Reaper by Robert Rusk

 

A man dressed in a black suit sits at the edge of a bed with his head in his right hand and a revolver in the other hand. He raises his head from his hand, his face red from crying for the better part of a week. He looks at his computer sitting on his desk across from the bed. On the computer screen is a picture of a nineteen-year-old girl. She has brown hair and blue eyes that shine. She has a smile that could melt any man’s heart. Alice. His Alice. His daughter. The way she looked before. Before she came home for spring break. Before she had a run-in with a group of boys who wanted to have “fun.” Before they pulled her out of the lake. Before they put her in the ground. 

 

The boys who did this will never see the inside of a prison cell. Not with their rich parents and the sheriff protecting them. No one will help him find justice for his Alice. Not cops or lawyers.  No one. The only thing he can do now is skip to the end to be with Alice and Jen. He takes the gun and puts it under his chin. He starts to pull the trigger when his computer makes a noise.

 

He looks at the screen and sees an instant message. He decides to answer it. Maybe tell the person on the other end to send the cops over so he isn’t left rotting for a week. When he reads the message, he can’t believe what it says.

 

I can make them pay.

 

“What?”

 

Another message appears.

 

I can make the men who took your daughter from you pay. All you have to do is say yes.

 

Another line appears.

 

One rule: You cannot kill yourself until after I’m done.

 

The man drops the gun.

 

What’s your answer?

 

The man types in “yes.” A picture of a skull and two scythes around it appears on the screen.

 

Outside of town, on the only road into town, a black Impala drives along the lonely road.