Cheating the Executioner: A Tale of Dark Immortality "Stay Of Execution"

0:00 Speaker 1: Hi, it's Crimson. We're hoping you're enjoying these stories, and do you want to hear some more? Join us on our YouTube channel, Doorway to Nightmare, if you dare.

0:10 Speaker 2: It lies in wait amidst your dreams, where nothing.

0:24 Speaker 3: Is ever how it seems.

0:27 Speaker 2: It is a portal to a terrifying world beyond the doorway to nightmare.

0:36 Speaker 3: Come in. Welcome.

0:56 Speaker 2: I'm your host, Artemis Black. Mark Twain once said that the fear of death follows from the fear of life. A man who lives fully is prepared to die at any time.

1:15 Speaker 4: John Marriott, you have been sentenced by a jury of your peers to death. Do you have any last words or requests?

1:25 Speaker 5: I didn't mean to kill her, but she laughed at me. Laughed at me!

1:31 Speaker 4: Any word from the governor?

1:32 Speaker 6: The phone line is clear, sir.

1:34 Speaker 5: But I don't want to die!

1:37 Speaker 4: Executioner, do your duty.

1:44 Speaker 2: Our mystery drama, Stay of Execution, was written especially for Doorway to Nightmare by Winslow Swan and edited by Crimson McKenzie. Our stars include Jonathan Rosignol, Mick Davis, Dave Arkapob, and Crimson McKenzie. I'll be back shortly with Act One.

2:06 Speaker 1: Hi, it's Crimson. We hope you're enjoying these. Would you like to hear some more? Join us on our YouTube channel, Doorway to Nightmare.

2:15 Speaker 3: If you dare.

2:29 Speaker 2: His name is John Marriott. For the crime of capital murder, he has been sentenced to death. At exactly 6 p.m., Mr. Marriott will be led down a very long hallway and strapped into the last chair that someone will ever sit in.

2:55 Speaker 6: Come on, Mr.

2:56 Speaker 3: Marriott.

2:57 Speaker 6: You really should eat something.

2:59 Speaker 3: Why?

3:01 Speaker 5: Why should I even bother?

3:03 Speaker 6: Well, it's your last meal, isn't it? You didn't order anything, but... They brought you a fine spread. I mean, look at this steak.

3:12 Speaker 5: I don't want it!

3:14 Speaker 6: Okay, no problem.

3:16 Speaker 2: When?

3:18 Speaker 5: When will they come for me?

3:20 Speaker 6: Around 545. That way, that can get you prepared.

3:24 Speaker 5: I don't want to die.

3:25 Speaker 6: No, no, don't be like that. Everyone dies. You just have the privilege of knowing exactly when.

3:31 Speaker 5: It's not fair! I didn't mean to kill her!

3:34 Speaker 2: Look, Mr.

3:35 Speaker 6: Marriott, I'm just the guard. You don't have to.

3:38 Speaker 5: I walked in on her.

3:40 Speaker 3: Alma Rawlings.

3:41 Speaker 5: We'd been together for just a few months when I walked in on her. There she was, naked in bed with another man. And then, then, she started laughing.

3:57 Speaker 2: Laughing.

3:58 Speaker 6: Come on, Mr.

3:59 Speaker 2: Marriott.

3:59 Speaker 6: You don't have to.

4:00 Speaker 5: All I could see was her mouth wide open laughing. I grabbed her by the throat and she kept on laughing. I squeezed tighter, tighter, and then she wasn't laughing anymore.

4:21 Speaker 6: Mr. Marriott, how about another game of cards?

4:25 Speaker 5: Sure, Mr.

4:26 Speaker 2: Cole.

4:27 Speaker 5: I got no family to visit me.

4:29 Speaker 2: Just you.

4:31 Speaker 5: Deal them out.

4:40 Speaker 6: Mr. Marriott, it's time.

4:43 Speaker 2: No.

4:44 Speaker 3: No.

4:45 Speaker 7: No!

4:45 Speaker 5: I don't want to die!

4:48 Speaker 4: John Marriott, you have been sentenced by a jury of your peers to death. Do you have any last words or requests?

4:58 Speaker 5: Yeah, I got some last words. She deserved to die.

5:02 Speaker 2: Let's go.

5:18 Speaker 4: Any word from the governor?

5:19 Speaker 6: Phone line is clear, sir.

