Chapter 7
~ Two months later ~
Zack
Almost done. Grabbing my coffee cup, I took a long drink of the black coffee inside then grimaced. God, it was disgusting, but I was burning the midnight oil on campus trying to finish work for the day so I could free up the weekend. Marking the tests was such a tedious chore, especially when there were nearly two hundred to go through. Luckily the card reader did most of the marking, but I still needed to verify the results and input them.
Did anyone even pay attention in my classes? The grades on many of the tests were disheartening. This was intro sociology; it should be a simple class to do well in. Maybe I was a shitty teacher this term? Who the fuck knew for sure? Previous years the grades hadn’t been this bad. Maybe it was a fluke. I really hoped it was a coincidence otherwise I’d have to figure out what was different; as if I didn’t already know.
There were a few students who shone brightly over the others. One in particular had more of my attention than warranted, but I couldn’t help myself. Sofia Marinotti. She was still a mystery to me, but she hadn’t been lying when she said she was taking her schoolwork seriously and would be keeping on top of it. She had the second-highest overall grade in the class thus far. Top mark for this particular test. I had gotten a little nosy and checked her other courses, and casually inquired with the instructors about her grades in her other classes as well. They were, all the same, she was in the top few of each of her classes. Truly admirable.
All right, I admit. I may have gotten a tad bit stalkerish when it came to her. The mystery of who she was seemed to be just too much of a draw for me to resist.
Another hour and the tests were finally completed and I could finally call it a night. Heaving a loud sigh, I turned off the computer, took off my glasses and gave my eyes a rub. Too many hours in front of that blasted machine. Placing my glasses back on, I looked at my watch. It was just past 2am in the morning on a Friday night. I certainly was a wild one. Father’s lock up your daughters.
Standing, I stuffed my laptop into my messenger bag and then slung my back across my body. Grabbing my jacket I pulled it on. This October was warm compared to previous years, but the nights were chilly. No doubt it wouldn’t be long before we were hitting close to freezing temperatures. November was just a little over a week away.
Leaving the office, I ensured the office was locked before making my way out of the building and into the cool night air. I never bothered to take my car to work, always opting to walk since my building was roughly a forty-minute walk, but tonight I was regretting that decision. A nice, warm cozy bed was the only thing on my mind as I made my way across the parking lot and down the road.
I was approaching the dorms when I caught sight of a female figure coming down a pathway to the left of me. I wasn’t sure if it was wise for a female to be walking this time of night unattended. The campus had decent security, but bad things did happen to unexpecting women, regardless. Feeling like a creeper, but wanting to ensure she was safe, I held back and watched from the shadows.
The woman came closer, and it was then that I saw another figure coming up from behind her. Definitely a male – about my size. He kept his distance but I could tell he was fixated on her. In typical stalker fashion, he had a hood over his head, blocking his face from view although the shadows did well enough on their own.
She turned the corner of the building and so did he. Trying my best to keep to the shadows, I watched the pair as they made their way towards the dorms. I wanted to think that it was just a coincidence. Lots of students walked home after partying on the weekends.
But what if it wasn’t?
Decision made, I increased my pace attempting to catch up to the girl. Coming in from the side, I was able to quickly gain distance on her and cut him off placing myself between them. At this point, the other man had caught sight of me, and suddenly veered off the trail and into the shadows.
That’s right, get the fuck out of here asshole.
The girl turned the corner of the building and at this point, I didn’t even care if I was seen or not. Her safety was the most important thing to me at this point. I’d contact security the moment I knew she was safe and report the incident.
Rounding the corner that she’d taken I was struck by a sudden pain against my head and then a secondary pain in my groin as something came in contact with body, my face, and my balls. Groaning, I doubled over covering my face with one hand and my nuts with the other.
“Who are you?” The woman screamed, followed by another pain, this time it was a swift blow to my stomach. Before I could answer, I felt the sharp, cold metal of a blade pressing against my jugular as a hand gripped my hair in their fist. “You’ve messed with the wrong donna, mio amico.”
Holy shit! This really went sideways quickly.
“Whoa! Just hold on a minute. I’m not going to hurt you!”
“I’m not the one who should worry about getting hurt, asshole! Who are you?”
“Zack. Professor Von. Can you just… Just lower the knife a minute. It’s not what you think.”
The hand holding my hair released me, but the blade stayed in place. “Professor Von?”
I knew that voice. Heard it say Professor Von every day for nearly two months although there was one night where that voice moaned Zack instead. “Sophia?”
The blade was removed. “Why are you following me, Professor Von?”
Rubbing my jaw, my balls throbbing, I slowly rose to my feet and then turned to face her adjusting my glasses so they were sitting right on my face again. By some miracle, my glasses hadn’t fallen off my face completely and shattered on the ground. “I wasn’t.”
“You were following me from the moment I left the sorority house, you don’t think I didn’t know you were there?”
“That wasn’t me. I noticed someone following you, so I cut them off. There was someone, I have no idea who, but as soon as they saw me, they took off in the other direction.” My eyes looked down at the knife in her hand. “Where did you get that thing? What was the plan, to slice my throat open?”
She shrugged, placing the four-inch blade into a little leather case and then shoving it into her purse. “I didn’t really have a plan. But I sure as hell wasn’t going to be a victim.”