Haro slowly opened his eyes and the sunlight welcomed him. As he began to regain consciousness, he slowly remembered everything that had happened. Was there any chance it was a dream? He looked around. As far as he could see, there were only trees and dirt. This meant that what he believed had really happened had happened. A Geist had possessed him.
Realizing what it meant, Haro quickly looked at his palms. He expected to see those giant, black hands he had seen yesterday, but instead he found his small, normal human hands. He looked at the rest of his body for confirmation. Just as he thought, there was no trace of the black substance that had taken hold of him a few hours earlier. The Geist was gone.
Haro breathed a great sigh of relief and lay down on the forest floor for a few seconds. If Geist had left him alone, he would not have had to turn himself in to the police or die. Hopefully, no one had seen his face and they would not know that he had been responsible for last night's accident. As he thought about it, the memories of the three robbers being killed by the Geist came back to him, and he had to make an effort not to vomit. Whether he liked it or not, he had killed those three people. Although they were gangsters and criminals, those men probably had families or people who would miss them. And all because of stupid Geist.
He stood up slowly to his feet. Suddenly he remembered all the blows he had received the night before and all the bones he probably had broken. He put his hands on his arm and his ribs waiting for the unbearable pain to come, but it never came. He waited for a few seconds, puzzled. In fact, it didn't even hurt a bit in the areas where he had received the most damage. He looked at his right arm and moved it freely" had Geist healed his wounds? It seemed the only possible explanation. He did not know why such a monstrous creature would heal him, but he would not dwell on it any longer.
He rummaged through his sweatshirt pocket until he found what he was looking for. He pulled out his cell phone and examined it. The screen was very fragmented, probably from the fall and multiple blows he had received the day before, but it seemed to still be working. He turned on the screen and immediately saw an explosion of notifications corresponding to one person: Felix.
Countless" Where are you" and" When will you be back" had been sent since last night, a sign of his roommate's concern. From his eyes, Haro hadn't brought dinner, or even come home all night. It was normal for him to worry that way. He would have to think about what to tell him when he got back to the apartment.
Something else caught Haro's attention on his cell phone screen. It was 8:06 am. Haro opened his eyes like plates, scared. In less than an hour he had a class at the university, and he didn't even know where he was at that moment. If he pretended that the Geist attack hadn't happened, he could go on with his normal life, which meant that he had to go to university as usual. And he couldn't risk missing classes. He started running in the direction he remembered the monster had come, hoping to find his way back.
After more than half an hour running through the forest and the streets of his neighborhood, Haro was finally close to his house. In just a couple of turns
he would have arrived and that would be when one of the difficult parts would come: thinking about what he was telling Felix.
He didn't have much time to reflect on that, as the next turn that took a bizarre scene made him stop in his tracks. He hadn't noticed it before, but that was the street where Geist had possessed him the night before. It was now cordoned off by the police, and there were dozens of agents and military personnel on the scene. On the ground, Haro was able to identify one of the robbers, covered by a black sheet, specifically the one the monster had crushed. He could not see how the Geist had left him, but a large pool of blood had formed underneath him.
Haro tried to calm down. He was sure that the Geist had killed the three men, so the police had no way of knowing that he had caused the disaster. He started walking on the sidewalk trying to go unnoticed. He couldn't help but be nervous seeing so many police officers together. Although he had been trying to turn himself in for only a few hours, there was now no trace of the Geist on his body, so he had the option of living normally, and of course he did not want to turn himself in.
"Excuse me. The one in the red sweatshirt," called a voice behind him. Haro was paralyzed, thinking about the worst case scenario. What if there was a camera in that street and they had managed to find out that he was responsible for all that? He turned slowly, looking at the ground as the policeman approached him. Did you happen to pass by here last night? Did you see anything strange?
Haro looked up at the policeman, slightly more confident. It seemed that they did not suspect him.
"I'm sorry, I wasn't here. I didn't see anything," replied Haro trying to sound convincing. The policeman nodded and stepped back slightly.
"Okay. Sorry to bother you," the policeman said goodbye before turning around and continuing his work. Haro did the same and continued walking without looking back.
Haro opened the door of the apartment trying not to make too much noise. It was possible that Felix was still sleeping, and if he could avoid waking up and saving himself the explanation of where he had been last night, all the better. In the end he hadn't had much of a chance to think about what he would say, so if he was awake and asked, he would have to improvise. He closed the door carefully, too, but it seemed that he had already been heard.
