Chapter 1: Drenched

Gregory handed a silver colored trophy to his prized pupil who stood proud out in front of the class who was smiling with mirth, overjoyed that he was the one chosen to be given the trophy. Going back to his seat feeling proud of himself "How did you do it" a friend of has asked him also with a smile on his face "Honestly, I didn't expect it to come out like this" replied the happy child who was obviously one of the smart kids in his class.

A small smile coming to form on his face "Well, Briggs, you did good, keep it up" he said to the boy whose friends started to swarm around him and the boy whose name was Briggs smiled heartily at his teacher and said "Thank you" shortly after that the bell rang and it was time for recess, he then told them to be safe and they merrily skipped and headed out for recess.

Going to stand close to a window. Looking out the window he saw the children swarming around the premises of the establishment, with cheerful chatter and children singing gleefully and this brought a small smile on his face, reminding him of his time as a child: a time when one didn't care or have to worry about anything, those were the good times of his life.

When the class was dismissed, Gregory stood up from his table all tired and stressed-out and the only thing on his mind was to get home and have a nice warm bath in his Jacuzzi, and readied himself to head on home when his the door of his classroom burst open and a feminine figure entered into the class, it was a lady with brown long hair that stopped just above her waist, black eyes that looked alluring. "Hey, Greg". Turning his head upon hearing the voice, he saw one of his fellow co-worker standing behind him.

"Hey, Sylvia." He said with little to no enthusiasm, his face expressionless and voice tuned a bit low. "What are you still doing here?" Sylvia asked him in a soft tone, he didn't reply immediately, it took a couple of minutes before a sigh escaped his lips. "You can see I'm packing up to leave, Right?" he finally said with the same aura. Sylvia stares at him in bewilderment. How could he talk to her that way, what's wrong with him? He needs to be taught some manners, and also how to talk to a lady. Thought Sylvia to herself.

Sylvia has got her eyes on him since the very first day he set foot on the school grounds to be a teacher, she couldn't help but feel that there was something off about him. For a start, she hardly ever saw him smile at anyone. He doesn't socialize with anyone, doesn't eat at the school cafeteria, the first to be in the school premises, and also goes home late from school every day, which was what got her curious which was why she stood in his class right now. "Oh I'm sorry I didn't see you were packing up." She quickly retorted in a comically sarcastic way which made him look at her with one of his brows raised up.

Nonchalantly he stood up ready to leave when she stopped him "You're such a sour puss". She said slightly irritated, and he left her standing there with no response given. It didn't matter to him if he had friends or not because with how he was now, he doesn't need friends nor anyone close to him and didn't hold any sentiments because to him it was a waste of time, not that he cared about time, and having such would make one do crazy, stupid things.

Heading home, he stopped in front of a restaurant which had a peculiar name on it, it read "Refresh Your Soul" he looked at the name at the top front of the building, and a small smile came creeping up his face. He entered into the building and saw only a few people. Roughly fifteen people came into view and he went to take a seat at a table at the far right corner of the restaurant.

Sitting silently and watching people converse, talking about different things that didn't mean anything to him in the slightest way. Still expressionless, he picked up the menu that was placed on the top of the table and went through its contents slowly. After some minutes he felt a persistent gaze on him, he heaved a sigh and slumped on his seat, now pretending not to notice the eyes that were gazing at him.

It wasn't long before someone in white long=sleeved shirt that had buttons from top to bottom neatly tucked into his jet black trousers came to stand in front of him with a smile on his face, "Sir, what would you like to have this fine afternoon", said the young man in front of him. He stole a glance at the person rudely staring at him and then back again at the young man in front of him, with a smile directed towards the waiter "I'll be having, hmmmmm…." He said with no interest on what was in the menu.

"I'll be having the Ravioli and Rye, with a side of fries; the jumbo pack and a little something that would refresh my soul" he said with a small chuckle escaping his lips. "Will that be all Sir?" came the bland reply from the waiter. "Yes." Said Gregory with a smile on his face and the young man went on his way back to the kitchen.