5:21 Speaker 4: Executioner, do your duty.

5:24 Speaker 5: I don't want to die. I don't want to die.

5:26 Speaker 2: I don't want to die.

5:28 Speaker 3: I don't want to die.

5:33 Speaker 1: Ha!

5:34 Speaker 5: What happened?

5:36 Speaker 2: What?

5:37 Speaker 4: What the hell happened?

5:39 Speaker 6: I don't know.

5:40 Speaker 4: Well, throw the switch again. Okay, get him out of there. Doc, would you check on him? Will you mind telling me what happened in there, Mr.

5:58 Speaker 2: Cole?

5:58 Speaker 6: Everything was tested. It should have gone off without a hitch. I don't get it.

6:03 Speaker 4: The doctor said he fainted and that he's all right.

6:06 Speaker 6: So what do we do now?

6:07 Speaker 4: We'll try it again.

6:09 Speaker 2: Get him ready.

6:17 Speaker 5: Well, well, well. Hello, Warden Miller.

6:21 Speaker 4: John Marriott, you have been sentenced by a jury of your peers.

6:25 Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, yeah.

6:26 Speaker 5: Let's get on with it.

6:27 Speaker 6: You don't seem overly concerned, John.

6:29 Speaker 5: Because you can't do it.

6:31 Speaker 6: What are you talking about?

6:34 Speaker 5: You can't kill me! No matter how hard you try, you can't do it.

6:39 Speaker 4: Get him ready.

6:40 Speaker 6: I don't understand it. I can't... Just don't understand it.

6:51 Speaker 4: Did you check every wire, every connection?

6:54 Speaker 6: We had three certified electricians to check the equipment, and everything was normal.

6:59 Speaker 4: Then what happened?

7:00 Speaker 5: I told you, Warden, you can't kill me.

7:03 Speaker 2: Why, John?

7:04 Speaker 7: I was sitting here in that electric chair.

7:07 Speaker 5: I felt them put the hood over my head, I heard the switch being pulled, and then I heard a voice right in my ear.

7:15 Speaker 6: What did it say?

7:16 Speaker 5: It's not your time yet.

7:25 Speaker 2: A slight chill runs down the spine of the warden and the guard. They look at the condemned man who sits placidly, smiling. I'll return shortly with Act Two.

7:40 Speaker 6: If you're enjoying these stories, come over to our YouTube.

7:44 Speaker 1: Channel, Doorway to Nightmare, where we add a few pics to color your imagination. See the faces behind the voices, too. Come on, you know you wanna.

8:09 Speaker 2: Tecumseh once said, when your time comes to die, sing your death song and die like a hero going home.

8:21 Speaker 5: I want to thank you, Mr. Cole, for buying me the drinks.

8:24 Speaker 6: Least I could do.

8:25 Speaker 7: I suppose Warden Miller was a little... peeved when he was told to let me go.

8:30 Speaker 6: Mad as hell, Mr.

8:31 Speaker 3: Marriott.

8:32 Speaker 6: Your attorney argued your case before the Supreme Court. They felt that you'd been through quite an ordeal and that you'd had enough.

8:40 Speaker 5: Here's to a new lease on life.

8:43 Speaker 6: So, what are your plans?

8:44 Speaker 2: Plans?

8:45 Speaker 5: Oh, come now, Mr.

8:46 Speaker 4: Cole.

8:47 Speaker 5: That's not really what you want to know.

8:50 Speaker 2: You're right.

8:51 Speaker 5: So go on. Ask me what everyone else wants to know.

8:55 Speaker 3: How?

8:57 Speaker 6: How did you survive the electric chair? Not once, but twice.

9:01 Speaker 7: There was some reporter that asked me that very question when they let me out. I told him it would cost $ 5, 000 to get the answer.

9:10 Speaker 5: I'll give it to you for free.

9:13 Speaker 7: It was the devil himself that told me.

9:16 Speaker 6: Ah, go on. You're kidding.

9:18 Speaker 5: No, really. He told me.

9:21 Speaker 7: Exactly how I was going to die, and it wasn't going to be in any chair.

9:25 Speaker 6: So, you know when you're going to die.

9:29 Speaker 5: No, not when, how. And that's a lot of good information to have.

9:34 Speaker 6: Well, tell me.