Quick steps sounded from Felix's room and within seconds he had arrived at the entrance, dressed in his usual bear pajamas. Felix was a boy the same age as Haro, slightly shorter. He had black hair and honey"colored eyes. He was quite handsome in the face, and with his characteristic charisma it was normal for him to bring a girl to the apartment from time to time.
"But look who deigns to appear now. The gentleman" didn't show up at home all night", commented Felix with a reproachful tone. In spite of appearing to be angry, Haro knew that his roommate had been worried about him.
"It's no big deal," Haro tried to excuse himself, but Felix's inquisitive gaze was still on him.
"That's not so bad? Not a message, not a call, not even a note. I had no idea where you were.
"I ran out of battery" Haro scratched his head thinking of his next excuse. I had valued telling Felix the truth, but that could only lead to trouble. He might get scared and not want to live with him anymore, or call the police. Now that the Geist was gone, the best thing he could do was forget about it and try to cover it up. Besides, we are nineteen years old. It's not a big deal if I go out at night one day.
"Are you telling me you went out to party?" You? Don't make me laugh," answered Felix incredulously.
"Well, yes. I went out to party," said Haro, trying to sound convincing. After a few moments he identified Felix's ironic tone and got upset. And why do you say it like that? It's not like it's the weirdest thing in the world.
"The last time there was a party in town you stayed home playing video games because, and I quote," it was a waste of time socializing".
"People change, okay? I'm sorry I didn't warn you, but it won't happen again. And now if you'll excuse me, I'm late for college." Haro grabbed her backpack and left the apartment before giving Felix a chance to respond.
After a couple of seconds, Felix was alone again. He sighed as he shook his head. They had been friends for as long as he could remember, and they had always told each other everything. That's why he didn't understand. He didn't understand why Haro was lying to his face.
Although the university was not far from his apartment, Haro had arrived quite late. The place was quite strange, though in a good way. The university was within a large campus, full of nature and life, but it was in the middle of the city. Haro used to compare it to an isolated city within another city. But right then, the spaciousness of the campus wasn't helping. The science faculty was one of the farthest away, so he had to hurry if he didn't want to miss another class.
"Haro!" called a female voice from behind him, interrupting his thoughts. Even without turning around, Haro already knew who had called him. There was only one person on the entire campus who had the freedom to shout in public like that: June.
Haro turned to watch the girl run towards him until she caught up with him. June was much shorter than him. She had shoulder length hair and red hair and big green eyes that often distracted Haro. Ever since he had met her, June had always had a smile on her face. She was quite lively, which contrasted with her short stature. She had a well"proportioned body and wore clothes that highlighted her attributes: jeans and a blue blouse.
"Good morning," said Haro, raising a hand slightly.
"Good morning. You're late," said June, looking at him curiously.
"I know... I've had some problems," Haro tried to justify himself while scratching his head.
"Is that related to you wearing the same clothes as yesterday?" asked her friend as she touched her sweatshirt.
Haro was shaken, not by June's physical contact, as he was used to, but because she had discovered him with her clothes. To avoid having to keep explaining himself to Felix, Haro had left his apartment as quickly as he could, but he hadn't thought about details like the clothes he was wearing. Anyone else wouldn't have noticed, but June was so observant that she sometimes surprised him.
"It's a very long story," excused Haro. June looked at him for a few seconds, as if analyzing him, but luckily for her she didn't seem to want to dig any deeper into the subject.
"It doesn't matter. You've missed Thermodynamics. It's been pretty boring without you. The teacher kept repeating the same thing all the time," explained June.
"You were bored because you are so smart," Haro replied. By the way, could you pass me the notes? I'm not like you, if I miss a class I won't understand anything in the next one.
"Sure. But only if you bring me food from Felix," proposed June, winking in a joking tone. She and Felix had never met in person, but Haro had let her taste his roommate's food on more than one occasion, and she loved it. From then on, whenever she had the chance, she asked for it.
"I'll talk to Felix. I'm sure he'll prepare something delicious for you." June smiled and closed her eyes for a few seconds, probably imagining the taste of Felix's dishes. By the way, we should go now. I wouldn't want to miss another class.
