as he resisted the inebriated tears that hedged on the rims of his eyes. Mason, pulling Liam's hand into a grip against his shoulder, lowered his khaki green eyes into view . "Well, seeing as I'm here , and you still look as terrible as you did before-hit me . Tell me one thing that you believe I'll rip you apart for . It's not as if your opinion matters right-so I shouldn't be that affected . I should walk away laughing, right? It can't hurt to try it on me." As his posture slackened, Mason's words hit the air with a casual drawl, as if time was hanging around in the interim. Liam's shock was unlike a slap across his jaw as he clenched his teeth , his eyes breaking away at the lack of phase , yet the very invitation itself. . "Yeah, alright. You have a point there, I guess. But there's no one thing-" he said, his hand finding its way to his nape as he balanced his stiffened neck, unable to find a space uncovered by shattered windows to rest his chin. Ryan braced a handas a shrug passed over Liam's chest, as he said "It's ok Li' ... I've got this." As her face emerged from the heavy clouds of dust, Ryan pulled himself to feet and approached her , his bloodied elbows behind his back as he winced in the dusk, as her crying ceased and she lifted her eyes. " Hey, where's your mom and dad , huh? " Ryan asked, the girl's tiny amber irises , with her large pupils -loaded with trauma , gazed into his... "I -I don't know. I miss them. But why did they-why-why they m-make Daddy take off his shoes . He-says you-get-cut without your shoes. And then they told him to s-say Good-by-goodbye? " Ryan dropped to his knees , her face peering up into his unwavering gaze as he said evenly . "We're gonna find him , ok, but you'll be safe with me and uncle Liam for now. What's your name ? You can call me Ry'" Clutching the remains of a stuffed bear, albeit its left eye handing by a thread , she offered a stammered reply "I-m I'm Lily" . She then brandished four fingers in Ryan's smiling face as she announced , " I'm four years old...how old are you?" . Liam's laugh came from somewhere behind Ryan's head as he answered her. "He's a big number , hold up both hands Ry, " Ryan's smile broadened for the first time in days as he laughed , offering his hand to the child as she entrusted her hand to his grasp. "Uncle Ry' is -ah it doesn't matter. You're gorgeous ain't ya?" She blushed with a crystalline laugh, as her eyes darted and she wound her shoe into the dust. "That's what Daddy always says-but he told not to move no matter what-" she said, her eyes glistening with tears. "But Ihis shoulders.""I don't know why Daddyyou'd ask me , but-" Mason's fingers were already tracing a circle across the surface his jeans as he said, blunt yet with a restraint . "I asked, so come on , you give me your best, off the top of the head reason why I should leave you here , and make it count. I need to hear this. Got all night." It was a fatality in his breath that enveloped Liam's raw nerves as he answered, "Well , you have an audience now ... yet you're giving me the stage huh? I don't quite know what you're expecting. Some grandiose confession. "Oh Mason, I just can't carry on in a world so cruel, so I came up to this ledge to embrace the almighty void and plunge forth-" . Mason's eyes , dark and solid, waited under his rising eyebrow. "Who cares what I was expecting , or what I get. I don't think this is gone , to the -um -other heaven?"about me , as much as you might wanna listen to the sound of your own voice . Or does it scare you hearing it ? Out loud , for the first time in ? " The magenta skies bled behinddarkness , awaiting Liam's stare as he turned away, absorbed the volume in his voice, stripping it of its presence. "I haven't been home in three weeks. Folks told me never to set foot on their lawn again. And I don't blame them.... " Mason's eyes, trailing back to his guitar, carried a provoking concern. "Let me get this straight, they threw your ass out...for what? Let's hear it. After all, I don't care , do I . it's just conversation in the night. So explain what got you sitting on the curb on night..." Liam , breaking into a hollow smile , offset his bite , his teeth realigning. "It was, God I was stupid . I got so rotten one afternoon. I left my six year old cousin in the playground , by her fragile silhouette , asschool, till her parents found her at seven o'clock that night. I was supposed to have picked her up, but I headed to a-a frat party." As Mason was enveloped in silence, his eyes fixated on Liam's features, his gaze potent. "I -well-she could've -well-that's not what kills me. And now is the part where I tell you that , it's the way the kid -hugged me when I went to see her the next day. She said she loved me , and handed me a flower. And all I thought was -you bastard, Liam. You-" Mason's eyes , with an empathy strewn amongst an understanding, flickered with his torchlight. "So, she forgave