“The sin they do by two and two they must pay for by one and one.” --Kipling (Tomlinson)
Ezra Dubois Delacroix sat solemnly on his fold down cot, within his eight feet tall, by eight feet wide, by eight feet deep, solitary prison cell.
Being partially hunched over his hands covering his blood shot eyes; he wept and reminisced his roller coaster twenty-four years of life. Specifically the last seven years of him being a resident of the Louisiana State Penitentiary.
The random, noisy, and indistinguishable clatter of the prison echoed outside his cell. Paying no attention, him being safe within his barred shelter; he mentally reviewed his life; his battle against his demons; good and evil.
He glanced once more at the legal letter he had received just a few weeks ago. He referred to it now as his harbinger of death.
He could remember clearly the fateful day when he was sentenced by a jury’s unanimous vote; to seven years in prison. He silently chuckled at the irony in the Louisiana justice system at that time; a person multiple people, he gets time in prison, a person kills one person, he gets the death penalty. It made no sense, but yet not much in life did.
Sadly, fate had hidden an ironic twist for him, his case had been re-opened because of a bureaucratic initiated justice reformation and newly discovered evidence. He was re-tried for four of the seven murders the jury hadn’t been able to resolve. With there being a new outcome; he had been re-sentenced. The new charges had amounted to death by the electric chair.
He had pleaded both silently and loudly, for days after his sentencing to any unknown force to change his fate; he didn’t want to die. Not at the age of only twenty-four years old. He was scared and angered; he would frequently yell and curse at god and man alike, like so many men who wait on death row, do. Some of the rookie guards’ thought he had gone insane, but the others; the veterans of the prison new otherwise.
Waiting on the row most men become scared little boys. All of their anger, hatred, and animosity towards the world are gone, leaving a shell of what they were. They would cry at nights and plead to god for forgiveness or for a divine miracle of any kind, from any patron deity, to free them. Others would damn god and everything under the blue sky. Some; the strange ones Ezra thought, would sit silently in their cell, waiting for their time to be taken off this planet, wanting to be executed for their transgressions. Or they were hopeful that this was all a cruel nightmare.
But, in the end they paid for their acts of crimes. And justice was done. The cycle would begin with the newly waiting members of death row.
Ezra thought about his life growing up in Trenton. Living in the light cream colored house with light green trim and a white picket fence. Trenton’s Garden of Eden. But every Eden has its serpent.
He had been only seventeen years of age when he had let his barbaric, uncontrolled temper, fueled by the years of verbal and physical animosity against him, ignite into a savage and incognizant rampage of seven cold-blooded and twisted murders.
He had been number seven; star Quarterback at Trenton High School in Trenton, Louisiana. Though gifted with athletic ability compared to that of a football god; and immortalized on the football field during emotionally driven Friday night football games he was forsaken at the end of the season. Lost in the midst of the student body; the ephemeral pride and joy of winning a game would fade.
No one ever thought that the son of a pastor and city mayor would think such things, or commit such acts. He had been the quiet, shy little boy who would sit in the back of the school bus by himself during elementary school. Who had never joined the frenzy of social cliques; the bible beaters and the jocks, to name just a few.
He had no need to join the small town’s social cliques that were often subtly numb of acceptance of anything progressive. He saw their true colors. They were often noticeably filled to capacity of arrogant and ignorant red necks with ignorance being their main quality. They weren’t willing to accept his unique abilities. Some where jealous, some where scared. Again their wheel of emotions was spun and pointed to libelous scorn, purgatory. And he was to be their scapegoat for all their past transgressions of which they believed could be washed away by verbal reproach of his demonic actions.
The seven homicides happened in a succession of seven days. Each night he would track the specific person, relying on the information he had gathered during his time planning, though most of his info was common knowledge of having interacted with them.
His victims were seven local residents, people who had either demonetized him or subjected him to a confined and harsh life.
Kellen James, or also known as “Jay” by close friends was his first victim. Kellen had bullied Ezra his whole life, shouting various obscene names at him. Kellen’s family was the only family in town that was related to the founder of Trenton, James Trenton. They thought themselves superior, and better than his family. Kellen’s family; his mother, father, and two sisters, had died in the fire Ezra had set on their home. These five demons were defeated.
Ezra paused for a moment and chuckled, remembering that he had forgot to take marshmallows, chocolate, and graham crackers to make smores that night for the fire had been gigantic. Kellen’s family of five were Ezra's first five victims, his first time taking a life.
His fifth victim was his high school math teacher; Frank Robinson, who was also his next door neighbor. Frank had held a grudge against Ezra because Ezra’s mother chose not to marry him, and instead had married Ezra’s father. And because of that decision he had repeatedly failed him in class and done other things because of a long time vendetta against Ezra's mother.
