Craig Hawkins sat alone in his cell awaiting the inevitable. This 'inevitable' if it were to happen to anyone else would more than likely be anticipated with dread and quite possibly a whole load of fear in the lead up to the arrival of such a particular moment, but for Craig it would be a moment to look forward to, for as far as he was concerned, this moment would be a moment which would set him free.

So much more than that, this upcoming moment would do a hell of a lot more than just set him free, for it also would allow for hell itself to be released. That moment he was waiting for would also empower him, free him from his physical imprisonment and give him the freedom to cause and create as much chaos as possible, freedom to add to his existing large tally, a tally of bloodied victims. So patiently, he would await his moment.

It is even quite possible that Craig Hawkins had allowed himself to be caught and imprisoned for the many murderous crimes he committed just so he could have this moment. Even to allow such a thing a man must have some sort of faith and belief that there is a beyond to which he will go to, a beyond with which he will have total control of. And perhaps too, he may believe that certain conditions might need to be met.

Five days after being shot during a melee in a store within the town he spent his early childhood in, Colin lay in the bed where he had spent all those five days of recovery. In many ways, he looked forward to such a time it can be deemed that he could go home and in other ways he wanted to continue to enjoy being looked after while getting some much-needed rest. Despite the pain from his wound and the almost constant other worldly pleas coming his way, Colin was indeed managing to get that rest he so badly needed. Ignoring those who came was never an easy thing though Colin most definitely had ignoring down to an art form.

The bad points of his current predicament were of course the pain he felt along with being bound to his bed as well as having to deal with the sheer number of souls attached to the hospital. Those constant requests for help, the lack of understanding that Colin can do very little with due to his current situation and the sheer horror of being hit by the realization of how some of these souls had met their demise, all would make even the toughest of people feel a lot more than just a little uneasy. Still, he managed to relax to a point.

Yeah, along with the bad, this period of time also came with its good points. As well as that rest he was managing to get, Colin was also getting to enjoy the company of Natalia. At first, she had felt an odd compulsion to visit Colin, but after her first visit she had asked if Colin would mind if she were to return, Colin didn't mind in the slightest, in fact it would be something to look forward to. If Cecilia had been the one that got away, then perhaps Natalia might be the next best thing. They are sisters and allowing himself to think such a thing brought him some dismay, still, Natalia is a special lady.

Special or not, Natalia's visit on the fifth day was to be interrupted by another visit. No, not by members of the dearly departed, but by those of a kind Colin would not expect. Two tall men in prison guard uniform accompanied by another man just as tall as the other two and dressed in a dark suit and slim, dark tie with a white shirt, arrived at Colin's hospital room. Almost feeling intimidated by this arrival, Natalia excused herself from Colin's bedside. She moved to the other side of the room behind the three men who had just arrived.

'Sorry to interrupt,' spoke the man in the suit, 'my name is Aidan Phelps, and I am the warden over at the county prison.'

Natalia had watched the man speak and from his words she thought it best if she were to excuse herself momentarily and completely from the room.

'I'll just go grab myself a coffee, be back to you later on.'

'Sure' responded Colin looking at Natalia and trying to smile.

From having moved halfway down the hallway. Natalia turned around and watched as the door to Colin's room was closed as well as the blinds. Close to an hour passed before she returned. To her the passing hour was an hour which seemed to drag on and on and it most definitely felt much longer than what it actually was. When Natalia did return, it was clear that the three visitors had left.

'So, what was all that about?' she asked, 'though I completely understand if you don't want to discuss it with me.'

Natalia sat back in the seat she had been using over the last few days. It's right next to Colin's bed, so there is little or no distance between them. She had brought back a coffee for him too. He propped himself up a little more than he had been and took the coffee.

'Thanks, yeah sure, it's not anything confidential or anything like that. I guess that word has gotten out that I am back in town and of what I can do. Apparently, there is an execution scheduled for early next week up at the prison and I have been asked to attend to ensure that it all goes to plan, ya know, ... to my standards.'

'Just what is it that you do?'

'Oh, you do not know, do you?'

'Know what?'

'Have you ever felt like your sister is with you?'

'Yeah sure, I get that quite a lot.'

