Prologue 4: Death Penalty

Back in Axegate, Cell 90 to be precise, John's body sprawled on his soft, white prison mattress, his mind racing, his thoughts overly erratic.

The final verdict to his case was merely an hour away.

The angst he was currently feeling was something he had never thought he'd ever be an object to.

His feelings were quite reasonable because he knew fully well of the nature and the niche his sentence would be coming from.

Given his environment, the nature of its legal system, and the nature of his alleged crime, he'd only reckon that the probability of receiving a long jail term rather than a life sentence was abysmally low.

And considering his current odds, the latter seemed to be the most probable.

And to make matters worse, his lawyer, Darren, hadn't given him a single phone call since the last time they had spoken—two weeks ago.

This could only mean one thing:

He hasn't found any tangible evidence to exonerate him.

The mere thought of this prospect made John tremble in fear.

"It can't end this way. No, it just can't." He muttered.

Suddenly, a buzzing sound came from his cell door, and a group of five mean-spirited men walked inside as soon as the door slid open.

Excluding one particular man, who was the obvious leader of the group, the rest were garbed in the conventional prison guard uniform.

But for the leader, he wore on his bulky frame, a grey suit that accentuated his grey eyes and vibrant skin colour.

With a cobalt-blue necktie, a black goatee, a bald head, and a scar that ran from his left eyebrow down to his cheek, the warden radiated a domineering aura that did absolutely nothing to help John in his current dilemma.

"I shouldn't tell you what today is, Mister Carter," The warden said. "You have two choices: Come with us to the court peacefully, or force our hand to take a more... drastic measure."

John understood his fate and the futility of fighting it. There was literally nothing he could do to alter his current situation, so he just had to resign to it and hope for a light in the storm.

"There's absolutely no need for applying any drastic measure, Warden Ray," John uttered somberly as he got up from his bed.

Casting one long and final glance at his entire cell, John pulled his wrists out from within the sleeves of his prison uniform and presented them with one of the prison guards who held a complex network of titanium fetters.

"Just do what you have to do," John said.

That particular prison guard who held the fetters proceeded to truss John's limbs together.

"All done!"

The prison guard uttered as soon as he was done binding John's limbs together.

"Good, let's get this over with." Ray, the warden, uttered.

Being guided by the warden, with the other prison guards trailing closely behind, John was moved from his cell block, then outside the prison yard, through the three walled chokepoints outside the prison walls, stopping only to enter the prison transport vehicle parked outside the prison's vicinity, before making their way to the courthouse.

**

A few hours after they arrived at the courthouse, John was guided into the courtroom

But as he made his way into the courtroom, the doors to several cars and odd-looking vans abruptly swung open and spewed countless newscasts and journalists, who then swarmed at John with their various microphones and cameras.

This group of people definitely didn't bother to spare any mystery into their purpose of being there at that point in time, because as soon as they got into John's range, the next thing that followed was a suffocating flood of interrogatory questions.

However, he was safely guided into the courtroom by the warden while the other prison guards kept the Media at bay.

But the moment John stepped foot into the courtroom, he was greeted with a series of facial expressions: Some of which radiated pure spite and malignity, while a few others showed utter commiseration and sympathy.

These latter groups were comprised of mainly his friends and colleagues at work, which, at that time, didn't boast of a decent number, as their sudden disappearance still baffles John.

Sarah, too, was also missing in court today, this fact adding to John's bafflement, as he knew that she wouldn't have missed today for any reason, just as how she didn't miss any of his previous arraignments before this day.

But one particular thing stood out from these series of anomalies: Darren, his lawyer, was also nowhere to be found.

Now, at this time, John was certain that something was really off, Even though he couldn't quite place it yet.

'Where the hell is everybody?' He thought.

**

In no less than a few minutes after they had had John settled into his seat on the defendant side of the court, a stumpy ungainly man entered the courtroom, plodding his way to the Judge's seat.

As soon as this man got seated in the judge's seat, he made a hand gesture, signalling the group of people in front of him to take their seats as well.

"What a wonderful day we're having, Judge Harlan." Warden Ray greeted.

With a bright smile and a slight chuckle, Judge Harlan responded: "Another wonderful day to put another monster behind bars...

...Or possibly, send them to the afterlife. Haha."

John couldn't quite explain it, but something about how Judge Harlan said those set of words, made it sound a bit more sinister than required. But he couldn't bother about that right now because his lawyer was still a no-show, and it was only a matter of seconds before everything officially starts.