His sixth and seventh victims were, to many neighbors surprise; his parents.
Though on the outside the Delacroix family looked like the model family. They resided in a beautiful cream colored house with green trim and picket fence. Both parents were prominent figures in Trenton.
His mother was the mayor of Trenton. A major rift had developed between the two churches, one was Catholic, the other Protestant. The outcome of the Mayoral election would decide the political majority of the town, who would control the town. Her power to pass certain provisions and charters as the mayor had only multiply her adversaries.
His Father was the head pastor of one of the two churches in town, the Catholic church. His fiery fanatical belief in Catholicism drove his Protestant rivals across town crazy. This and other ideology driven rhetoric and written statements have driven the rift wider.
Underneath the thin illusion of a perfect family stood a battle ground; a struggle between his parents and himself.
His mother and father both used their positions to impose their religious beliefs upon those willing and unwilling. His mother would not listen to him when he had told her his secret concerning his father. She would not hear of it.
“Don’t you dare spread those evil lies or you’ll be like those heathen protestants across town.” she would say. The truth was that his father had, since He was thirteen years of age, sexually molested him. The trauma still lasts to today.
When he was younger, my father would say that it was to spiritually enlighten him, bring him closer to god. He knew better. He later realized that; He should have known better and try to tell someone; when he got to the age of eight years; he tried to tell someone, but no one would listen because of his fathers prestige.
After all of the chaos; after what he did to him; he could no longer sustain my mentality; the time was now, the action was to eliminate those who were the demons on his shoulders; the ones who had caused him so much grief and pain in my life up to that point.
Though he had murdered the seven people in cold blooded murder; there was a lingering feeling of doubt and dismay, had the acts healed him. There was an innocence within him that cried out; “why?!?! Don’t you feel any remorse?”. In truth, he did feel remorse now having thought over it for so long, also during that time he had thought about god, and his own redemption. His parents had stressed that to get in heaven, you must be saved.
Footsteps approached the prison cell, jarring Ezra out of recalling his life. Suddenly; as his memories rushed backed to him; he new who it was approaching. He glanced at his harbinger of death letter; reading the date of his sentencing; June 23rd, today.
“Ezra Dubois Delacroix, inmate number 157863, you have been scheduled to be executed for the conviction of seven counts of murder.” A voice said. Ezra turned to see two guards, the older one was Frank, the younger one was Carl.
Frank had originally looked out for Ezra when he was sent to prison here. He made sure he didn‘t end up someone‘s special friend, figuratively speaking. Frank was the one who had unlocked the door and spoken. Carl was the one waiting to escort me out of the prison cell. “Come on Ezra,” Frank said. Ezra walked over to him and allowed himself to be escorted to the execution chamber. The room was fairly small; on one end of the room was the electric chair. On the other end had rows of chairs. There were about seventy-five chairs in all. Various people from Trenton sat in the chairs; either waiting to see justice to be done, or the loss of an innocent life.
Ezra was set in the chair. His two escorts; Frank and Carl, strapped him down.
Once he was strapped in, Frank stood at angle in front and to the left of him.
“Ezra Dubois Delacroix had been charged and convicted of seven counts of murder, he has been sentenced to death by the electric chair by the ruling of the Louisiana State Justice System.” he paused, closing his eyes for a brief moment. “Do you, Ezra Delacroix, have any last words?”
At that moment, the culmination of his life; of his battle within himself had come. Through out his life he had never been so sure of his present choice.
Tears started to stream from his eyes,” May God forgive me and have mercy on me.” he sobbed, staring up at he ceiling. He started to mumble to himself, perhaps going delirious. But he was really pleading for forgiveness; for god and Jesus to save him. “Please forgive me, all of you; please.” he cried. He hung his head. “Execution will commence.” frank said.
Frank putt a mouth piece into Ezra’s mouth so when the electricity went through him he wouldn’t swallow his tongue. He followed this with putting a cloth bag over Ezra’s head so that no one would become frightened when his body convulsed.
Once this was done Frank sadly nodded his head and Carl switched the switch and thousands of volts of electricity surged through Ezra’s convulsing, body; ending his life.
Many people believe that you live life and die, that there is no life after death. That there is no God, just humans and a billion miles if space around us. Others believe that if you do not become saved now, you’ll fry in hell for it later. There are many other ideologies. Religious humans place an importance on being saved quickly. Yes; being saved is the best thing, but it is not how fast you are saved, but how deep within your self are you willing to look. For life does not end with death. Death really is just a new beginning. There is a whole new life after death. Ezra Dubois discovered that, and he chose his beginning. The question for you is; How will you start your new life after death?
“Now I am about to take my last voyage, a great leap in the dark.” --Thomas Hobbes
“Is death the last sleep? No, it is the last final awakening.” --Scott