**John**

Everything was ruined. I was so close, but I couldn’t resist…it felt like trying to pull back from the only source of water in an endless desert. I needed her with such a force, I thought I might explode with it.

Now, as I sit at my desk on the top floor of the House, I feel my self-loathing ignite like an inferno of hatred. Why had I done that? What was this thing inside me that could not be controlled?

A knock sounds at the door, and I know who it is ...