Beginning Of A Bad Day

A loud ringing sound found it's way into Aurik's ears and forced him awake with a jolt. This was a sound he was all too familiar with, the same sound that would often herald the worst days of his life. It was his alarm clock.

The moment he heard that signature ringing his body sprung up and he rushed across the room to disable that accursed sound. He was feeling extremely groggy and even confused, something that wasn't too uncommon for Aurik since he wasn't much of a morning person. This confusion even allowed him to gloss over the fact that he had woken up on the floor instead of in his bed.

He grabbed the alarm clock with fury and pressed the button on top to disable the ringing before letting out a deep sigh as he lifted his other hand to rub his eyes. It was at this moment that the memories from the night before rushed back into his mind and his eyes opened wide, almost like he couldn't believe what his memories were showing him.

"What the fuck..." Aurik couldn't help but swear as he recalled the events from the previous night. The man in the alley, the attack, the pain... the pain?

'My arm feels completely fine... my whole body feels fine. Not just fine, I actually feel pretty good, like I finally got a decent night's sleep for a change.' He was pleasantly surprised to feel so energetic considering the fact that he would have only gotten four or five hours of sleep at most.

Deciding that there was no use in complaining about something with a positive outcome, he moved on to a more important matter. He pulled the sleeve of his jacket and shirt up to his elbow on his right arm, a surprisingly easy task despite the thickness of his jacket.

As Aurik scanned the skin on his arm he couldn't help but frown when he saw that there wasn't even the slightest mark to be seen. If it weren't for the tear in his jacket sleeve and the small amount of blood stains that the rain didn't manage to wash away then he would've thought everything that happened was just a dream.

'How is this possible? I could accept it if the wound didn't look as bad as I imagined but for there to be no wound at all...' He couldn't help but shake his head and sigh.

He looked at the alarm clock he had placed back on the side table beside his bed, trying to gauge how long he had before he needed to leave, but felt his heart skip a beat when he saw the time.

[7:30]

"No no no no no!" Aurik screamed in frustration as he dashed towards the front door and immediately left his apartment. He was usually a light sleeper so his alarm would always wake him up almost immediately, however this time it hadn't done so.

His alarm was set to ring at 6:30 but it was currently 7:30, he had slept through the ringing for a full hour before finally waking up. Waking up at this time wouldn't normally be a problem but he had recently been put in charge of opening the restaurant, a restaurant that he is meant to open at 7.

After leaving his apartment Aurik set off running down the street, taking every shortcut he knew of other than the alley he had been attacked in. He might be in a hurry but the memories were too recent for him to risk such a thing even though he knew it would likely be safe to go that way after so many hours had passed.

To the people who were walking on the city streets, whether they were going to work or just taking their dogs for a walk, they all saw a slightly dishevelled looking young man in a faded brown suit sprinting down the streets like his life depended on it.

He was running so fast and was maintaining that speed for so long that many people silently praised the young man on his extraordinary speed and stamina since they couldn't imagine running like he was.

To them he looked like a seasoned athlete sprinting in a race but to Aurik he was only running at about 80% his best so that he wouldn't get tired too quickly. He was so worried about getting fired that he didn't even notice how fast he was running, all he knew was that he could maintain this speed for at least a few more minutes before running out of steam.

It took almost 15 minutes of running before the restaurant finally appeared in Aurik's vision. He wasn't the slightest bit happy about this though, since he knew what was coming once he finally arrived. His thoughts were confirmed when he saw the group of people that would be called his co-workers standing outside the restaurant with a furious looking man standing at the front looking in Aurik's direction.

This man was the owner of the restaurant, Mr Bronson. His body was shaped like a ball and his lack of hair somehow made him appear more round than he actually was. He had a thick brown moustache on his face that just screamed 'I'm an asshole' and was wearing a high quality blue suit with silver buttons.

Mr Bronson started shouting the moment Aurik was close enough to hear him. "Where the hell have you been! Do you think the restaurant will magically open when you have the keys!? Are you trying to cost me money because you don't like me or something!? Haven't I been a generous boss to you already you ungrateful brat?!"

Aurik didn't bother saying anything and just pulled out the key to the front door and opened it with as much speed as he could while he desperately tried to catch his breath. The other workers rushed inside to get things ready before more customers appeared. They had turned away a few of them already.

"I deserve compensation for this so I'm going to deduct my losses from your pay!" Mr Bronson shouted as he stormed into the restaurant, leaving Aurik at the front door.

Aurik was barely even listening as his boss shouted at him, not because he was annoyed or just didn't want to, but because he was suddenly overcome by a great thirst that was far too distracting.