The First Step

Christopher's life has always been a slow collapse - one cigarette, one lie, one high at a time. He's seventeen, half-alive, and running out of ways to convince himself he's fine. Nights blur into mornings, friends turn into ghosts, and the city's streets are starting to feel more like a grave than a home.

Ander's been trying to save him for years. Best friend, brother, lifeline - whatever it takes. But even loyalty has limits, and watching Christopher burn himself down piece by piece is breaking him in ways he can't name.

When Christopher crosses paths with Anthony - a quiet store clerk with kind eyes and a steady voice - it feels like maybe there's still something left to hold onto. But old habits don't let go easy. Drugs, guilt, and the ghosts of every bad choice claw their way back, dragging him deeper.

Caught between people who love him and demons that never really left, Christopher is forced to face what's left of himself - and decide if survival is something he even wants anymore.

-Back Cover-

The rain never really stops in this town.
It just changes tempo.

Seventeen-year-old Christopher Blade is running out of places to hide- from the ghosts in his head, from the memories that won't stay buried, and from the people still trying to save him. When a relapse spirals into psychosis, the line between what's real and what's not begins to dissolve, leaving him lost in a world only he can see.

Ander, the boy who keeps looking for him.
Anthony, who refuses to walk away.
Matteo, a stranger with a kindness that feels almost impossible.
All of them circle Christopher's life like orbiting moons, pulled in by gravity, trying to catch a falling star before it burns out completely.

But some people don't get better. Some storms don't clear.
And for Christopher, every drop of rain is another reminder that no matter how far he runs, he can't outrun himself.

"No, I don't believe there's a place I can go, a place to get away from it all."