Serial Killer: Endgame

Here it is, the final serial killer short that I wrote almost a decade ago. My #writing has improved exponentially since then, so I’m excited to finish my #novel first draft and get to the revision stage. (Again, I apologize for the formatting. I find it easier to copy and paste than to jump back and forth between screens to retype the whole thing)

I stand as the jury comes out

Finished deliberating

Verdict pending

I am confident in my testimony

And its explanation

Of why I must kill

The foreman stands

And speaks:

“Guilty on all counts”

My heart sinks in my chest

How could this be?

Can they not see

That my actions were justified?

I am in such a daze

That I almost do not hear

The unbelievable sentence recommendation

Death

I am to be put to death

For doing what comes so naturally

The months fly by

Wasted on appeals

Empty efforts

Simply going through the motions

They do not give me the last meal I requested

Human flesh is not served

On death row

I settle for steak

Extra rare

But it pales in comparison

Minutes tick by

No reprieve from the Governor

Will come on this night

I am led in my shackles

To the last room

In which I shall draw breath

It is so cold, so methodical

Strapping me down

Inserting the i.v.

This is no way to kill a person

I told them the proper way

But to be killed as I wish to be killed

Is considered “cruel and unusual”

So I am left to this

Defeated

I do not have the heart to fight

My reign is over

I watch the injection

Pushed ever so slowly

A heaviness fills me

My eyes slide closed

And the she-killer is no more