Jess slept at Theo’s apartment again that night. The two of them had agreed that it was safer that way. George and his friends might try to break in during the night to find out where Daniel was. That, and the fact that neither Jess nor Theo wanted to be alone, not that they admitted it.

After a lot of back and forth, Jess finally accepted Theo’s request that she slept in his bed and he slept on the couch. Theo believed giving her the comfier option was what any gentleman would do. She didn’t like accepting favours, as she had learnt at a young age that they always came with strings attached, but she could make an exception for Theo.

It took him a while to get to sleep that night. His mind was still racing with thoughts about finding an artifact, what he had done to Daniel, and the possible consequences of it all.

There was a slight sick feeling in his stomach that had been there ever since he’d seen Daniel’s mutilated face. The feeling wasn’t due to the disgusting sight, rather it was the kind of sick you felt before a big exam, or when you had done something really wrong and were just waiting for someone to find out.

Theo thought about Daniel. How he had lived his entire life preparing for a future that would never come. How he had plans and dreams that he would never accomplish. Theo thought about how Daniel had woken up that morning, completely oblivious to the fact that he would be dead in less than 24 hours. But for some reason, Theo never felt sad. Daniel was a world class prick. He’d deserved to die.

After worrying about the events that could unfold the next day, when everyone found out Daniel was missing and immediately pointed the finger at Theo, he shifted his thoughts to another topic. His artifact.

I can’t believe I actually found one, and a pretty fucking OP one too. He thought, smiling. He thought back to the artifact description the coin had voiced to him. He’d never heard of an artifact with a rarity of ‘unknown’. Everyone who had ever publicly spoken about the stats of their artifact had claimed the rarity followed a lettering system, with S being the best, then A, B, C and so on. The lowest recorded artifact was H, which was a toothpick that could grow a couple of inches longer, and that was it.

He wondered about the possibilities the coin could grant him. So I can get a new ability every day? I mean, the ability might be terrible, so maybe it’s worth keeping the default ability most days…

And with those thoughts, he slowly drifted to sleep, dreaming about the possible powers the coin could give him. Flying over the Grand Canyon, reading people’s minds, going invisible in the girls changing rooms. He should probably keep that last dream to himself, though.

----------------------------------------

“Morning sleepy head.”

Theo woke up to find Jess standing at the end of the couch.

“MoOOAarning”, he yawned, sitting up. “What time is it?”

“8am”, she replied, “we have a big day ahead of us. What we say and do today will be crucial in convincing people that we’re not responsible for Daniel’s disappearance.”

“We’re not responsible for his disappearance” Theo said with a sarcastic wink.

“Just get ready you moron, we need to make sure our stories match.”

As Theo was about to get up and start his morning routine, his ears were filled with an all too familiar golden voice.

“The temporarily ability ‘Shrink’ has worn off, and has been replaced with the default ability ‘Powerful Flick’.

As it is a new day, the ability ‘Coin Flip’ may be used again.”

“Huh, that’s handy”, Theo said to himself.

“What?” Asked Jess.

“My coin just spoke to me again, told me that my shrink ability wore off but I’m able to flip it again since it’s a new day.”

“I’ve always wondered, what does an artifact sound like exactly?”

“It’s… hard to explain. It’s really soft and warming. The voice doesn’t really sound male or female, just… nice.”

“Sure… that clears things up. So, are you gonna flip it again? See what power you get today?”, she asked.

"I could do, but what if it gives me a really shitty ability?"

"I told you yesterday, you shouldn't use that thing anyway, if people know you have it they'll put 2 and 2 together and figure out you killed Daniel. You may as well give it a try."

"Ok, but if I get jumped later and I can't defend myself, that's on you,"

Theo flipped the coin in the air and caught it in his hand.

"Ability 'Coin Flip' activated.

New power being assigned at random.

Power selected: Close Eye - you can zoom in your vision up to ten times."

"Well that's shit. I got an ability that lets me zoom in my vision, like that will be any help against a gang of bullies."

You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

"Oops... sorry dude!", Jess replied, looking a little guilty. She tried to quickly escape towards the bathroom.

“Hey Jess?”, Theo began, causing her to stop and face him once more, “Have you ever heard of an artifact with an unknown rarity? I forgot to tell you, but that’s what my coin said.”

“Really? I've never heard of that, no. Although to be honest, I've never heard of an artifact that can change abilities everyday. Maybe that's why? The rarity is unknown because it's different every time you get a new ability?”

"Shit you might be right. This is why you're the smart one.", Theo said, grinning at Jess.

"Yep, and you're the dumb one." She retorted.

"I'm the hot one, thank you."

"You saying I ain't hot, Galewood?"

"No, I was just- you know what I mean!", he replied, turning red.

"I'm just fucking with you dude", she said, laughing.

After completing their morning routines, Theo and Jess set off for their classes. Theo had a sports science seminar and Jess had a lecture on Mathematics.

"Remember the story, Daniel tripped while-", Jess began.

"While chasing us," Theo interrupted, "we kept running and managed to escape. We don't even know he's missing. We've been over this a million times, I know I'm stupid, but I'm not that stupid."

"Then prove it. Go about your day like normal, if anyone questions you, stick. To. The. Story."

"I will!"

With that, the pair split up and headed for their individual classes.

