- 33,155
- Hammerhead Garage
Okay, I'm a little scared. Well, more than a little scared. This is why:
Almost every day, I go to the pool to do laps. I figure swimming a kilometre a day is a good way to get in shape. Anyway, because there's so many people with cars this year, I have to park out the back despite my room over-looking another carpark. I generally don't park there because there's only a handful of places and it's always full.
Today I was coming back from the session, and didn't bother trying for out the front; I just went straight out the back. Our college is surrounded by fencing, and you have to use a special device to get in. The back gate is at the end of a path that runs between a walled-in barbeque area and the back wall of the kitchens. As I was walking in, something caught my eye: the wall surrounding the barbeque area is built in such a way that there are small gaps in it; it's an aesthetic thing. I doubled back to see what it was, and found a crudely-folded sheet of paper in one of the holes, roughly at about shoulder level. I could see scrawly handwriting on it, and so I opened it. I really wish I hadn't, because it had words to this effect:
"I KILL YOU (the next few lines are unreadable) SLIT YOUR THROAT AND DRINK YOUR BLOOD. I WILL KEEP YOU ALIVE AND SCREAMING UNTIL YOU BEG ME TO KILL YOU."
The note was NOT addressed to anyone, NOR was it signed. Nevertheless, you can see why it spooked me. I went straight to Andy, my resident fellow - a kind of surrogate caretaker - and turned it over to him. He said there wasn't much he could do about it, but that he would bring it up at the meeting of resident fellows. But right now, I'm rattled to the core, and I've been trying to convince myself that it is some sick joke designed to scare whoever found it (two nights ago a group of first-years set off a home-made smoke bomb in the block right next to the barbeque area). I've been trying to make a case for it not being aimed at me:
- I haven't been to the pool in a few days, so there was nothing to suggest I would go today.
- When I left, no-one saw me go. If someone placed it there while I was at the pool, they had no way of knowing I was there.
- When I came back, there was nothing to guarantee that I would even park out the back; I'll try the carpark beneath my room if I can.
- Likewise, there was nothing to guarantee that I would actually spot it.
- You need a magnetised metal tab to get into the college. While there are people here who dislike me, I don't think the dislike is strong enough to warrant a fistfight, much less death threats. The only person who might want to actually hurt me is a thousand kilometres away and probably doesn't even know that I exist, although one of my close friends - his girlfriend - has been acting strange toward me of late.
Right now, I'm wondering if I shouldn't have skipped Andy and taken the note straight to the police.
Almost every day, I go to the pool to do laps. I figure swimming a kilometre a day is a good way to get in shape. Anyway, because there's so many people with cars this year, I have to park out the back despite my room over-looking another carpark. I generally don't park there because there's only a handful of places and it's always full.
Today I was coming back from the session, and didn't bother trying for out the front; I just went straight out the back. Our college is surrounded by fencing, and you have to use a special device to get in. The back gate is at the end of a path that runs between a walled-in barbeque area and the back wall of the kitchens. As I was walking in, something caught my eye: the wall surrounding the barbeque area is built in such a way that there are small gaps in it; it's an aesthetic thing. I doubled back to see what it was, and found a crudely-folded sheet of paper in one of the holes, roughly at about shoulder level. I could see scrawly handwriting on it, and so I opened it. I really wish I hadn't, because it had words to this effect:
"I KILL YOU (the next few lines are unreadable) SLIT YOUR THROAT AND DRINK YOUR BLOOD. I WILL KEEP YOU ALIVE AND SCREAMING UNTIL YOU BEG ME TO KILL YOU."
The note was NOT addressed to anyone, NOR was it signed. Nevertheless, you can see why it spooked me. I went straight to Andy, my resident fellow - a kind of surrogate caretaker - and turned it over to him. He said there wasn't much he could do about it, but that he would bring it up at the meeting of resident fellows. But right now, I'm rattled to the core, and I've been trying to convince myself that it is some sick joke designed to scare whoever found it (two nights ago a group of first-years set off a home-made smoke bomb in the block right next to the barbeque area). I've been trying to make a case for it not being aimed at me:
- I haven't been to the pool in a few days, so there was nothing to suggest I would go today.
- When I left, no-one saw me go. If someone placed it there while I was at the pool, they had no way of knowing I was there.
- When I came back, there was nothing to guarantee that I would even park out the back; I'll try the carpark beneath my room if I can.
- Likewise, there was nothing to guarantee that I would actually spot it.
- You need a magnetised metal tab to get into the college. While there are people here who dislike me, I don't think the dislike is strong enough to warrant a fistfight, much less death threats. The only person who might want to actually hurt me is a thousand kilometres away and probably doesn't even know that I exist, although one of my close friends - his girlfriend - has been acting strange toward me of late.
Right now, I'm wondering if I shouldn't have skipped Andy and taken the note straight to the police.
