Cold rain fell furiously on the pavement, turning the cracked cement into a dark and dangerously looking mirror. The sky hung above him, choked with thick storm clouds as it casted the city in shadows.
Aurelius walked alone. He always walked alone.
He hunched his shoulders as he walked down the streets with his hands buried deep in the pockets of his thin jacket. Not because he needed warmth or it was cold—nothing could keep out this kind of cold. The kind that seeped beneath the skin, settled deep into your bones and stayed there.
The streets were quiet and seemingly abandoned. A few flickering neon light buzzed softly as he passed under them, in the distance a lone car hummed as it drove past it's sounds barely audible over the noise of the heavy rain.
If he was being honest, it suited him. Being alone.
He was used to silence.
At home, it had been suffocating. His mother spent most of her days passed out on the couch, surrounded by empty pill bottles, lost in the haze of whatever cheap pill she could find. His father? He was probably face-down in some bar, reeking of whiskey, slurring curses at a TV screen that didn't give a damn about him. The man had two things in his life. Alcohol and anger. Aurelius had learned long ago that coming home to find his old man absent was small mercy.
Aurelius doubted either of them had noticed he was gone. They probably wouldn't even care.
He lived alone, even in a house full of people.
"Trash Aurelius."
The name followed him like a curse as it clung to him, coming from the lips of his classmates who whispered behind his back, sneered to his face.
Weak. Pathetic. Nothing.
His grip tightened. His nails dug into his palms, but he said nothing. He had never said anything.
Because they were right.
He had no friends. No future. No reason to exist.
But tonight… tonight was worse.
The laughter still rang in his ears. Loud, sharp and cruel.
Just a few hours ago.
The classroom had been buzzing with excitement. The whole school knew—Aurelius liked Anna. A quiet confession, told in confidence, had somehow spread like wildfire. By the time he walked into the room, they were already waiting.
A foot hooked around his ankle.
He hit the ground hard.
Laughter erupted. Chairs scraped as everyone clamored to stare at the loser who had somehow manage to become a bigger loser. Someone even kicked his bag across the floor while he watched drenched in shame.
"Oi, Trash Aurelius, you really thought she'd like you?"
Another voice. "Maybe he thought she'd feel sorry for him."
More laughter. More jeering.
He pushed himself up, his heart hammering, eyes searching—and there she was.
Anna. The girl he had secretly admired for years. The one person he had convinced himself might see him differently.
She was laughing too.
Not just laughing—laughing at him.
A deep, gut-wrenching humiliation sank deep into his bones.
He had turned and walked out.
Out of the classroom. Out of the school.
And now, here he was. Wandering the cold and empty streets.
The streetlights buzzed overhead, casting dim lights onto the cracked pavement. The rain was relentless, falling hard against the rooftops, filling up in the gutters, sliding down his face like like it was also mocking him.
He wasn't sure how long he had been walking. He had no destination, no plan, just the need to be anywhere but there.
Thunder rumbled in the distance startling him despite himself.
Then he saw her.
A little girl. No older than six. Standing in the middle of the road, a stuffed rabbit held tightly in her arms.
She wasn't moving.
Aurelius followed her gaze—headlights.
A truck was driving dangerously fast toward her, water spraying in waves as its tires cut through the flooded street. Too fast. Too close.
His breath caught.
Move.
She didn't.
Aurelius's body reacted before his mind could.
One step. Then two. Then he was running.
His feet splashed through puddles. His heart pounding fast. Every single muscle in his body screamed at him to move faster.
Not enough time.
The truck's horn blared, it's tires screeching as the driver tried to stop. But it was to late.
Aurelius lunged forward. His arms outstretched. The moment his hands touched her he immediately shoved her aside.
A brief moment of weightlessness—then impact.
A crack. A crunch. The world tilted.
Pain—sharp, burning, unbearable—erupted through his body.
His vision blurred. His breath hitched as he gasped.
Cold seeped into his bones, deeper than the rain ever could.
The last thing he saw was the little girl, sitting on the pavement, clutching her stuffed rabbit, eyes wide with shock as she stared at him.
Then—darkness.
His last thoughts?
So I really died a virgin? If only I could have another go at life. Things would be different .