'Well, that is because she does actually get to be with you, quite a bit actually.'

'And how would you know such a thing?'

'I have this gift; I have had it since I was young, well I guess I have always had it. It allows me to do certain things. With this gift I have seen her recently, your sister that is. This gift of mine and having seen Cecilia is a big part of why I came home.'

There was a slight pause, it was clear to Colin that Natalia believed what he was telling her, and it was clear that she was becoming somewhat emotional. Her eyes welled as she reached for his hand which she would hold. Confirmation of Celia's presence over the years she has been lost, yeah, that can mean a heck of a lot. Colin would be at this point unsure as to whether or not he should keep talking though keep talking is what he did.

'She loves you; you know. It is why she comes back to you. ... I had been thinking of her a lot before I came to you at your home. I hadn't known she had passed until you told me, but I should have, ... she had come to me, I guess. Just didn't know what to make of it until after, if it were a dream or something more ... anyhow. Ya know, I think that the prison warden is a bit skeptical, and his invitation is just to appease some of those who are attending the execution. Apparently, he, the subject of the execution, is an evil son of a gun so when he is gone, people want to be assured that he is actually gone.'

'Can anyone attend this execution?' asked Natalia.

'I'm not so sure. I could organize you being there if you wanted to, though I wouldn't have thought that you would want to go to something like that.'

'Oh God no, it would be more out of wanting to support you. I would kinda like to be there for you. You've been through a lot in the short time you've been her so. ... Perhaps my sister wants this too.'

What Natalia had just said surprised Colin and it also gave him somewhat of an uplifted feeling. 'Really? Thank you for that. I will be chatting to the warden again closer to the time and I'll see him about letting you attend if you still want too by then.'

'I am sure that you are used to doing what it is that you do, alone. It may be nice for you to have some ... back up.'

Eyes locked for a moment or so. Colin couldn't help but smile and in turn, so did Natalia. Yeah, she is special.

***

The time has come. Colin and Natalia sit in the back row of a small auditorium-like room. Five rows of twenty seats set in a semi-circle with an enclosed room in front separated from the seating mostly by a singular perplex glass panel ... almost as if it set up to be a stage within itself. Though neither Colin nor Natalia had come to see a show of any sort, they are where they are to witness the death, the execution of Craig Hawkins.

Both Colin and Natalia had arrived with plenty of time. The whole place gave Natalia the hee bee gee bees and if it weren't for what Colin could do then he probably would have felt the same way, especially with having to journey through some of the prison grounds to get to that execution room. The souls which the destination room is responsible for claiming, many surely are still near though thankfully Colin cannot see any at this time.

Scheduled for mid-day, Colin checks his watch and himself and Natalia are twenty minutes early. Better to be early than not there at all, though all the preparations would need to be made prior to mid-day.

The warden and the two guards who had visited Colin in hospital soon arrive and also take seats within the auditorium, not too far away from Colin and his guest. A doctor arrives, he moves through to the main room where the execution will take place and he checks the room over before leaving. Two guards stay inside the chamber to ensure that nothing is tampered with.

Ten minutes prior to execution time, another two guards escort Craig Hawkins into the chamber and they strap him to a gurney like table while also removing some of his chains. The doctor returns and makes sure everything is properly in place and all prior arrangements have been made. Intravenous lines inserted, heart monitor set up and anything else that may need to be readied, all is ready to go. Almost midday and Craig would be asked as if to he had any last words to which he would answer 'not just yet'.

The clock continues to tick and when exactly midday arrives, the warden stands and signals for the execution to begin. Three injections are administered one at a time, and it is a matter of time from here on in. At nine minutes past twelve precisely the monitor attached to the prisoner shows that his heart has come to rest. The doctor checks for a pulse before confirming that the subject of the execution was and is indeed dead. The warden stands once more and nods. Curtains close around the outside of the room containing the execution. Show over, or is it?

Having had a few words with those he had sat with, the warden moves over to speak with Colin.

'Apologies for dragging you and your friend out to this, though I guess it is better to keep people appeased than allow room for them to worry.'

'Not a problem, if my being here has helped then I am glad that I could be of assistance, besides it was a more than interesting experience.'

'Thanks again ...'