He watched the waiter boy leave his presence, but couldn't but feel like the gawking eyes were still on him, he turned his head to see who it was that was staring at him, and he saw it was a lady at the other side of the building also sitting alone, when she saw that he had caught her she quickly shifted her gaze as though she was looking at something else, but he was too quick to get the expression in those blue eyes of hers.

He sat there still waiting for the arrival of his meal to his table, looked away from the lady and immediately she returned her gaze back to him, this continued for a good number of minutes

until finally, the waiter appeared in front of him with his meal. "Here's your meal, Sir" he said, putting down the tray on the table. "Thank you" Greg said to him. He picked up the spoon to embark on his journey of no return, taking few bites off his meal savoring every bite, he sighed 'mmmm" he said silently, "I should visit here more often" said Greg to himself in-between mouthfuls, closing his eyes every once in a while.

When he was done with his meal, he motioned for the waiter to come. As expected, the waiter came and handed him the bill, his face still void of any expression, and he brought out his wallet which contained some hundred dollar bills, he subtly watched everyone in the building catching some eyes fall on him from different corners of the hall. Finally picking his favorite, he handed $200.50 to the waiter and said "Keep the extra for yourself" with a smile.

This had the waiter looking at him wide-eyed, now beginning to muster a smile on his lips. "Thanks" came genuinely from the waiter

and he went his way to attend to other unsatisfied customers. Still watching everyone, he saw the lady get up from her seat to stretch a bit, she was still staring at him and he smiled and waved at her.

She also waved at him, then went on to continue her meal. Meanwhile, Greg sat there just watching everybody in the restaurant just to ease his slowly rising boredom, he sat there sipping a drink. A few minutes later, "WHAT?" he heard someone in the group of teenagers say, "No way, how could they do that?" he just stared at the young men bluntly.

Involuntarily he listened in on their little discussion. "I heard their leader is a little bit of a pain in the ass". Said one of them with a giggle following after it. Greg who was not really interested in what little thing they or their peers did as it didn't matter to him, began to wonder what these juvenile delinquents were talking about. But he didn't wait long "I don't think he deserved to be thrown into a pot of boiling tar" said one of the guys who was now going round the table to take a seat with a note of sympathy in his voice.

"Hmmm, I think he deserved worse" came the sharp reply from one of them who was already seated, it seemed obviously he didn't like he didn't like the guy who was the subject of their discussion and it wasn't hard for Greg to see the look of disgust in the young man's eyes. "I pray he dies and doesn't rest in peace" he said with a comically evil smile on his face.

Greg decided to ignore their little chat and looked away from them. Turning his head, he saw that same lady who was previously staring at him heading his way. He tilted his head and stared at her, coming to where he was, "Hi" said the lady with a smile on her lips, she had beautiful light-blue eyes glimmering in excitement with a bit of nervousness underneath that excitement, which Greg noticed without even trying hard.

"Hello" he said without smiling to her. "Would you mind if I join you?" she said still holding up that smile on her face. He closed his eyes, took in a sharp breath and then nodded and with that, she took her seat across his. Staring into his eyes dreamily, she slowly adjusted herself on her seat, "Where are you from?" came the mellow voice of the lady in front of him, she said with an expression that depicts the seriousness in her question, "Around" said Gregory, looking into her eyes with a straight face. "Okay", she said with a serious face.

After some thought, she asked "What do you do for a living?", he raised one brow at the question tossed at him, looking at her skeptically before saying "I'm a teacher" he said, "So how's the job doing?". She asked again, "I've seen worse jobs, but this, I can manage." He said mustering a feigned smile on his lips, and she smiled also. The conversation continued for almost half an hour when there was a sudden crash from the door. The door swung open and a huge guy came into view. "Catherine!" yelled the intruder with a hoarse voice, slightly drunk and his countenance full of rage,

Greg turned his head to see the man who was yelling with eyes searching every nook and cranny of this fine establishment for the lady he was referring to as 'Catherine' he watched the man keenly when he heard a whisper "Oh, shit", he turned to see the lady sitting across him was trying to hide herself from the guy who was obviously angry for some unknown reason "Do you know him?" he asked her bluntly, "Yes, sort of." She replied now crouching on the floor to hide under the table.

