STEP BROTHER DEAREST
“So predictable. You can’t resist stepping into my rhythm, can you? Always desperate to prove you can hold it together.”
His figure formed in the distance, tall, fluid, flickering between solidity and smoke. He wasn’t really here. Just a shard of him. But even a shard was enough to twist the air until it cracked.
The boy was there too, bound in the center of the distortion. His form flickered like static, eyes wide, mouth open in a silent scream.
---
We moved as one.
Madison’s shadows lashed outward, trying to cut the cords binding the boy. Ian’s laughter rolled like thunder, pressing doubt into the distortion, forcing it to waver. Stepbrother barked directions, each one anchoring us tighter