The Second Time Around (The Starving Squad #1)

Prologue

How do you define murder?

According to the dictionary, it is the crime of deliberately killing a person. Simple, right? Easy to understand...

But in some cases, murder can be more unforgiving than just having the intention to kill someone and then killing them. Sometimes, it is more complicated than that.

Paano naman kung paulit-ulit mong sinaktan ang isang tao na sa huli ay mas pinili na lamang niyang wakasan ang sariling buhay? Sure, you didn't pull the trigger. You didn't push them down a building. You didn't hang them to the ceiling. So, does that make you a murderer?

Can you be considered a killer when all you did was load the gun with bullets? Kasalanan mo bang sinaksak nila ang sarili nila kung ang tanging ginawa mo lang naman ay ang ibigay ang kutsilyo sa kanila? Are you responsible for the noose they tied around their neck?

Bad things happen to people. That's why we take precautions. But what could possible prepare us for the disaster inside the sugar-coated words? Can we possibly see the daggers wrapped in sweet kisses? How can we ever see the danger lurking behind those warm chocolate eyes?

For Fresia, love can also be the cause of death. Too much love can kill you, so they say. And that became her sister's truth.

She didn't know how deeply she loved or how twisted that love was. They didn't question the stars in her eyes and the spring in her steps because all they cared about was how happy she was for two years.

Kaya naman hindi sila naging handa sa maaga nitong pagpanaw.

Her sister killed herself because she loved too much. The love that consumed her for two years took her life.

And they never caught the man responsible for her death.