All I remember, the gun retracted back, my arm bending with the momentum, is being drenched in blood.

A metallic stench stained the air, her crimson blood spraying my face. I couldn't tell if tears mixed with blood….I couldn't tell if I was crying or not.

I mean, I had to be…right?

I felt my knees give way and I collapsed, my eyes wide and unblinking at the twitching cadaver before me. She was whimpering, her hands jerking towards me as if searching for my fingers to lace through.

I couldn't tell if I was repulsed or not.

So…much…blood…

Her dwindling humanity choked for air, the blood lust trickling from pale eyes.

"K-Kai…"

Her nails ripped as she dragged them across the stones. Broken bones poked through her leathery skin, slack mouth and crimson ribbons laced all around her body. I could only stare, her blood dripping off my chin and splattering onto the stones below.

It was as if she wasn't even human anymore…

Because she wasn't.

Her hand twitched for mine and I grazed my fingers over the bent limbs and calloused bones.

Was she trying to apologize…?

Death consumed her eyes' last flicks of light.

And then there was nothing.

Raw agony doesn't just gnaw. It bites and tears...it sinks its fangs as deep into your heart as it can, until there is nothing left. The gnawing is the easy part

When did it get so dark?

With enough will power, it can be ignored. Otherwise, it's consuming.

When did I become a murderer?

I sat in the remains of Suki's ashes, the moonlit breeze carrying the rest away.

I'm so sick of death.

Right when I thought I had exhausted the tears...

Was that me screaming?