Chapter 13: Harold?

Harold arrived at the destination to see nobody waiting for him. He looked at his phone and called the other teacher.

Harold heard the ringing of a phone in the distance. The sound was coming from the bushes. Harold smiled, "Was she planning to surprise me?" he thought.

He walked towards the sound and shouted in fear as he fell to the ground. There in front of him was the body of a woman. She lay on the ground, not moving an inch. Dark blue bruises were visible on her arms and legs as if she had been held tightly in those spots.

Harold was furious. He crawled over to the woman and checked for her pulse.

A few seconds passed until Harold detected the faint beating of the pulse.

He picked up the woman and rushed to the hospital wing as quickly as he could. Several students saw him and wondered why he was carrying the limp body. One of the students decided to call the police just in case something was wrong.

In the hospital wing, Harold treated the woman with all his power. During the treatment, three men with masks rushed into the room and punched Harold in the face and stomach.

Harold's breath was pushed out of him as one of the masked men punched his abdomen.

He fell t the ground, crippled by the pain.

The three men continued to kick Harold when he was down. In all his 41 years of living, Harold had never experienced anything this brutal.

The attackers stopped at the signal of the one standing in the middle. The man laughed at the beaten up Harold who was groaning on the floor.

"Do you recognize this cell phone?" the attacker removed a phone from his pockets and asked Harold. Harold's eyes widened with anger. It was the teacher's phone. The one that messaged him. Seeing the anger in Harold's eyes, the attacker pocketed the phone once again.

"Don't worry. We won't kill you. That would be a bit too much." The attacker spoke softly and now leaned in towards Harold. He then whispered into his ear. "But I can't say the same about her."

The man made a gesture and his friends moved to where the teacher was laying. Harold watched one of the men unzip his pants as he lifted the teacher's skirt.

Harold's eyes shifted from scared to calculating. He had given in to his anger and the other side of him had been activated.

This side was the calm and calculating side that Harold would occasionally use when he had to perform complicated procedures on his patients. But this situation was completely different from what Harold was used to. He wondered why this side of him had been activated at such a time.

The man who had unzipped his pants slowly began to lower them, revealing a bulge in his underwear.

Harold was disgusted now. He stared at the main attacker who had noticed the change in Harold's expression. Harold suddenly shoved his hand into the man's crotch. His fist came in contact with the man's testicles and the man jumped away as he let out a cry of agony.

Harold grabbed a scalpel from the operating table and swung it at the man who was about to penetrate the teacher. Harold got the man in the left eye and the man jumped back as he clutched his eye. The third attacker jumped onto Harold's back and wrapped his hands around Harold's neck.

"What an idiot," Harold thought. He shoved the scalpel into the man's left side. The blade made its way into the gap between the ribs and punctured his left lung. The man gasped for air as he fell onto the floor.

Harold looked at the man he had punched. The man had brought out a military knife. He was shaking and Harold realised that the man had never in his life used a knife for attacking someone. Harold smiled as he lunged towards the attacker. The man swung his knife in an arc towards Harold's head. In response, Harold ducked and shoved the scalpel into the man's abdomen. With the scalpel still inside, Harold cut a line across the stomach. The man began bleeding profusely and fell onto Harold.

Harold pushed the man onto the floor and turned to face the other two men. The one-eyed maniac rushed towards Harold. He was heavier and taller than Harold. The man grabbed Harold's right arm, making him unable to use the scalpel. The man twisted Harold's wrist until he let go of the scalpel. The bloodied instrument fell onto the floor and made a "clang" noise.

The man then punched Harold in his face, sending him back a few metres.

Harold clutched his nose that had started bleeding. The bulky man walked towards Harold and shoved his fist into the fragile 41-year old's ribs.

The air was knocked out of Harold once again as he fell onto the floor. His head came in contact with a pool of blood that had come out of the man he had cut open. As the bulky man walked towards Harold, Harold saw something shiny near him.

He quickly grabbed the shiny thing and realised it was an expensive knife that the attacker had tried using against him.

Harold fought back all the pain and jumped up, pushing the knife into the man's throat. The bulky man had been caught off guard, but it was too late for him to save himself.

Harold watched as the two other attackers writhed on the floor in search of air.

"They deserved that," Harold thought to himself. "Right?"

Doubting his decisions, Harold ran out of the operating theatre that was now covered in blood.

He ran and ran until he reached the office. He then locked himself in the teacher's washroom and stood there staring into the mirror. The calm side had subsided and Harold was back to his old nervous self.

Harold was breathing heavily. He looked at his hands that were covered in dark red blood. He frantically washed his hands under the running tap water, but the guilt that his killings carried refused to wash away. He was shaking as he recognised the gravity of the situation. He had just killed three men. Even if his intentions were in the right place, he had gone against the ethics he had followed for years.

He began to take deep breaths and slowly calmed himself down. He needed his other side to help him out. He needed to get out of this situation.

Harold then left the premises and returned home. He had decided what he was going to do. He packed his bags and looked at his parents one last time. He said his goodbyes and walked out of the house, leaving behind two very concerned and confused people.

The next day there was an announcement that accused Professor Harold Banks for the attempted murder of three students and the killing of a female colleague. Harold's parents were disgusted by their son's actions. No wonder he left without saying anything. But despite what the news said, they wondered whether the Harold they knew was even capable of something so monstrous

Harold looked at the screen in disgust as he realised that the police had altered the reality of the situation. He cursed them and went into hiding.

For the next 2 months, Harold would remain in the streets of England. Running and hiding from the police.

After that, he would claim the life of his fourth victim which would act as a catalyst for his change in character.

He would soon acknowledge the thrill of going against the oath he had taken as a young and budding medical professional. He would realise the sickly happiness he felt when he ended someone's life. He would reach the lowest point in his life and in search of more victims, would escape to India. There he would claim the lives of 3 families and end up being caught.

He would then spend years in prison wondering how all of this started. He would think back at the origin of his inhumane actions and all he could think about was Rohit.

He wondered what the news meant by attempted murder. He was sure the students had been killed. He never thought that the kid could be saved after having his intestines spill out.

Harold cursed his luck and continued to live in isolation. The only time he would feel human contact would be when he was being beaten up by the police or the other criminals.

This endless torture would make him forget his past. He had no trace of his former self. He was now nothing but a scared animal in the wild.

By the time the Foundation took Harold, he had forgotten who he was. His past was just a blank slate now. He would now start his new life in the Foundation as a bearded man trying his best to stay alive in a place that sees him as nothing but a piece of expendable meat.