Besides, it was no bad thing to let him think she had given up. It might make him complacent, and at this time, that was all she had.

She took another deep breath.

That salty tang of the sea air; it was too good to leave behind. She let him walk her along, let him think she was broken and submissive.

And she smiled.

Fine. If she wants to go this easily, I will let her. It simply confirms this is the right thing to do. Any lingering doubts that maybe she is worthy of me after all have gone.

She is worth nothing. It is a liberating feeling.

Like all the others. It is a burden, in some ways, being me. I realized I was different when I was about ten. I could see that other people were bothered if they said something and it upset someone. They cared what people thought.

I never even considered it.

I still don’t. From a young age I thought other people didn’t have minds. They were just hollow shells. It was only me that was truly real.

And so it was only me that mattered.

Then came Richie and I learned I could be hurt by them. I learned I had to fight, I had to do whatever I could to protect myself.

So killing him – and all the others – was a simple matter of survival. And every animal has the right to survive.

And if I happened to enjoy it? Well, that was simply the icing on the cake.

I know they have names for me: Narcissist, sociopath.

It is a sign of how different I am to all the others that they see those names as negative. They describe people like me as lacking something.

A conscience, empathy, a soul.

I see it as only positive. My life is simple: I want something, and I take it. Provided I don’t get caught, there is no downside.

No: what they think I lack is what makes them weak.

I am strong. I will prevail. People like me will prevail.

We are the next evolution of humans. A different species.

So killing her is like slaughtering a pig. Or a dog.

It is nothing.

We cross the path and approach the cliff. The wind whips the rain across my face. I can feel the salt air sting my cheeks.

It is a smell I have always hated. It is the smell of chaos, and I am a bringer of order.

Wynne

It was incredibly frustrating, but there was nothing she could do but wait. She was sure they were close and she would have given anything to be there, to get to Guy Sanderson before he was able to harm Annabelle Westbrook any more than he already had.

She stared at the phone, willing it to ring.

DS Dudek opened the office door. ‘Any update?’

She shook her head.