[The moment he's released, Herbert shoves himself away from the other boy, backpedaling as fast as he can until he runs into a wall, panting, dark eyes huge with alarm. His hand goes to his neck, and he glances down at the blood, then back up at Maxim, slicing into his own hand. His mouth runs on autopilot as he tries to figure a way out of this, or determine if the other boy is actually going to let him go.]

Of course you do, we all do, it's not bodies that make people special. Some people are stronger, some are weaker, but in the end it's all the same. It's the mind that matters ...

[He starts sidling along the wall, never taking his eyes from the other boy.]