In the bustling halls of New York City’s St. Fortunes’s College, the crisp autumn air carried with it a sense of anticipation. Students hurriedly made their way to their respective hall rooms, the rustle of papers and echoing footsteps filling the corridor.
Among them, a young man named Arvon Sunders stood tall with a cold indifferent countanance, his cane gently tapping the ground as he navigated the crowded hallway.
As the bell rang, signaling the end of the history class, Professor Adams cleared his throat, commanding the attention of the students. His voice resonated throughout the room, causing the chatter to fade into silence. With a warm smile, he announced,
“Before you all leave, I have an important announcement to make. The result for the history tests are in.”
Excitement and anxiety mingled in the air as the professor began reading out the names of the top scorers. Arvon listened attentively, although overcame with anticipation his emotions were covered by a dark shade of sunglasses.
Finally, the professor’s voice rang out, “With a perfect score, we have our top performer: Arvonhew Sunders!”
A wave of astonishment swept through the room followed by a mix of applause and whispered shock. The students couldn’t believe the blind guy in their class was actually the top scorer. This was simply too inconceivable!
Arvon’s face lit up! Even his indifferent expression cracked and his lips couldn’t help but curl up to a slight smile. The expressions of his classmates, however, remained hidden from his sight, their mocking or envious glances shielded behind a veil of darkness.
Amidst the applause, a group of students stood in the back of the room, their sneers and whispered insults nearly drowned out by the surrounding noise. Their voices held a venomous edge as they aimed their words at the young blind man who had achieved what they couldn’t comprehend.
With a snide laugh, one of the students— Billy, jeered. “Well, well, well, looks like we’ve got a real genius among us, huh? Blindghost strikes again!”
The others joined in, their laughter like a chorus of derision. Arvon’s smile slowly faded, then an unknown expression flickered across his face before settling on indifference.
He couldn’t see their faces, couldn’t meet their gazes, neither could their words hurt him at all.
Ever since he was nine, words like this had long since numbed his senses. Making him the sting of their words nonetheless imexistent.
Though the nickname they had bestowed upon him was a constant reminder of his loss and the challenges he faced every day, a mocking sneer faintly rose from the corners of his lips.
Professor Adams seem to have not heard their words and proceeded with his announcement. “And with a perfect score, we have our top loser: Billy James.”
This time, everyone in the class burst into a cacophony of laughter. The bully who had previously mocked Arvon was actually the one with the lowest score.
“As expected of our first year bully, you really deserve your title — top loser.” A more bolder student mocked with a slight laugh.
Even after they had expected it, the class couldn’t help but laughter out loud, making Billy’s face blush in embarrassment.
His eyes soon landed on Arvon. He glared viciously at him with gritted teeth, promising himself to beat up Arvon even at the expense of his hands.
As though a bag of punching bag, Arvon had always endured his beating with no sound no Arvoner how badly Billy and his group dealt with him without filing complaints which made him the perfect punching bag.
As long as his face remained untouched, and no one saw the bruises on him which would in turn raise the concerns of the Faculty, all was well.
This time, Billy wanted to make him scream. He wanted him to beg for mercy! Just thinking about it made Billy’s face turned up to a malevalont countanance.
Whether unbeknownst to Arvon or not, a thick sense of resentment had begun festering within his group of bullies. They were completely irked by his unflinching indifference.
Professor Adams announced the ending of the class and every one immediately turned to leave.
Arvon was the last to leave the hall. After the end of Professor Adams’ lecture, Arvon Sunders found himself lingering in the classroom, his heightened senses acutely aware of the chaos that ensued outside as the student moved.
The rambunctious crowd of students surged forward, pushing and shoving each other in their eagerness to move to their various homes or dormitory.
The hallway reverberated with a symphony of footsteps, laughter, and overlapping voices.
Though Arvon couldn’t see the commotion, he could still hear and feel.
A sense of melancholy flashed through his face as he heard his fellow students laugh and discuss amongst each other about the latest classwhore, play fighting and shoving each other.
But as soon as the melancholic feelings came, it vanished in the blink of an eye only to be replaced by a cold look.
Along with his white pupils, it made him appear even more intimidating despite his young age.
Soon, the vibrations of the footsteps that traveled through the floor, and resonating with his fingertips as he leaned against a desk, grounding himself amidst the cacophony faded until he couldn’t hear it anymore.
Now, he could freely move through the hall ways, following the noises to the college gate and heading to his place of work.
But Arvon didn’t leave. Instead, he remained in his desk as though waiting for something. Like a leaopard, lying in wait for its prey.
Minutes passed slowly but Arvon’s face was calm, staring into the dark universe around him.
The air hung heavily as chilling wind from the various air conditioners blew gently across the hall.
Suddenly an impatient voice spoke out.”See? Didn’t I tell you guys? This guy is something else, he definitely knows we are still here!”
Sounds of footsteps closed in on Arvon’s desk as they surrounded him. It turned out to be Billy and his groups! Billy and his companions, their malicious grins etched across their faces. They had been waiting this entire time. It was obvious what their plan was.
“He’s definitely a freak! Beat him up!” Without another Billy’s first blow landed, a heavy punch that knocked the wind out of Arvon.
“Ooof!”
Three against one, the odds were stacked against him, but Arvon remained resolute. He had endured their beatings for years, developing a resistance to pain that had become one with him. frёewebnoѵēl.com
The bullies lunged at him, fists swinging and insults spewing from their lips. Blow after blow rained down upon him, their fists meeting his tiny frame. Arvon absorbed each strike without a single word, his body a conduit for resilience.
In fact, while he didn’t seem to be enjoying it, he seem be expecting more. Just like a weight lifter in the gym pushing to his limit, he also wanted to push through his limit and grow even more resistance to pain.
If one were to stare at his body, one would discover numerous scar on his skin, arranged neatly like the periodic table.
The beating went on for longer and Billy along with his companion persisted twice his previous duration, lasting for almost thirty minutes straight!
After a while of rest, they packed their things and left.
A few seconds later, Arvon could be seen leaving the hall.
As Arvon left the hall, his cane tapping rhythmically on the floor, he casually adjusted the weight of his school bag and walked down the hall way, prepared to make his way to his work place. It was as though the previous twenty minutes were nothing more than a Tuesday evening exercise.
* * *
The setting sun gleamed over Old Vision City like an orange cascading veil, occasionally blocked by the sky reaching buildings of the city. Along with the autumn air and the occasional sway of the road side palmtrees gave off a soothing scene.
Waves of air rushed forwards and backwards as cars if different shapes and sizes sped through the road maniacally.
The roady pedestrian walking to and fro through the sidewalk created a cacophony of distorting noise waves which is often overwhelmed by the sounds of trains moving underground
and above ground.
Somewhere in the midst of the rowdy crowds of people, a youth no older than 17 years old holding a short white stick and carrying a cross-shoulder bag across his neck traverse through the seas of people like an ordinary person.
However, what was strange about this youth was the dark shades of glasses across his face covering his eyes, almost like a blind man.
Despite the dense crowd of people squeezing through each other to quickly reach their destinations, not a single but of his skin managed to come into contact with another person despite the crazy crowd!
Like a fish in water, the youth always managed to avoid every shoulder brush, skin contact and even his bag avoided contact with others with a sway of his body as though he had eyes behind his back.
Moving another few hundred of meters forward, the hurried steps of the crowds halted, only to be intercepted by the sound of piercing sound of unorganized car horns.
This time the youth seem to hesitate and
His white cane rhythmically tapped lightly on the ground like a beat.
“Welcome To World’s End.”
??