Prologue

Tornado of Violence

"Get up, you son of a bitch! Now!"

And then, darkness took on color, and his eyes opened once again. His body was a knot of agonizing pain, and his mind, a drum pounding with relentless suffering.

He barely knew where he was standing. His head wouldn’t stop spinning. His eyes were swollen, and he couldn’t see through the blurred, smeared stains clouding his vision; his lip was split, and he had swallowed so much of his own blood that his tongue had gone numb.

A set of knuckles, hard as steel, made him see stars as they collided with his right cheekbone. His body crumpled to the ground once more. Not that he had enough energy to stand his ground anyway, but the blow offered the perfect excuse to grant his body a brief moment of peace.

They forced him to stand up again, and moments later he felt something heavy, icy, and unyielding clamped around his neck. He soon realized it was chains.

"What’s wrong, kid?" That voice. That dreadful, horrific, hateful, unmistakable voice.

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"Didn’t you just tell me a while ago that you’d make me pay for what I did to your little friends? That you would change this violent world? You had your chance, and you didn’t use it. Look at you now..."

Suddenly, a strong yank forced his head back, making him stumble a few steps to the side. It was on the fourth step that he stopped feeling solid ground beneath him. Instinctively, he tried to pull himself back, but it was impossible. Someone much broader, taller, and stronger was blocking his retreat.

Then, death's enormous and menacing hands settled upon his shoulders.

"Let me put it simply, boy," he whispered in his ear. "Violence can’t be stopped. It shouldn’t be stopped. It’s through violence that the world can coexist. It’s part of human nature! We are like a tornado destined to be violent by nature, and you’re seeing it, kid. When violence is unleashed… it’s unstoppable." The hands released his shoulders… and his breath caught. "It becomes a dangerous, endless spiral that leaves you with two options: Either awaken the tornado…" —And the rest happened very quickly— "Or succumb to its force."

A brutal, forceful kick sent him hurtling into the abyss. The chains clinked until they went taut; his neck cracked, but he didn’t lose consciousness; his body remained suspended, swinging from side to side in desperation.

That was when he knew there was nothing more to be done…

That was when he understood the consequences of his choices…

That was when he saw his life flash before his tear-filled eyes…

That was when he felt the tornado of violence, translating into pain… Until, after an agonizing and torturous minute, he died.