The warden shook Colin's hand and nodded towards Natalia, ensuring some effort was mad in acknowledging her attendance. He would have time to do no more than turn to move away when the lighting within the room as a whole would take a center stage of its own. It began to dim for a brief moment then did so again only seconds later. The second brief dimming of the lighting was accompanied by an exploding sound possibly coming from a power outlet from somewhere on a wall within the main chamber.

'What the hell is going on in there?' asks the warden.

At this point, the main lighting had permanently dimmed, and a red lighting backup system had come into operation. It would be Colin who would offer an explanation to the warden.

'Excuse me sir, but I suggest that we make a bit of a move out of this room.'

'And why would you make such a suggestion?'

'You know the whole reason as to why I am here? I imagine you may be skeptical but right now is not the time to debate anything and besides you did ask me here ...'

'Look son, I did say that I appreciate you being here, but I do not have the time for any of your mumbo jumbo. Your attendance is for show, to appease family members of victims ...' his declaration is interrupted by some worrying sounds.

The warden was about to call out once more as to what was happening when it would appear that something was happening to him. He began to struggle to breathe as if something had attached a strangle hold onto his neck. Natalia was about to move towards him to see if she could be of assistance when Colin grabbed her by the arm.

'Don't, it's too late for him. C'mon, we need to move.'

'What about the warden? We have to ...'

'Nothing we can do for him now unfortunately; we really have to go.'

Before Natalia could even ask anything else, Colin had begun to move towards the exit still with a hold on Natalie's arm. She would look back towards the warden and see him fall to the ground. Having run down a corridor, Colin and Natalie would soon encounter a problem. They would come to a door with which they would need a swipe card to gain access to the other side of. So, the only thing they could do at this point would be to return to where they had come from. And they did this cautiously.

Regular lighting had been fully restored by the time a return had been made and everyone within both rooms, stage, and auditorium, were lying on the ground and most had injuries which were very apparent while some have injuries which were or are not all so apparent.

'What the hell?' asked Natalia as she went to check on a prison guard, 'he is not breathing.'

'I highly doubt that any of them actually are breathing, and if any of them are still breathing then I guarantee will most likely not last all that much longer.'

Colin took a swipe card from the guard that Natalia had knelt down beside.

'We have to go.'

'Go where?' asked Natalia.

'Anywhere that is far away from this prison.'

Upon exiting the door that Colin needed a swipe card to get through, both he and Natalia were met by a single prison guard who got up out of a chair he had been sitting in while also drawing his gun and pointing it towards both Colin and Natalia.

'Hey, hey. Slow it down there you two. Who are you? What the hell is going on?' asked the guard.

Natalia shrieked upon seeing the gun and moved behind Colin.

'Whoa, it is alright ... please listen ... the prison needs to be evacuated, as in right now' speaks Colin edging his way to his left with Natalia staying right behind him. 'There was a problem in the execution chamber ...'

With the two people before him getting closer to exiting the small space they had just entered; the rather nervous-looking guard would speak shaking his gun around a little more now that he previously had been.

'Evacuate the prison? That cannot be done, especially not without the authority of the warden. Where is he?'

'Warden is dead, he never ...'

'Dead? Where is he?'

'Down where the execution took place, but I wouldn't go down there if I were you.'

The guard did not heed what Colin said and began to make his way down the corridor with which Colin and Natalia had just come from, leaving Colin with no other option than to move on, so move on he did.

It soon became clear that Colin and Natalia had got lost. They came to a prisoner cell block; a cell block they had not come to pass from their initial arrival up until they had reached the execution room. It is better to keep moving rather than retrace their steps to find the right way out so forward it is or at least an attempt forward.

To gain entry to this area, not that they particularly wanted to gain entry to this cell block, the swipe card would be needed once again. Colin used the card and was met with a quick succession of beeps. Entry denied. He tried again; entry denied again.

From down the end of the hallway with which they had come from ... the sound of a single pair of footsteps taking one step at a time arise and it gets louder with almost every step as if someone or something invisible was approaching. There is no one in this hallway other than Colin and Natalia, at least no one who can indeed be seen, by either of the two and that includes Colin himself as for whatever it is that is coming goes completely unseen by him ... ominous to say the least. He tries the card once more, but still does not get access. The footsteps continue to get closer, an escape from this moment currently not looking likely.

