Tower of Powers

'We all have those days. You know, those days.

Well, otherwise, how else would I describe this happening?'

Thought a man as he was slowly bleeding out from his head, many stomach wounds and his broken ribcage puncturing his chest.

'Welp, here it comes, my life flashing by. I wonder how many repressed memories I have.'

***

12 hours ago.

I woke up feeling groggy and sleepy. That damn alarm.

If I ever get the chance to pick a superpower, it would be control over my sleep. You know, being able to sleep whenever and wherever. Also, to store sleep energy. This way I would be able to sleep for as long as I want on days and moments when I have nothing to do.

Yeah, that would be great.

Anyway, today is nothing important. Just gotta get to uni, get to class, get to the back of the class, and sleep.

Absolutely no point in giving attention to the class. That one-hour class can be learned by watching a 20-minute video on Yourtube on 2x speed.

Also, I'm sleepy. Had to spend all night on a damn assignment. And a measly 5 hours on spooderman 2.

Anyways.

As I started to get out of my one-room apartment, (It's perfect btw.) my shirt got stuck on the door and I fell.

As in my face hugged the concrete floor at a speed it should not have.

"Agh. Fuuuuuuuuck."

And it was at that moment that I realized that this day was not going to be great.

....

I got to class with a bit of bandage on my face. Had to get to the medical center. Cause why not? It was bleeding after all.

And the first class is a quiz.

That I forgot about and never studied.

Great.

After writing my name and ID and making a magnificent doodle. I wondered for a second, 'Am I doing anything wrong in life? Do I want to change anything?'

Yeah, One hour with nothing to do but stare at an empty page will do that to you.

After the end of the existential torture, I got out of the class and went to the next class with my classmates. It's a lab. EEE lab.

Why all engineering students had to do a lab on EEE was beyond me.

Anyway, I got there, got the breadboard ready, and waited for my teammates.

Today's lab was somewhat simple. Had to set some transistors in a specific manner and made sure that the lights went off when they should.

It didn't happen. The lights were not cooperative. All the instructions were flowed to the t. The wires were double-checked, the chips were checked, and the teachers were asked about the instructions again.

But no matter what, the tiny fking lights refused to cooperate.

Anyway, when the lab was almost near the end and almost all the teams were done, even the ones with the stupid kids, my lab partner finally decided to do one last thing.

He decided to change the chips.

But first, let me tell you that, in the first lab session, we were explicitly told by the head lab assistant, that all the chips were tested and none were defective.

In the fuking first lab class.

My lab partner changed the chips and voila. Like a magic trick, the lights turned on when they were supposed to and also turned off when they were supposed to.

At least one of the chips was defective.

Sigh...

Well, at least we got the marks for a job well done. The teacher was happy after understanding that it was not our fault and that we did a fantastic job.

Yeah, he was a nice teacher. Even complimented us.

Well, every pile of shit has a silver lining.

After that lab, we were done for the day and I was too tired to do anything. So, I ate lunch and went home.

To sleep. Coffee abuse is a real thing. And let me tell you, headaches resulting from coffee abuse are nasty business.

Sleep is nice. Especially sleep which happens when you pass out from exhaustion.

One hour later a sound woke me up that instantly got me into my fight or flight mode.

A sound so vile and messed up that I woke up instantly and got to the phone.

….The alarm.

"Uggggghhhhh. Shit, that was today."

And 'that' was a movie. Me and my friends are going to a film watching.

It's a tradition of sorts. My hometown is far away. All my friends live here, but we're all in different regions of the capital. Our units are different after all.

So, we made a rule to meet once a month and watch movies or anything else. Also, no excuses will be tolerated. If you're sick, you'll be just there and watch. If you're too sick, the others will accommodate you and follow you around and do whatever you like.

It can be Netflix and chill with friends. Also, this is for relaxation. So no pressure.

No pressure except that you have to be there. No matter what.

So, I got up and heated water to make more coffee.

Simple recipe, hot water, milk powder, Nescafe trash coffee powder, and sugar.

Materials may vary according to requirements.

Also, sugar. Did I mention sugar?

Also, best if cold, but in a pinch, hot coffee works as well.

After drinking coffee, I get out with my tired body.

I'm planning on falling asleep at the movie theater. I'll explain that I'm tired. No way around it.

Man, sleeplessness is such a weird thing.

It sometimes feels like a high. Just a tired one.

It felt like my brain and body was smothered with a pillow.

Thinking was tiring. So I didn't think. Yet, it didn't feel bad. In stressful times, not being able to think, is such a great feeling.

Maybe that's why no matter what happens, I can't resist an opportunity to stay awake at night.

Also, in this country, alcohol is banned. All types of drugs are frowned upon (and illegal).

Cigarettes are somewhat common, but my lungs aren't great because of asthma.