Noticing her movements, he didn't need anyone to tell him that she was the person the man was looking for. "Why do you think he's searching for you?" he asked her with a serious expression on his face "Oh, I don't know, maybe he got lost" she said with a feigned smile on her lips. Greg stared at her for a bit and the next thin "HEY! Over here." the angry looking guy turned to where the call came from and he saw someone gesturing to him to come over. He turned his head to look back to make sure he was the one the person was referring to and turned back to still see the person calling him, so he decided to go meet this unknown stranger.

"What are you doing" she asked him with eyes slowly going wide, surprised at what he was about to do "Calling him over, of course". "What does it look like I'm doing?".

he said as his face beamed bright with a smile on his lips, "How the fuck could you be doing this to me right now?" she asked him with anger slowly growing in her, "If he finds me, I'm not sure I'll be alive anymore" she said sharply in a hushed tone, Greg looked at her with no emotion nor expression on his face, after a bit, he still motioned for the man to come over taking this as an opportunity to ease his boredom. Seeing this, she felt a bit betrayed by him, but then she didn't know him, so it was pointless to start feeling sorry for herself, thought Catherine to herself, glaring at him "Please, don't tell him I'm here, please" she pleaded, her knees trembling as she crouched under the table hoping this guy wouldn't rat her out. Footsteps could be heard as the man approached their table, and no one needed to tell Catherine that it was the man she dreaded.

Coming to a stop in front of Greg's table "Hey" the man said with a hoarse voice. Greg waved his hand at him "Get your fucking hands off of my face, and why the fuck did you call me?" the man said, glaring down at Greg with anger emitting from his eyes.

"Hi" said Greg with a smile, stretching out his hand for the man to shake, this had the man looking at him, wondering who he was and which planet he was from to not be able to notice his seriousness, "It's a pleasure to meet you," Greg continued, "Who the fuck are you?", asked the man in irritation, losing interest on the conversation that was about to commence, after taking a huge breath "I'll be on my way if you have nothing reasonable to say" he said still fuming turning his body to leave this strange stranger and continue his search for Catherine.

"That's no way to make an acquaintance" he said comically and then continued "….What if I said I could help you?" came the words out of the mouth of this stranger whom he thinks is crazy, this had the man stop in his tracks, seeing this, a small smile crept up on Greg's face, he knew he had got him where he wanted him. "How could you possibly help me" turning his head to the side. As all this was going on, Catherine, who was under the table with her heart racing ferociously, couldn't help but wonder if she was the only one hearing it, she felt like it would just burst out of her chest. She prayed silently in her heart for Greg to help her out of this mess she was in right now, taking a peek from under the table every ten seconds "Oh, I don't know, maybe I could tell you something you want to hear" she heard Greg say, and this had her eyes go wide in anticipation on what he would do.

"Like you would know who I'm looking for" he said looking at Greg with a gaze devaluing him that he would ever know any person at all or anything at all. "Mmhmmm?" hummed Greg with a small smile, twirling the fingers on his right hand. Catherine sat down silently listening in on the little conversation both men were having, the man took one more look at him and scoffed "I'm out of here" said the man and started walking away from where they were. Hearing this, Catherine heaved a sigh of relief when all of a sudden she felt someone hands take a hold of her dress from the collar and dragged her out of her hiding place, effortlessly.

The table screeched as result of his dragging her out from under the table, she didn't believe her eyes, how could he do this to her thought Catherine to herself, and she was amazed at the speed with which she came out from under the table, how could he possess such strength?, she thought to herself, she felt betrayed by him, "Is this who you're looking for?" He said with glee swinging the lady in his clutches as he stared at the man who stood across the room, waiting to see the reaction on his face.

