1 Chapter 1: A man in love

"P-please man, I'll do anything!" A short plump boy with a face that could pass for that of a rat pleaded with his palms pressed tightly together.

"Why should I let scum like you roam this earth free without facing the consequences of their actions?" Josh scoffed, pointing a pistol at the head of the boy, who whimpered in fear with his back pressed against the wall.

"I-I'm really sorry, I'll give you anything just let me go." The boy pleaded even more fervently.

Josh walked closer to him, and placed the tip of the pistol against his head.

"Don't do this, please." The boy pleaded, a patch of wet liquid appearing on his trousers around his crotch area.

"Zoe pleaded with you the same way you are now. Why didn't you let her live?" Josh pressed the tip of the pistol against his head harder.

"I-i don't know what came over me." A stream of tears dropped from the boys eyes.

"I believe you." Josh nodded, removing the tip of the pistol from the boys head.

"Y-you do!" The boy squealed, a glimmer of hope shining in his bright blue eyes.

Josh nodded and said, "the both of us have the same excuse," Josh advanced towards the boy and pressed the tip of the pistol against his head once again.

"W-what d-do you mean?" The boy stumbled on his words, the glimmer of hope in his eyes vanished.

"I am also not in control of my emotions, let's say, I've gone insane." Josh chuckled.

"I'm begging y-"

"Just the same way she did," Josh cut in, "what were her last words?"

"Please." The boy replied, and Josh pulled the trigger.

Josh stared at the lifeless body of his classmate lying on the cold floor with his hands and paralysed legs tied together.

Josh stared into his face, which had the usual stupid expression it assumed whenever he tried to think of an answer when asked a question in class.

Josh inhaled some fresh air, and released it, "so this is it? The sweet feeling of vengeance?"

"It feels refreshing?" Josh smiled wryly.

Josh brought out a picture from his pocket. He stared at the pictures for minutes with a stream of tears falling from his eyes.

"Some might call me madman, others will call me a lunatic. But what value do their opinions hold? I just did humanity a great service by getting rid of a murderer."

"Some might argue that I am no different, but I only see myself as a man seeking justice, a man in love." Josh chuckled.

"Love is a feeling only the weak, easily manipulated and emotional validation seeking people feel. It is an illusion that clouds the mind, an emotion that makes humans feel attached to a person, an emotion humans confuse for love."

"These were word's I use to tell myself until I met you." Josh smiled wryly at the picture.

"I used to see the word as a dark place, and humans as people who manipulated their fellow humans for their own selfish interests. You saved me at a time when I was my lowest, you gave me a new reason to be alive, a reason to live."

"I hope my books inspired others just like it did you. I hope others find themselves and realise that there is more to this world, and realise that not all humans are evil and live their best life, a life filled with love."

"I guess I really am going to die a virgin afterall." Josh chuckled.

"We'll be together again my love. I promise." Josh kissed the piece of paper which held the face of the woman he loved.

Josh squeezed the picture in one hand, and with the other, he pressed the tip of a pistol against his head.

Without a second thought, he pulled the trigger.

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Josh opened his eyes, and found himself standing outside what seemed to be a portal.

"Did I just come out of that?"