I Hope You Remember Me

"L-Luke… promise me… Once you remember… Please — agai-."

I bolted upright from my bed, drenched in sweat.

" Pant* Pant*… hahh"

With bated breaths I groggily closed my eyes and laid back down.

"This… dream again… Hahh."

My eyes shut tight as I began to recall the fleeting dream I just had.

A visage of a woman lying on top of me with her face blurry and obscured.

I can still feel her tear drops lingering on my face as her words remained cut off, leaving me wondering aimlessly.

"Just, who are you? And why do you keep appearing in my dreams."

Then a sound from my side snapped me back to reality.

Ring* Ring* Ring*

I looked to my left to see my alarm clock showing.

[12:05 am.]

It took me a second to realize.

"I'm fucked."

I haphazardly grabbed my backpack and my phone before leaving my room.

"Meow!!"

But then a small cat pounced on me as I was about leave, her adorable face looking at me.

Growl*

"Hahh, sorry Gwen. Had a rough time trying to finish up homework but I ended up staying up all night."

She looked at me and nodded her head seemingly understanding my words.

"Alright give me a sec, I'll grab your food, but I gotta go otherwise the professor might turn me into ground meat."

Gwen turned her head towards me her eyes beaming with stars in her pupils.

"I know you're hungry, but are you really thinking of eating me?"

Gwen nodded her head and licked her lips.

"…"

"Alright, here's your food, don't cause trouble, close the door, and stay in my room until I get back home."

Gwen had a displeased look on her somewhat human-like face. I rolled my eyes before squatting down and scratched her ear.

"And I'll make sure to eat plenty of seasonings so I'll taste better."

"Meow!"

Gwen meowed gleefully as I patted her head and left my dormitory.

While I was thinking about what my professor would say, my stomach grumbled hungrily.

Usually, I would skip breakfast, but somehow I'm feeling much hungrier than usual.

Needing to find some food, I dashed through the hallway and headed straight to the dorm kitchen to grab something to eat.

As soon as I arrived I opened the fridge, my eyes quickly surveying for any scraps of food for me to eat. Unfortunately, everything inside was uncooked or took too long to prepare.

Left with no choice, I opened up the pantry to get a slice of bread.

"Hahh, this would do, hopefully, Laura might have something for me to eat."

I placed the piece of bread in my mouth, my feet already headed for the door until I remembered the reason why I woke up late in the first place.

"Ahh! My papers!"

I retraced my steps back inside my room to grab the assignment I'd been working on.

"Meow?"

"Sorry Gwen, I'm not ground meat yet, just forgot my papers."

"Meow…"

With a disappointed look she returned back to her food bowl, but as I found the papers on my desk I pinched her cheek and immediately ran out the door.

Before I left I turned my head and yelled.

"When I get back I'll grill us something nice alright!"

Gwen excitedly nodded her head and waved her paw to say good bye as I sprinted toward a large building.

'Thankfully my professor likes me… hopefully he doesn't mind me being an hour late.'

I looked at the side entrance, a very well-visited area by the student populace for its easy access to the cafeteria.

I took a quick glance before turning to my left.

I would love to grab something to eat but as I checked my phone.

[12:11]

Time wasn't exactly on my side. With the closest entrance to my location occupied, I opted for the other way in.

Picking up my pace I chewed more of the bread in my mouth as I quickly waved at the students lounging nearby while hopping over a ledge leading toward the gymnasium.

With swift movement, I jumped off the ledge and landed on my feet. I immediately got back up and headed straight inside.

But upon reaching the door a girl called out to me.

"Hey, Luke! Did you oversleep?"

While maintaining my pace, I turned my head toward her and quickly blurted out.

"Hey Beth, I had an assignment that took a bit more time than usual so I stayed up a bit, but thinking about it I'm not sure if it was even worth it. Welp good morning to you but I gotta go. See ya!"

"O-Oh, okay bye!"

Her face showed a hint of despondency at my response, but with time ticking down, I had no other options.

As I opened the door to the gym. I looked around at the familiar interior until my eyes settled on the entrance leading to my classroom building.

Running through a gym class during a session I was quick to receive a stern look from the teacher, her mouth spewing curse- I mean, words of "discipline" for interfering with her class.

I waved my hand toward her as I mouthed 'sorry' while sprinting to the door.

With just one more building left, I quickened my pace.

Upon entering the building with my assignment still in hand, I hastily swallowed the last bite of bread and hurriedly stashed my papers in my bag.

Looking up to see the doors on the other side, I rushed to open it, but to my luck, it was locked.

Out of frustration I shouted.

"Huhh? Who locked this?!"

Turning to my right I climbed the flight of stairs and quickly went up. Once I reached the second floor I turned again to my right to see a broken window with a poster covering it saying 'Success is earned through hard effort!".

