Tick tock, tick tock.... John could feel every tick of the clock like it was a hammer trying to smash its way through his head while he was working on a problem covering enzyme kinetics when suddenly the bell rang and with it, the last hope he had of passing this exam had gone up in flames.
''Ugh'' mumbled John quietly while standing up and stretching his limbs when suddenly there was a familiar but currently unwelcomed face of his young professor Ms. Elizabeth Snow. He gave her his half-written test and turned around when suddenly she spoke to him ''This is the first time I had seen you be the last student to hand over his exam and I can see from here that what you had written will probably not be enough for a passing grade, am I wrong Mr. North?''
Her addressing him formally felt wrong but he didn't want to address it currently. He just wanted to leave her sight, get drunk, and maybe have some fast food. But what he really didn't want to see at this moment was her lovely face and the last thing he wanted was to listen to her lecturing him.
Ms. Snow, I had a lot to do during the past few weeks and I just hadn't had the time to prepare for this exam.'' That was of course just a bunch of lies, he currently had nothing but time on his hands, he tried doing his school work, and he even applied for some extracurricular activities but he just couldn't focus and the person responsible for his current predicament was standing right here in front of him.
''Is that so John? Because I have asked around about you and since you left the Eternity project you haven't done any extra school work.'' He could see the sadness in her eyes and her voice slightly shook when she said the next words. ''I know it hurts but you have to move on and you have to start putting in some work least you become just another example of wasted potential.
''There is nothing for me to be sad about Ms. Snow. ''He made sure to emphasize the words ms.'' Can't I just take a break from work, my productivity through the college years has been frankly unhealthy and I'm burned out? Now I just need a quick break and I will be fine.
''Then I'm glad it's only tiredness that it's stopping you from work but you can't rest forever,'' She gave him a quick disingenuous smile while trying to feel the inner anguish. There were both staring at each other, not saying a word while at the same time both trying to find the proper words to break this awkward silence. After a short time, it was John to speak first. I do have a question tho, your snooping around is a clear violation of my privacy not to mention the new boundaries you set up between us, so why in the hell don't you just leave me alone Lizzie?
His calling her by her nickname struck her at her core and with it brought back the memories of the past few years. She would call them the best years of her life if she was honest with herself but she just couldn't be, because that would be too painful to bear so she went on with her life pretending everything was fine while inside she was slowly crumbling. ''I was just worried for my student that is all, nothing more, nothing less.''
''We both know that is a lie, but I do hope you can convince yourself that your delusion holds true.'' He picked up his things and quickly left the classroom.'' She wanted to say something to him to make him stop and talk to him but she came to the decision that this was not the right time. A decision she would regret for the rest of her life.
When John stepped out of the university it was already dark and there were at least 3 inches of snow beneath his feet. He chuckled to himself softly and thought, ''well this just isn't my day.'' He walked into the night and after about 20 min he got to a crossroad, one path leading to the main road which took half an hour to get to the restaurant, and another that lead through a park and was much shorter time-wise, but it was a bit precarious to be walking alone at this time of day while it was snowing. John thought that because of these two reasons, there will probably be no people around in the park and that notion gave rise to an uneasy feeling in his gut. But there was also a feeling of anger, and sadness and that gave a rise to a self-destructive tendency. ''I'm gonna be fine, no point in getting flustered over a quick stroll through the park.'' And so he went until halfway through the park when he got a feeling somebody was watching him.
''Do I need to get myself a prescription for a bottle of valium or is there a rat following me?'' He thought to himself half jokingly and half in a panic''. He started looking around when he heard a noise behind him. He quickly turned around but he saw nothing, his body relaxed a bit after seeing he was just being paranoid but not for long because soon he felt a sharp object pressing into his back ''Oh Scheiße, I'm going to fucking die aren't I.''
He heard a strangely shaky high-pitched voice saying: ''Don't move and give us all of your money'' John didn't wanna scare the robber into doing something stupid so he stood still only slowly moving his neck to see his assailant. In his peripheral vision, he could see a short, skinny-looking boy no older than 18 shaking in his boots.
John tried started to breathe slowly, calming himself down. There is bad news, there is good news, and there is very bad news, he thought ''The fucking cunt seems to not be alone, I just hope there is his boyfriend hiding somewhere in the bushes and not a whole gang of thugs, secondly, he seems to be afraid, first job maybe? But this plan with his little distraction (as simple as it might have been) looks a bit above his paygrade....the other cunt or cunts are not complete novices when it comes to being a drag to society. Now to the very bad news, he isn't wearing any mask and I doubt he cowered his face with lemon juice before going out on this fine evening....which means I either escape or I'm meeting my maker tonight and there is not a single doubt in my head I'm going straight to hell. There also might be worse news now that I think about it, they might have guns in which case this really is the last stand.
Well what I need right now is information, on how many people I am dealing with, their exact locations, and how trained they are....two out of three will have to do, I have no intention of fighting these guys....and for that, I need to stall.
''Which one is it friend? Don't move?....Or give us your money? I can hardly do both, you know.''
There was a gruff voice behind him saying: 'Well, aren't you a clever little bastard...I'm giving you three seconds to hand us your money before we slight your throat open, bitch.
John looked behind him seeing a large man grinning at him and watching his every move.
1....2.....
'' Who is we? You and your boyfriend or the boy band having us surrounded?'' John interrupted his counting with a bit of mischief in his voice.
Wha...What do you mean? There is only us three here said the skinny young boy.
Just as he said that John's lips stretched into a massive grin. ''Gotcha bitch'' he thought to himself,
He quickly grabbed the knife hand and struck with his head the younger man's nose...he could briefly hear cartilage breaking and he could feel something wet on the back of his head.
But just as he was turning around he could feel something sharp penetrating his armpit....shock was plastered all over his face and he could feel his strength leaving him quickly...'' That's really not ideal, my artery is definitely pierced and I'm going to die in a minute or two. Let's not go down without a fight huh Johny boy, one last push before going into the night ''
''Hmm, shocking isn't it?'' Chuckled the old man with malice.
John took a long breath and said: ''very'' while simultaneously kicking an old guy in the groin as hard as he could, he followed that up with a tackle. Falling to the ground the old man was too stunned to do anything, which gave John a second to punch him firstly on the nose which gave him stunned the old man for another second so that he struck him in the neck. The guy started desperately panting for air that will never feel his lungs again because the next second, John said: ''If I'm going to die, then you my friend are going to die a eunuch.''
He gave him another powerful knee kick to the groin and after a second of hesitation...''This is it, after I pull the blade out of my wound I'm gonna be dead in seconds, but at least this swine will die with me. '' He thought with a deep feeling of melancholy.
He pulled the blade out ''Mother fucker, that hurts like a bitch'', he gave the old man a last look and then stabbed him in the neck.
Second, after that, he collapsed. The whole fight didn't last more than half a minute....suddenly he remembered there was also a younger guy (funny how massive blood loss will impede your thought processes). After struggling to look around he realized, he was nowhere to be seen. Our cowardly friend has cut his losses and decided to become a God-fearing American instead of a lousy robber hahaha.
''Ugh fuck him, let's not spend the last moments before death thinking about that bitch.''
John felt the last ounces of his strength leaving him and slowly his eyelids started to close, the last thought that was going through his mind was a quote about the definition of hell: ''The last day you have on earth, the person you became will meet the person you could have become.'' He thought about all the things, he never got to experience, the people that he was leaving behind, about the cute girl in the front row to whom he never got the chance to confess, he also remembered the Lazarus project he was working on with professor Snow.....The path to immortality remains to be closed for now.