Arin and Mira arrived at school the next day, still alert from yesterday's encounter.
His eyes kept darting, scanning for threats. The familiar hum of chatter and footsteps felt comforting—and yet, off.
'...demons usually don't hide, getting straight to the point....but...'
Mira matched his pace, glancing at him. "You okay?" she asked softly.
Arin gave a small nod, eyes flicking across the courtyard. "Just… stay close."
Mira adjusted her bag strap. "You're on edge again, aren't you?.... whose coming at us this time?"
Arin's jaw tightened. "Just… keep an eye out."
They pushed through the school doors. Inside, the hall smelled of damp wood and chalk, familiar yet oddly cold. Shadows pooled in corners, stretching as if aware of their presence, but they were afraid....afraid of Arin.
Arin's gaze swept the length of the hall, sharp and deliberate.
Mira whispered, "It's… quiet. Too quiet."
Arin didn't answer, only moved a step closer to her as they reached the classroom door.
Mira leaned in, whispering, "You feel it too?"
Arin's eyes flicked toward the row of lockers. "Yeah… something's off, something's very off."
They stepped inside. The usual chatter was there, but quieter than normal, almost hesitant.
A few students glanced nervously at the windows, their hands fidgeting. Shadows pooled near the corners of the room, stretching along the walls unnaturally.
A boy at the back muttered something under his breath, quickly silencing himself when a girl near him looked up.
[System Note: School perimeter – No immediate threat detected]
[Fear Index: 17%]
As students settled, Arin felt a faint ripple of shadow energy around Mr. Colin. Slight twitches in movement, a flicker in his eyes, shadows stretching unnaturally across his desk. Even now, the fragment's presence clung lightly, unseen but felt.
'...that, that shadow, I have to cleanse it, otherwise...' he thought.
Mira leaned slightly closer. "You're… staring at him again."
Arin whispered, "...he looks off. Like I told you, he's half possessed."
A girl near the window frowned. Her chalk dropped to the floor, rolling slightly across the desk. "Huh… did anyone move that?" she muttered.
A boy in the back whispered to his friend, "I thought I saw him… his arm twitch… weird."
Another student's pencil snapped in half unexpectedly, startling her. She looked around, eyes wide, but no one seemed to notice.
Arin's gaze tightened on Mr. Colin. His head tilted almost imperceptibly, a twitch in his shoulder that shouldn't have been possible.
The fragment had mostly departed, yet a sliver remained, nudging him subtly, keeping him just off-balance, just unnatural.
Mira's voice was a faint hiss. "Arin...?."
Arin shook his head, almost imperceptibly. "I know, it's not fully gone. Just enough to… linger."
The boy in the back leaned closer to his friend. "Did you feel that cold… like a breeze, just now?"
The girl by the window shivered. "Yeah… and did anyone see Mr. Colin's hand? It moved… like, wrong." She whispered.
Paranormal activities were normal, yes. But this, this was getting out of hand. The shadows gradually losing their fear of exorcists, priests, holy ones.
Arin's eyes narrowed. The small movements were almost imperceptible—a tilt of the head, a twitch of the shoulder, the way his fingers lingered too long on the desk.
The fragment was gone, but it had left a trace, a faint echo of its influence. An influence that could give birth to another shadow.
Other students shifted in their seats, whispers and small nervous movements spreading like a current through the room.
Fear was low but rising, a faint vibration only Arin could track.
The class ended with the usual bell, but the unease lingered. Students filed out slowly, glancing nervously at Mr. Colin, who straightened his posture, his eyes clearing, yet just slightly too sharp, too twitchy—a reminder that the fragment wasn't fully gone.
They all wanted to complain to the head office. But if they did, the exorcists will come. Their ritual price sky high, so most of the time, the school just ignored these phenomenons, calling it normal.
Arin packed his books slowly, watching him. Mr. Colin's hand paused midair, fingers trembling before he pressed them flat against the desk.
Mira whispered, "Did you see that?"
"Yeah," Arin murmured. "He's fighting it… or it's fighting him. Either way, if he's not purified in time, he's a gonner...."
