The blade squeaks as I sharpen it, scratching to make it stronger.  This is it.  There’s no turning back now.

If only my two little daughters could see me now— what I actually do for a living.  Every day, I come home and they look so proud.  I guess it binds my guilty conscience.  They always boast to strangers on the streets, that their father “fights away the bad guys.”  Really, though, I think I’m just as bad as the bad guys.  So what if I murder for a halfway decent cause, it’s still murder.  Not even the best intentions can sugarcoat the fact that it’s a cold killing.  It always amuses the richer folks in the crowd, though.  They practically feed on blood.
    I’m just doing my job.
     I pull on my mask.  It’s hot and stuffy in there, almost like suffocating.  But it distracts me from the fact that I’m a killer, exactly like the person I’ll be beheading.  Making my way into the royal courtyard, I hold my breath and try to look tough on the outside.  Inside, I may as well be a small boy.  But I could never show that to the public.
     The man convicted of the crime walks out with two guards making sure he doesn’t escape.  I don’t blame him for not even bothering to fight.  His name turns out to be James A. Caldwell, and he had murdered in self-defense.  That’s more honorable than I’ll ever be.  When asked if he has any last things to say, he only says seven words.
     “You can watch me haunt your wrongs.”
     With that final statement, James bravely rests his head on the chopping block.  Thud. 
     I take a look at his face, studying his features.  Trying to memorize every detail, so he can live on in my memory.  When I receive a nod, I know it’s his time.  That one gesture means the difference between life and death for so many people. 
     The deed is done.  A head rolling is heard against the ground with a gut-wrenching thud.  I can’t look— all I can do is turn the other way, trembling from what I’ve done.  Like every time, I saunter back without blinking an eye or looking back, all while I’m being tortured inside.  And as always, his screams echo through me, haunting my nightmares from this day on.