[Short Story] - Death threat

My meditation was broken by the sound of a nightstick against the steel bars. I was told to lie down on the floor, face the other way, and cross my hands behind my back.

Two guards entered after the distinct sound of the cell doors opening and cuffed me. Wrists first, ankles second, then pulled me up on my feet by my shoulders and showed me out of the cell.

I spent most of my time in a one-man cell, only ever being escorted out to take a shower, but I still knew exactly where we were going that day. The corridor we took, though short and wider than expected, reeked of death, and made my stomach turn with disgust, robbing me of what little satisfaction I had left from my last meal.

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I used to be the CEO of one of the largest corporations in the world, Xurocorp, and having been one of the wealthiest people in the world, I have made many enemies throughout my career, some more daring than others. With Xurocorp being the leading producer and handler of all things plastic, I was receiving death threat after death threat by activists around the globe, despite all the measures we have taken to help preserve our planet. Over the years I have learned to ignore them, and not read them at all, until one day my son was found dead in his bed, strangled while asleep.

Together with the police we went through all of the recent death threats I have received, and found one that caught our attention. Said letter was also very different from all others. It didn’t contain any threats or demands. It was as simple as it was horrifying, and it has ingrained itself in my memory word by word.

Hello, Lawrence.

We believe you have done enough harm to this planet and its inhabitants, and that the time has come for you, and your family, to pay for what you have done.

You have had your chances to make things right, and ignored them, now allow us to make things right for you this time around.

First, your son, Tyler, strangled in his sleep. Your daughter, Abby, next, and third your wife, before ultimately putting an end to your reign.

See you soon.

Naturally, I hired the best security I could for all of us, running background checks on each and every person I allowed to come near. My daughter refused to come live with us, but at least accepted the security I had hired to keep her safe. We also did our best to stay as low profile as possible, not going out in public, as the police worked on solving the murder of my son.

It wasn’t even a week later, however, that she my daughter had fallen victim to a sniper, who had allegedly taken a shot from a solid mile away, killing her through the living room window.

Devastated by what had happened, I moved to my cabin in the mountains with my wife without telling anyone other than our security, to try and stay safe until police caught whoever was behind the murders.

Only three days after we had moved she was somehow poisoned, and died that same day before the ambulance could even reach her.

Having lost everything I held dear, I was on the verge of ending my life myself. I did not want to grant whoever was behind the murders the satisfaction of murdering me, when my best friend and business partner, John, came up with the weirdest idea, one as genius as it was stupid.

He proposed I get framed with murder of my own family, having ordered hits on them myself, get thrown in jail, preferably a one-man cell, and am thus kept safe until the entire situation gets resolved. The evidence for my innocence were to be kept safely with John until the actual murderers were caught by private investigators that he would help lead from the outside.

Fragile and clueless, I accepted.

We planted the necessary evidence for my conviction and filmed ourselves doing it, agreeing to keep the footage a secret from everyone until it was safe for me to roam the streets again as a free man.

To help add to the story, we sent an anonymous tip to the police about the first clue we had hidden, one that caused a domino effect and made them find all other clues easily. Within a single day of getting the police on the false lead, I was brought to the station and questioned for yet another time. Within the 24 hour window of detention, they have charged me with murder and promised me a death sentence.

I hired the worst lawyer possible for my trial, and within a single week, I was sentenced to execution by hanging, two months from my conviction. Plenty enough time for the private investigators to work their job and have me rescued.

Forgotten in a dark and smelly prison cell, I quickly realized it was the stupidest idea I have ever agreed to. I had no means of proving my innocence other than through John, and no matter how much I tried and abused my right to a phone call, he never answered. He also never came to visit. Not once.

The more time passed, the more apparent it became it was actually John who was behind it all. The letter, the murders, the idea of having me sentenced to death. His entire plan worked out exactly as he had envisioned, and he knew he was first in line to take over Xurocorp with me and my family gone. All he needed more was the master password of the main computer that was never written down anywhere, and only my family and I knew what it was.

I knew John would eventually break the code, but I also knew he was very greedy and would do anything to not have to wait another day to fully take over the company.

I thought long and hard about how I could get back at him, ruin his plan, take away from him the same way he had taken away from me, and at last came up with an idea.

When I was escorted into the execution room, positioned mere inches away from the noose, I was asked for my last words. I searched for him in the audience, somewhat panicking when I couldn’t find him, but noticed several of the men were wearing earphones. One of them was bound to be John’s associate.

I cleared my throat and spoke loudly and clearly; “Whoever solves this riddle first will be granted my share of Xurocorp, thus becoming its rightful CEO, so listen carefully.” I wanted to make it look like anyone could step up and seize the company. “His clothes are black, and brown his eyes, he’s half demon, half man, brought back to life by the cremator of skies. Couple that with the date he was born, and you have just become Xurocorp’s new CEO.”

John was the only person who could ever truly solve it, and to him, it was easy. It was the name of a fictional video game character we both loved when we were children. What he didn’t know, however, was that I had given him the wrong password, one that erased all data and rendered the company useless.

With the noose tightly positioned around my neck, I saw one of the people in the audience grin. I could immediately tell he was on the line with John, and figured John must’ve cracked the code.

I, too, smiled.