'Colin ...' speaks Natalia with the sound of fear being very evident in her voice.

'I know, I am trying here.'

The footsteps come to a halt and Colin tries the card one more time. Access is granted, finally, and the door opens.

'Ha' Colin says with a smile while opening the door.

Colin and Natalia move past the door and almost as soon as they do, they are met with shouts from prisoners locked in their cells. Natalia puts her hands over her ears in an attempt to block out at least some of the abuse that comes her way, and she begins to pick up speed. A buzzer sounds and one of the cells becomes electronically unlocked. A muscular bald man, easily standing over six and a half feet tall exits the opened cell.

Colin and Natalia stand frozen watching this large beast of a man walk slowly towards them, having had the door they just came through lock electronically, leaving them quite trapped. He, this rather large and angry looking prisoner, stops a couple of feet away and takes in a deep breath through his nose. Just as this monster looked like he was going to cause some serious damage to the visitors frozen before him, something rather strange happened.

The man standing on front of Colin and Natalia begins to slowly rise into the air and levitate vertically.

'What the hell ...?' speaks this oddly flailing, floating beast as he is not levitating of his own volition.

He didn't get to speak any further, for his body flew through the air, hurled from where he had been by some invisible force. At great speed a monster, a beast, was slammed back first against a brick wall then soon against the door area from which Colin and Natalia had come through a moment or so ago. Blood flow would soon be clear to see. A thud hits the ground, and it is clear that a life had been taken but not by any conventional means. Multiple buzzers now sound. All the prisoner cells were opening.

'Run' called out Colin.

Natalia froze. Fear most definitely had taken a hold on her. Nothing could have prepared her for anything like this. Colin grabbed her once again by the arm and they both moved as fast as they could. No more doors be metal, electronic, or otherwise stand in their way, they are all open as too are all the cells, every cell in every block of the prison. Every prisoner who comes anywhere near Colin or Natalia meets a similar fate to that of the first prisoner who had come toward them.

Not knowing for sure, Colin could take it for granted that what was and is happening is the work of that Craig Hawkins fellow, or at least the spirit of Craig Hawkins and this includes the protection that he and Natalia seem to have. For Colin could feel Craig's presence. He could not see him in any way or some but still he knew what was nearby, ensuring his safety as if he has plans involving him for a time yet to come.

Craig got exactly what he wanted, freedom. Colin and Natalia soon manage to make their way to the courtyard, a courtyard filled with prisoners, prisoners released from their cages. A courtyard filled with prisoners running frantically as if they were prey being hunted, prey that were and are trapped with nowhere to go as they try fruitlessly all they can to survive.

Madness and mayhem prevail as prisoners all around are being taken, being slaughtered one by one in a violent and supernatural manner, their frantic movement doing nothing to prevent the inevitable. Screams screeched, blood spurts everywhere, more a blood shoer than bath, leaving a multitude of red blotches about the yard. A pathway, a clearing seems to appear almost purposely, and it leads Colin and Natalia to the exit of the prison grounds, but that exit is locked when they arrive at it.

Colin and Natalia can only turn and watch as the numbers of the imprisoned living dwindle, dwindle to the point where they are the only two left alive. Almost all of a sudden, a noisy courtyard now had gone quiet. It looked like a battle ground; a battle ground where neither side won though in a way there was and is one side and only one winner.

In the silent distance, a puff of black swirling smoke gathers and grows then comes hurtling straight towards Colin. Natalia turns away and this black smoke comes to a halt right in front of Colin's face. The smoke itself then takes form, the form of a face, the face of Craig Hawkins. A voice speaks, the smoke-filled face speaks.

'Last words? There are no last words. Not for me and not for any of these losers ...'

The smoke dissipates and the exit doors open.

Safe to say that in the years that pass after this event, the prison is no longer in use and most likely it will remain that way for some time. Security cameras had caught a lot of unexplained activity. Colin and Natalia had been spared. Was Colin's ability the reason as to why this is so? He can only guess the answer to that. Would he ever come into contact with Craig Hawkins again? This is another question that Colin could only speculate the answer to though a kind of answer seems somewhat obvious ...