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Night Haunter’s eyes glinted. ‘The manner of your life is not my concern. It is the manner of your death. The manner of death you have chosen is a crime.’
He took a step forwards, looming over her.
‘There were, in ancient places, laws against self-murder,’ he said. ‘Suicides were buried without ceremony, in shame, and those caught attempting to kill themselves were often executed.’
‘But I want to die,’ she whispered.
‘Not the way I will end you,’ he hissed. ‘What I will do to you will make you wish you had opted to live. I am going to hurt you as much as it is possible to be hurt.’
‘Why?’ she breathed.
‘There are no taboos against taking one’s life here,’ said the Night Haunter. ‘Many do. This is not a happy world. But it can be a better one. By killing yourself, you take the easy way out, you encourage others to do the same. You might think you add yourself to a statistic, but your self-murder is much more than that. Every suicide adds to the rot weakening your culture. Every life abandoned is a signal that change can never be effected. You throw your existence away, and in doing so lessen the value of humanity.’
He reached out a hand and ran a ragged nail gently down her face.
‘I am going to save you. I am going to save you all. The people of this world will rise above the station of beasts. I will make them. If I have to bathe in the blood of you all to make that happen, then so be it. Justice is my purpose. The only route to total justice is fear. Without fear there can be no order. You will suffer now to feed that fear, so that many others will live, and this decaying society take the slow road to salvation.’
