THE DANGER

All three of us went to class and behaved as if nothing had happened. Surprisingly, none of our classmates or teachers asked where we had been during the assembly. I expected some commotion about a giant creature on the roof or at least about the noises, but there was nothing. Everyone acted normally as if it was routine to see a monster on our school roof. Seeing my confused face, Seri whispered, "It’s because of the Clen. It’s a force that keeps everyone away and creates a space that seems normal from the outside, but only people with spirit powers like me and Lisa can enter. It’s a technique used by spirit users to trap creatures that we call ‘ghouls.’ So, you shouldn’t worry about being caught, okay?" She gave a cute smile and went to her seat. Despite her innocent appearance, the way she crushed that thing made me start to fear both of them.

Everything changes when you grow up. The things that seemed right in our childhood don't make sense anymore. I mean, I loved superheroes and wanted to become one, but everything changed when I hit the wall called reality. I never imagined my life would be dragged into a comic book-style story. Honestly, I would go back to my normal life if I could

Anyway, school ended without anyone noticing the huge monster on the roof. It felt like I was losing my mind. Would anyone believe me if I told them? It sounded like nonsense even to me; how could I convince others? Lisa and Seri were surrounded by people as usual. If I didn’t know about their secret, I would have been in that group too. But I had a bigger task at hand. I had to tell my parents about going to Kyoto without mentioning the whole "ghoul" thing and the powers. Lisa and Seri assured me they had a plan, so I hoped everything would go smoothly. I talked to them about "the plan," and they told me they had everything covered and I didn’t need to worry. As the sun set, its light beamed on Lisa’s face, making her look incredibly beautiful. No one could tell that such a gorgeous girl could hunt down a huge monster triple her size. She noticed me staring and asked, "Is there something on my face?" Embarrassed, I replied, "I was just wondering how a beauty like you could beat the shit out of a ghoul that seems to kill anything in its way." Realizing I had said something awkward, I tried to think of an excuse, but they both just went ahead.

That night, I was very nervous about leaving my family. But I knew that to protect them, I needed strength and understanding of myself. During dinner, I asked my father if there was anything he wanted to tell me about my birth. Lisa and Seri had said I was born with powers and that maybe he knew something, but I got nothing. After dinner, Dad called me into his office. Wearing his glasses, he asked, "Is there something you need to say? You were acting strangely at the dinner table." I was taken aback, thinking Dad knew about the "ghouls" and the powers. He continued, "Is something bothering you? Did something happen at school?" Seeing him worried about me pained me, and the worst part was that I couldn’t tell him about what was happening. I said there was nothing to worry about, just some decisions to make for our class for the upcoming school festival. He relaxed a bit and said, "You don’t need to stress. Just do what you can and give your 100%. If you want to discuss it, you can always count on me." That’s just like him, always having my back like a soldier giving cover.

Before I could tell him more, we heard a big blast from downstairs. We rushed down and found Mom and my brother lying unconscious, bleeding. I was terrified and couldn’t think clearly. Dad told me to get a hold of myself. Before I could respond, a huge monster slashed him right in front of me. He was bleeding heavily. I rushed to him, trying to stop the bleeding. The 'ghoul' just stood there, watching me with a face that showed it was happy to see me miserable. I looked it in the eye, filled with fury. As it moved toward Dad, I stood in its way. My mind was flooded with mixed feelings, but this time, they were different. I wanted to protect my family and, most of all, I wanted to kill that thing for what it had done to them. My mind wasn’t in the right state to make rational decisions, and maybe that’s why I threw a punch at it. Anyone would know it was a foolish move, but when my fist connected, I felt all my blood flowing into my hand, and my cells produced some kind of electricity. The moment my fist touched the ghoul, an electric beam shot out, and the ghoul turned to ashes.

When I woke up, I found myself in the hospital, surrounded by doctors and policemen. They told me it was a gas blast that had happened not only at my home but in several other places in the state. Lisa and Seri were there, also in shock. The ghouls had never shown such patterns before; it was like they were evolving and thinking like humans. I was told that my brother and mother were out of danger, but my dad was in critical condition, having lost a lot of blood. His situation was severe, and I couldn’t muster the courage to look at him in that state.

My injuries healed faster than normal. My vision and hearing sharpened, and I could feel the electricity running through my body. My skin became harder, like a wall that couldn’t be broken. When Lisa and Seri came to talk about the incident, I interrupted them, saying, "They touched what they shouldn’t have. They tried to kill my family. I will make them regret it. The earth trembles when Lord Shiva opens his third eye, but it fears more when Mahadev becomes Mahakaal. I will begin my Rudra Tandav and destroy every single one of them who comes after me and my family."