By Krishandra Murphy

How many times have I been here before? 6? Well it is still all the same, the wooded interior that seemed to have every board on the building dented, along with a sheriff; well maybe a junior sheriff that always has to escort me.

The wooden building had always been the same with the most abundant sheriff sign always in the front, along with of course, a sheriff or two. The obnoxious drops from the sky had struck his hat with a few more hitting his face, as the patter of boots rested themselves along the mud, the wooden door just in front of them, not immune to the rain as well. Shoes came to a halt against the pavement as they made their way towards the obvious to be anything else.

¨Watch your step, we’ll be hitting the doors soon, maybe then we can get out of the rain.¨ With that he could hear a nervous chuckle coming from him, maybe he had hoped he would break the tension, which had not. Silence was the only thing that was met for him as the doors had swung, smacking his face in the process. The hat that was lying crooked on his head as with a single woosh it’s gone; like the tumbleweeds he would see, revealing his blonde, curly hair; that was his favorite hat. The hands on his arms had released their pressure, coming to a stop as the dimly lit room had been in sight, with the main sheriff front and center.

¨I took you long enough William, you need to be faster on your patrols if you want to be here.- well what are you waiting for to lock him up.¨ With a quick snap and shove the doors were slammed loudly, as if the rusty doors could have done this on purpose. William had now looked at him in shame, eyes looking at the body that had hit the floor after being smashed into the cell. 

¨That was awfully kind of you, but this does feel like you’re trying to compensate for something-¨ A smack to the cell doors made him flinch back into the wall, well that was unexpected. It normally happens at a later time compared to the 4th escape. He glared at the older sheriff who’s glaring at him like he hasn’t seen him like this before. Turning away from him walking to the desk at the opposite side of the room, he could see the sheriff (and junior sheriff) whispering, with the junior sheriff nodding and trying to keep his focus. The moldy brick wall seemed to be more interesting as the brick he had started to give away to the wall’s structure, raindrops had started to leak in from the exterior.

¨I need to go and deal with the latest case from the outlaws, there has been some more news about it in Heightlock and I doubt we can get anymore information from… a lackey of… course I will have someone here to help you out and get the job done.¨ William had only nodded as he rested his hands on the desk where the sheriff had been, gun resting on the side, glimmering in the light.

¨Are you…- Yes sheriff I can get it down and see what I can do about the problem, but should we go this far, what if they say no?¨ The sheriff had huffed loudly just enough for their prisoner to hear what was being said. 

¨What do you mean by lackey, I am not just some lackey, well, maybe that is why you haven’t had the best track record, Junior.¨ With those words alone the younger sheriff had sunk into his collar. The older sheriff had quickly furrowed his brow as he swiftly went into his pocket, pulled out the (what seemed to be loaded with the bullet lodged in its chamber, pointing indirectly as his heart to shut him up as he continued.

¨You have a gun for a reason, when they get out of line it is our job as the law, we are the only sheriffs in town currently besides the one that is on their way of course.¨ The doors had opened to reveal a taller man, taller than the sheriff and William, black coat damp with the rain and face unrecognizable, except for the loud boot stamps on the wood. With that the sheriff had gotten up from his seat, the loud barrel of his gun clicking into place, as his steps faded into the background, his hands secure at the guns side.

¨Hello, you must be the sheriff Lawrence had sent in your place, it is a pleasure to meet you. Okay we are here with To-¨ William was harshly stopped when the older man, Lawrence, had sat down staring at the criminal in the cage, who seemed to know him too well with the glare in his eyes even so present. Quickly he had looked down to see the larger folder, swiping through the pages more or less checking for key information on the suspect. 

¨ Thomas Litwid, 23, 5´7, 145lb, lives in Riverwood, Kently place of residence unknown.  Right green eye and left blue, eye blind in left blue eye, bullet hile scars on nose, and right arm. Current convictions; identity theft, use of illegal firearms, robbery, alignment with outlaws; note, STILL in alignment, 2nd degree murder on several people, these victims being; Holly Agnes, Mimi Uton, Bredley Jones. Am  I  missing anything William?¨ Willaim had zone out from the beginning only nodding along, with a quick snap in front of his face he rose and nodded at the sheriff.  

¨Yes, but weren’t there only two names in the file, only Bredley and Holly? I hadn’t heard anything about Mimi sir; but I most likely had missed something…¨ The sheriff had quickly froze but nodded, keeping his eyes on the criminal (now named Thomas). Thomas had now paid complete attention to him as the voice and face, a vivid memory of him. 

¨Alright then, now that this is settled.¨ The click of a different gun, a more silent one most likely from the silencer was placed at the criminals head, who had been frozen in place now.

¨Wait, what are you doing? Isn’t this a last resort? At least from what my sheriff had sa-¨

¨Yeah what he said, why don’t we think about this, don’t you need more to insist on something that I may have!¨ Thomas’ voice panicked now, what was he supposed to do now? He looked at William who had quickly looked away… he had seen this before. 

¨Quiet!¨ his voice boomed as both of them shut their mouths. ¨You have two options here, criminal. I will say them carefully so you understand; if you would be able to understand. You can either die here in your cell as you attempt to escape with the brick you had been moving in the cell, Yeah don’t think I didn’t noticed that . He looked at the brick that had almost been removed from it´s spot if he just had a little more time. Or you can be our spy for the outlaws and use their information for them. We have no more use from you based on your folders records and frankly I do not care what you choose, so pick.¨ At the end his voice had been so cold that the rain had seemed to envy it as the only sound that was left were the droplets falling onto the floor. 

As he looked into the man’s eyes he saw nothing that could give anything away, he wanted him dead after all regardless of what he would choose. What should he do, was there a secret code for something; was he willing to die, no he didn’t, he didn’t want to die after all, regardless of what he does. The spinning metal near his head had sprung up his choice on the matter, the liquid from his palms had spread to his whole body, not sure if it was the rain or not. The face staring at him was full of his dark brown beard covering his mouth not being able to see anything. 

¨ Well what are you going to do, Thomas Litwid, betray the outlaws for the law, or die as a broken man in a cell, going out as a coward.¨ He once again looked to the side of the man towering over his gun to his head through the rusty metal bars,  He only saw the younger sheriff who had been staring at the floor like a coward not allowing himself to face this; much like before. With the final click of the gun he had made his choice, unsure if this would be one of the regrets he couldn’t live with. 

¨Yes… I will¨ the only thing he could matter from the variety of choices he could have made, had it been the right choice? Lawrence had only smiled, the only thing keying to it was the squinting in his eyes along with the small row of yellowed teeth after the years. Mind you, a smile not fit for someone like him, not fit for the thing he has done; the gun had been slowly lowered now but the bullet was still in the chamber.