The man turned to see who he was referring to, and to his surprise, it was the lady he was in search of, the one reason he came here in the first place. He stood dumbfounded for a good number of minutes staring at the way Greg was holding her out by the collar of her dress, he saw her trying to get away from his grip which seemed impossible.

He started to walk towards the two of them, tilting his head left and right with a smile beginning to grow on his face, he said "Well, well, look who we have here" coming closer to stand in front of them "I had a hunch you'd be here" he said with a solemn look in his eyes "and I was right" he continued. Catherine stared at him with fear engulfing her and a little bit of disgust in her eyes as she tried to get herself out of Greg's grip "Yeah, so?" she asked him in an angry tone, and then let out a sigh of relief after she had been dropped down by Greg.

"WHY! Cathy?" he asked, and she shuddered at the way his voice echoed in the building, and it stunned her that it did even with people in it. "Hey, hey, hey," said Greg in a comical tone, smiling at him. "Didn't you read the sign?" Greg said pointing to a sign he had put on his table while he and Catherine was still having their little chat without her notice. "What sign?" came the angry reply from the huge muscular guy, "I can see you seem to not be able to read" Greg said with enthusiasm, "Would you mind if I teach you?" hearing this, the guy snickered and for a moment forgot the reason he came here. Coming closer and putting his head closer to Greg's "Why don't we see who becomes the student here" breathing heavily on Greg's face.

"Just go away, Henry." Catherine said as she knew where this was heading, she could feel the tension coming from Henry towards Greg. "And who included you?" he swiftly shot back at her without turning his head to look at her. "Let's begin, shall we?" Greg said, only to see a heavy blow coming directly to his face, and this had him bending his head back effortlessly, which resulted in Henry's hand going AWOL on his face. Greg smiled and said, "Lesson one." He threw a punch which landed on the back of his opponent, Henry, causing him to stagger toward one of the tables. But with the help of his hands, he was able to maneuver his way to stop himself from falling to the floor.

Getting back on his feet, Henry swiftly struck an elbow attack towards Greg, and it was deflected by Greg with his hands, still smiling "loosen up a bit" he said still with that smile on his face "You'd never learn anything with that kind of attitude" Greg continued to taunt him, this had Henry fuming with rage, at this point, the restaurant looked like it was going to be brought down to the ground. Every one heading out fearfully, trying to evade the fight that now is.

Catherine found an empty corner which was yet to be disturbed by the fight, she hid herself behind a wall and watched the two men, 'OUCH' she thought to herself when she witnessed almost five blows landing all over Henry's body in quick succession. "Are you understanding what I'm telling you?" "AAHHRRRGGHH!" Henry shouted angrily, now fed up with the public humiliation he was receiving right now. In a blink of an eye, he swung a knife across Greg's face to result in him getting him scratched with it, Greg staggered back a bit because of the cut on his face that had him flinching "Yes" said Henry with a streak of triumph that could be seen in his eyes, "I am learning what you are teaching"…."Now, it's my turn to give the lessons" going to where Greg stood holding his face which had little spots of blood on his jaw,

Catherine from where she was, seeing how Henry was now heading to where Greg was sitting holding his chin, stormed out of her hiding place taking a hold of the piece of furniture that stood on the table closest to her and hammering it on Henry's head, making him flinch in pain with hands on his head. "Oh fuck!"…turning to her "You" he said with anger pain evident in his eyes. Regaining his stamina, he headed towards Catherine with a smile on his face, "I actually came here because of you," tilts his head "and got a bit sidetracked by this insolent fool" coming to where she was, and she backed up bit by bit, finally running out of space she gulped thinking of what he would do to her right now.

