“The paperwork’s been cleared. Are you sure you want to do it this way? This place does hold the worst of the worst.”

“All right, I’ll lead you to Matthew.”

We walked down the halls, accompanied by buzzers, as the control room opened the doors ahead of us. After what felt like seconds, we got to cell block B. I just have to go through a final door and up the stairs.

Once we got to Matthew’s cell, the guard stayed back. Matthew didn’t look at me as I walked into the cell.

“Nice bed you have there,” I said, “ it must be hard to enjoy the comfort since you can’t leave.”

Matthew didn’t say anything.

“People here still think of you as human; that’s more than what you gave the people you killed.”

Matthew still stayed silent.

“I thought I knew you. What happened to the person I loved?”

“I had to do it,” Matthew said.

“Life was perfect with you up until two years ago. I went to answer a knock on the front door and found a swat team in front of the house. That day I discovered that you were both a loving husband and a terrifying psychopath.

While I was on the sidewalk finding out what you did, the swat team searched the house for you. I was hoping, praying that you would be in the house.”

“Everything I did had a reason for it.”

“You’re here serving two dozen life sentences. You killed hundreds of people, and that’s the best you can say?! I’m surprised you survived on the streets long enough for the police to find you.”

“I never wanted to hurt you. You mean too much to me.”

“What about the lives you ended and the families you shattered? Or do you consider humanoids to have no value?”

“What are they worth to you?”

“I can’t assign a value to a single one of the lives you took. I was hoping that you would have changed and that I could move on from how you betrayed me. Maybe there is still some hope for you, or maybe there isn’t. But I can’t continue holding out hope.”

I left him there. The guard escorted me out of the prison and to the shuttle bus.

“I was hoping your visit would convince him to change,” the guard said.

“So did I,” I said before getting on the bus.

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Hello there, thanks for reading this story. It was almost a redemption arc, alas Matthew is not willing to change. This story here is part of a larger multiverse that can be (if your interested in more from me) found at r/skye_the_Smart__write .

And if anyone here wants some extra information on what's happening in this story, here you go. This story is set in the city-state* of Atheridge, but doesn't directly reference it. Atheridge's prison system is based on the Norwegian style, but without the 21 year maximum sentence. The prison used in this story is the 'Atheridge Regional Penitentiary' and is home to the worst criminals in the Atheridge Multiverse.

*Technically Atheridge is a country, however in their home dimension they still consider themselves a city-state. Other dimensions are home to the Atheridge Territories. Sometimes the size of a few counties, occasionally multiple countries.