I rllled my eyes and thought.

'For a privileged school, they sure don't fix things.'

Disregarding the abysmal care of the faculty I lifted the poster from the window and jumped out while holding my bag in front of me and prepared for the 12-foot drop.

As the ground rushed closer I prepared for a front roll.

Touching down, I propelled my body with the extra momentum for a summersault.

Yet, miscalculating both my speed and the weight of my backpack, I went farther than expected.

With quick thinking—I pushed my hand toward the ground, contorting my body mid-air before landing in the sidewalk.

Slinging my bag over my shoulder, I dashed towards an abandoned-looking building with a medieval sign that read 'Mythology'.

Ignoring the cheers around me from the wandering students who watched that whole spectacle, I pushed through the doors only pausing to realize a group of students standing near a table and a bench.

'Shit, the professor must've assigned a group project… hahh.'

I quickly glanced at them, acknowledging my tardiness, and entered slowly. But I halted as their conversation caught my attention.

"I knew he was in the track club, but was he in the gymnastics club too?"a girl exclaimed.

"Not sure, but I think he won the martial arts tournament held for international black belts," replied a burly-looking guy.

Then, from the back, someone added, "I heard he scored gold in swimming and aced archery!"

"?!?"

A girl with large glasses timidly stepped forward and stammered, "A-actually he won all of them."

Everyone turned their heads toward her, their faces in disbelief.

"A-and he's also our school's valedictorian."

"…"

"…"

"…"

I could sense their intense gazes as I continued through the door.

I turned my head and saw the girl glancing at me. Our eyes locked for a moment, a silent acknowledgment between our gaze before the sounds of my steps changed.

The wooden boards beneath me creaked with every footfall, adding to my growing exhaustion. From my somewhat rushed morning, the fleeting dream, and the somersaults I've gone through, I wasn't exactly thrilled about heading into class.

"Hahh* what a da-"

Mid-thought, as I was walking down the corridor, I bumped into someone, someone to whom I owed an apology.

"Professor! Good morning. I apologize for being late. Finishing the assignment took a lot longer than I thought. I ended up working on it all night, and I had this weird dream, which is kind of off topic… but it- um… heh heh."

I trailed off nervously, watching his expression shift from displeasure to a broad grin.

Somehow, I feel like something bad is about to happen…

I anxiously waited for his response as I fiddled with the strap of my backpack.

Once again, my gaze fell upon the professor—an aged man nearly half my height. His attire exuded an old aristocratic aura; a black trench coat draped over him, adorned with a distinctive monocle.

If you looked at him from afar he'd look like a butler or the Penguin from Batman.

Shaking my head to regain focus, I straightened up, meeting his eyes.

His mouth opened and instead of a flurry of words scolding me for being irresponsible, he looked at me and said.

"We all make mistakes. The assignment might have been overly challenging, and you seem quite disheveled; I reckon you rushed here from your dorm."

He finished it off with a wide grin to show how much he didn't mind.

But rather than feeling relieved, I felt a chill run down my spine.

Turning away, he placed his hands behind him, holding a long wooden cane intricately etched with black lines, crowned with a golden handle resembling something from a wizard's collection at a convention.

Releasing a sigh of relief, I began following him back into the classroom, my thoughts still slow from this morning.

With my body working on autopilot I trailed closely behind him, until suddenly, his footsteps halted.

I nearly bumped into him again, I managed to stop just in time.

He turned his head toward me and said.

He turned, his voice now laced with spite despite his prior leniency. "Oh, I forgot. Could you call the students outside back in for me? I've given everyone a group assignment… except you, of course."

I cleared my throat in response.

"Yes, professor."

"Thank you. Make it quick. The class is about to end."

He tapped on his watch before heading inside.

Checking my phone, I saw it was 12:34.

Bracing myself for a long day of "extra assignments" I sighed in exhaustion as I walked outside again. I met the group with weary eyes and told them to come in. They nodded their heads in acknowledgment and followed me back in.

Leading them, I approached an old, worn door, its handle dilapidated and cracks riddling its frame. Despite its condition, the school appeared indifferent to repairs, a trend consistent throughout the building.

Ignoring the blatant neglect, I entered the familiar yet decrepit classroom, with my desk toward the back. Contrary to other college buildings, this old run-down classroom was built for high schoolers with desks lined in rows.

I walked to my desk ignoring the murmuring of my classmates.

Finding my eyes drooping heavily I grudgingly slumped down on my seat. The exhaustion from this morning finally catching on.

Although I said that, usually it wouldn't affect me at all. Considering that my morning routine would be 100 pushups, 100 sit-ups, 100 pull-ups, and a 10-mile run. Yet despite my lackluster morning, I'm still lacking in energy.