"Come here you little bitch" Henry said as he raised his hand to get a hold of her, when all of a sudden, he felt someone drag him by his shirt and violently swinging him across the room, "That's no way to talk about your teacher" Greg said as Henry flew across the room. Landing on the floor all stressed and tired from all the blows and kicks he received from his opponent, Greg, he decided to rest a bit. Greg went to where Catherine was and "Are you alright?", still surprised at the way he swung Henry across the room effortlessly and fought gracefully, and didn't even break a sweat, she shook her head to a yes and just continued staring at Henry who slumped on the floor, Greg stared at her and with one look he didn't need anyone to tell him what was going on in her mind. "Get up and go home" came the words nonchalantly from Greg's lips, with no expression on his face.

Hearing this, she turned her head only to see a face void of any expression, seeing him calm like this raised some unanswered questions in her mind, but now isn't the time nor this the place for those questions to be answered, thought Catherine to herself. Getting up, she dusted her dress and took another glance at Henry and he said "You,"…"You think you're safe from me, because of this here PUNK!?" he coughed and a small amount of blood came flowing out from the side of his lips "I'll always be there" he coughed again and continued "But he won't"… "I'll be there to haunt you till you die." Hearing this, a certain fear came to settle at the back of her mind but nonetheless "I hope you fuckin die and rot in hell for all I care" she said with a solemn expression, trying to hide her emotions.

Greg brought out a kerchief from his left back pocket to wipe the non-existent sweat and the little spots of blood which clung to his fists as a result of the heavy punches meted out to Henry, looking at Henry and Catherine interchangeably, "And you." Henry said glaring angrily at Greg as he tried to lift himself up after the short rest taken, "You think you're so tough huh?…We'll see who'll beg the next time" and with that Henry walked out of the building, still angry. "Well, that's enough stupidity for a day." Said Greg and he decided to head home and have that nice warm bath he so longed for, Catherine who was still obviously stunned by all that happened in here, seeing Greg getting ready to leave said "You're not going to leave me here are you?". Greg turned to look at her and "May I join you home?" said Catherine in a mellow voice, Greg stared at her for two seconds and "No" was the strict but composed answer that came from him to her.

She sat there staring at him in disbelief "You heard him, right?" she asked him, her tone rising in anxiety, "Yes, I did, are you afraid?" he asked her, and she didn't know what to give as a reply, because it would be a lucid lie if she said she wasn't. Seeing the expression on her face, "He's bluffing…you don't have to worry about him" Greg said as he walked out of the building to head home. Coming out, he was welcomed by the flock of onlookers of the brawl he had inside the restaurant, and he was astonished at the number of people outside when he noticed that they vividly saw all that transpired in the building "Humans" he said in a hushed tone to himself and shook his head disapprovingly.

He continued on his walk home leaving the chattering people behind, he walked and walked and he came to realize that the distance from the school to his apartment was much, still walking and the day getting dark, he noticed someone following him from behind. He stopped, turning back, he saw the hem of a dress, which design looked familiar, like something he had seen somewhere, he decided to act oblivious of the presence trying to hide behind him, still walking on the road that had slopes at certain parts of it, the person followed him diligently "Catherine." He heaved a sigh and then continued "I thought I told you to go home?" Greg said as he walked forward, not sparing a glance to confirm who it was.

"I don't want to go home" said Catherine as she came out of her hiding place, now quickening her pace to a slight run, trying to keep up with him "Then who's going to take care of your eight year old son if you don't go home?" hearing this, she paused a bit and he stopped to look at her face, she wondered how he knew she had a son, and his exact age. She stared at him silent, seeing she didn't have anything more to say, he brought out a hundred dollar bill and handed it to her "Use this to take a taxi home". With that, he turned back and continued his journey home, and she nonchalantly turned back with a feeling of disappointment and headed home.

He didn't need to let her know that he knew her son from school, he was one of the pupils in the elementary grade who excelled excellently in all areas, he had seen Catherine come to pick him up from school numerous times and felt somewhat nostalgic thinking about it right now. He let out a sigh when he finally reached his apartment, standing outside, he wrecked his pants pocket for his keys, "Where did I keep those keys?" he asked himself, finally finding them, he opened the door and went in, he flung his bag on the sofa that had soft designer cushions decorated in gold.

