Late in the evening, Leon was sitting in his room reading a book when a buzzing sound echoed in his ear. It was so intense that he couldn't concentrate on what he had been doing. He pressed his hand to the right side of his head, which caught the attention of Natan, who was lying on the bed across from him.
"Are you feeling okay?" Natan asked, sitting up.
"My ear just started ringing, really loudly. It's weird. I've never had anything like this before," Leon replied.
"Recently I saw this creepy video on TikTok," Sebastian chimed in from his bed, where he'd been lying silently until now. "It said that when your ear starts ringing, it means a dead soul is nearby and trying to contact you."
It was hard to say which of the boys turned paler as they looked at each other and thought about the General.
"Isn't that just something someone made up?" Leon asked, glancing anxiously at the older roommate.
"Which ear is it? If it's the right one, it means a spirit wants to talk to you."
The sixteen-year-old swallowed hard and turned his terrified gaze toward Natan. His friend had been staring at him with wide eyes, as if trying to spot something invisible.
Without warning, Sebastian took a picture of Leon with the flash on. His amused expression vanished instantly. Pale as a ghost, he stared at the photo in his gallery and then looked fearfully at Leon. Goosebumps spread across his skin.
"Kid… there's definitely something terrifying next to you. I don't know if you even want to see it," he said.
Natan didn't even think about looking at the photo. He was trembling from fear. As curious as he was, he knew he wouldn't be able to handle what he might see.
"What is it?" Leon asked. He got up from the bed and walked toward his older roommate, hesitantly reaching out to take the phone.
He had liked horror movies since he was little. Ghosts had never scared him, but ever since he arrived at this place, learned about his past life, the connection to the General, and the danger that loomed over him, he had been scared out of his mind.
He stared at the photo with wide eyes, unable to believe what he was seeing. Sitting on the bed next to him was a terrifying black shadow, its head shaped like a triangle resembling a hood.
He felt sick with fear.
"This is all just some kind of illusion. This isn't really happening," he muttered, his voice trembling.
"Is that a demon? It looks like a demon, right?" Sebastian asked.
"It's something far worse than a demon. It's the devil, and it wants to devour me," Leon said, looking toward the bed. "I should leave this place, but my dad won't pull me out of school, not after he already donated money."
"Leon, you should try anyway, because just look at what's happening. It's truly terrifying. I don't even want to imagine what comes next," Natan said, wrapping his arms around his knees. He looked like a scared child.
"I'm not in on your secret. I don't know what you're talking about," Sebastian said, frowning. "What kind of danger are you in? Does it have to do with that terrifying shadow in the photo?" he asked Leon.
"You must've heard about what happened here, at least twenty years ago," Leon began. Sebastian nodded.
"Then you must've heard about the terrifying General who started and continued this nightmare?" Leon asked, hesitantly nodding as if afraid of what he was about to say.
"That terrifying shadow in the photo is him. Not only am I in danger, but all of you are too if he ends up possessing me."
"What are you talking about? This isn't some fiction—you can't just be possessed by a demon," Sebastian said, giving him a sharp look, suddenly unsure whether the boy was joking.
"I'll tell you everything, since you've now seen something you weren't supposed to. But promise you'll keep it secret," Leon finished.
*
It was almost eight in the morning when the boys arrived at the cafeteria for breakfast. They joined the table where their female classmates were already sitting. Nadia immediately noticed that Leon looked troubled.
"Is something wrong?" she asked.
The sixteen-year-old pulled his phone out of his jeans pocket and showed her the photo Sebastian had taken the night before.
"I was reading a book when my ear suddenly started ringing. My roommate joked that a ghost was trying to contact me and, for fun, snapped a picture of me..."
"Oh my god... that's terrifying!" Nadia covered her mouth with her hand and looked at Leon with frightened eyes. "It looks like a demon. Is that the General?"
"That's definitely the General. I can see him with the naked eye—what you're seeing is just the black aura," Alicja said. "Ever since Leon arrived at Gilbert, the General has been growing stronger every day. He's becoming more and more powerful."
"Have you come up with a way to fight him? Some kind of exorcism?" Natan asked Alicja directly. "Because I was scared out of my damn mind. That demon was sitting in our room thanks to my cursed roommate—worse yet, on the bed right across from mine!"
The sixteen-year-old girl shot him a scolding look.
"If I knew how to fight a demon, I wouldn't have told Leon and Nadia to leave this place."
