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“Thank you, Jeremy. That was very informative and tedious. You can take your seat, now.”

Jeremy took his seat.

Mr. Cormac stood and addressed the class. “Lovely. Which one of you delightful curs would like to bore us with your historical insights next? Hector Goffe, how about you?”

Hector shook his head furiously and tried to shrink into his desk.

“Oh come on. You did the assignment, didn’t you?”

Of course he hadn’t. He’d planned on being dead for today’s class. In fact, not having to do any of his homework had provided all the more motivation to kill himself. And now that he thought about it, he wasn’t sure if he would still be able to pass any of his classes. He wasn’t sure if he should care, either.

At length, the instructor grew tired of Hector’s silence and moved on.

Hector was just waiting for the day to end. After a while, he decided to try the reaper. ‘Um... Garovel?’

‘Yeah?’

He smiled faintly. ‘Are you... er... Have you learned anything, yet?’

‘The case seems to be proceeding well. Better than I expected, in fact. I thought they would only be able to get him for attempted murder of the woman you saved, but they found evidence in his apartment which implicates him in the murders he committed previously as well.’

‘That’s good.’

‘Yes. Though, apparently you crushed the man’s windpipe.’

‘Oh shit... did... He’s not dead, is he? I wasn’t trying to--’

‘No, he’s alive. Somehow. I should’ve given you time to familiarize yourself with that level of strength.’

‘If you’d done that, then... we might not have made it to her in time...’

‘You make a fair point. By the way, her condition is good... Wait a minute.’

Hector looked around the classroom, as if it would somehow help. ‘Garovel?’

‘Uh-oh.’

‘What’s wrong?’

‘One of the police officers. I see the aura of death around him.’