Jacques Grim, a man of philosophy and of reason. Or he used to be.  He was once a handsome young man, dark hair and decent jaw line he would say. But after he had landed a job as a lecturer, he wasn’t expecting it to cause such a change. He was a tough marker when it comes to his philosophy work and so he had enraged many students. However, enraging and provoking a shadowy confrontation is another thing. Grim was ecstatic with his life at this point as he had gotten his dream job and his wife, Helen was having a baby. This all became quite distorted the following semester, he had failed nearly half the class, and this didn’t entertain one group of students. To put it simply, they were infuriated to the point of thinking of taking action. They began to think of ways to humiliate him, or to wound him. These students would arrange to meet and discuss it; at first their conversations were not serious. They were just words of spite to help cool their fury. Yet one boy, Daniel Havishham, had ulterior motives. From the start his philosophy answers had rather disturbed both Grim and the class. He was interested in the downfall of society, a society with no law, one were killing was something to be proud of, “survival of the fittest as Darwin and Spencer put it” he would say. The class said nothing of his long-winded explanations as to why the vilest of crimes should be legal; they thought he was showing off. But as a young boy he had conjured these thoughts, and now was his chance to put it to the test.

 

At first, he would suggest things jokingly, the others would laugh and nod in agreement, “that would really show him wouldn’t it.” Then progressively he became more and more serious about it, but he had led the others to believe that these activities would be necessary. That Mr Grim actually NEEDED to be taught a lesson. He manipulated his way around the conversation, he had control, and the group would listen to him. He used philosophy to justify his notions, slowly the cluster had become eager for the real thing.

 

They planned it. Everything to the last detail. They had followed his car home, made a schedule of when he gets a coffee, which stop lights he passes, every little aspect of his day. They then calculated the event for Friday, just before Mr Grim ended class.

 

It was a cold day, clouds formed from their warm breath into the icy air. Grey clouds lined the silver sky; a storm was beginning to brew. It was 8pm; they carried their gym bags with them over their shoulders. Adam had decided to grab his dad’s electric saw along with a heavy bag full of tools. Peter had a bag with their masks, a blindfold, lock picks and plastic wrap. Daniel had the body bag.

 

They had planned to get rid of their professor once and for all. 

 

They drove to his house, climbed out of the car, bags in hand and proceeded to walk to the door. They didn’t utter a word. Their black gym backs were held in their hands by their waists, all walking in line towards the household. The front garden was neat and tidy, a trim hedge, appealing little flowers in their hanging baskets and a freshly painted green door. Peter lifted his bag to his chest, unzipping the bag and taking out the lock picks. One, two, three. Click.

They stepped inside. Silence between them as they crept forward, the TV was playing. Was he home? Had they made a mistake?

 

Despite their conciseness telling them to turn away they proceeded. The carpeted flooring absorbed the found of their footsteps. They had finally come to the living room, a blaring TV showing master chefs cooking organic curry. A figure sat in the chair facing the TV. Not a man. A woman. She was a woman with long chestnut hair and a petite frame. She had not noticed them. Wordlessly their plan had changed. Professor Grim had a wife. Daniel smirked as he whispered, “Goodbye Mrs Grim.”