Dr. David O'Connor thought he'd left his past behind—until a reunion forces him to confront the worst night of his life. On a flight to Atlanta, he finds himself telling a stranger the story he's never been able to share: how five teenage misfits became bound by loyalty, torn apart by violence, and ultimately transformed by the unthinkable.
It was 1990 when David first met Brad Lewis, the charismatic but troubled leader of their Dungeons & Dragons group. What started as typical teenage friendship in small-town Georgia slowly darkened as Brad's home life spiraled into nightmare. Abuse, neglect, and systematic failures pushed him toward a breaking point that would shatter multiple lives forever.
Over seven months, David and his friends watched Brad's pain transform into rage, his protective instincts twist into something deadly. They told themselves they were helping. They believed loyalty meant never walking away. They thought love could save him.
