Upon opening the door, he was pushed in the back and hit the floor with a resounding whack. He hurried to get back to his feet but slipped, striking the floor with his cheek. The ground was… wet? A burst pipe, perhaps? No. It didn’t feel right. And then there was the smell. A touch metallic. The lights flick on. Oh, god!

  Blood.

  Everywhere.

  The walls.

  The ceiling.

  There seemed to be no surface left untouched.

  He recoiled in horror. He was lying in it. It saturated his clothes and covered his unexposed arms like a parasite that wouldn’t let go. There was so much of it. Too much. People didn’t bleed this badly, did they?

  He slowly turned to his left, afraid of what he might see. There lay a man with a blade sticking out of his neck. His face frozen in contorted agony. His body, a cold white, drained of life, the flesh painted in a collage of stab wounds.

  An impending sense of doom welled up within. He had made a grave mistake getting involved with these people. The men sneered before the foolish man they had deceived.

  “Ha ha. Told you fellas. I knew he would come,” the man at the door chuckled, turning the lock to seal him in.

  “Such a silly boy…” the man to his right gloated, shaking his head in a mocking display.

  “I can’t believe he came! What an idiot!” chastised the final man, kicking the pool of blood, carpeting him in a fresh coat. Some of it got in his mouth, and he choked and gagged, clutching at his throat.

  “Why?!” he screamed, his voice trembling and angry. “Why do this?!” They looked to each other, laughing.

  “Someone has got to take the fall, and it certainly ain’t us.” He hung his head, trying to come to terms with the nightmare he found himself in. But this wasn’t a nightmare—this was real life. He slowly looked to the deceased man to his left. There was no getting out of this. If only he had listened to Lily, she always knew best.

  Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation.

  They began to surround him, like wolves encircling a hare. He could fight. Try to brute force his way out of the situation, but that would never work. There were three of them, and they were bigger than he. It would only prolong the inevitable—prolong his suffering. Instead, he closed his eyes, accepting his fate without further objection. There was a small prick, and he slipped into unconsciousness.

  ***

  The police didn’t listen. The judge didn’t listen. The jury didn’t listen. Nobody saw reason. Why would he kill a man and then pass out at the scene of the crime? It didn’t make any sense. He tried explaining the real reason he was there, but it was like trying to claim the existence of fairies—nobody was buying it. So here he sat. On the electric chair with nothing but hatred and regrets. Not one person spoke in his defense when it was plain to see that he hadn’t done this. There was no motive. He had been set up. The real killers would walk, and this is what he would get: 2,000 volts. What a sorry excuse for justice.

  Lily must have heard what happened by now. She’d been right, and he’d been wrong. He never should have gotten involved with criminals, even if it was just as a lookout. They’d manipulated him into entering the property, and he’d been foolish enough to go through with it.

  The only solace he could take from this experience was that she wouldn’t be here to witness his gruesome end—he didn’t want her to remember him like that… not that she would be remembering much. Without his support, it was simply a matter of time until she succumbed to her illness. He only hoped that she could find it in her heart to forgive him. His carelessness had cost both of their lives.

  Tears filled his eyes as the strangers looked on through the glass cage as if he were some sort of rabid animal who was about to be put down. Their eyes pierced him, and a rage welled up from deep within. If he was going to die for a crime he didn’t commit, he’d at least speak his mind.

  “You’re all sheep who commit an innocent man to death! Sleep well knowing that! You’re the real killers here. Not I!” he spat. The onlookers muttered to one another in shock, but being on the other side of the glass, he couldn’t make out what was said. The man in charge didn’t seem best pleased with his little outburst, and this gave him a sense of victory, albeit insignificant, given what awaited.

  The man in charge nodded to the operator beside him, who walked over and placed a cover over his head. At first, this caused his breathing to spiral out of control, but as the last few checks were made, the darkness seemed to wash a sense of comfort over him. Fighting was pointless now. If only he had fought when he was in that room, maybe things would have turned out differently.

  With a deep sigh, he awaited death’s embrace, and a surge of electricity shot through his body, and then he felt nothing at all.