you , huh? But you-" Liam's face , still angled toward his lap, finished Mason's assumption. "Nah, I didn't , because there's no one thing here. " Mason's heavy sigh , lingering in his lungs as he leaned forward, hung in the space between them. "It's a complicated network you have up there. A neighbourhood of short circuiting wires . But from what I can make out, there's no way in hell I'm leaving you up here. " Liam bent down beside her. "We, biting back a thickness in his throat , shook his head. "Why not, what difference is it to you , Mason. You have one shot and you'd better make yours hit me harder ." As Mason's torch flicked off in his hands , he answered . "I can't justify leaving a man who , one , hates himself . And no one can hate you the way you can. And second, a man who hates himself for valid reasons , pointing to his own moral compass and yet, thinks a cliff is a fitting place to spend the night. Call me whatever , but I figure , if I can buy you one more day, consider it done. Still ain't got nowhere to be." Liam reached, almost absent of mind, for an unnoticed shard of glass , remaining from his earlier mishap as he twirled it through knuckles. "I-I didn't intend on seeing another. And I still don't know why you're so invested in a total stranger-" Liam swung his blue gaze at Mason, its bloodshot interrogation filled with a hopeful gleam of unshed tears . "Tell me Mason, the real reason you were out here, playing that guitar with a beer can in your lap, balancing a torch , when you have a dorm room to -" The pause offered reprieve to the tension in the air as Mason shifted his stare to the glass in Liam's hands. "Well, you're not gonna like this, but-even if I had the talent, or the skill , to fill one lousy stadium-I won't have the time-I-well-I know the isolation seems extreme . But sometimes I realise , I ain't gonna be around-people shouldn't get to attached to-ah it doesn't matter . It's a conversation for another dawn. Let's just focus on making it to this one. However far away it is. A few hours maybe. An hey, what's a few more hours right?" Liam, noticing the light fade from Mason's eyes , placed a hand on his shoulder . "It's a conversation for right now, if I stay here till sunrise, you're sure as hell gonna leave me with a reason to have kept my sorry ass from -" Mason's answer stayed in his throat before coming in an even tone. "I'm a ghost , Liam , I mean , I might live another year, sure . But I won't -you really don't need the details. I know you're capable of giving a shit , and you're a decent person. And I can't be getting all sentimental on you because-you're not the asshole you think we know-about this other heaven , and we are gonna find mommy too huh?" Her face lit up , the pink hues melting into her glassy stare as she said "Yeah, I wanna see mommy , too ." Liam , smiling despite the uncertain twist of agony in his chest, gestured towards the dilapidated toy in her hand. "Who's this , huh, I bet he's pretty special? We have to make sure that no matter what, we don't lose him.. " As he winked , she held up the dust infested bear as it were an earned prize . "He's Sam, he's smaller now... but I still lovesilence engulfed Mason, swallowing him ." Liam leaned behind Ryan's head as he said, in a low tone. "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" . As Liam's eyes landed on a pair of boots , placed eerily close together , perfect and stripped of their laces , Ryan's gaze followed. "Yeah Li' , I'm guessin' those are the father's . It's a calling card if I ever saw it. I don't know what she means by this other heaven but, yeah I'm not liking anything about this picture..." The sky echoed the sentiment of despair infused with a faint hope as Lily's hand fluted Ryan's thumb and forefinger with a shaking inquisition. "Uncle Ry-I-I-I don't know where I am....i got left behind ... it's cause I let go of mommy's hand . I'm -I'm sorry-" Liam , deftly grasping her wrist , pulled her into the crux of his elbow. "No , Lily, it's not you fault. You keep Sam safe , so he's lucky you were hanging on tight to him huh?" The light flew back to her eyes as she nodded. "Yeah-but Uncle...um" she said , already disoriented by the encounter., and the dust streaked faces of two men kneeling in the remains of suburbia. "You can call me Uncle Li'- you've made two new friends today huh? How about that?"Her eyes faltered a moment, then she gazed directly into Liam's blue stare, as she lowered her voice to a whisper . "Uncle Li" , don't tell anybody , but I have a secret. I -it's -um-" She leaned closer, whispering into Liam's ear as she said "I found this and I wanted to give it to Daddy but-it's the same color as your eyes". As she produced a wilted morning glory from her pocket , she perched it on Liam's grease laden hair, behind his earlobe. "Oh , you're too -" he said , the gesture unbalancing his compose as he encircled his arm around her