9:36 Speaker 7: The old boy told me that when I would die, that I would die on the wing of a plane.

9:45 Speaker 6: Now, that's kind of weird.

9:47 Speaker 5: I figure that if I never... fly. I'm gonna live forever.

10:05 Speaker 5: oh what do you do with.

10:06 Speaker 8: A drunken sailor what do you do with a drunken sailor what do you do with a drunken sailor early in the morning John Marriott.

10:19 Speaker 5: Hello John Marriott. Oh, it's you. Fancy meeting you in a dark alley, Warden Miller. Trying to fry me again?

10:30 Speaker 4: John Marriott, you have been sentenced by a jury of your peers to death. Your execution is now.

10:38 Speaker 2: What? Right here?

10:40 Speaker 3: In the street?

10:42 Speaker 5: Don't I even get a last meal?

10:46 Speaker 2: Do you have any last words?

10:48 Speaker 3: Oh, well.

10:49 Speaker 2: Only one. Shoot.

10:51 Speaker 4: By the power vested in me by the state, I hereby carry out your execution.

11:02 Speaker 3: I told you.

11:03 Speaker 5: You can't kill me.

11:04 Speaker 3: Go on.

11:05 Speaker 6: Try it again.

11:06 Speaker 3: No. It's impossible.

11:10 Speaker 2: Here.

11:11 Speaker 5: Give me the gun. Now, let's see. Fully loaded. That bottle over there.

11:18 Speaker 3: What do you think?

11:23 Speaker 5: Here you go, Warden Miller. Try it again.

11:29 Speaker 4: What the hell are you?

11:32 Speaker 7: The man who cannot be executed by you or anyone.

11:45 Speaker 2: Marriott continues to laugh as Warden Miller runs away, the echoes of the laughter following him, haunting him. I'll be back shortly with Act Three.

12:02 Speaker 6: If you're enjoying these stories, come over to our YouTube channel, Doorway to.

12:08 Speaker 1: Nightmare, where we add a few pics to color your imagination. See the faces behind the voices, too. Come on, you know you wanna.

12:30 Speaker 2: Some people are so afraid to die that they never begin to live, said Henry Van Dyke. And isn't that truly the point? To simply live each day As if it were your last on Earth.

12:53 Speaker 1: Frank, we may need to make this quick. Looks like a pretty bad storm heading this way.

12:58 Speaker 3: Mr.

12:59 Speaker 1: Marriott! Mr.

12:59 Speaker 3: Marriott, over here!

13:04 Speaker 5: You must be the lovely Jennifer Marlowe.

13:06 Speaker 1: Yes, Mr. Marriott. And this is my cameraman, Frank.

13:10 Speaker 5: I must say. Much prettier in person than on television.

13:14 Speaker 1: Your charms will do no good on me. I only took this assignment because we're short on reporters. Oh, yes.

13:21 Speaker 7: You usually do these so-called fluff pieces. Do you consider me a bit of fluff?

13:30 Speaker 1: Hardly.

13:32 Speaker 5: This is going to be a fun interview.

13:34 Speaker 1: Look, you were convicted of killing someone. You were sentenced to die and by some Miracle, you survived.

13:43 Speaker 5: Absolutely correct, Jennifer.

13:44 Speaker 1: Miss Marlowe?

13:46 Speaker 5: I apologize for being so familiar.

13:49 Speaker 1: If you don't mind, Mr. Marriott, I would like to get this over with as quickly as possible.

13:56 Speaker 5: Fine. Whatever you would like. But first, my money.

14:00 Speaker 1: Just as you requested, $ 5, 000. Now, we can begin. Frank, you good?

14:10 Speaker 2: Okay.

14:11 Speaker 1: In three, two, one. This is Jennifer Marlowe speaking with what the press have called the man who will not die, John Marriott.

14:22 Speaker 3: Mr.

14:22 Speaker 1: Marriott, do you have any explanation as to why the execution failed not once, but twice?

14:29 Speaker 7: Oh, I suppose that some would say that it was divine intervention.

14:34 Speaker 1: Are you a religious person?

14:35 Speaker 3: Yes.

14:36 Speaker 5: Oh, hardly.

14:37 Speaker 1: And you freely admitted to killing your victim.

14:40 Speaker 5: If she were here right now, laughing at me the way that she did, I would gladly do it again.