June came back to reality and nodded. Together they began to walk towards the faculty. June's smiling and open attitude meant that Haro never got bored when he was with her, as they could always talk about any topic, no matter how insignificant, and it would certainly be a fun conversation.
Although it was already spring, the weather was still quite cold. At one point, a gust of cold air passed by them. June had developed the habit of getting quite close to Haro when he was cold, so she grabbed his arm, placing it quite close to his body. Haro blushed slightly. It was precisely because of this type of action that several acquaintances at the university had asked them if they were a couple. After all, it was unusual to see a girl get so close to a boy when they were just friends.
Honestly, Haro wouldn't mind. June was pretty, smart and fun, so I'd probably have a good time if I went out with her as a couple. However, he was quite clear that June only saw him as a friend. Yes, she was close enough, but that was probably due to her friend's shameless and independent personality: she just wasn't shy about approaching him when he was cold. Besides that, Haro had never perceived any sign that June might really like him, and he preferred not to risk his friendship than to make a false move.
They arrived just in time for the beginning of the laboratory practices. As usual, Haro put on his lab coat, goggles and gloves. That day they were going to work with acidic and basic substances, so it was better to be protected if he didn't want to get chemically burned.
"Safety equipment ready?" asked June as she reviewed the practice protocol.
"Ready," replied Haro confidently. He was finally starting to get over what had happened the night before, although he didn't think he could ever forget it.
"Perfect. Today we have to study neutralization reactions. We will need concentrated sulfuric acid and sodium hydroxide," June said firmly.
"Understood, my lady," joked Haro. When they were in serious work environments, like the lab, June would get really focused. She almost seemed like a different person compared to her jovial, out"of"class self. Haro was sure she would be a great chemist when she graduated.
"I'll get the acid, you take care of the sodium hydroxide," ordered June. And make sure you don't throw it on yourself.
"I'll try," answered Haro, following up on his friend's joke. He walked to the chemical shelf and after searching through containers with strange names he finally found the one he was looking for. He brought it back to his table where they were going to conduct the experiment, where June was waiting for him with the sulfuric acid.
A few knocks on the door interrupted his concentration, making him look at the sound. When he did, his blood froze. Two police officers were coming through the door of the lab. They were not in uniform, but were wearing regular clothes and the badge was hanging around their necks. In a few seconds, all the students were looking at the police officers uneasily, but Haro the most. The murmurs began among his classmates. It was far from normal for the police to interrupt a class, so they knew something was wrong.
If Haro had begun to calm down about what happened the night before, he was now just as nervous as when he had walked past the police that morning. He began to mentally review again all the avenues where he could have been discovered, but none came to mind. He decided to simply observe quietly what they had to tell him.
"Excuse us for the intrusion," explained one of the policemen. I am inspector Casero and this is sub"inspector Mora. We come on behalf of the city police department.
The teacher approached them also slightly upset because two policemen interrupted his class.
"Sure. How can we help you?" he asked obligingly. The policeman who had introduced himself, Casero, walked a few steps until he was more or less in front of all the students. The one called Mora followed him slightly unsure. Haro tried to shrink as much as possible so as not to attract attention.
"Yesterday at around 11pm, a Geist possession occurred a few streets west of the campus. All the students looked at each other, surprised and scared, and began to murmur. The inspector continued," There were three deaths and several cars destroyed. According to witnesses, the Geist fled the scene of the crime, and has not been seen since, so we believe that the possessed has the ability to change into his human form at will.
Casero walked through the class as he explained, looking at the faces of the students. Luckily for Haro, he and June were practically at the back of the class, so the inspector would not have an easy time looking at him.
After finishing his explanation, the students seemed more confused than before. As far as they had explained from the news, the Geists could not transform back into humans until they died, so someone capable of doing so would certainly pose a new challenge to the police.
Even so, Haro had to restrain himself from saying anything about it. He knew they were talking about him, but there was no way he could transform himself at will. He was sure that the Geist who had possessed him had not left and would never return. Haro just wanted to forget what had happened, not continue thinking about it until college.
"We have the job of asking the university students for witnesses, so if anyone saw or heard anything strange last night near the university, contact the police" he finished explaining Casero. Before leaving, he gave the students one last look and his gaze crossed with Haro's for a few moments. For the sake of the student, the inspector continued his way and disappeared from the classroom together with the sub"inspector. Haro took a deep breath, as if he had been
holding his breath since the appearance of the militia officers. It seemed that he had gotten away with it. Now he only had to wait until the police forgot about the accident and then he could live in peace.
