Chapter 1

Tim’s blood dripped into two drops on the grey cement. He smiled and licked the cut across his hand, relishing the salty taste that lingered on his tongue. He was standing in the centre of a warehouse that was virtually empty besides him and the seven bodies that littered the floor. A single man stood opposite him.
The man ejected the empty clip from his pistol and reloaded the chamber. He raised the gun, taking aim at Tim for the second time, but Tim spoke before the man could shoot.
“I know what you must be thinking.” Tim’s voice was monotone, a cold emptiness. “You’re wondering how it is I bleed?” he again ran his tongue along the cut on his hand. “To bleed means I must have a pulse. To have a pulse means I must have a heart. How can a monster have a heart, you ask? How can a monster bleed? I’ve wondered the same thing.”
Cold sweat dripped from the man’s wrinkled brow. “There is nothing to wonder.” he tried to snarl but his timidness outdid his ferocity. “You are a monster.”
Tim smiled again, cold and calculated. When he spoke again it was still in that empty monotone voice. “Of course I am a monster. But if I do not lack a heart then what is it that makes me one?”

“You kill in cold blood!” The man shouted without thinking, his gun lowering a fraction.
“Killing in cold blood makes you a monster?” Tim chuckled. “Then let me tell you a story about a little boy who grew up to be the largest crime lord in Columbia.”
“What?” The man stumbled back a few steps and his gun dropped to his side.
Tim continued as if the man had not spoken. “He was twelve years old when he first joined a gang. Fifteen when he first killed. He had pressed a gun to the temple of a miserable man unable to afford his sinful lifestyle. Killing, dealing in drugs and weapons, he rose through the ranks of the gang, eventually taking over the leadership. He installed his brother as mayor and became virtually untouchable. Rivals and threats were tortured and murdered; even his own son…” Tim let his voice trail off.
The man’s eyes were wide and terrified. “What are you going to do to me?”
“I don’t know.” Tim stepped forward leisurely. “What do you think is a suitable punishment for a monster?”