waist . "I bet you're tired huh, if you can't walk , do you think you can fit up here?" Liam, patting his shoulders , watched as she nodded , dust falling in her light hair. Hoisting her up , her knees falling either side of his jaw , he guided her hands to his hair. "Hold on tight , I got you. And up we go". Liam rose to his feet , with the aid of Ryan's firm grip hauling him off the ground. Lily was quick to reach out Ryan's hand, grabbing his pinky and swaying it back and forth as he walked alongside Liam. "You're so high up there , is the sky pretty? "He asked, as their footsteps fell in line with the jagged lashings of debris. Through a yawn she said, "yeah, it's red, I like it...but I'm so tired...I can't sleep till mommy and daddy-umm -I'm scared now ..." Her fingers twisted against Liam's scalp and her chest shook with oncoming tears. He quickly halted , assuring her she could sleep. "You can take a nap up there , we will keep walking so even while you sleep we'll be getting closer to your parents, it's gonna be ok-" . Ryan , reaching up to stroke her hair said quietly "when you wake up we'll still be here , because that's what uncles are for right? And you are stuck with two of us so you're double safe ...but you'd better hug Sam tight so he doesn't fall huh?" . Lily stuffed the bear down her oversized shirt, and rested her chin in Liam's unkept bed of hair. "He's safe now..." she said , her voice travelling over Liam's head as her eyes slid closed. Ryan glanced out at the horizon, the sun slipping lower, and he nudged Liam. "I'm guessin' that it's been about two miles , and we still don't have an iota of a clue where to start lookin' , and you know the pattern up to this point has been , traffic with the men...torture and kill the women for pure sadistic pleasure. Maybe he even trafficked a few of them two... but I don't know how we tell this kid she might not see either of her folks again-" . As his expression flickered with worry and a foreboding guilt,whole, Liam sighed , pulling the small of Lily's back closer to his neck, her stomach flush against his skin. "I don'tinto his palm. "Oh it's like that huh? You think I didn't notice your arm. Unless you're injecting methadone , that's a hell of a lot of blood tests -" Mason's eyes , deep-set in their sockets, said more than his frail grin , as he whispered "It's not that I want to be alone, Liam, it's that I believe it's the right thing-" Liam's rogue tear finally escaped him , and a blanket of wordless atmosphere inched closer. "It's not-good thing you came up here to prove me huh? Coz I'll be damned if you spend anymore nights playing that guitar to the trees -" Mason's khaki stare was dragged away from the glass as it fell from Liam's hands, splinters flying across the cliffs edge . "Maybe we do- I think she's gonna put two and twoboth needed to be alone tonight, and maybe it was dangerous to need the isolation-" Mason countered, as Liam nodded , fatigue chasing his voice. "Yeah , but neither of us found that peace , huh? Party died down, we both ended up drunk and -yeah that bonfire is long died, huh? " Mason, reaching out a fist, dragged his knuckles along Liam's shoulder . "No longer relevant. Now we're stuck here , together -kids just know this shit right? And we might have to ask ourselves something worse, for instance, how do we, and I'll deal with her total sense of abandonment, the survivors guilt, she's us in a smaller , vulnerable body-" . Ryan slowed his gait, the wear in his voice as he said "Well, not in the sense that she can understand it. We might find them alive yet, and I suspect that the boots mean they want us to find these people. Lily herself is a calling card. I know better than to assume they were disposed of so fast." Liam's eyes were dark with the notion , as the concrete pavement wound its way into an unpromising nowhere. As the night carried a soothing breeze , taking the searing edge from the heat out of the arid air, Lily began to stir. "Daddy-it's cold-I don't wanna sleep yet, I wanna play with Kai-no, I -" . Her shoes kicked against Liam's collarbones as her fists coiled in his strands of textured hair. "Daddy? " Her voice was met by the silence of Ryan's downcast stare as he placed a palm against the back of Lily's head. "You remember me? Uncle Ry' . We found you and Sam, because you got lost , yeah? But you're safe now-" he said, her hair gritty against his skin. Liam , adjusting his neck as she twisted around in his hands yawning , loosened his protective grip. As Lily registered the flower behind his ear, she plucked it out with sleep in her voice. "Oh , I gave this to you, Uncle Li' , I'm gonna pick another one for Daddy coz his eyes are ...orange -like mine-" Ryan , as he smiled at her profile muttered to himself , noting the detail of her fathers appearance. "Hazel eyes...y'know, this doesn't sit right with me because, that mechanism I had when I was seven or eight, where