----------------------------------------

Theo arrived at his seminar just on time as always, to avoid the chance for anyone to bother him before the teacher got there. He took a seat and saw Sam sat on the opposite side of the classroom. When he spotted Theo, he turned and whispered something to his friend Alfie, the third musketeer in their bullying trio. Well, duo, now that Daniel wasn't around.

Throughout the class, Sam and Alfie kept shooting Theo evil looks. Theo tried to act like he didn't seem them.

While the teacher droned on about optimal methods for muscular hypertrophy, Theo was planning his escape. The lesson only had 10 minutes left, and once it finished, Sam and Alfie would no doubt rush straight towards him. He considered staying after the class to ask his teacher for help with their essay, forcing Sam and Alfie to have to leave without him, but that could give them the chance to collect a bigger gang of bullies to wait for him outside the classroom. He also considered sprinting back to his apartment as fast as possible as soon as he left the class, but his seminars were on the top floor of one of the busiest buildings on campus, so that would be tricky.

Theo decided that his best bet would be to hide amongst the crowds of students, hoping the bullies would lose sight of him. He and Jess had agreed to not meet each other in public, as they never hung out much before, and suddenly doing so after Daniel's disappearance could make it seem like they had something to hide. Which they did.

The clock hands continued to tick and the teacher continued to talk about something that Theo was way too distracted to listen to. Eventually, the end of the lesson arrived.

Theo had already packed his things away pre-emptively. He quickly got up and fled out the classroom door. As other classes were ending, their students started to flood out into the hallways. Theo weaved his way between them, trying to slouch as much as possible hoping that Sam and Alfie wouldn't see him.

He flowed through the hallways with the wave of students, down the stairs and out the door. Once he was outside and the people around him started to part, he started sprinting in the direction of his apartment. He turned around to check if anyone was chasing him, but it was clear.

He kept running, putting the stamina he'd gained from a lifetime of swimming to good use. He decided against going through the abandoned district, taking the risk and hoping he wouldn't run into anyone along the quicker but more crowded pathways.

As Theo reached his dorm building, he couldn't help but worry. That was way too easy.

He cautiously opened the door to the building and started making his way up the stairs. He passed the signs for floor 1, floor 2, and floor 3, eventually reaching floor 4, where his apartment was.

Huh, maybe I just got really lucky today..., Theo thought to himself. It was a nice thought, but unfortunately, it was far from the truth.

THUD!

----------------------------------------

Theo groaned as he slowly opened his eyes. All he could see was a bright white light. A spot on the back of his head hurt like hell, and he felt like he was going to be sick.

He briefly wondered if he was dead, witnessing the pearly gates of heaven, but then realised after what he had done the previous day, he was more likely destined for hell.

His eyes eventually adjusted, revealing a dirty, ran down classroom. The walls and floor were covered in dust, and spider webs hung in every corner. Theo realised he was kneeling on the floor, with his hands tied behind his back. The light entering through the broken windows was shining directly in his eyes, making him unable to make out the faces of the three figures stood in front of him.

As he forced himself to focus on them, their features started to become apparent, and his heart sank.

"See, I told you he wasn't dead." Said Sam, punching Alfie in the arm.

"I was just saying, George did hit him pretty hard with that brick."

"Shut up, you two!", George hissed.

His normal smug grin was nowhere to be seen, and Theo could tell he was not there to mess around.

"I'm only going to ask you this once. Where the fuck is my brother?"

"The fuck should I know.", Theo replied, still squinting as the light blinded him.

"Don't play dumb with me Galewood. The last time I saw him, he was chasing after you and your little girlfriend in the forest. I know you did something to him, and you're gonna fucking tell me what or I swear to God I'll kill you."

"He tripped! He was chasing us for a bit but he fell over a rock or something. Jess and I just kept running until we got to my dorm. Maybe he went to the infirmary and they're still keeping him there!"

WHACK!

George backhanded Theo on the side of his head, causing his ear to start ringing.

"I told you to not FUCKING LIE TO ME!"

"Fuck man! I didn't! What the fuck do you want me to say?"

"Tell me. What you did. Right. Fucking now!"

"I didn't do anything. Daniel tripped in the forest, I ran home. That's it... AURGH!"

He almost threw up as George drove his fist into his stomach. Alfie, who had a wooden baseball bat, started walking closer to Theo. As he got within striking distance, he lifted it over his shoulder and swung it into Theo's arm, violently knocking him onto his side. Sam, who was still a few feet away, launched towards Theo, kicking him in the stomach as hard as he could.

This time, Theo did throw up. Vomit and blood sprayed across the floor in front of him. The three bullies ignored this, ruthlessly continuing their assault.

They kicked Theo in the body again, and then in the head. Then Theo felt an unbearable pain in his knee as Alfie brought the bat down on it. He coughed up another splatter of blood. He tried gasping for air, which his winded lungs were barely able to suck in.

Punch after punch, kick after kick, and the occasional bone-shattering hit with the baseball bat continued to rain down on Theo.

Just as he thought he couldn't take it anymore, he felt a familiar metal object appear in his hand. He was briefly filled with hope, before realising the useless ability he had been given that morning.

Why the fuck did Jess convince me to flip it? If I could use Powerful Flick right now I'd kill all three of these fuckers. Theo thought.

But he stopped himself.

No, Jess was right. Revealing that I found an artifact would make me too suspicious.

WHACK!

And with one more kick to the head, he fell unconscious.