Soren's Undoing - I

I wasn’t looking forward to the day where I’d suddenly get the itch to do something out of the ordinary again. I found it much easier to appreciate my life of monotony now that I had experienced what it was like to try and fulfill my hedonistic desires. A boring routine didn’t really seem like a bad thing anymore, but I wasn’t sure how long that feeling would last.

Everything in my life had structure. It didn’t matter what it was—sleeping, studying, eating, thinking, and even going to the restroom. They all had some form of organization that I had created. That did mean it was a bit ironic for me to want to escape from my own system and venture off into the land of romance, but that was just my human nature at play. I am just as human as anyone else, and all humans are subject to temptation at one point or another.

Today as I sat in class, I was feeling a little bored. Contrary to popular belief, I didn’t actually enjoy each and every second of school. Even I needed time for recuperation between classes. For that reason, there was a specific time every day—after English and before history—where I would leave the classroom and go to the restroom. I usually didn’t have to relieve myself, so it was just to make sure I looked presentable and to have a mental reset.

The time to do this eventually came, so I got up from my seat and exited the room. I then made my way to the restroom, which was conveniently located at the end of the hall.

It was the same as always. I simply handled my business, checking myself in the mirror and taking a moment to relax.

But then I heard a pop.

I looked back and tried to figure out where the sound came from.

Pop! Pop!

It began to intensify. I found that it was coming from the stall behind me, so I went to check it out.

CRACK! BANG!

Before I could, ear-shattering booms like the sound of explosions started to reverberate from it, leaving me completely startled. I noticed a strange sulfuric scent in the air, so I immediately looked up. There was smoke coming from the stall, and it had begun to spread throughout the room.

I took that as a sign to immediately leave. I dashed out of the restroom without looking back, my heart racing exponentially.

What the hell was that? It sounded like fireworks. The smoke detectors will probably go off any second now.

Sure enough, with a loud ringing sound, the fire alarm was triggered and classroom doors swung open with students beginning to rush out.

“Attention, students and staff. This is an emergency. Evacuate the building immediately. Remain calm and follow the instructions of your teachers. Do not re-enter the building until it is confirmed safe.”

Amid the disorder, I went and joined the horde of students exiting the school. We walked all the way to the edge of campus and waited for any updates.

I couldn’t seem to calm my thoughts. I had just witnessed what caused the schoolwide evacuation. There must have been some sort of consumer fireworks that had been planted in the restroom stall. That’s what it sounded like, and the scent it gave off pointed to that as well. I was quite certain that I was the only one in the restroom, though, so the fireworks likely had a timer that made them go off at that specific moment. That was the only explanation.

Although I wasn’t the one who did it, this probably wasn’t a good look. I realized that it could have appeared suspicious when I ran out exactly at the time that the fireworks ignited. Even so, it was impossible to pin the blame on me just from that alone. There was really no reason to worry.

As my mind continued to wander, I began to hear sirens in the distance, and they gradually became louder. The firefighters had arrived.

It would only take some more minutes for the building to be declared safe to enter.

***

An hour or two had passed since the evacuation. Students were allowed back inside and classes resumed as usual. I tried not to pay much mind to the incident in the restroom, and just wrote it off as a coincidence. Worrying about something so irrelevant would only have ruined my concentration.

Those were my thoughts, so I simply sat there and waited for my next class to begin.

“Soren.”

I looked up from my desk. The teacher had come up to me.

“You’re wanted by the principal. Go ahead and make your way over to his office.”

Admittedly, I was a little taken aback. It definitely had something to do with the incident.

I got up and left the classroom, seeing the eyes of all my peers on me—Midas, Adella, Katerina, and everyone else.

There was a slim chance that I had been called just for my opinion as a witness. The staff had probably already seen my entering and leaving the restroom on the camera footage, which made me a prime suspect. I was certain that the stall had already been investigated too. That meant I would likely have to prove my innocence. I was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time, and in order to get that point across, I’d need to take precautions.

The camera footage was the main concern. I was the only person in the restroom when the incident happened, which meant that all signs pointed to me being the one who ignited the fireworks. To counter that claim, I could have pointed out how I wasn’t carrying anything with me to the restroom and therefore couldn’t have put the fireworks in the stall, but they probably would just say that I or someone else planted them beforehand.

There had to have been a timer or some other device that was used to set off the fireworks instead of having someone manually do it. Since the stall had already been investigated, that device had likely already been located. That was my saving grace. They couldn’t accuse me of igniting the fireworks when there was clear evidence that it had been done automatically.

After thinking things through and reaching that conclusion, I figured I was fine. I made my way to the office and entered it, prepared for whatever questions I’d be asked.

I was greeted by an adult whom I was quite familiar with: the principal, Mr. Alexoudis.