my bladder would drop and-The worst fear I had wasn't crying , it was having to sit in my own urine while it went cold . That was degradation. " Ryan said, as Liam manoeuvred himself over a crack in the pavement, missing the point in his concentration on the labyrinth of annihilation. "Where you going with this Ry'? " As Ryan wrapped his index finger around Lily's neck as she leaned in his hand, her eyes sliding closed again , he gazed out into the horizon. "What Im saying is , the things we can control, that we don't even consider, like pissin' ourselves, when you're her age , they are your worst enemy, they give you away. And when we figure out what she's afraid to do in front of us and does it anyway, that's when all hell will -" Liam's jaw, its bite realigning, bore the realisation as he removed the flower from behind his ear . As he twisted it in his fingers he said , "Yeah, but that's not what scares me, somehow it's giving me this, thinking she'll see another flower out here , kids got some immense disappointment coming and I'm still processing my own -" . Ryan muttered a few words out of ear shot, his faded voice lost in the impending nightfall. "Well , I hate to say Liam , but we're still no closer to finding this guy. I'm sure he would've been around our age-and in reasonable psychical condition, and I can't sleep thinking about how close he is likely to be, but we gotta give Lily a proper eight hours sleep. If she's tired , that will exacerbate our problem real quick . " With a groan , Liam came to a stop and eased Lily down from his shoulders , and collapsed onto the concrete footpath beside her as she awoke from a micro -slumber. "I -I -Uncle Liam? I remembered you. And Uncle Ry' . She said , , pride in her eyes and recognition in her smile. "You didn't leave me? I fell asleep... I'm sorry..." As Liam seated her on his thigh , and Ryan clamoured down beside them, he slid the morning glory into her hair . "We told you that's what Uncles are for right ? And you have to let Sam get some rest huh? We've been walking so long it's dark now-" Ryan was already coercing some flattened jerky from his pocket as he said "are you hungry , Lily , it's salty but it will help your body keep the water in so you don't get thirsty. But I need you to drink some water for me okay? " . Liam slid his duffel bag off his shoulder and uncapped a metal flask , "well not zero hydration, I forgot about this - here ya go , drink up now and you'll feel better. All that crying you did earlier means you must be thirsty huh?" . bewildered , she grasped the only water she'd consumed that day, drinking without question. "Thanks , Uncle Liam. Daddy always made me and mommy dinner-" as she stared into the sleeve of his jacket, her eyes were haunted and confused. "There's no dinner anymore , and no bedtime -and no more stories -" As Ryan handed her the jerky , he said , a calmness in his voice. "Ah, I'm sure your Dad... and your Mom... are missing you too right now. I bet they'd wish they could have made you dinner , so you better eat all of this huh? So they don't have to worry about you being hungry -" . As she reached for the strip of low grade nutrition, Ryan's stomach protested as it bound with his own starvation. "Aren't you hungry Uncle Rt' you sound hungry..." she said, her laugh returning with its octave of youth contrasting in the night. "Adults can be hungry longer than kids , it's like when you scrape your knee , it heals up fast right, and the more times it happens the less it hurts , so me and uncle Liam are better at being hungry." While she finished the jerky, she nodded , seeming to understand as she placed a hand on Ryan's bloodstained elbow. "It doesn't hurt anymore?" She asked , her pupils widening as the dried blood flaked into Ryan's lap and he grinned . "Nah , but I'm a big number, you're only four so don't worry, we won't let you get any scrapes. We're gonna keep you super protected , yeah? " As Lily leaned her head against Liam's abdomen, his jacket enveloping sides of her head, he smirked. "But does Uncle Ryan ever get tired of talking in the third person, or does he always do that when he's driving and the poor guy in front ain't indicating..." . Ryan's snort punctured the air as he answered, "Uncke Liam need to find his cork, and cram it back -" They both laughed as Lily watched them both , a lack of comprehension bringing ashared a smirk , Liam's dimple upholding his right cheek as his lopsided smile to hercrept across his face. "You are both so silly. But don't worry, I won't tell anybody-" she said, before tears welled in her eyes. "I -I -didn't say goodbye to Kai ... he ... was my best-maybe he's lost too -and and" No this is the continuation I had in mind : As she voice broke away to her tears , Liam rearranged a stray strand of her hair as he said "And Kai will always be your best friend , no matter what, we don't know where he is but we know he's alive. It's