Empire of Lies

I know he’s dead—that he was technically done the moment I hit the switch, but I wait a few seconds before flipping the switch upward.

“It was three hundred,” I say, my voice hoarse. “Five times a week, the first week of every month, for five fucking years…”

I leave the bathroom and feel a hint of something in my chest that I haven’t felt since I was a child.

Peace.

The moment I get out of his office and make it to the parking lot, I pull out my phone and send the email I’ve been longing to send since me and Trevor made this deal.

Subject: All or nothing.

The list is complete.

--Michael