Sixteen Minutes to Midnight

Chapter 16

It's been years since then.

I still think it about every night. I remember it clearly, every detail, every death. Every single thing that Caleb said. It was a ruse of massive proportions, and only he was able to pull it off. But he had, and sixteen people paid dearly, himself included.

I wondered why sometimes. Why he would go to such lengths to achieve what he could have easily attained. He planned it all out - from the moment he got rid of his father to the moment he was about to get rid of me - every step from the method to the execution, he had figured it all out. What he would do and how he would do it.

Money drives people to great lengths. It was as I said, always driving the craving for more. And more. And perhaps Caleb didn't have enough. Or maybe he did, and he just wanted more, but people like that never ended well, and Caleb was no exception from his own vices.

I leaned back in my armchair and gripped my head. The clock beside me was ticking away. I couldn't stand for them now. Ticking brought back memories - and I wanted them gone. The police had investigated the murders, questioned me endlessly, and finally closed the case with verdict imposed on the deceased perpetrator, Caleb. They couldn't stop him, though, nobody could. We could only watch helplessly as he carried out his slaughter, one man at a time. Sandra, Darren, Dmitri, Alonzo...none of them, none of any of us on the island deserved it. 

But we had.

And I was alive.

Never a day goes by when I'm happy to be alive. Never take that for granted, because you aren't quite sure when the life will be snuffed out of you. We're all like clocks - seconds tick away and turn to minutes, minutes turn to hours, and hours turn to days, and before you know it, our clocks are close to midnight. You've only got one chance at life, after all, and my clock's come pretty close to midnight once.

But now?

Now I live in the present, and I'm determined to make the most of it. Midnight had wound back, and those seconds I've gained back are damn well not going to waste. My clock's still running, after all.

I've still got some minutes to midnight.

END