I respond, thoughts dropping away, like pebbles plopping one by one in water, sinking down, down into dark oblivion.

All my life people have called me gifted. Extraordinary. Blessed. I had all these dreams to become something. Someone. No one ever said I couldn't. No one ever said Killer.

Because I know what it feels like to be used, valued only for what you can do... not who you are, not who you want to be.

I am what everyone always thought. A killer.

Never forget that we are more than the genetic code. We can be more than labels applied to us. We can be more than what others whisper behind our backs. Free will exists. We need to choose to be the best we can be and we need to help others do the same. Believe in yourself.

Ironic, huh? To keep that part of me alive, I have to be close to that which kills it.

The heart that truly loves never forgets.