final sin

The clock struck midnight.

I stare. He's on the podium, except not to give a speech.

The guillotine's beautiful blade hangs above his head as he speaks a soliloquy I once taught him.

Every word is perfect.

He never managed to do that in lessons.

I give a proud little chuckle as he bows his head.

The crowd is silent as I clap.

Once.

He looks at me incredulously.

This is all my doing, he reminds me with his cold blue gaze, a proud little smirk on the corner of his thin pale lips.

Twice.

It's a punishment for my deeds, not yours. You will be punished, too, though... I raise an eyebrow as the executioner prepares for the much-awaited task. He kisses the air and shouts, "Salut!"

Once I join you in Hell.

Thrice.

I clap a final time, and the blade whooshes down to sever that clever, cruel head of a child from the spoilt and tainted body. I can still feel his skin under my fingers, hear him as he calls out to me. 

I smile pleasantly at the woman next to me. "He is finally dead, hm?"

She nods vigorously, fire in her eyes. "He killed my son!"

Your son was a rapist and a murderer.

The man behind me interjects, "He had disrupted all my missions!"

He does your detective job better than you do it, kind sir.

"He stole a cane from my shop!"

It was used to catch a serial killer.

"He brainwashed my children, then let them die!"

He didn't brainwash them, oh no. You did.

I give a chuckle as the murmurs grow louder.

I am the true sinner, but I will never repent.