Prologue

I've done a lot of questionable things in my life, most of which I feel no remorse for. My conscience abandoned me long ago when I realized the erratic hand of destruction would be the only thing I could ever rely on. And by default, chaos, as irrational and fickle as it can be, has become the only sense of normalcy my warped mind knows.

However, the demons that I've learned to embrace, the ones that allow me to kill without guilt or fear of consequence, are the same demons that led me to her. An inescapable curse that has proven to be as intoxicating as it is diabolical.

What started as lusty fascination quickly morphed into something more sinister. Something that continued to fester until the only way to escape the overwhelming need I had to be near her was to infiltrate her shadows and watch her every move.

In any other case, with any other person who possesses a heart that beats with good intent, that's all it would've been…watching and staying far away.

Except it wasn't that simple. I quickly realized observing only made the hunger I had for her grow. Every moment that I spent in the backdrop of her life, as wrong as it was and as tragic as the aftermath would inevitably be, became the only time I felt my heart…beat. But now, as I stare at the bloodied corpse before me, I realize the monster I was is nothing compared to the monster I have become.

The wreckage I stand amongst now is merely a consequence of two storm clouds colliding. Two souls so fucked up, so innately rotten, that surviving each other's wrath could never be a viable option.

Little did she know that when she provoked my demons with her own, all she was really doing was sealing her fate as mine.

I need her to see that, if she wants to survive, I am her only option.

I need her to know that if I can't have her, no one will.