Human contact felt good. Focusing on Joe kept him grounded, drowned out the chorus in his head telling him he needed to save Brendon, to stop the web, to help the children. "Just remember," he said, breath coming harder with every passing second, looking up at the web and following the intricate chain of charms, set and ready to create devastation. "Just look at it and tell me you'll remember when we wake up."
He started to struggle upright, to get a better look at the glowing charm-web and ingrain every loop and line fixedly in his mind, but the knife slid deeper and he sank back with a hiss, looking down. The handle was starting to glow along the silver tracery, outlining the unknown charms it contained. His mind was hazy; he couldn't remember if he was supposed to draw out the knife or not. He was definitely supposed to do either one or the other, he knew, but his memory was a blank.
"Joe..." he said slowly, still looking down at the knife. "What is it...?"