"Sebastian knows everything. After he took that photo, I told him the whole story. At first, he thought I was joking, but eventually he believed me," Leon added, changing the subject. "I wasn't sure if I did the right thing, but I figured I should trust him. I just hoped the whole school wouldn't be buzzing with rumors about me soon."
"If the rumor doesn't go viral today, you can relax," Nadia said. Unexpectedly, she placed her hand on top of Leon's, which was resting on the table. He looked at her in surprise, while she smiled warmly at him. "It'll be okay. We won't let anything happen to you. You've got us—and if we work together, we can make a pretty good team."
Alicja scoffed quietly.
"Doesn't change the fact that you and I are not going to be friends."
"I've never been friends with girls, so don't flatter yourself. You weren't special enough for me to give you that chance. You'll be in this group because you see things we don't," Nadia shot back. "I only accepted you as my roommate, nothing more."
"Good. I felt the same way about you."
Chewing his food, Natan watched the girls closely, wondering if they were being completely serious. His gaze shifted to Sebastian, who suddenly appeared at their table and sat down without asking for permission.
"Did anyone invite you?" he asked the older roommate. "You didn't even ask if you could join us."
"Don't be rude," the seventeen-year-old said, glaring at him before turning to the girls. "Hi, I'm Sebastian. I share a room with the guys."
"And who's being rude now..." Natan muttered under his breath.
"Nice to meet you. I'm Nadia, and this haunted lunatic next to me is Alicja. Leon told us about what happened last night and that you know the whole story."
The girl next to her shot a piercing look her way after those words.
"Yeah, at first I was honestly terrified when I saw that black aura. I used to think ghosts and demons were just stories people made up, but it turns out they're really among us."
Alicja smirked faintly.
"You have no idea how much of that crap is surrounding you."
"What?" the confused boy scratched his eyebrow. "What do you mean by that?"
"Did Leon mention that she's a medium?" Nadia asked, pointing at Alicja. "She sees them with the naked eye."
"She's the most terrifying girl I know," Natan added. "I don't even know who's worse—her or the roommate with the demon attached to him."
Leon watched them in silence, nervously fidgeting with his fingers. He felt uneasy and had a gut feeling that something bad was about to happen.
*
The hallway was in chaos. Teenagers shouted over one another, shoved, and even threw a ball around, which eventually started to get on Leon's nerves. He had been irritable for some time now—everything annoyed him, especially people he didn't know.
At one point, he clenched his jaw in anger and felt the urge to yell at a girl who had bumped into him after being pushed by her friend. But he held back when she apologized.
"Act your age, you're not in elementary school," he muttered under his breath. He turned toward the window and rested his hands on the windowsill, his attention suddenly drawn to someone walking toward the pond.
It was Nadia. And she was completely alone.
Leon sprang up and ran down the hallway toward the stairs. He rushed down to the ground floor and stepped outside, the cold air hitting him in the face. He had a strange feeling that the girl had just come up with some crazy idea.
"Nadia!" he shouted as she stood at the edge of the pond, staring down. "What are you doing?"
"I have to go in and check something. I'm sure the pond will give me the answer to what kind of danger the General poses to me—since Alicja refuses to tell me," she said calmly. "I want to be prepared so I can defend myself."
"Don't you realize Alicja isn't telling you because she's trying to protect you? She wanted you to leave this place at all costs. That's the only way to keep you safe!"
Nadia smiled faintly.
"And would you be safe if you hadn't known you carried the General's darkness on your shoulders?"
"Maybe I'd be more at peace. I wouldn't worry about anything," he replied.
"I really wanted to know the truth. I wanted to understand why the General hates me—when it's not even about my family."
She took a step forward, but Leon grabbed her hand and pulled her toward him. He looked at her intensely, clearly displeased with her reckless idea.
"You've heard the stories about that pond. You know there are apparitions in there. It's not a safe place. If Natan hadn't pulled me out, I would've died on the first day," he said, voice tight with anger. "If I jump in after you, we could both drown. Those things drag you under like they're out for revenge."
Nadia looked into his eyes and saw real concern in them.
"Then how else am I supposed to uncover the truth?"
"Don't uncover it. Let's focus on staying safe instead. Let's watch each other's backs and figure out how to defeat that cursed demon," he said, placing a hand on her head. "Let's trust Alicja—she's our only lifeline."
As they looked into each other's eyes, curious girls from their class were snapping photos of them from a distance, eager to spark the first dating scandal at Gilbert.
"Once their relationship goes viral, their love will fizzle out fast, you'll see. That fox isn't gonna keep the hottest guy in school," one of them said with a smirk to her roommate.