Chapter 3

A quiet street. The night was broken only by the light of the moon. Two young girls stood in the doorway of a quiet house.

“I live just down the street, Jen,” said one, “What could happen?”

“Sorry,” Jen told her, “I just worry sometimes. See you on Monday, Sarah.”

The girls said their goodbyes and Sarah began her short walk home. It was late, very late, and clouds obscuring the sky began to shroud the moon. As she walked cautiously down the street towards her home, Sarah couldn’t help but feel as if something were wrong. Her heart began to beat faster and she began to think fearful thoughts about what it could be. She wanted to look behind her but was too frightened, then she started to calm down. The streetlight was broken. She hadn’t noticed it before, so it had probably happened while she was at Jen’s house. She told herself, You’re only 8 houses away, you’ll be fine, and she began walking again, only then even realising that she’d ever stopped. She counted her steps to make herself feel less afraid. 41…42…43…the wind caught her back and carried with it the sound of many leaves rustling. Sarah quickly spun around with her hands clenched together over her heart and immediately chided herself for being so scared. It was just a tall, thick bush swaying in the breeze. She walked up to her front door and walked in with a sigh of relief as she closed it behind her.

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A masked man fell from behind the bush and backed up with his hands, dragging his feet in front of him. “Wh-wh-what do you want?” he asked.

A mysterious figure stood before him in the heavy shadow of the bush. They seemed too shrouded in darkness for it to just be a shadow. All that could be seen was an outline and a luminescent glow in their eyes. Their eyes weren’t glowing really. It was more that they seemed to be the only part of the figure that had light on them.

“For you to leave,” he said in a blunt, calm and yet threatening tone, “You know, ‘give-up-this-life-of-crime,’ the whole hero thing,” he shifted as if about to leave when he turned back and slanted his eyes in a more menacing way, “Oh, and if you ever even think of harming a young girl again, just remember this: You didn’t see me coming, and you never will.”

The mugger never saw the figure vanish and the light around the bush return to a moonlit glow as the clouds parted. He was too busy running. Running away from whatever had caught him before he had even had a chance to grab the girl’s purse. All he was thinking, though, was a single sentence, over and over.

“I give up this life of crime. I give up this life of crime…”

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Beep-beep-beep…

The young man sat up and pressed the snooze button on his alarm clock, “Five more minutes…” he said to himself, knowing that he was merely going to lay there telling himself that he had to get up.

As he finally got out of bed and got dressed in his faded jeans and brown and white t-shirt, he glanced at his light brown hair and decided to leave it in the dishevelled state it was in. He packed his bag for his day at university, grabbing his books and laptop. He hated early morning starts, especially after a late night. He wandered into the kitchen, still half asleep, and grabbed his lunch made the night before and a snack for breakfast.

“Eat something before you go,” his mother told him from her place at the end of the table where she sat drinking her coffee and reading the paper.

“Yeah…” he said half-heartedly as he left with his snack in hand and his bag on his back. He never made time for breakfast, and his mother knew full well that he wouldn’t listen to her advice.

It was only a short walk to the train station, the first leg of his journey to uni. The air was chilled but dry, having had very little rain recently it wasn’t surprising. As he passed them, he waved to greet the local shop owners that knew him before arriving at the station only moments before the train arrived. The uneventful trip left him at another station where he would have to catch a bus to the university campus. The trip was a long one to take every day, but the university was worth it. He had many friends there and the courses had a very good reputation.

As fortune would have it, he had just missed his bus. Not quite a surprise since he had been lucky to catch the train that had been running late, as all trains do. He would not be bored in his wait for the next bus, though. His friend, Daniel, had just arrived as well.

“Hey Dan,” the young man greeted his friend.

“Hey Jake,” his friend replied, “Did we just miss it?” he asked. He drew his hand through his short, curly hair. It was a sort of dark blonde or very light brown, and always tangled. He seemed to share Jake’s ignorance of the art of brushing hair. His blue eyes turned towards the street where the bus had just turned to head out of sight.

“Yep, looks like it,” Jake answered, glancing at the timetable on the bus stop post to check for the next scheduled bus, “I guess we’ll have to wait for the eight eighteen, now.”

Daniel sighed as he took a seat at the bus stop, “So…what have you been up to on the weekend?” he asked as he stretched out on the metal bench.

“Oh, not much,” Jake replied as he took a seat next to his friend, “Sat around, watched Australia reclaim the Ashes, sat around some more. I really didn’t do much.”

“You lazy bugger,” Daniel teased, “You need to do more. I can’t see how you manage to stay fit with the tiny amount of exercise you seem to do,” he glanced around and then at his watch, “Shouldn’t be long now.”

“So, how about you?” Jake asked, “Do anything interesting? Go anywhere?”

Daniel gave a moment’s short laughter, “Not really,” he replied, and Jake gave him a mildly accusative look, “But that’s unusual for me,” he continued, “I’m usually fairly busy.”

The sound of a loud engine alerted them to the presence of the bus as it approached the stop. At this time of the morning buses came fairly often. They got up and waited for the driver to stop in the bus bay, and as he opened the squeaky doors, the two friends boarded the bus, validated their tickets and took a seat together near the back.

“So,” Daniel began, “What have you got today?”

“Well,” Jake replied, “First off, I have a lecture for computer science,” he pointed to a finger on his left hand with one from his right, “Then a three-hour lab for software engineering,” he pointed to another finger, but as he pointed to the third he said, “After that, I have a break for lunch. Are you free then? That’s one o-clock.”

“Hmm,” Daniel replied, “Isn’t today the day we have lunch with Michelle and Cate.”

Daniel left an intentional pause before Cate, a pause that Jake knew the full meaning of.

“Dan, lay off it, ok?” Jake replied, “I’ll tell her when I feel ready.”

“For both of you,” Daniel replied, “I hope that’s sooner rather than later,” he pulled out his mp3 player and began listening to it as the bus continued towards Xavier University.

Please, people, read my story an give me some feedback. I feel so unappreciated. :(