A ribbon of alleviation danced down his arm, joined by confused feelings of regret and need. It stained his skin and his assurance, turning erratic thoughts into constant truths.

The garnet elixir seeped its way into his universe, a blade becoming his devote cure, and at the same time weakening his ardency for every breath, delivering him to disease.

Those who know long to remove his desolation as they watch him vanish within a mental delusion. They carry what they can, but it is he who must wake himself. He who must set aside the need to draw blood, he who must live.

He will.