‘Who’

I gazed outside my window, letting the frosty, midnight air stream through my brown, opulent quiff. My greenish, hazel eyes, scintillating in the moonlight. My leather jacket flying in every direction it desired. I stared outside my window and pondered life as a child. All of those days running free in the backyard, playing with my friends without a care in the world. “Those were the days,” I mumbled, sighing in happiness. “I thought so too,” a voice behind me whispered. Before I could react, an agonizing pain surrounded my head as darkness began to creep into my vision. I awoke in a colorless room with no up or down or left or right, but only a chair to sit in until the end of time.

‘AM I’

“Unknown victim, blunt force trauma, and a bullet to the back of his skull.” Mark read out loud, trying to spot anyone in the crowd not paying attention. “When police arrived at the scene, they found body parts scattered throughout the house, and a sliced-off head that appeared to be half-beaten to a bloody pulp,” he informed us, turning on the TV behind him. He projected the images taken from the crime scene and visible disgust could be seen throughout the crowds. "You gonna cry?" My partner whispered, slapping my back jokingly. I told him to shut up and focus on what truly mattered at the moment. For the next half hour or so, Mark went over all of the evidence, describing to us what eyewitnesses reported, and where the murderer would have run off to. Everyone in the crowd turned to their partners and nodded their heads, accepting the task at hand. He turned off the TV and faced the crowd. “The reason why I have gathered you all here for one single case is that there is a slight possibility this can be-” Mark paused, a tear rolled down his eye. He knew that this very man he was talking about has taken something from each and every single person currently sitting in the room. He gathered everyone here because he knew vengeance was the only thing letting their souls live on. To accomplish the task of finding and locking this man away was to accomplish the task of fulfilling all their life goals. This man was the only thing on the path to the liberation for the lost. This man was the only thing preventing a mental catharsis given to everyone affected. This man was the one thing preventing justice. “Him.” Fury and chaos began to rise in the room, but Mark quickly calmed everyone down. Everyone knew what they had to do, but it wasn’t going to be an easy task. Throughout the course of 7 years, this man has kept taking and taking from people, while getting away with it every time. One night, 2 years ago, the efforts of Mark's team managed to track his very location. A SWAT team was dispatched to capture him, but he managed to escape our grasp. On that very day, everyone on the team swore that this could never happen again. This team will stop at nothing to finish the job, even if it means risking their own lives. “I want this man locked up behind bars for the rest of his life,” Mark screamed towards the crowd. He called everyone in to form a circle and place their hands in the center. At the count of 3, everyone pumped their fists into the air, screaming “JUSTICE!” Without a second thought, equipment was already distributed and cars were already pulling out of the police station. “He’s never going to see the light of day again.”