So, I suppose sleeplessness is the closest I can get to getting high.

The point of that entire rambling is that I was walking like someone who did drugs.

Now, I know what you are thinking. I probably hit a truck while walking blindly and died.

No. Be patient.

Anyway, I make it to the movie theater just fine.

"Oi asshole, you didn't sleep, did you?"

"What gave it away? The circles under my eye, or the fact that I am falling over myself?"

"Bro, why do you do this to yourself? Get your messed-up sleep schedule under control. You're going to get brain damage."

My best friend was right about that though. I have started to feel headaches now. Headaches that only occur due to sleeplessness. Yeah, I'm worried too.

"Meh, I sleep a lot afterward. After this thing ends, I'm gonna sleep for 12 hours straight. That's two days' worth of sleep. Should make up for it."

My second best friend then popped up. "Where do you want to sleep? I mean sit."

"Brotha, you know the answer. The corner seat. Tell me about the plot later. Good night. Wake me when the movie ends."

And with that, I was gone for the time. The sleep was inefficient. It was like dropping drops of water on a heated frying pan. That frying pan got colder, but not much. 

But the rest did make me feel better.

On the way home, it was dark. But not too dark. No city is dark. There are lights everywhere. And so is people. But I was tired. So my pal Rick took a small shortcut.

Maybe taking a shortcut through a dark alley was probably not the best of ideas considering what happened.

Well, I frequented the alley quite a lot, it was a common shortcut for me.

But that was in the daytime. Not this into the night. Me and Rick were walking through the alley when we saw a shadow. Two shadows in fact. 

And one of them was moving erratically on top of another. I pulled out my phone and turned on the flashlight. 

Blood. 

So much blood. 

Fun fact, the longer blood is outside, the more it congests and becomes black. 

There was no congestion. The blood was as fresh as it gets. 

That's when I noticed a man and a woman. The man was not wearing pants and had his hand shielding his eyes from the sudden light. 

But the woman was unresponsive. She neither moved nor made a sound. 

There was a sudden gasp. 

I didn't realize at the moment that it was me. Regardless, the man moved. He got up from the ground. 

Like a spell was broken, me and Rick, started running. 

Adrenaline, pumping through my veins made all the sleepiness and fatigue disappear. I was running at my fastest speed. 

We quickly reached the end of the alley. But what remained at the end of the long alley was an extremely busy highway. 

"John, Help!"

I heard my friend call back to me. He had tripped. As he got up, the killer almost caught up to him. 

And that killer had a knife. 

I ran back. 

By the time I reached him, the killer was there. There was a very difficult choice to make. And I made it. 

I quickly jumped up and punched him with everything I had. 

As I saw him get thrown back, I felt good. So good in fact that it took me a few seconds to feel the warmth spreading through my chest and into my stomach. 

Looking down, I saw red. 

I felt no pain. I guess adrenaline really is a miraculous hormone. 

"Ha ha ha."

Hearing that grating laughter, I turned to look at him. And for the first time, in the intermittent car lights flashing into the alley from the highway, I saw him. 

He had an emaciated body. He had more bones than muscle. 

He was a man with nothing. 

Nothing but the sharp bloodied knife that he held tight in his arms as he looked at my friend. 

I knew what I wanted to do in my last moments. 

I went over to the man and held him. 

He stabbed me again, but that didn't matter. I pulled him with me. He weighed nothing.

It was easy carrying him. Soon, I reached my goal. 

The highway. 

I quickly ran into the traffic while holding him in my arms. 

To make sure that we would be pulverized, I pushed him down into the ground. 

It didn't take long. A truck ran over us as I was pushing him down. 

His head was crushed by the wheels.

And so was my chest.

'Welp, here it comes, my life flashing by. I wonder how many repressed memories I have.'

***

Rick was a simple kid. 

He studied hard, he spent time with his friends and family. 

He tried his best at everything he did. 

But as he sat there frozen on the ground, he saw his best friend sacrifice himself to save him. 

There was only one sentence repeating itself in his head as he sobbed quietly. 

"No, not again. Please no."

**

Author's Notes:

Trying to be productive. 

Anyways, some chapters are short. Some chapters are weirdly long. This was a long one. Hope you guys enjoyed the first chapter. 

I am not good at writing. I miss writing some things. Sometimes I think that I have written down some of my thoughts and explanations even though I have not. So, feel free to ask for any explanations. I'll decline if it is related to spoilers or future plans for the story. 

I'll be taking suggestions for a lot of things. I also read almost all the comments. Helps boost my ego or destroys it. 

You have a lot of power in your hands, please use it responsibly. Not needed though, be a b*tch, that's fine as well. It will serve as entertainment. 

Hope you have a good day. Unlike our friend John here.