Maybe it was that dream… Whenever I have a dream there's always something inauspicious that happens.

I closed my eyes momentarily and to my not so surprise someone started bothering me.

"Fufufu… Mister perfect attendance is late for class? What can possibly have caused this dilemma?"

I opened my eye to see my childhood friend, a wide smile plastered on her face as she dramatically moved her arms around.

"Hahh… What do you want I'm tired… and whatever it is, make it quick."

"Huhh? Your lovely childhood friend is just worried about you. I'm just trying to say hi. What I can't say hi now?"

She had a cheeky grin on her face making my eye twitch from annoyance. Having no energy to retort anything.

I played along with her in hopes she would leave me alone.

"I'm sorry. Oh, my beautiful childhood friend Laura Belle May. As much as would love to spend every dying minute with you. Unfortunately, your best friend is pretty tired. I would love to look at your absurdly cute face all day, but let me rest my eyes for a bit, okay?"

She sat quietly on her desk, her face slightly flushed. Her mouth was slightly twitching failing to be nonchalant about my verbal teasing.

"…"

I watched her fumble to herself on her desk before settling on just resting her head down.

Alone at last, I closed my eyes while resting my chin on my arms.

A few minutes quickly went by and the assignment assigned by our professor finally concluded. I turned to my right to see the red-flushed face of my childhood friend and a piece of paper on her desk.

It seemed she already finished her work, She just wanted to bother me cause she was bored.

The murmurs began to die down as more and more of my classmates came back inside. I already saw the professor on his desk sorting through some papers when I went inside.

Typically, the usual class routine, when he does this usually takes him 10 to 15 minutes to organize everything, but to add to my already bad morning, the usual 15 minutes was only a brief 10 seconds.

All eyes fixed on the professor as he rose and strode to the front of the room.

He waited patiently for everyone to quiet down, but some were still speaking. An annoyed look was on his face as he stomped his cane down with fervor, successfully obtaining our undivided attention.

Finally with all our eyes on him, he spoke.

"I trust you've all completed the assignment."

Everybody nodded their heads, some with slight hesitation which could mean they rushed or their works weren't complete.

Our professor scanned the room, his gaze piercing and cold. It lingered near me momentarily before he closed his eyes.

A few seconds later his eyelids slowly peeled open revealing his dark pupils.

"As you may know, today is the last day of school."

Cheers would've erupted, but with this eerily cold atmosphere, even the boisterous of my peers were quiet.

"For four years, I have been your only teacher, and for four years, you were my students."

"Gulp*"

A barely audible gulp sounded in front of me. The girl who had spoken indifferently about me moments ago now wore a worried expression.

"You're all special, each one unique from the student body. Each of you— 40 talented individuals."

"From Physics to biology, from acting to art, your futures are bright."

More gulps echoed, even my childhood friend was no exception.

Professor Mourn looked at us, a bright grin we'd never seen him make before was amiably on his face.

"I am proud to be your teacher. And I am proud to be your mentor. My words guided you, my lessons built your foundation, and my morals shaped your compass."

I looked around to see my classmates sobbing then at Laura with a tear rolling down her face.

I also couldn't help but feel sentimental, after all, he was the one who gave me this life.

"But-"

As we were about to accept his closing speech and prepare to leave early, our professor brought us back down from our reverie.

"-I have one more lesson to give."

A collective groan came out of our mouths out of reflex and a loud bang from his cane silenced the room.

"This is my final lesson. So listen closely."

We nodded our heads reluctantly and eagerly waited for him to start the lesson.

"Erebus, who is he?"

The name struck a chord deep within me.

"The monarch of darkness. The antithesis of life. The Ruler of Shadows "

His words reverberated in my ears.

"Do you know him?"

His question was for the class, yet it sounded different to me.

A sudden, piercing ache throbbed at the corner of my eye, spreading through my skull.

"Isn't he the Greek god of darkness?"

"Yes… and no."

Their conversation faded, my thought overwhelmed by the intensifying pain.

"He's more than darkness. He's a great man, a friend, a warrior, and a husband."

The pain in my head grew exponentially the more I hear him speak.

"As for why I'm saying all this. Fufu~ let's just say he's someone very important to me."

As soon as his words ended a blinding light enveloped the room. The agony in my head clouded my senses, I couldn't help but think I'm hallucinating everything. But from the screams coming from my classmates this is nothing but reality.

"Luke! I'm scared!"

The voice of my childhood friend echoed in my right ear as I struggled to keep my eyes open. I tried to look where my professor was but the light was too bright.

Before I could even do anything the light consumed us.

FLASH*

The last image etched in my mind was of a woman where the professor once stood, her lips moving.

"I hope you remember me."