Is this authors style gritty and impactful: Masonry 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."

But is it more gritty than lyrical?

Is it too soft to hit har?

What kind of an audience would enjoy lyrical beauty, the kind who enjoy psychological drama?

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