A mess. Nothing but a mess. He mainly uses to doodle (he’s been doing it since he was a kid, but never took it as something serious), and write lists of things he writes in his phone anyway. He started therapy, though, and he was told to start writing his thoughts, what he feels about things too, and how he feels if he gets better or not. It rarely works and he feels dumb writing his feelings, so they end up all crossed out most of the times.
1. In what headspace is your character at the moment?
“Hello rock, meet bottom” - That pretty much sums it up. I don’t think it can get any lower. But I feel like he’s just kind of all over the place at this point - mentally. He had a “hard reset” so now he’s starting over and figuring out new pathways. And he’s not really sure what to think. Just kind of existing.
2. What are the challenges you think they’ll soon have to face?
Everything? I just feel like by making him more open emotionally - I also just opened a huge can of worms. Between struggling with relationships (every kind), emotion overload/over-stimulation, discovering “new emotions” that are not anger. And just realizing that he’s not this foaming at the mouth, revenge-harboring, sociopath with a god-complex nerd. I mean - he still is. But it’s just kind of buried. He’s also trying to maintain that “I can be good” attitude. Still a nerd though.
3. What aptitudes do they currently possess that will help them through those challenges?
A can-do attitude? And pudding. That’s all we’ve really got honestly. I gave him nothing to work with. I am the worst. Terrible. Bad mun. Bad bad mun.
4. What do you think they must change about themselves, or work on, to face those challenges?
Well, I would say he’s pretty much changed completely personality-wise. For the most part. I still think “Old Is” is buried somewhere under there. At least his humor. Maybe not so much the murdery bits. Okay. The murdery bits are still there. But he won’t flat-out resort to murder. We use words now. And manners. THEN we resort to violence and bloodshed. We are politely murder-y.
As far as things to work on probably opening up more, trusting others more, owning up to his glaring mistakes. Self-confidence is a big one he needs to work on but that’s always been a struggle.
Relationships. Yeah... we need to work on that one. Slowly getting there.
5. Do you think they’re currently on the right path to achieve their goals? Yes/No; explain
I would say yes and no. Yes, if he has people to kind of push him in the right direction. No, if he’s just vibing along by himself. It’s a mixed bag really.
what do the quiet moments in their life look like?
in the quiet, there is no peace for injae. the silence of the house is thick, heavy, oppressive, like it presses against his ears and into his skull.
others might imagine “me-time” as something gentle. reading, resting, a reprieve from the day. for him, it is something else entirely. the quiet moments are when the dark corners of his home come alive, when the shadows in the hall stretch long and reach for him, when the stillness turns into a deafening roar.
he moves from room to room with the lights off, never daring to turn them on because light feels like exposure, like an invitation for the world to see inside. the only glow sometimes is from the window when the moon is cruel enough to look in. it’s in these hours, when the house hums with nothingness, that his thoughts swell too loud. he paces. he mutters to himself. he retraces the steps of that night, the struggle, the sound of breath cut short, the weight of what followed.
sometimes he stands in front of the closet door, unmoving. sometimes he touches the handle but doesn’t open it, as though the door itself is a pulse, beating with the truth he’s hidden away. he tells himself he’s safe. he tells himself nobody knows. but the longer he lingers in that silence, the more he starts to wonder if the walls are whispering. his “solitude” is not calm— it is confinement, a cage built of shadows, where the closet at the center of it all feels like it breathes.
“Do you see her there Mr. Maxwell? You say no and I swear she will die.” The mysterious man said to him as he pointed to a live feed cam of Maddie swimming out in the ocean. Alex was trapped and he knew it. The one time he wanted a vacation with no work. Look at what he got, work. “Oh, and she is not to know about any of this. We are always watching.” Alex shook his head in almost disbelief. He was really getting black mailed. “Whose the target. I don’t go in blind and my fee is pretty high.” Alex stated. He had no choice than to accept it but he was going to accept on his terms.
The man looked at him and shut the laptop, packing it away. “The files will be sent to you on your tablet. No paper as we can’t have Miss Taylor finding out. As for your fee.....as if her life wasn’t enough to sway you......I have wired 1.25 million into your account. See it through.” In a moment the man and his three men were gone, leaving Alex in a bit of a bind. He looked out at the water to see a swimming Maddie, having fun with the ocean life. His heart broke a little knowing he was going to have to hurt her. Deciding on telling her later, Alex pulled out his bag and began to pack his things.
It didn’t take long for her to hop up onto the porch of the bungalow, questioning his every move. “I have to get back.” Alex simply told her as he tucked away a couple of shirts into the bag. He flowed around the room and grabbed all of his necessities, packing them away. “Please stop asking me to go with you. I can’t. I have to leave.” Alex tried to keep a calm voice as he zipped up the duffel bag and turned to face her. He was getting frustrated at the constant asking to go with her for a swim, feeling powerless in the situation.
“If you want to swim take one of them!!” Alex snapped at her, pointing out to Flynn and Sebastian. “I am sure they would love to finish out this vacation with you but I can’t okay!” he yelled, taking a moment to walk out to the porch. He took a deep breath in let it out slowly as he tried to get himself to calm down. Before he could turn around to face her, Alex felt the rush of cold ocean water hit his skin. ‘Did she just fucking really?’ he thought to himself as he pulled himself above the water, taking a huge breath in.
“Are you serious right now?” he asked her as he looked at her now standing above him. He swam over to the side and pulled himself up out of the water and made his way up to her, now standing over her. He didn’t say a word. His eyes were now a deep blue with rage and he could feel it. He reached out and grabbed her by both arms, gripping his fingers into her skin and lifted her up to him, face to face. “When will you learn?” Alex asked her as his grip got tighter into her skin. “Hope you’re a fast swimmer.” he warned her as he threw her over the edge of the porch, watching her hit the water. He turned to Sebastian and nodded toward her. “Get her before she drowns. I want her alive.” he ordered. Alex then quickly changed into a dry set of clothes and grabbed his duffel bag, walking down the wooden walkway to the airport shuttle.