[Reaction]
[Everything in Adrian recoiled from the voice and its horrible story. The words felt as if they were clawing at the inside of his skull. The murderous boy and the angry mother made him want to burrow deep down, far away from the repulsive feelings of rage and nameless guilt and shame.
On his best days, Adrian was a tightly wound spring, but he had been on edge lately. The rhyme snagged him like a burr. He clasped his fingers over the back of his head, burying his face into the mattress. Darkness seeped, white-hot, eddying like clouds, from his skin.]