"Another Geist in town... It's crazy," said June, who seemed to be reflecting on what she had just heard. Strange as it seemed, her city was one of the country's largest possessions. In fact, she had even heard that the government was sending more police into the city so that she could have better control over the matter.
"You bet," replied Haro, slightly nervous. He began to reposition the chemical containers to try to slightly distract his head. He noticed out of the corner of his eye how June was looking at him.
"Hey, you didn't live west of campus?" asked the girl. Haro was distracted by June's very specific question, becoming instantly nervous.
Carelessly he spilled the container with sulfuric acid that he was handling, pouring the contents on the table and most importantly, on his hand.
"Haro!" shouted June as she witnessed the accident. It took the boy a few moments to react, but he quickly stepped away from the table and covered his acid"soaked hand, waiting for the severe pain to come. The rest of his classmates were already looking on in surprise and concern when June decided to act quickly. She grabbed Haro by the arm and ran him to the lab taps. In a few moments, the girl opened the tap and put Haro's hand under the water.
Both the other students in the lab and the professor quickly approached Haro and June, attracted by the scandal. Before they knew it, the students were talking about what had happened.
"Hey, hey, hey!" What's all the fuss about?" asked the teacher, making room for himself among the young gossips.
"It's Haro. Sulfuric acid has been... spilled on him," June replied, almost on the verge of tears. The girl was aware of how dangerous that substance was and was really upset about Haro.
Haro observed how the professor put on a scary face when he heard June's words. He knew that the sulfuric acid could dissolve his skin and cause severe burns, but he wasn't feeling any pain. Still, he was afraid to look at his affected hand. The professor took Haro's hand out of the water and examined it with a worried expression. After a few seconds, he looked at Haro in puzzlement.
"You have absolutely nothing," said the teacher. Both Haro and June, who had been avoiding looking at the hand, looked at it in disbelief.
"It's true," June said, looking puzzled as she ran her fingers through Haro's hand. She's not even irritated.
Haro sighed with relief to know that nothing had happened to him. Just seeing June upset, his heart had shrunk for a few seconds.
"I don't understand. I saw it fall into his hand," explained June.
"Are you sure it was sulphuric acid?" asked the professor.
Both lab partners looked at their table, where the chemist had also fallen. The sheets of paper and notebooks on top were now turning black and smoking from corrosion. The professor turned around, upset. Seeing what was happening, he ran to the table, thinking about what to do while scratching his head, nervously.
As the teacher tried to fix the mess Haro had made, June looked at her classmate in puzzlement. She looked at his hand again, and then at his eyes.
"How did you...?" June began to ask, but she knew that Haro didn't know the answer either. Haro also looked at his hand. At no time had he felt the burn that the acid should have given him, but he had clearly seen the liquid spill into his hand.
"Class is suspended. Everyone will pick up their things and leave. I have to fix this mess," announced the teacher. The students listened to him, some relieved that the class was over and others giving Haro uncomfortable looks because he had ruined the practice.
June, who was still holding Haro's hand, led them out of the class. Haro saw that he was clearly trying to understand what had happened. Before they could leave, Haro had a strange feeling. It was quite familiar, but slightly unpleasant at the same time. He noticed how the sensation passed from his chest to his entire torso and then to his extremities and head. When he looked at his arms to see what was happening, his blood froze. The same black and purple mass that had invaded him the day before was spreading again over his body. The Geist had returned.
Immediately upon realizing this, Haro let go of June's hand, which caused the girl to turn around to see what was going on. Upon seeing him, June's eyes opened like plates and she remained motionless. Some other students were also witnesses to what was happening.
"No, no, no, no... This can't be happening," Haro complained, looking at his extremities. As impossible as it seemed to him, he was being possessed again by the same Geist. He believed that, after possessing him once, the monster would leave, but it was the opposite. He was returning, and faster than the night before. In a few seconds he had already covered his extremities and was stretching toward his head. Despair began to take hold of the boy.
"Haro..." June called out to him in an almost imperceptible voice. Haro looked into her eyes before being consumed by the monster and said a word to her:" Run away".
