POV: Lucian Voss

I never knew that the sound of a child’s laughter could feel like a punch to the chest. Not a painful one. Just something that made your heart ache in a way you never expected. A sound so light, so pure, yet it weighed heavily inside you, like it had the power to open up all the locked-up places in your soul.

From the very moment we stepped through the rusted gates of the old amusement park, Roman’s happiness had been pouring out of him like sunshine on a rainy day. He hadn’t stopped smiling once. His small, sticky hand had been wrapped tightly around mine, sweet...