She was slow to answer but eventually sighed. “I don’t get along with most people. I do for a period of time, but something always happens. I usually say something inappropriate that offends someone, or my interests don’t align, or they don’t turn out to be the friends I thought they were.”

“So what you’re saying is that, in general, you think most people are a waste of time and assholes,” I stated and changed out the charcoal for some yellow chalk.

“I hadn’t thought about it that way. Most people are fine enough. I just don’t tend to get close to people.”

I looked up at her.

“Because you can’t trust them,” I said and sat up straight. “The world is full of sheep, Sunshine, and you can’t trust a sheep because they will bolt and run or follow the group if it suits them. That is why you’ve never felt like you could get close to them. You instinctively know that you can’t trust them not to hurt you.” I looked down at my artwork. “That’s why you trust me even though your mind says you shouldn’t. You know that I’m a wolf.”

Sunshine opened her mouth, closed it again, and finally returned to her work. “Cain, can I ask you something?”

“Yes, whatever you want,” I said and finished flushing out the lighter colors and blending the edges.

“When did you know you liked to…you know, kill people?” Her voice was soft and shy. I reached out and grabbed her hand, and she flinched at the touch.

“You can always ask me anything. If I don’t want to or cannot answer, I’ll tell you,” I said, running my thumb over the back of her hand until she relaxed.

“I’ve known my whole life.” I shrugged. “While other children dreamed of unicorns and being rock stars or what new toy they were going to get, I dreamed of blood, what the inside of the neighbor’s cat looked like and what it would be like to watch the light drain from someone’s eyes,” I said, finishing the shadowing on the soft purple eyes of my drawing.

I glanced up at Sunshine. She was sitting there staring at me, her eyes wide and filled with a mix of fascination and something I couldn’t quite place…maybe understanding.

“You do know that’s disturbing, right?”