A quick glance at the empty seat beside John prompted the appearance of a scowl on Judge Harlan's face. He—Judge Harlan, made note of how futile of an endeavour it was if John had thought that the mere absence of his lawyer was going to prolong his verdict and sentencing any longer than it had to be.

But of course, John tried to explain how this was also lost to him, only to have it backfired as soon as he opened his mouth to talk.

Only now did he truly realise how much the entire world hated him for allegedly killing his father?

Regarding this fact, John thought the reaction he got from someone he knew absolutely nothing about spoke volumes about this said hatred.

He could only lower his head in shame and embarrassment as the Judge decided to call for a few minutes recess before they officially began.

The sudden call for a recess was evidently a good precedent for John, as he thought that the few extra time would hopefully give his lawyer enough gap to finally arrive and show up.

***

The few minutes of recess taken by the court went by faster than one would have expected, and everyone was back inside the courtroom.

John, although having a desperate urge to use the bathroom, couldn't leave his seat because he still couldn't wrap his head around the reason behind his lawyer's sudden disappearance.

But he was eventually snapped out of his sporadic thoughts when the Judge began to read out his sentence:

"Having reviewed all evidence, witness testimonies, and arguments presented by both the prosecution and the defence, this court hereby renders its verdict.

The jury, after thorough deliberation, finds the defendant, Mr. John Carter guilty of the charges brought against him, specifically aggravated assault and murder in the first degree.

The prosecution has met the burden of proof beyond a reasonable doubt, demonstrating Mr John's direct involvement in the offence.

Given the graveness of the offence, I am compelled to deliver an immediate sentence, which would not only serve as a lesson to all but would bring justice to the deceased victim.

Having said that...."

Judge Harlan lowered the printed paper from which he read and looked at John.

"...Mister John Carter, you are hereby sentenced to death by Lethal Injection but would be considerately put on death row for two days. During which, you are advised to contact any relative who you'd wish to be there to witness your final moments." Judge Harlan said.

And after his last statement, Judge Harlan got up from his seat and left the courtroom, leaving John who seemed to be held in a stasis of pain, confusion, fear and helplessness.

Hearing the verdict, John couldn't hold back his tears as they flowed from his cheeks and onto the ground. He kept his blank gaze on the Judge's seat, wishing that he would suddenly wake up and it would turn out to be one of his many twisted nightmares.

But alas, he didn't wake up, and it was all a reality.

The sheer amount of terror in his eyes, and the befuddlement coursing aimlessly around his body—buckled his knees, causing more pain to himself as he fell knees-first to the ground.

He lowered his head, trying to expel the terrifying thought of having to die by the lethal injection. However, he felt a set of arms pull him up from the floor he was on and guided him out of the courtroom.

John was tremendously dazed, petrified, confused and pain-stricken that before he noticed he was being carried out of the courtroom by the same guard who had brought him in in the first place, he was already halfway towards Axegate, where he was going to live out the next two days of his life before he eventually dies.

Or so he had thought....

**

As they stopped before the walls of Axegate, John was ushered out of the prison transport vehicle. But instead of leading him inside the prison, they led him to a particular building situated at the eastern part of the penitentiary.

At first, John was confused by the sudden change in their direction, but after coming into view with their obvious destination, he asked the prison guard by his side:

"I don't understand. Judge Harlan said I was to be placed in Axegate till my scheduled execution day. Why aren't I in Axegate?"

The guard smiled and responded: "You must have misunderstood the Judge.

Yes, he may have said "Axegate", but he didn't particularly specify to you where in Axegate you were to be kept.

You should have known that every building within a 10-mile radius from here is also called Axegate, except—"

The guard's explanation was cut short by the other guard's chiding voice: "Save your breath, man. The guy dies in two days. What's the point of knowing the architectural layout of Axegate now? It's not as if he could build one in hell."

John would have shot the uptight guard an icy glare, but didn't... partly because of the gnawing feeling of his impending demise... and also because they had arrived at the mysterious building the guard had been unnecessarily evasive about.

Finally setting his eyes on the building, John's face would have grown pale if it hadn't already lost whatever colour it previously had.

Out of sheer reflex, John planted his feet hard on the ground to halt their advance as he glared at the two guards with a horror-stricken face.

"Please. Don't do this." He begged.

But John was, after all, still just one person. One person, whose strength couldn't contend against the might of the two guards as they exerted their strength on hoisting John's body up, practically carrying him above the ground, and to the building structure which bore—on the concrete slab below the roof, the inscription that read:

"Axegate Asylum"