Chapter 4 – A brand new day
Flynn
"Wake up sleepy head!" I must have drifted to sleep. Sayori was hitting me with a pillow to wake me up from my deep sleep.
"Ugh. Fine. I'm awake." I replied, still feeling groggy from last nights events. Sari walked to her own bedroom to get ready for the days events and I did the same. I put on jeans, brogues, a tweed waistcoat and jacket with a grey ¾ overcoat which rested just above my knees and a black scarf. Before I left my bedroom I glanced at my beside table and decided to take my pistol as a concealed carry, just in case. We exit the apartment and began to walk towards NYU.
"You're different today." Sari said, looking at me in a concerning manner. I realised I had not said a word to her since I woke up this morning, my head was somewhere else completely.
"Sorry. Don't worry, I'll be fine later. I promise." I replied, smiling back in her direction.
Upon entering NYU, most of the day went relatively normal. After conducting work on my PhD for much of the morning, I felt my phone vibrate. It was a text from Sayori.
My bellies a rumblin', come buy me food 3 3 3
I was fairly surprised by this communication, as I failed to realise that it was the afternoon. I stood up from my computer chair, walked out of my office, locked the door, and began to take a leisurely stroll towards the cafeteria. I entered the hall and saw Sayori arguing with the cashier, while a long queue of students were behind her, trays of food in hand, patiently waited for her to move.
"He'll be here in a minuuuuuuute just wait. Pleeeeeeeease?" Sayori begged, putting her hands together as one would when praying.
"Look lady, you're holding up the line, couldn't you just, you know, come back when he's here?" The cashier replied, gesturing for her to move away from the counter. I strolled past the queue of disheartened students, and towards Sari.
"I'm not the Bank of England, Sari." I said, slightly annoyed that I was, yet again, paying for her food.
"No, you're right, you're the federal reserve. Welcome to America, bitch!" She replied, making a whipping sound and beaming her characteristic smile towards me. After I paid for her meal, the queue finally started moving again. We sat down on an empty table, and Sari began to inhale her meal.
"Are you not eating?" Sari said as she slurped noodles into her mouth.
"No, not yet. I've no appetite." I replied, realising that I had not ate since yesterday. The events of the early hours of this morning had ruined my appetite. Who was that woman? What did she want from me? And what did she mean by 'only me'?
"Are you coming to the association later? Natuski and Yuri seem to really like you." Sari said, still devouring her food like a lion biting into a carcas.
"Of course. What about Monika?" I replied, noticing she had omitted the club president from her sentence.
"Huh?" She said, temporarily halting her consumption.
"Does Monika not like me?" Genuinely concerned that I had spurned the affections of a woman with such beauty. Though, I am still confused. Why do I care?
"No she does. She really likes you actually…" Sari replies, her voice trailing off like she is in deep thought.
"Look, I have to go, my lecture starts in ten minutes, but I'll see you later." I stand up from the table
"Yeah, I'll see you later." Sari says, she is no longer inhaling her food but slowly picking at it, like something is on her mind.
"Are you okay?" I ask, concerned for the wellbeing of my friend. I have never seen Sari like this as of yet.
"No no, I'm fine." She replies, beaming a smile in my direction. However, I sense that it is far from genuine, like she is wearing a mask to conceal her feelings.
"Okay, well. If you need to talk, text me. You know where I am." I say, walking to my lecture hall. As I entered the lecture room I was greeted with row after row of students, keen for the day to end so they could go about partying the night away. I descend the stairs to the front of the lecture hall, and begin my speech. Much of the lecture went well. However, after half an hour. Things took a turn for the unexpected.
"While utilitarianism as moral doctrine seems beneficial, in that the greatest happiness for the greatest number of individuals could be considered paramount to maximise overall utility, the issue is that what if you are the one to be sacrificed? What if your happiness requires immolation to ensure every other individual benefits? Utilitarianism begins to fall apart in the face of such criticisms." I say, leaning against my desk and staring at the projector screen. However, as I turn around to face my students, I am greeted with an empty lecture hall. Was my lecture really that dull? I understand that moral philosophy is a dry subject, but to lose one hundred students was, to say the least, quite the shock. As I am staring into the seats of where all my students should be, I hear somebody laugh behind me. It was not maniacal, but was more like a childish giggle. I turn around to greet the source of this sound, and I am horrified by what I see. The projector screen on the wall no longer displays my notes, but a picture of me, in that hallway, with the sea of blood rushing towards me, a surge of hopelessness unshakeable in its quest to ensnare me in its grip. Horrified, I switch off the projector, but as I do so, I hear the same childish laugh behind me again. I quickly turn around and, upon looking up the stairs towards the exit, see the same woman walk past the doorway. I immediately pull my concealed carry from its holster and point the pistol towards the doorway. Fear gripped me in its icy embrace, but years of combat had taught me to control the rush of adrenaline into my system. I run up the stairs and out of the lecture hall, my rapid heartbeat pumping blood and oxygen around my system to compensate for my exertions as I chase after her. As I exit the hallway, I entered the same white tiled corridor as before, stained red by the rampage of blood from earlier. I look to the end of the corridor, and see the same woman shrouded in darkness, observing me from a distance.
"Who are you!? What do you want with me?" I demand, keeping my pistol pointed at her.
"Just you." Her voice echoes in my mind.
"Uh, Mr Carson?" I hear a voice call towards me in the distance, I recognise it as one of my students. Suddenly, I am awoken from my day dream, looking around the room to see a sea of students staring at me blankly.
"Sorry, I must have, drifted off for a second there." I continue to give the rest of my lecture, and stealthily place a hand on my concealed carry. Thankfully, I had not drawn my Glock. What the fuck is happening to me?
?
I watch him from the back row of his lecture hall. His knowledge of philosophy is profound, even by this institution's standards. His movements are fervent, full of energy with a remarkable level of passion for his subject area. His words, almost like he's trying to seduce his audience with his intellectual prowess. He is inspiring, magnificent, beddable, and mine. After his lecture ends I leave and walk back to my own office, dodging the swarm of students leaving for the day, ready for the ritual. Only me.
