Cull the Hero

I Am Empty Still, Forgive Me

(...) Mr. Townsend approached.
"Abuse can feel like love..." he repeated. "Why?"
Damon remained so still it didn't look like he was breathing. He looked at the teacher, unwavering.
"Starving people will eat anything."

Penelope Douglas, NIGHTFALL (2020)

               𝕹ot every journey needs a hero. There was a sickness going around, a disease that twists the very foundations of a well-written story to have some thick-necked bastard appear victorious in a satisfying end. Experiences are about learning from mistakes; sometimes you solve the problem, most times you don't. Both outcomes result in an altered ending, and neither excels on Earth's cruel plane anyways.

Vincent Wheeler was no hero, but he'd give his life a million times rewinded if it meant keeping Sloan Harrington safe. They were best friends, attached to the hip since their eyes first opened. Not a day since 1967 had they gone 24 hours without seeing each other. Too bad Sloan seemed rather i clío is to feelings as such.

They were normal, they were close and Vincent wanted absolutely nothing to change the way things were. Just his luck, or perhaps he wished upon a wrong star, his little brother's best friend goes missing in the very woods surrounding Hawkins' bounded town. Two mysterious experiments appear before them, claimed to have supernatural abilities. And one of them had taken a keen eye on Sloan. Things were no longer peaceful, they were no longer right. And above all, Sloan no longer seemed as attentive to her best friend. Vincent worried Eleven would corrupt his little brother, or perhaps Five will endanger Sloan. Whatever it was, he'll make sure to come out just as heroic as he started —— absolutely not.