My name is Alexander. It is a very common, almost overused name. It is a Greek name meaning ‘defender of men,’ such a name was bestowed upon the conqueror, Alexander the Great. Alas, I am no Alexander the Great; I am but a modern young adult fresh out of high school. If I had to say a narcissistic comment about myself, it would be: I am a bright kid.

        I took a few college classes while in high school, considered a brainiac to all my friends. A smart choice for me would be to go to college and then find a high paying job. After a while settle down with some pretty little thing, that might just be interested in my money, have a few kids, grow old, then die.

       That would have been smart; I mean that is an almost guaranteed path to success. However, that is not what I wanted. I wanted to travel. I wanted to not be another boring life. Call me a typical teenager for wanting to be different and perhaps special. I’m just tired of this monotonous everyday life. I wanted to embrace everything this life had to throw at me. Ups, downs, I want all of it. So I’m going to travel the world! Or so my thoughts went. After working a full time at a Barbecue Restaurant for a few months, I acquired the necessary funds for international travel. The program I was going with was slightly shady, but hey, who cares?

        I make my first flight over to Japan. Actually, this is my first flight that was west of Oklahoma, and the first to go internationally. I was excited, I must say. The United States has some decent sites and all, but one can’t contain the enjoyment of leaving the country!

        Ah, my flight has arrived in Tokyo! It took three days to get here. I’m slightly exhausted from the flight. Smell that? That is the smell of Japanese air conditioning. Ah… not much different than Oklahoma’s air conditioning maybe if I step outside… I take a quick look around my surroundings at the terminal, oh, there someone with piece of paper with my name on it. Yes.

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         I make my way to the man dressed in business attire; he sees me advancing toward him and sticks a hand out for a handshake. Oh, polite. Nice, firm handshake. He motions me to follow after the greeting. Seems he doesn’t know much English. He then leads me out of the airport and into a black SUV looking vehicle. Hmm, this seems very sketchy, but I put up with it and climb in. Shortly afterward, the SUV squeals out of the parking lot and heads into a decrepit looking building. I have a bad feeling about this, look there is even goose bumps on my arms!

         I feel a sudden bash against my head, rendering my consciousness out of commission. Bummer this is happening, when I said I wanted to experience everything in life, this is not what I had in mind. When I regained my senses, I tasted blood in my mouth. The next thing I noticed was the bright light above my face and straps across my wrists and ankles. Oh God no.

         Looking around I could see many shady looking people with scalpels with blood on them. Next to them were bloodied organs… I would have urinated all down my leg if wasn’t for my bladder, being on the table beside my kidneys.

        I open my mouth, but no words come out. This is seriously no good; at least I can’t feel a thing. However the act of moving my mouth drew the attention of the man leaning on the wall across the room. He slowly walks around to my side while putting his hand in his inside coat pocket, pulling out a hand gun of some sort. He says something, that guess is in Japanese. With the apologetic look on his face he pointed the barrel at my forehead. And he pulled the trigger.