What's Happening to Me?

"Sometimes power finds you when you're running from it. And sometimes, the real curse isn't the power itself—it's knowing you can never go back to who you were before."

They say ignorance is bliss. I used to think that was bullshit—just something people said to make themselves feel better about not knowing things. But now? Now I understand. There are some things you can't unlearn, some doors you can't close once they're opened. And sometimes, the weight of knowing is heavier than any curse.

If death came for me right now, I probably wouldn't even fight it. Funny how that works, isn't it? People spend their whole lives running from death, but here I am, wondering why it hasn't taken me yet. Maybe I'm too pathetic for even death to want me.

Every morning I wake up hoping something will be different, but it's always the same shit. Going to school, come home to an empty apartment, scroll through social media watching everyone else live their best lives while I'm stuck in this loop of nothing. What's the point?

They say "it gets better," but nobody tells you how long you have to wait. A week? A year? A lifetime? Some days I catch myself thinking – if this is all there is, if this emptiness is what the rest of my life looks like, then why drag it out? Why not just... stop?

The worst part isn't even the pain. It's the numbness. The way everything just feels grey and meaningless. At least pain means you're still feeling something. But this? This is like being dead already, just with the inconvenience of still having to breathe.

Maybe that's why death doesn't come. It knows I'm already there.

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The energy hit Amir like a punch to the gut. Before he could even catch his breath, something yanked him backward - some kind of portal or gate, he couldn't really tell. All he knew was that one second he was standing there, and the next he was falling through nothing, his stomach doing backflips as his brain tried to make sense of up and down.

"Arrghhhhhh"

"Helpppp"

Then everything just... stopped.

His head was killing him. "Fuck," he groaned, pressing his palms against his temples. This had to be some kind of hallucination, right? He slapped himself a few times, hard enough to sting. But before his mind could even start making sense of things, he heard it - the clash of metal on metal, and a roar that shook the ground under his feet.

What he saw when he turned around... God, he wished he hadn't looked. There was this warrior, standing on what had to be hundreds of dead bodies, fighting against what looked like thousands of soldiers. His sword was glowing green, cutting through people like they were made of paper.

Every cell in Amir's body screamed at him to run. But when he turned around, he froze. Coming right at him was something straight out of a nightmare - half horse, half human, but way bigger and more terrifying than any centaur from the movies. The thing was swinging some massive weapon, charging straight for him.

"W-what...?" That was all Amir could get out. His legs wouldn't move. The weapon was coming too fast. He squeezed his eyes shut, thinking, "Maybe this is it. Maybe death is the peace I've been looking for in this messed-up world."

But nothing happened.

When he opened his eyes, confused as hell, the centaur thing and its weapon had passed right through him like he was a ghost. "Heh...?" He couldn't even form real words anymore.

Then things got even weirder. The whole scene in front of him started moving like someone had hit fast-forward. The warrior with the green sword was standing there, surrounded by all the people he'd killed. But just when it seemed like it was over, something else showed up.

It was huge, wearing these deep red robes with gold patterns. Amir couldn't see its face - didn't want to see its face - but just being near it made his skin crawl. This was Aram, the God of Hell, and somehow Amir just knew that name, knew it deep in his bones.

Aram did... something. One motion, and the warrior's soul was just gone, trapped forever. The world flickered like a bad TV signal.

Suddenly Amir was somewhere else - a cave filled with gold. But the treasure didn't matter because there was a demon there, ripping through soldiers in modern combat gear like they were nothing. An American soldier's leg went flying, the guy's screams mixing with gunfire that did absolutely nothing to the monster.

Then Amir saw him - his grandfather. The old man was clutching some broken green crystal, running like his life depended on it. Without thinking, Amir ran after him.

"Grandpa! Grandpa, can you hear me?!" His voice cracked. "What's happening?!"

They burst out of the cave into a forest. His grandfather was struggling to breathe, stumbling forward until he just... collapsed.

"Grandpa! No! Get up! Please!"

Amir tried to help him up, but his hands went right through his grandfather's body. That's when it hit him - none of this was real. He was watching memories, things that had already happened.

Everything faded to black, and suddenly he was back on his apartment roof. But something was wrong. Really wrong.

"Arghhh!" The pain in his wrist was like nothing he'd ever felt before. Green fire was literally burning into his skin. He ran to his bathroom, stuck his arm under cold water, and watched the flames die out. They left behind this weird tattoo-looking thing that glowed faintly.

"Great," he muttered, running shaky fingers through his hair. "Because everything wasn't already completely screwed." His mind started racing. "What if the government finds out? They'll probably lock me up, turn me into some kind of lab rat." He could see it now - white rooms, people in hazmat suits, needles and tests and God knows what else.

He stared at the mark, his heart pounding. "What even is this thing? A curse? Some kind of death mark?" He shook his arm like an idiot, as if that would do anything. The mark just kept glowing, pulsing like it had its own heartbeat.

"Power..." The word just popped into his head. "If this is supposed to be power, why do I feel like I'm about to lose everything?"

He tried to act normal - took a bath, tried to calm down. But when he got into bed, everything went sideways again. It was like someone had cranked up his hearing to eleven. He could hear everything - leaves rustling outside, cars from blocks away, even this annoying fly somewhere in his room. He pressed pillows over his ears, desperately trying to block it all out until exhaustion finally won.

Meanwhile, in Hell (because apparently that was a real place), Aram was watching all this with this sick grin on his face.

"Looks like the side effects aren't bothering him at all. HAHAHAHAHAH!" His laugh echoed through Hell like it was trying to make everyone's ears bleed.

The next morning, Amir dragged himself to school looking like death warmed over. His eyes were bloodshot, like he'd been up all night doing drugs. Truth was, he barely slept - every little sound had been like a hammer to his brain.

Someone tapped his back, and he nearly jumped out of his skin. It was Seojin, but for a split second, she looked... wrong. Like some creature from another world, with weird elf-like features and these creepy eyes without eyebrows. He blinked hard, and she was normal again, but it left him shaken.

"Get away," he stammered, backing up.

Seojin raised an eyebrow, trying to smile but looking worried. "What's wrong with you? You look like you've seen a ghost."

"Sorry," he mumbled. "For a second you looked... different. Never mind. I'm not feeling great."

She gave him this look, like she wasn't buying it. "You've been weird all morning. You sure you're okay?"

He ran his hands through his mess of hair, trying to act normal even though everything felt like it was falling apart. "Yeah, just didn't sleep much. You know how it is." His attempt at a smile probably looked more like a grimace.

Seojin stepped closer, actually looking worried now. "You look really pale..."

"I'm fine," he said, not believing it himself.

She looked at him for another second before shrugging. "Well, drink some water at least. You look like you're about to pass out."

"Thanks," he said flatly, though her concern did make him feel a little less alone in whatever this mess was.

When she went back to her friends, he leaned against the lockers, trying to get his breathing under control. His mind kept going back to everything that had happened - the visions, the mark on his wrist, these weird changes happening to him. Something was seriously wrong, and he had no idea what to do about it.

The teacher walked in, and Amir thought maybe he could just focus on class. But then the teacher started writing this complicated math problem on the board, and the answer just appeared in Amir's head like magic.

"X equals negative four," he said without thinking.

The whole class went quiet.

"That's... right," the teacher said, fixing his glasses. "But I hadn't even finished writing the problem. How did you know?"

Amir just stared. "Huh?"

His classmates were all looking at each other, and Seojin leaned over. "Since when are you some math genius?"

He couldn't answer. His brain was working faster than ever, but his body felt like it was running on fumes. One thought kept repeating in his head:

"What the hell is happening to me?"