Is the rotating ouroboros on the vial unlocking his potentially deadly abilities or a well-guarded secret?

Fourteen-year-old Razz enjoys the freedom of his single-parent household until his mother becomes ill. Without involved relatives, he worries about what will happen to his sister, Lexi, and him when their mother dies.

Feeling powerless, he seeks out Scorn, a drug that can give the user unlimited strength, but its effects are short-lived and the consequences of taking it are high. The user may seem unaffected by it for some time, but eventually, almost all those who take the drug become exceedingly aggressive, using their new strength to tear apart anyone in their paths, especially those closest to them. The government collects the users who have pushed past the limits of their strength and taken a life or lives, and places them in a facility from where only one person has returned.

Simply feeling the vile in his hand makes Razz feel more dominant, and he decides to keep the amber powder close to him. He starts having dreams about blood, and strange physical changes make him wonder if he’s going through the natural stages of adolescence, or if touching the Scorn in the vile has caused an irreversible reaction.

Will Razz use Scorn to help him cope with his mother’s failing health, and keep Lexi and him together after his mother’s death? Or is there something more to Scorn, and is his family somehow responsible for it?