He sat down there for a while and thought about all that had happened today, in school, in the restaurant where he had lunch, and on his way home with Catherine after that. He shook his head and picked up his things and headed into his room, unpacking everything out of his bags and he found some notes in it, the first one was obviously from a child, and the second one was from an anonymous note. He took to read both of them, but started with the one for the child,

'Good day mister Greg, thank you for helping me out today, thanks for everything you did. I'd like to give you something tomorrow as a token of appreciation when we meet in school again. Thanks again, love Dennis' when he was done reading, he wondered what could this child possibly want to give him, 'Well, anyway' thought Greg to himself. He had helped the boy out with his unfinished assignments, and also warded off some bullies who were wont to haunting him.

He picked up the second one, as he looked closer he found out that the handwriting on it looked familiar, he thought of who it could possibly be, he suddenly came to a realization that it was one of his old acquaintances, the one who admired him with a great admiration and he smiled for two seconds and "Greg, how are you doing? I miss seeing you around" he smiled further, now knowing who the letter was from, 'Rosetta' he said as he smiled as he continued reading "I came in search of you, but all attempts were proven futile, until this day." This got him wondering since when did she care about him "I saw you in that restaurant. At first, I wasn't sure it was you, or it was my intuition that got me wrong, but all was confirmed by the way you behaved with that lady and the man" he paused a bit and continued "Well, I wrote to inform you that we'll be having a meeting by midnight on Thursday, I hope you'll come, please do, I'll be expecting you." He heaved a sigh as he dropped both notes on his bed.

Taking off his clothes dispassionately one after the other, he laid down on his bed staring at the ceiling fan that rotated nonstop, after a couple of minutes, he decided to head into the bathroom and have his bath. After having his bath, he took to wear one of his favorite night robes and headed into his room to dress himself. Coming out of his room, took a seat on the sofa, grabbed the remote control and decided to watch a movie, occasionally letting out giggles which eventually turned into full laughter.

He paused the movie when he decided to go get a bottle of whiskey and a glass, reaching the kitchen, he opened one of his drawers and brought out a bottle of whiskey, and turning to get a glass, and something caught his attention from the corner of his eye. He looked out his window to see a group of people, some with cigars hanging from their lips with the usual tiny red light illuminating their tips. But what seemed strange was the fact that they were holding crowbars, and all walking stealthily.

He stopped what he was doing to watch them closely as he didn't have anything important to do right now, so he went closer to the window to get a better view of what was about to happen outside, watching the men going into a house from the backyard fence, he scoffed and returned to where the glasses were kept, staring at them one after the other and finally picking one, he went to the sink basin to rinse the nonexistent dirt from it, occasionally taking a look out the window every ten seconds.

He returned to the sitting room to continue his movie, he sat down and poured himself a glass of the whiskey he held in his hand, the movie lasted for a good hour and thirty minutes extra. Just as he turned off the television to retire for the day, he heard someone scream "AAAHH" with one brow raised he wondered who might be the fool that was disrupting the peaceful time he was having in solitude. "Get over here!" came the sound of a male voice in the background as the sound of furniture being broken was imminent. He decided to take a look, and discovered that it was the same house those group of men invaded, he just shook his head "Crazy things" he said serenely and headed back to his bedroom.

The screams could still be heard by him from his bedroom, he twisted and turned on his bed uncomfortably as a result of the earsplitting noise that came out from the next house. "Damn!" he screamed angrily, but he couldn't even hear himself. This continued for nearly one hour, he tried all he could to dissipate the noise, but all attempts were proven to be in vain, he sat up angrily on his bed "This is 10:30 for Pete's sake!" he yelled again. "Can't someone get some sleep?!" the noise continued till he was unable to bear it anymore.

Greg who was still in his night robes, stormed out of his room and dashed out his front door, down the stairs and across the street, heading to where the noise was coming from. Reaching the front door of the building, he took a hold of the knob on the door and suddenly there was a strange silence that enveloped the building.