“Silas Bordreaux, it’s time,” the guard said gravely.

  I stood from the small cot in my cell and backed up against the wall keeping my hands in plain sight. One of the guards eyed me like a hawk, while the other began unlocking my cell. The metal hinges screeched as the cell door opened. The first guard stepped inside pulling heavy chains from his side. “Is that really necessary, Greg?” I asked teasingly. He just narrowed his eyes at me as he grabbed my wrist. Soon my legs and hands were bound tightly, Greg was perhaps a bit rougher chaining me up than was necessary, but I couldn’t blame him. After all, I had murdered his cousin.

  I should explain--Greg’s cousin, a man by the name of Chad, deserved it. Like me, he was a predator. Only he preyed on innocent women. He watched them as they stumbled out of bars in the early hours of the morning, attacking them in blind alleys and forcing himself upon them. I was aware of at least three he had tried to attack. I had thwarted those attacks by causing enough noise to spook the young ladies away.

  Unfortunately, I wasn’t around when he went after his last victim, but I did have the displeasure of examining her corpse. She had suffered severe trauma to the face, no doubt from being smashed into a wall, this had caused bleeding in her brain, leading to her death. As county coroner I performed the autopsy; I had gotten to see firsthand what Chad did to women. Despite the fact she had no doubt been unconscious and on the verge of death, it hadn’t stopped Chad from having his way with her. The police had never been able to identify her attacker, but I knew. Two nights later I went on the hunt. I tracked Chad down in one of his usual hunting spots. He walked right past me, never even so much as glanced at me.

  That was my greatest advantage: I was utterly unremarkable. I wasn’t tall or short, I wasn’t heavily muscular or overly skinny. My hair was a short plain brown, in all appearances I was perfectly average-looking. The kind of person you pass on the street a hundred times and never once pay them attention. Chad learned the folly of ignoring me that night. Before he realized what was happening, I pressed a cloth soaked in chemicals over his nose and mouth. He panicked, of course, as one does, but that only made him breathe in more chemicals hastening his inevitable unconsciousness.

  I dragged him off to the nearby abandoned room, I had already prepared. Heavy plastic sheets covered every surface, and I took several minutes strapping Chad down to an old wooden table. By the time he woke, he was already strapped down and gagged. I’ll spare you the details of what I did to him but suffice it to say Chad would never hurt anyone again.

  He wasn’t my first, but sadly Chad would be my last. In total, I had killed 20 people in two years, not bad for a 38-year-old man. They were all terrible people like Chad who preyed on the weak. Career criminals who managed to escape justice. Rapists, murderers, abusers, they were all prey to me. I hunted them down and ended their lives, I was trying to help the world. However, the law didn’t see it that way. In truth though, I enjoyed killing them. The rush of hunting them down, seeing the life drain from their eyes as they took their last breaths. Just thinking about it sends a shiver down my spine.

  For all I did to help the city they labeled me a serial killer, my official title was The Killer Coroner; I was famous, or perhaps infamous would be the correct term. I was all over the dark web and the news had been covering my trial and subsequent hearings even after I was put on Death Row. My lawyer had managed to get my execution delayed a couple of times, but it never lasted. The state was too afraid of me. They wanted me put down like a rabid dog. I didn’t mind though I was famous. People will remember my name for years to come.

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  That thought made me smile, which made Greg shove me unnecessarily hard. I stumbled slightly but managed to steady myself on the wall of the hallway. Just a few more steps now, I could see the door ahead and just make out the gurney through the small window. Another guard unlocked and opened the door, while Greg and his companion pushed me inside. The room was bare and smelled heavily of chemicals. The only thing in the room was the gurney and a small table covered by a cloth. I could tell from the shape of the cloth that something rested beneath it. No doubt the drugs they would use to end my life.

  On the far wall was a set of windows, the curtains pulled closed. I was certain I saw shadows on the other side. No doubt they were witnesses to my final moments. The guards sat me down on the bed, unshackling my legs and pulling them up onto the gurney. I felt them strap my legs down, pulling hard to make sure I couldn’t get away. Next, they moved onto my arms, and within moments I was completely tied down. I heard the curtains open but strapped down the way I was I couldn’t lift my head to see who was on the other side.

  A figure in black clothes stepped forward, a bible in his hands. “Do you have any last words, my child?” said the priest.

  I gave him my best smile, “I don’t regret my actions, nor will I beg forgiveness for them.” He seemed appalled at that but managed to mask his feelings a second later.

  “Very well, then I shall ask forgiveness for you,” he said, taking a step back. I could hear him chanting something in what I assumed was Latin. Another figure stepped into view, this one clad in the robes of a doctor. His face was completely obscured.

  “What’s up doc?” He seemed caught off guard by my cavalier attitude and glanced at someone out of my line of sight. I didn’t hear any sort of response, but the doctor must have gotten a signal. He went to work cleaning my left arm before grabbing a needle and pushing it into my arm. I felt a momentary tinge of pain, but that was all. He stepped out of my line of sight and a moment later, another figure stepped into view. I knew this figure all too well. It was the warden come to say his goodbyes. He hated me, I could see it in his eyes, but I could also see a hint of perverse pleasure in his eyes. He liked seeing me like this, strapped down and about to die. I knew that look all too well, often it was the last thing my own victims saw before I ended their wretched lives.

  “Any last words Bordreaux?” he said his voice deep and commanding. I smiled at him, determined not to let him see that my heart was racing, and I was in fact nervous. No one wants to die, but I felt a slight satisfaction knowing that even in death my name would live on. Heck, from what I had overheard from the guards, every news outlet in the county was sitting outside waiting for news on my death. I would be all over every news channel, and all anyone could talk about for at least the next few days. That thought calmed me ever so slightly.

  I shook my head at the warden, I didn’t trust myself to speak. I really didn’t want to give away just how scared I was. The gurney beneath me shifted, lifting me to face the window. At least half a dozen people sat on the other side of the glass, some their eyes red with tears, others their faces hard with hatred. I simply smiled at them as if I hadn’t a care in the world, this earned me more than one raised middle finger. The priest stepped up next to me.

  “Father, unto your hands we commend the spirit of our brother Silas Bordreaux. May his troubled soul find peace in your eternal rest.” I had to stifle a laugh, I was a murderer-- an unrepentant one at that. God wouldn’t want anything to do with me. The priest turned towards me, “Go in peace, my child.” He waved his hand in front of him, forming the sign of the cross. Behind me, I heard something click followed by a soft whirring sound. I felt a sudden numbness and tingling fill my left arm and within moments I felt it fill my body. My eyelids suddenly got very heavy, and blackness filled the edges of my vision. I stared hard into the faces of my witnesses, silently willing them to remember me. I didn’t tremble or cry, I simply smiled at them one last time. Finally, I couldn’t fight it any longer and I felt myself slip into unconsciousness and death.