Shadow of Death (SOD)

Chapter 8

THE NEXT DAY!

"Asher. Hurry down. Come on, we need to do this on time."

Jack’s voice echoed from downstairs while he anxiously tapped his foot against the floor.

He had been waiting for the boy to descend for several minutes, yet Asher seemed perfectly content taking his sweet time getting ready.

Tak. Tak. Clack.

The hurried sound of footsteps finally came from the staircase.

Asher appeared, a backpack slung over his shoulder as he rushed down the stairs.

"I’m sorry. I needed to use the toilet last minute."

"Tsk. Let’s go."

Jack turned around, casually spinning his car keys around his fingers as he headed toward the garage.

Asher hurried after his father.

They walked toward the garage, where the boy climbed into the front passenger seat.

A few seconds later, Jack started the car and slowly drove out of the garage.

Then the car stopped.

Asher lifted a brow.

"What happened?"

Jack shot him a look.

"Who will open the gate for us?"

Asher blinked.

For a moment, he simply stared at his father before nearly facepalming himself.

Right.

The gate.

He quickly got out of the car and hurried ahead, opening the gate before standing beside it.

Jack slowly drove through.

Once the car was fully outside, Asher closed the gate properly and hurried back into the passenger seat.

The car soon took off.

They were on their way to Vespers City’s one and only university, where Asher had gained admission.

Today was supposed to be the day they completed his registration.

As they drove through the city, Asher sat comfortably in the passenger seat with his phone in hand.

A message from Rick was waiting for him.

{Bro, I’m already in my own university. Man.... My ears are bleeding with all the yapping between my mum and the head of the school.}

Asher sent a laughing emoji in response.

He then scrolled toward their high school class group.

He had muted the group because the constant notifications had become unbearable.

Those people never rested.

They were always discussing something, always yapping about one thing or another, constantly flooding the group chat with messages that Asher considered completely unnecessary.

He could have archived the group, but for some reason, it didn’t feel right to him.

So muting it was enough.

Scrolling through the latest messages, he realized he hadn’t actually missed much.

’Damn that Rick for requesting the admin to add me. Tsk.’

Some of the people in the group were even dating one another.

A few couples were openly sending love messages to each other in the group chat, while an annoyed single person was crashing out over them.

Asher quietly chuckled.

The latest message he had scrolled down to was the single person cursing them out.

He traced the reply back to its source and began reading, completely uninterested in the journey toward Vespers University.

He had already seen enough of the boring city and its lazy, exhausted people.

What he didn’t know was why everyone seemed so tired.

He and his family had been sleeping soundly since arriving without experiencing any problems.

So, naturally, Asher simply assumed the residents had mountainous amounts of work that forced them to work around the clock while getting almost no sleep.

His phone vibrated again.

Another message from Rick appeared.

{Phew. They are done. And I’m successfully admitted. The interview went pretty nice though. I also wish you best of luck with yours today. I have no doubt you will get in.}

"I sure hope I do."

Asher smiled faintly before returning his attention to the screen.

Another message arrived.

{Ugh... these guys in the group are so annoying. Why must Anita and Jason flaunt their relationship in the group chat?}

Asher simply sent a laughing emoji.

A moment later, another message appeared.

{Maybe I will finally decide to take your advice and get myself a girlfriend as soon as I resume.}

"Was that why you were sent to school?"

{Kind of. I was sent to study, yeah. But who said I need to study only my books?}

"Man... you are hopeless."

It wasn’t as though Asher had never gotten the chance to date in high school.

He was good-looking.

Not extraordinarily handsome or the kind of person who could make an entire room fall silent just by walking into it, but he was attractive enough to receive a few proposals here and there.

He was also fairly good at a few things, such as basketball and video games, which had somehow made him something of a crush for several girls.

Yet despite all of that, Asher had never shown much interest in dating.

For some reason, he never wanted anything to do with the opposite gender beyond the basic interactions necessary for communication.

It wasn’t that he disliked girls.

He simply wasn’t interested.

Even Rick had never understood why he was like that.

Contrary to what most people might have assumed, the two of them hadn’t been friends since they were little kids.

They had met in high school, sometime toward the senior classes, and eventually became friends because of one or two things that had brought them together.

Because of that, Rick didn’t actually know everything about Asher.

Especially since Asher wasn’t the type to talk endlessly about himself or casually reveal sensitive details about his life.

Rick, on the other hand, was practically the complete opposite.

He was a talkative.

If Asher was comfortable sitting quietly for an hour, Rick could probably fill that same hour with enough words to last the entire day.

"I will be pulling up to the university soon. I need to go. I will update you if anything happens."

{I’m walking to my mum’s car now and oh damn. So many beautiful girls are in this school. Bro, you are missing a lot.}

Asher read the message and shook his head.

He could already imagine Rick’s expression as he typed it.

A second later, another message from Rick popped up.

{Oh sorry. Didn’t see your previous message. Hm. Don’t just forget to update me on whatever goes on. Okay? Best of luck.}

"Sure babe."

{Ew. I will skin you, bastard!}

Asher chuckled softly at the response.

"We are here."

Jack’s voice pulled his attention away from the phone as the car began pulling into the university’s parking lot.

Asher shoved his phone into his pocket and lifted his head.

The university was finally in front of him.

For a moment, he simply stared.

Within a few minutes, they disembarked from the car, leaving Asher standing before the campus with his eyes moving across the unfamiliar surroundings.

The university was a blend of modern architecture and practicality.

Several multi-story buildings made of glass, concrete, and steel stood across the grounds, housing lecture halls, laboratories, and administrative offices.

Wide walkways connected the different sections of the campus, allowing students to move freely between buildings.

Neatly trimmed lawns stretched across several parts of the grounds, with scattered benches providing places for students to sit and relax between classes.

Groups of students moved about carrying backpacks and laptops, their conversations mixing with the general activity of campus life.

Unlike the strange exhaustion that seemed to cling to the streets of Vespers, the university appeared lively.

At the center stood a large library and student center, both serving as the heart of daily university life.

Asher took it all in quietly.

This was going to be his new school.

His new environment.

Another major change after leaving everything familiar behind.

Jack glanced at him for a brief second.

A mischievous smile slowly appeared on his face.

"You like it?"

"..."

Asher hesitated for a moment.

His eyes continued roaming across the campus before he finally shrugged.

"Let’s hope that I do."

And with that, they walked forward.

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