They exchanged a quick look as the last of the students hurried out. The room felt colder, quieter, like the air itself was holding its breath.
[System Alert: Demonic Presence Detected – Low intensity]
[Fear Index: 18%]
Mira fell into step beside him as they left the building, her brow furrowed. "Arin ...is it?"
Arin kept his voice low. "Maybe… just stay alert."
They walked in silence for a while, the faint sound of their shoes echoing against the wet pavement. The air carried a chill that hadn't been there before.
Mira glanced sideways. "Purification is expensive, more expensive than a bloody heart surgery....You think Mr. Colin's gonna be okay?"
Arin hesitated. "He will be. Probably."
The word felt hollow even as he said it.
'should I...try purifying him?' he thought but didn't entertain the idea much
Mira hugged her coat closer. "You're doing that thing again," she said softly.
"What thing?"
"Going quiet. Like you're thinking about something you're not telling me."
Arin exhaled through his nose. "Just… trying to figure out how to fix this."
She frowned but didn't press. "If it's about him, I can help."
He looked at her briefly, then back ahead. You can't help with this part.
The fragment wasn't gone—it had anchored itself inside Mr. Colin's shadow, weak but alive. If he didn't purify it soon, it could feed again. He'd need to isolate the source, draw it out before it spread to anyone else.
[System Note: Residual energy detected – Containment advised]
[Purification Protocol: Manual extraction required]
[Fear Index: 23%]
Mira spoke again, her voice quieter. "Whatever it is… I trust you'll handle it. You always do."
Arin gave a small nod, though his pulse quickened. Handle it? Maybe. But not before it gets worse.
Far behind them, in the school's top window, a faint silhouette flickered once more—something shifting just beyond the light's reach.
Mira followed his gaze. "You keep looking back. You think it's still watching us?"
Arin didn't answer right away. The streetlight buzzed faintly overhead, insects circling the halo of light. "Not watching," he said finally. "More like… waiting."
She frowned. "For what?"
He didn't reply. The word residue echoed in his mind, the System's last note flashing in memory. Whatever clung to Mr. Colin hadn't been destroyed—it had only gone quiet.
They turned down the narrow street toward home. Mira kept glancing over her shoulder, her steps quicker now. "You know," she said softly, "ever since yesterday, it feels like the dark's heavier. Like it's pressing closer."
Arin's grip tightened around his bag strap. "That's because it is."
Mira gave a nervous laugh. "Arin! You're not helping."
"Just saying," he murmured, eyes scanning the street. "If something feels wrong, it usually is...times are grim Mira."
They walked the rest of the way in silence. Every sound—the wind, the rustle of leaves, the scrape of a passing bike chain—felt amplified, stretched thin by tension. By the time they reached his gate, the air around them felt colder, dense, as if carrying a faint pulse.
Mira lingered at the path. "You'll text me if anything happens, right?"
He nodded. "Go straight home. Lock the doors."
She studied him for a moment longer, worry flickering in her eyes, then turned and walked away.
Arin waited until she was gone before exhaling slowly. The silence pressed closer. The fragment's residue—it was still there.
Arin stepped into the quiet house, the door creaking behind him. The air smelled faintly of old wood and candle wax, but his grandfather was nowhere to be seen.
A low shiver ran down his spine. Of course he's not here. He never is when things get… complicated.
He dropped his bag and moved toward the desk where the journal usually sat.
The pages waited, worn and heavy with secrets, as if aware of the danger lingering outside—and inside—him.
Arin opened the journal carefully, scanning the rituals on purification and fear-energy transmutation.
He muttered under his breath, "So… this is how it's done."
[System Alert: Knowledge Acquisition – Purification Potential Detected]
[Potential Skill Upgrade: Shadow Cleansing / Fear Transmutation]
"Wow ...it can do that. So I can properly purify somebody..." He voiced in glee.
Arin's fingers hovered over a diagram depicting ritual isolation and energy extraction.
"I'll need to draw it out, trap it… purify it before it grows again. This time I Will finish it for Good. "