“Ah, you’re here. Take a seat, Soren,” Alexoudis said.

I sat on the chair across from him, facing a desk cluttered with a computer and several piles of paper.

“Do you know why I’ve called you here?”

I had to be careful with my words.

“No, I wasn’t told,” I replied.

“I’ll get straight to the point then.”

He looked me in the eyes.

“We have reason to believe that you were the one behind the emergency earlier today.”

Just as I thought.

Alexoudis gestured for me to come over and look at his computer screen. Once I did, he played a video of the camera footage from the time of the incident. I was seen running out of the bathroom, and shortly after, students began pouring out of their classrooms.

“Can you explain this?” he asked.

I had to try and convince him that I had no relation to it.

“It was pure coincidence,” I said. “I’m aware that the emergency happened because of a mishap in the restroom, but I had nothing to do with it. I was just in there as it started.”

“...Is that so? Did you see the incident up-close?”

“I didn’t. I only heard loud noises and saw smoke coming from one of the stalls. I immediately left after that.”

Alexoudis thought for a moment. He then sighed.

“There was a case last week where the storage room in the gymnasium was vandalized. Have you heard about it?”

The storage room?

I suddenly remembered Midas’s words from a few days ago.

“Oh, did you hear about what happened in the gym’s storage room? Apparently it got vandalized.”

I wondered if that had some sort of connection to the incident today.

“Yes, I have,” I said.

The principal opened one of the drawers beside his desk and picked up a piece of paper from it, flipping it around for me to see.

“The culprit left a note at the scene. This is it right here.”

I was surprised that he was showing it to me, especially since Midas had said that it was confidential. I looked closely and examined the paper. Something about it struck me as familiar.

It read: “Alt jeg berører blir til gull.”

…Norwegian?

Alexoudis took out another paper and placed it on his desk, side-by-side with the note from the vandal.

“I took the liberty of asking one of your teachers for a past assignment of yours,” he said. “Come here, look at this.”

I went over and observed the two sheets laid out on the desk.

My heart quickly dropped.

“...The handwriting is nearly identical, don’t you think?”

What…?

It was impossible. I knew I had no part in either one of the incidents, and yet…that really was my handwriting.

“...Are you insinuating that I was the one who vandalized the storage room?” I asked.

“That is what the evidence points to, Soren. It also makes it seem like less of a coincidence that you were in the restroom at the exact time of the incident today.”

Someone was clearly trying to frame me. I didn’t know who it was, but there still should have been a way out of this.

“With all due respect, handwriting is too easy to forge to be used as evidence,” I said. “And as for the incident today, has an investigation been conducted on the stall in the restroom?”

“Yes. We found that several fireworks had been manually ignited.”

“...Manually? There had to have been some sort of device used to automatically ignite them, like a timer. Are you telling me there wasn’t?”

“There was no evidence of that, unfortunately.” Alexoudis stood up and locked his eyes onto mine. “You’re a good student, Soren. But I think it’s obvious that you’re the one behind all of this.”

“I didn’t—”

“I’m not sure why you did it, but vandalism is indeed a crime. There are serious consequences for it, with one of them potentially being expulsion.”

“Listen to me! I’m being framed! If I really was the culprit, do you think I’d be dumb enough to let myself be seen on the security cameras? Do you think I wouldn’t have changed my handwriting before leaving that note? Do you seriously believe this?”

The principal furrowed his brow, adopting a tone of intimidation.

“Do you have any evidence that suggests otherwise?”

There was a pause. I didn’t know how to respond. I didn’t have any evidence.

He sat back in his chair and clasped his hands.

“Your parents will be notified of all this. You have a week to either accept or dispute the claim against you. If you accept it, that will allow for a more straightforward process. But if you dispute it, an investigation will be conducted in order to come up with a final verdict.”

There was no way this was happening. I couldn’t have been that unlucky.

“I…I’m telling you! I didn’t do it!”

Mr. Alexoudis was looking at me as if every word that came out of my mouth was a lie.

“If I were you, I’d accept the claim. It would make things a lot easier for the both of us.”

He gestured for me to leave. “You’re dismissed.”

I stood there for a few seconds in shock, hoping that it was all just a joke. As our eyes met for one final time, however, I averted mine and left the room.

Thoughts tangled in my head. I didn’t know what to do. There was someone out there who had successfully framed me. I wanted to try and prove my innocence, but it seemed impossible. I had simply lost.

Dragging myself through the hallway, I came to that realization. I didn’t know why, but it had become so hard to keep looking forward.

That was when I abruptly stopped.

The vandal had left behind a message. It was in Norwegian.

All that I touch turns to gold.

That was what it translated to.

I slowly turned my head. There was someone to my left, leaning back against the wall.

He wore a devilish grin. My eyes widened at the sight of him.

Midas.