The Next Victim

It has been about 50 years since Fortunato went missing, only one person knows what happened to him. That person is Montresor. He had been satisfied with his work for all these years, but as he grows old and weary, he starts to see the reality of things. He dreams about the night he killed Fortunato, waking up every night thinking different of the choice he has made. He doesn’t want to carry around the guilt anymore, so he decides to do the only thing he could think of, confess his sin to a priest.

Montresor started walking to the church, he had his doubts about confessing, but he had to. There was a thousand dollar reward for anyone who caught the person who supposedly “took” Fortunato. Montresor wasn’t sure if he could trust this priest, but he didn’t care anymore. He had thought about this for years now, but the dream he had had never disturbed him like the one he had last night. It was to vivid, to realistic, besides Montresor was getting old. He had very little time to live, so he wanted to die a guilt-free man.

He entered the church and slowly walked to the confession box. He entered hoping someone will soon enter the other side so he can get it over with. He waited for a short time and froze when the priest entered. “Hello? Anyone over there?” the priest asked. Montresor tried to speak, but couldn’t. He needed motivation, from anyone, from the priest, from God, anyone. Then the priest spoke up, it was as if he was reading Montresor’s mind, “It’s alright to be nervous, many people are, but God will accept your apology, no matter what.” With this Montresor was ready to confess.

“Thank you, I needed that. I’m here today to confess one of my sins, that I can’t surpass.”

“Then tell your story, I will not interrupt till the end. First, please state your name, age, and your sin before you start, then God will here you out.”

“Ulisse Montresor, 76, my crime, killing a man.”

“Start you story, we do not judge here.”

“Oh my, where do I begin? Umm... It all started when Fortunato and I were in fifth grade. He was the school bullying, everyone feared him, I especially. He always chose to pick on me when ever he could. The teachers never noticed and when I told, they didn't believe me. Fortunato would steal people's lunch money, but he never would touch them. Until, I said no to him, I stood up for me and the rest of the kids at school. In return, I became Fortunato's punching bag. Teachers saw this, but was scared of his father, so he got away with it. Can you believe that, just because he was rich, I got beat up?"

"It is awful, I know, but yes, sadly I do believe it. Teachers were always scared of rich parents, it just happened that way. Anyway, continue with your story."

"I started to get used to the whole beat up thing, but when we entered high school he started to insult me. I can take a good beaten by him, but when he insults my, he insults my family."

"Sorry to interrupt, but what was he saying?"

"He called me names, said that I would never be apart of my family. I couldn't take it anymore, I started to fight back, but he was stronger. We went our separate ways after high school, but the scars he left me, both emotionally and physically, still stayed. When I saw him at the carnival, it brought back memories. Memories that made me want to kill him in the first place, but didn't have the power to. When I saw him, I knew I was stronger than him, I knew I could destroy him on the spot, but I needed it to be stealthily."

"So you didn't want to get caught?"

"Of course not! I knew Fortunato liked wine, so I would just have to trick him to come into my cellar. This wasn't hard, just by the mention of Amontillado, he wanted to come. I kept telling him no, but he insisted, so I didn't push him away. We walked through the catacombs of my family, giving Fortunato many opportunities to drink and get drunk. I, of course, did not need to force him to that, he did it himself. We walked until we reached the spot I had prepared,"

"You said you met Fortunato early that day, no intention, so when did you prepare this place?"

"You see, I planned to kill Fortunato for many years, but I couldn't find him. I set a spot, all I needed was to find him and get him to come with me. When we got I chained him up, and built a brick wall around him. Ohhhh, did I enjoy him struggling, trying to get out of the chains like I trying to get out of his powerful grip back then. When my work was done, I simply carried on with my life.

"Until now."

"Until now, fifty years later."

"God thanks you for building up the courage to confess this dreadful sin."

"I hope so. What do I do now?"

"You may leave, your burden has need uplifted from your soul."

"Thank you Father." With that Montresor left, feeling better than ever.

Five years later, Montresor was on the verge of dying. He was sick and weak, but decided to go the carnival one last time. There he saw a boy picking on another boy, just like Fortunato did to him. This enraged him, he ran over told him to stop and come with him, he had what he wanted. Of course, Montresor had no idea what this boy wanted, but the boy thought he did. Once they got out of sight, Montresor knocked the boy out, and brought him back to his place.

The boy awoke tied up and facing a decaying body. Montresor sense the sudden moment and said, "You see him, he is what you will look like when I'm through with you." The boy started to scream, but realized there was no hope. He was chained to the wall and Montresor was building around him, just like Fortunato in front of him. There was a few more tiers when sudden Montresor stopped. He sat down and started to question himself.

"Why am I doing this? I did this once before and I felt guilt, I confessed wanting to die with go sins on my back. I need to end this now."

Montresor lifted a pistol and a knife from his cloak. The boy started to struggle as Montresor closed in on him. When unlocked the chains, the boy fell to the ground confused  He will always remember what the last thing Montresor said to him before he shot himself in the head, "I would say I'm sorry, but I'm not. You are the only one who should be sorry. I want you to go to anyone you hurt, even if it's only the slightest cut, and apologize to them. Can you do that?"

The boy just nodded and ran away. Montresor will never know if that boy did what he told him to do, but the people who suffered from him will. Let's just say, for all those people who they hurt, many felt better after the boy was released.