Dangerous people

I have just had a conversation with one of my oldest friends, about someone who used to be a mutual friend. We have learned over the past couple of months that this person is toxic.

What drives a person to be so bitter & filled with hate, that they eliminate everyone who has ever cared about them from their lives?
What then drives that person to morph into a violent sociopath? Maybe they always were & it just takes you a while to see behind the mask.

My friend & I have been friends since primary school. We will always be friends.  I have no doubt in my mind.
Both of us have very separate lives & our own, plus a mixed social group.

The toxic person in question, wormed her way into our world. Weaving in between relationships, forging others. Before we knew it, we were all living in each others pocket & it became apparent that suddenly, everyone was the enemy. Who was at the centre of it all? Toxic.

One day, on my birthday (to make sure I wouldn't forget), Toxic sent me a barrage of abusive messages. For no reason. They were as hurtful & as personal as they could of been.
Various events followed; grovelling for forgiveness, more abuse & more apologies. About 6 months ago, I cut all ties, as quietly as possible. It wasn't as straight forward as one would expect. I had a relationship with her 3 other family members. But eventually, it was done.

My friend is a soft, gentle & caring person. She fights with no one, regardless of what they put her through.
Her day came this morning. After trying to help Toxics destressed & intoxicated daughter last night. My friend found herself under threat of physical violence. I will refrain from documenting every detail, but let's just say this person is known to have taken a baseball bat to a boy who wronged her daughter, previously.

I think about how angry, sad & lonely this woman must feel. Shut off from the rest of the feeling world. To have got herself to a point in her life, in her mid 40s, to be so isolated & broken that she feels there is no other way to deal with a situation, than physical violence.

Anyway, my friend is home on holiday & can go back to her regular life, in another part of the country, at the end of the week. Toxic will still be as she is, only she's now lost a woman who would of been the most loyal friend she would ever of had.