Haro's field of vision became completely black. After a few seconds of expectation and strange sensations all over his body, the same image he had seen the previous night appeared in front of him. The Geist had opened his eyes.
The great black creature roared with intensity before striking the tables of the class. All the students screamed in terror and ran out of the classroom, including the teacher. Everyone except June. The monster's black eyes fixed on Haro's classmate, who had not moved a step. In her face there was certainly fear, but also other emotions that Haro could not manage to decipher.
Haro felt that the Geist was analyzing the girl. He didn't quite know why, but he didn't seem to want to attack her, which was a relief to him.
A few quick steps caught the attention of the monster, and also of Haro.
He didn't know how, but he could distinguish much better between all the sounds. The footsteps came from the corridor leading to the laboratory, but they were not moving away, but were coming towards them. In a few moments, two familiar figures entered the place. Casero and Mora, the inspectors who had interrupted the class a few minutes earlier, were now entering the lab again, except this time they were carrying guns.
Both policemen pointed their guns at him, ready to shoot him. Haro instantly realized what was going to happen. Even if the cops intended to aim at him, June, who was still baffled, was in the line of fire. In other circumstances, Haro would have thought that the cops would not shoot if there was an innocent man in danger, but that was not what was going to happen. Haro could see the eyes of Inspector Casero from the Geist. They were the eyes of someone who wanted to get his target at any cost, even if it meant killing June.
Almost instinctively, Haro made the Geist jump to where June was, covering her with his huge monster body. He extended his gigantic arms around the girl to prevent her from being hit by any bullet, and then the shooting began. Haro wasn't sure how, but although he could feel the bullets hitting the monster's back, he didn't feel any damage. It was as if those deadly weapons had become toy guns against the Geist.
Haro waited a few seconds for the shots to stop and then jumped out of the way of June. The girl stared at the Geist with analytical eyes, as if she were processing what had happened. As if she had run out of time to let Haro control her, Geist returned to his aggressive and threatening behavior. Because of the anger Haro could feel from inside the monster, it seemed that the shots had made him angry. The Geist began moving his arms back and forth, sending tables, chairs and everything in his path flying.
The police wasted no time in shooting the monster again. Although they could not harm him, Haro knew that the Geist intended to kill those policemen, and it was something he wanted to avoid. Using the" muscle" he had used a few moments earlier to protect June, Haro tried to make the monster move in the opposite direction from the cops. At first, his attempt to take control seemed to work. The Geist turned to face the cops, but it left him in front of a wall, cutting him off. With the control gone, Haro waited in fear to see how the monster would react. As if that were not an obstacle for the Geist, he raised his right fist and punched the wall hard, causing a huge roar. Surprisingly, the monster's strategy had seemed to work, as there was now a huge hole in the wall of the university, facing directly outside.
The Geist turned for a last moment to look at June, who was still in shock, and jumped out. Although the laboratories were on the third floor of the faculty, the Geist impacted the ground with his limbs, breaking the pavement around him and without him receiving any damage from the fall.
As usual, the outside of the faculty was full of students, who began to scream and run as soon as they saw the huge beast. Haro had been lucky enough not to have hurt anyone in the fall, but it seemed that that was as far as his luck went. Seeing so many different people and noises, the Geist began to get more furious. He roared with intensity, leaving anyone who wasn't already frightened. Haro wasn't sure he could control the monster's murderous impulses, but he would have to if he didn't want to hurt anyone. Haro grunted to himself. He would have had to go to the police even if the Geist had disappeared. If he had, nothing that was happening would have happened. But he hadn't, and now he had to face the consequences.
One of Geist's many roars was overshadowed by another sound coming from behind him. It was like a mixture of howling and grunting. Before he could turn around to see what had caused the sound, something pounced on the Geist from behind. Suddenly Haro felt a sharp pain in his left shoulder, which the monster seemed to feel as well. He moved his arm to try to hit whatever had
attacked him, but the creature had moved with incredible speed until it was in front of Haro.
Now that he could see it, Haro felt fear and confusion at the same time. In front of him was a creature much smaller than Haro's Geist, though several times larger than a person. It was whitish in color, and had a shape that was quite reminiscent of a wolf, although more monstrous in appearance. It had some sharp fangs, probably with what it had attacked Haro, and some fearsome claws as well. Having seen his own up close, Haro had no doubts. He was being attacked by another Geist.