“Who are you?” I pleaded. The man didn't respond, but continued to hit his leg while laughing. “It won’t help you get out of this mess, so consider it unnecessary,” the shadow man teased, “But, do you know-"

“How much do you want?” I asked, cutting the man off. The man obviously wanted something to keep him quiet. I know it didn’t matter since I was going to turn myself in anyways, but I needed to understand this unwelcome guest's intentions.  

“Nope!” The man behind the curtain spoke, in a cheerful voice, “Money has little importance to me.”

“So, what do you want?” 

“You won’t learn anything if I just tell you!” I watched the man’s shadow as he leaned forward, “If it’s not money that I want, what do you think it could be?”

It's said that money is the root of all evil, yet my blackmailer wanted nothing to do with it. What else could this man want other than money? Who even was this man? A thousand questions raced through my mind, yet I still didn’t have an answer. 

“Time's up! ” The shadow man clapped, “So, what do you think?”

“I’m done playing this game,” I slammed my hands down on the wooden bench, “You're going to have to find someone else to blackmail. I have no intention of keeping my secret anyways, what difference would it make if you told it?”

“I’m very well aware of this,” The man finally spoke in a serious tone. 

“Good, then I will be leaving.” I pushed on the door, but for some reason, it wouldn’t open. A sense of urgency rushed over me, but even as I slammed into the door repeatedly, it wouldn’t budge.

The man chuckled, “There's something you are going to do for me.”

“And why would I ever do that?” I yelled.

“You don’t want to die, right?”

I was frozen for a moment, as a chill ran through my body, “What did you just say to me?”

“The only reason you’re turning yourself in is so you can live, plain and simple.” The man spoke in a condescending way. 

“You're crazy! You're not making any sense! If I wanted to live, why would I ever want to turn myself in?”

The shadow man sighed, “I hate people like you. You always try to make yourselves sound like you’re doing something grandiose. ‘I’m paying for my sins’, or something like that. But if that really were the case, why are you still here?”

“Because you locked me in here!” I shouted through the curtain. 

“Tsk,” he shook his head, “You know what I mean.”

“No, I really don’t.”

“If you were going to pay for your crimes, why are you not dead yet?”

My eyes instantly widened and my hands started to tremble once more. How much longer was this man going to continue to mock me?

“What do you think is equal to taking a life?” The man deepened his voice, sounding oddly serious, “You don’t think that being put into jail is equal to a life, do you?” 

“Whatever the court sees fit.” I snapped.

“You think the court knows the value of a life?” His voice only grew colder, “You know a measly few years of your life cannot be compared to the life you cut short. You are not turning yourself in because you're ‘paying for your sins’. You're only turning yourself in because you can’t stand the guilt of the choice you made, not because you want to be punished for killing her.”

"Your not making any sense," I laughed, "Your crazy." 

"EEEEEEEEK," The door next to me made a long drawn out creaking noise. I waited in horror as I listened to his footsteps make their way in front of my door. The man waited there for a moment, but soon, I heard the sound of his footsteps walking towards the church doors. “Usually, I wouldn’t have wasted my time with someone like you, but you're kind of amusing, in a pathetic sort of way. I left you an address on my seat. This is my last act of generosity, Ray. You should know better than to keep me waiting.”

I sat there for a while in silence before I even attempted to open the door again, but to my surprise, it opened with ease. I couldn’t imagine what this man wanted from me, so I looked at the otherside of the confessional. He left a typed note on his seat, which read,  

'829 East Drive

9 o’clock sharp.'

I couldn’t imagine what this man had in store for me, and I wasn’t going to find out. I was determined to pay for my crimes, and I wasn’t going to be part of whatever he had planned. There was only one problem, where was the police station in this town?