14:47 Speaker 1: What are your feelings toward people who would say that the state should try again, but using a different method?

14:55 Speaker 5: It won't matter what they try. I cannot be executed.

15:01 Speaker 1: Okay, so... What are your plans now that you're out of prison?

15:07 Speaker 5: Well, thanks to the generosity of your wonderful station, I'm gonna live. First, a little trip to the coast. And perhaps, I'll write a book.

15:16 Speaker 1: Okay, cut it, Frank.

15:18 Speaker 5: Is there something wrong?

15:20 Speaker 1: Yes, that stupid airplane. It's going to ruin the whole audio. Look, we'll have to do it again.

15:27 Speaker 2: What airplane?

15:29 Speaker 1: I think it's somewhere over there.

15:30 Speaker 3: Oh. Oh.

15:33 Speaker 2: Way over there.

15:33 Speaker 5: Well, that's okay.

15:35 Speaker 1: Fear of flying, Mr. Marriott?

15:38 Speaker 5: You could say that.

15:39 Speaker 1: Alright, let's try it one more time. Frank, you ready? Okay, in three, two....

15:48 Speaker 5: What's that idiot doing?

15:50 Speaker 1: Something's wrong. Frank, get your camera on it now!

15:54 Speaker 3: No.

15:54 Speaker 2: No!

15:55 Speaker 7: No!

15:56 Speaker 5: Won't get me. I can't be killed.

15:59 Speaker 3: Mr.

15:59 Speaker 1: Myriad, where are you going?

16:02 Speaker 5: That airplane.

16:03 Speaker 3: No.

16:03 Speaker 5: Won't get me.

16:04 Speaker 3: Won't get me. Mr.

16:05 Speaker 1: Myriad, come back. Frank, he's running right towards it. It's landing in the park. Get your camera on it now. Hand left. Stay on the plane. Right now, that's the bigger story.

16:21 Speaker 3: No! No! Oh.

16:27 Speaker 1: My.

16:28 Speaker 5: God.

16:29 Speaker 1: Frank? Frank, please tell me you got that. This is Jennifer Marlowe reporting live in City Park where a single-engine plane made an emergency landing. According to the pilot, he was taking friends on a test flight in an old aircraft that he had previously restored. The pilot informed me that at 40 years of flying, old Bessie, as he called it, through every weather condition, not once has it been struck by lightning. However, a rogue bolt of lightning forced the plane to make an emergency landing at exactly 6 p.m. tonight.

17:09 Speaker 1: Neither the pilot or his passengers, Willard Martin, warden of the state prison, and Thomas Cole, a guard who also works at the prison, were harmed. There was one fatality, however. Mr. John Marriott, known as the man who could not be executed, was struck and killed by the wing of the plane as it was landing. This is Jennifer Marlowe, reporting live from City Park, KRB News.

17:40 Speaker 2: Of all the wonders that I yet have heard, it seems to me most strange that men should fear seeing a death A necessary end will come when it will come, said William Shakespeare. And like a thief, it will come most unexpectedly. I'll be back shortly with a final word.

18:11 Speaker 1: Hi, it's Crimson. We're hoping you're enjoying these stories and do you want to hear some more? Join us on our YouTube channel, Doorway to Nightmare. If you dare.

18:36 Speaker 2: I conclude our little drama with a quote from David Sarnoff. We cannot banish dangers. But we can banish fears. We must not demean life by standing in awe of death. And as our curtain closes, I remind you that we are never promised tomorrow. Live life for today. Our cast included Jonathan Rosignol, Mick Davis, Dave Arkapov, and Crimson McKenzie. The story was edited by Crimson McKenzie, and the production was under the direction of Winslow Swan. And now, a preview of our next tale.

19:26 Speaker 8: But it can't be that simple.

19:29 Speaker 1: It really is, Professor Stewart. You simply had two of the numbers transposed.

19:36 Speaker 6: It will take years before this could work. The computer matrix alone would be more than our current systems could handle.

19:45 Speaker 1: Sadly, it may never be used.

19:51 Speaker 2: What do you mean?

19:53 Speaker 1: I believe you know exactly what I mean.

19:55 Speaker 2: This is your host, Artemis Black. inviting you to return with us through the doorway to nightmare for another adventure into the world of your terrifying imagination. Until next time, slumber peacefully. Epilogue. The butler did it.