"Before this, I was a teacher," the Tiefling said, her voice trembling involuntarily as she spoke of her former profession. "It was a weekend, and I was watching a variety show with all the boarding students."
She wiped at her tears, her expression pained, as if reliving a nightmare.
"Then… then I don't know what happened, but I was suddenly filled with this hatred for the children. I felt like being so tired was all their fault. They were disobedient, they didn't study, they got into brawls with kids from other schools and got me disciplined… My head was just full of hate and anger, and then… then… I couldn't stop myself from wanting to… to hit them…"
When she finished, she began to weep silently.
But Old Mike knew she wasn't telling the whole truth. He'd been through it too, so he knew perfectly well the impulse hadn't been to *hit* those kids.
It was to beat them to death.
There was a huge difference.
All he could think about then was beating the tavern owner to death.
