Prologue

He had been there from the beginning. At first, he saw what everyone else did: the same boldness, the devil's eyes, the punk rocker thug who needed an attitude adjustment. Yet, after a while of being loyal and showing his capability to be trusted he was let inside Eustass Kidd's own private Hell.

It was after he gained entrance did he begin to notice things that escaped him earlier: the flash of sadness in wine-red eyes when someone complained about their family, the way he would bite the inside of his lip until it bled when he was upset – only Killer knew how much pain he was in.

After watching him run home today without so much as a 'goodbye', Killer decided that it had to be done. Today.