My name is Max Clash , but my name doesn ’ t matter anymore because I feel like my soul is gone . I ’ m about to lose it in this courtroom . You never think you ’ ll be in one of these situations in your life but isn ’ t that just life in general ? Good or bad , it ’ s all unbeknownst chaos . This is America . It ’ s still the wild , wild West no matter how you look at it . You never know what could happen here . Personally , I figured that even American jurors would not give the man sitting adjacent to me on the bench only a few years in a mental institution instead of what he really deserved : the death penalty .
The grinning psycho on the bench kidnapped my beautiful wife and four others for no reason that I can fathom . Every one of them is dead . All is lost . All is dismal . All is hopeless .
I stand in place , the trial over , rocking back and forth , squeezing my hands into fists and releasing them . Squeeze . Release . Squeeze . A woman approaches from my left , short and squat , and asks me to leave . I look around and realize the courtroom is empty aside from our two lingering bodies .
I have no recollection of getting home , but I get there anyway . I hate to even be here . Everything I ’ ve ever loved and worked for has all been ruined in a week . My wife ’ s belongings and artwork still hang , remaining in this musty room that reeks of dead dreams and decay .
I met Laurel in college . She was the only thing that ever sparked a fire in me . A shitty student , I graduated with all A ’ s after I met her , just to impress her , really . She was my reason to live . My one and only drive . My whole purpose .
I got a good job after college studying botany . I had a hand in some reputable medicines produced over the last decade . But I mostly enjoyed growing the most beautiful flowers just to see the look on Laurel ’ s face when I surprised her with them . We talked about having a child in near future , mentioning potential names if it happened to be a boy or a girl .
I wish with all my heart she hadn ’ t gone to the video store that day . It was supposed to be an evening with a terrible romantic comedy and neither of us would probably pay the film any attention . Most romantic comedy nights with Laurel went like that . We ’ d end up on the couch , holding each other close and occasionally laughing at hilarious one-liners when we paused just enough from gazing into each other ’ s eyes . She had this way of making me feel like the most important being in existence .
When she went to get into her car that night , an outstretched arm clutching a chloroform rag was forced tightly over her nose and mouth . She was dragged backwards into a van . I know all of this because she told me from her hospital bed before she died . She had woken up in a basement with about four other people . There were two other men and two other women .
They were all tied up , chained and gagged . No one could speak . Each day , the group would sit there for hours until a door would open at the top of the stairs and a shadowy figure would slink down to the bottom step .
“ When he reached the bottom of the stairs , he would start screaming ,” Laurel sobbed into the phone . “’ WHO WANTS TO DIE SMILING !?’ He would scream . Is it you ?’ And he pointed at one of the women … a frail Korean woman . ‘ IS IT YOU WHO WISHES TO DIE SMILING !?’ he screamed inches from her face and she trembled and cried . He then looked in a new direction and changed his attention to a tall man , cowering in the corner . ‘ Maybe it ’ s you ! YOU WANNA DIE SMIL- ING ??? I think it is …’ He gave a loud whistle and I had to close my eyes as almost a dozen Doberman Pinschers came charging down the stairs and surrounded the man , their barks