gonna be ok, there's a lot of kids out there who got left behind but they have people looking for them , just like we were looking for you-" Liam said, his voice rough with his own dehydration, as he balanced his fatigue on the runs of his eyes . Ryan lowered his voice as he said "it seems they just leave the children, all part of the calling card bull-I mean , I'd be betting a winning horse that Kai is stranded but deliberately unharmed , I'd feel sick if my stomach lining wasn't tearing itself out-" Liam placed his index finger over Lily's chest as he said , "You can sleep, it's alright, Uncle Ry used to have a friend like Kai , his name was-well let's call him Jack, he used to play guitar and well-he wrote a song. You wanna hear it? now I can't sing very well but ah you'll just have to go easy on uncle Liam tonight huh? . Lily's laughter peppered the clarity in the air as she said "Daddy always says he can't sing but-that means he knows all the words" she clung to the opening of Liam's jacket, the rigid denim sitting heavy around the frame of her face, offering her a semblance of structure as she said "I'm listening, Uncle Li'" . As thoughts of his long deceased friend Mason flooded through his mind , he hummed the melody in the back of his throat, the words caught with no articulation. "She laughed as she said "it doesn't matter if you forgot the words , its just like mommy's songs-she forgets the words too but it doesn't matter. I just hope her and daddy wait for me - do you think they will ?" Liam's eyes flickered with the discolouration of imploring deception as he said "They will, I know it" . Ryan's voice, a lulled whisper from behind , pulled him out of forging promises . "Don't go there , Li-" . There was an impregnated silence as she answered , her eyes hollow with an imperceptible emotion. "But , the...man that made Daddy say-goodbye-he-" as the words departed her tiny body , she shivered, and pulled Liam's jacket against her ears. "No -I don't remember anymore-" she said, and was consumed in a silence that inhabited Liam's concave lap. As he started down at her, the moonlight caught in her shining eyes , as he sighed into the encroaching midnight. "When you do remember Lily, you can tell us, no matter how terrible what you saw might have been, we've seen worse things. We won't be afraid. But for now , you get some sleep huh? No more scary thoughts till the morning." The next moment , just as Ryan shook his head, she said the words already edging in his brain. "Uncle , Liam . Maybe I remember.. um. The man , he wasn't angry, he was...scary but I don't-know-why? " Liam whispered against her hair as he nestled further into his jacket "we are gonna find that man, so no more worrying about him. uncle Liam will bring your Daddy back -" Her voice pressed into the fibres of his denim as she whispered back , "The other heaven....Daddy said it wasn't hell, cause that's a bad place and it was the other heaven . But -where is the other heaven? Have you been there?" Grappling with the question , Liam gazed at Ryan's lament as he answered without hesitation . "I'm pretty sure I have, and if that's where your Dad is , he's coming back , soon , kiddo. Now you get some rest huh? Need to keep that strength up for when you give him the biggest hug you can. Liam could feel Ryan's eyes rolling at the back of his head as he rasped . "Liam, you can deal with your bed...you soft bast-" As Liam's chafed lips stretched into a smile her shook against Lily as she fell asleep. "Can't help it Ry' . And yeah , I'll be sleeping in my grave for this-unless we actually find him . And I have every intention of uncovering Valen yet again" Ryan's smile danced with a worn acceptance. "Yeah, I wouldn't dream of stopping you brother. but please, don't get too attached to-" As Liam's sigh lightly disturbed her hair he traced a thumb across her face, zipping his jacket down to meet he forehead. "I told you I have an existential problem with children being-". As Ryan's hand came to rest on Liam's shoulder he said ."Yeah. Its what keeps me going, Li'" As Liam leveraged his body closer to the ground, creating a bed to facilitate Lil'y's sleeping body, he said "C'mon Ry, look into my baby blues and tell me , you haven't lost the tiniest piece of your heart to this kid-" . A laugh , precedented by the inevitable , came from Ryan's direction. "Okay, yeah. she's a good kid and , her parents, damn , they aren't the people who deserve-" a prevailing silence met Ryan's lament as Liam retreated to silence. iam's eyes skirted her tiny features and he added "I can tell by the way she handed me that flower , like it was a treasure she couldn't entrust on a random stranger. Know what kind of a people raise a four year who guards her kindness because she fathoms it's power?" Met with Ryan's sigh, he felt fatigue claiming him . "Yeah , the type we will find , we'd better get some sleep ""Damn straight , brother."