Don't go looking in dark places, because dark things live there.

I longed to return to that bloody riverbank, to throw myself in the path of the final arrow, to die ignorant, and so, in love. Better to be killed by an arrow than by the words of the one I most trusted.

But things don't just fall apart. People break them.

I should probably start with the blood.

They had battled and bloodied one another, they had kept secrets, broken hearts, lied, betrayed, exiled, they had walked away, said goodbye and sworn it was forever, and somehow, every time, they had mended, they had forgiven, they had survived. Some mistakes could never be fixed - some, but not all. Some people can't be driven away, no matter how hard you try. Some friendships won't break.

Im not one of those authors who claims to hear voices in my head or let the characters speak through me, whatever that might mean.

You don't even realize you're living in a before until you wake up one day and find yourself in an after.