The marriage came from one of these drug fuelled escapades into the darker sides of life. But the son that was borne from the marriage made up for much of the shadows that tortured Marcus. And soon the one lifeline that had entered his life became the greatest burden as he was taken away by the sightless judge following an engineered scene by the devil that was his ex-wife. The result. Darkness. Again. Darker than before. For now the monsters have come out too.

A heavy shout outside the front door followed by banging. Marcus doesn’t flinch. His hand plunges back into the cupboard, and he holds the pistol earnestly, cradling its beauty with both hands.

            The door shudders and splinters as it is assaulted, pummelled. More shouts. Marcus carries on as though he is oblivious. And he is in a way. Disjointed from life since the moment he was born, detached from life now. He has always been separate from the rest of humanity, the gift that elevated him to saint like status is the gift that is causing him to be plunged down into the depths of hell. Another smile. More a grimace this time.

            More of the door splinters. The shouting louder and more urgent. The phone call he had made probably hit home then.

            Marcus holds the pistol with both hands clutching the handle and angles it down into the bottom of the cupboard. There, tied up with layers and layers of grey insulation tape are his ex-wife and young son, kidnapped from their home a few miles away. He levels the gun at the temple of his wife and pulls the trigger. The loud boom from the pistol alerts the police outside the front door attempting to enter the house. Their increased exertions manage to smash a hole into the middle of the door just as another shot blows off half of his sons head. Instant death. He turns to the door, finally acknowledging the presence of the police. More shouting. Marcus tries to let loose a last note of heaven from his lungs before he is knocking on the other door. But only a whimper emerges. Another tear rolls down his cheek. His hand raises and another bullet screeches from the pistol.