"Superpowers… Something we could only find in fictional stories, comics, movies and the like .
How many kids do dream about becoming the next superman and wield unfathomable powers to fight against the villains and save the world?
I, myself, used to be one of those wishful kids.
So imagine my shock, when I discovered that those fantastic powers that belongs to the imaginary world were in fact a reality .
Today, my worldview changed once more.
Patient 003 who is now in phase four, attempted to escape amid one of his routine tests.
The guards immediately caught him but they didn't expect his arms to suddenly grow thorns.
Yes, you didn't read wrong , real thorns as thick as a human's thumb sprout up from his skin.
He really took us by surprise. The guard never expected this kind of resistance.
Yet even with his new found power, patient 003 couldn't escape nor hold his ground against the guards' stun guns.
Thankfully, no casualties were sustained and no one was severally injured throughout the incident.
After another round of test, conducted under strict security protocols.
No anomaly was detected in the patient's body. No changes at all. Nothing that could explain the what and how the earlier events happened.
We finally agreed and concluded that the ability to grow thorns was giving to the patient by the Specter in him .
I accepted the fact that Specters exists, after all our world had a variety of folk stories and legendary tales about possession and spirit.
But now, reality had once again stumped me.
Humans can now break through their limits and gain nature defying abilities.
I'm exhilarated, quivering with excitement.
I'm looking forward to the future surprises the Specters have in store for humanity .
Dr.Moon , Journal of the unknown
Page 4
To be continued …."
The next day ,
The day of Logan's trial.
Many citizens gathered in front of the court shouting that justice must be uphold.
As soon as the prisoner transport vehicle arrived , they lashed out and threw trash at Logan.
Curses, shouts, cries.
The few meters between the bus and the court entrance felt like a ten kilometres long path to Logan.
After much efforts, the guards managed to squeeze him out of the crowd and take him before the judge.
The rest was like a play.
The judge and prosecutor recited their lines skilfully even his lawyer was in with them.
In the end , Logan was sentenced to twenty years in jail , due to his young age and it beings his first offence .
However, the public strongly voiced their disagreement.
How can they let such a monster alive? Oh, it's the system, well let trash this said system then.
Protests arose and many angry figures showed up . Yet nothing changed , the sentence was kept and the request for retrial was rejected .
It had been a really tense period, especially for the police.
The order enforcers had a tough time keeping the crowd under control .
The mayor and police chief had to step up and quell the population anger .
After a few days , most of the voices quietened down and the general public cooled down their resentment .
Meanwhile, the target of all this hatred, Logan , was sent to Ricken two days after his trial.
Ricken Prison had many levels the lower the level the more dangerous the individuals kept in were.
Once Logan was sent there, he went through a physical check-up and a row of questioning.
Then he was asked to shower and put on the Prison red uniform .
They put a metallic bracelet around his neck.
Then with hands and feet handcuffed, he was escorted by two big guards to an elevator.
One of the guards swept his card on the panel and said "Zone F"
The elevator immediately started moving down .
Logan looked at the shifting letters on the panel .
'Level B? is it the second underground level ?'
Logan kept watching the letter shifting going from A to B then C , while the guards behind him just kept quiet , even their breathing was inaudible . That's scarred Logan .
Tic!
When the letter F flashed up, the elevator stopped .
'Wait, if the one above is the seventh , so we are on the eighth underground floor, just how many floor does this prion have ?'
The elevator door slid open revealing a white painted corridor.
In the middle stood an ironed bar door with two guards on standby .
The guard behind Logan swept again his card and the door opened with a loud beep.
Longan was led to another door at the end of the corridor , the guard didn't need his card to open it but directly turned the doorknob and pushed it open .
Inside was another long corridor however , it was larger much larger, large enough to have square shaped glass cells on each side .
Their were prisoner inside too. Each wearing the same red uniform as Logan. The only difference was that among them Logan seemed like a sheep in a wolf pack.
They were all intimidating.
Bulging well build bodies, piercing cold eyes, threatening atmosphere.
Every cell in Logan body cried danger.
Those guys should never be messed with.
"Hey , a new lamb came in" A prisoner shouted out.
"Welcome boy to our family" A middle aged man said with a grin " we are going to take good care of you"
The moment Logan glanced at him , the man's dark pupil expended engulfing the whole eye .
"AHHH" Logan screamed and instinctively tried to distance himself from the cell , however the guards behind him immediately reacted and held him on the ground
"His eyes! His eyes are black!" Logan ignored the pain and just shouted.
His shout was loud enough to be heard throughout the hall.
"Puhahhaha" Laughters echoed from different cells .
"Is this boy serious ?"
"Oh my , look how frightened he his , if he is an actor he truly deserve an Oscar"
One after another prisoners mocked Logan .
"Do they throw rookies in now ?"
"Don't be afraid boy" the man from earlier smiled his eyes as dark as the abyss, creepily staring at Logan "We are all family here"
"Monster!" Logan screamed again.
The two guard ignored Logan struggles and pleas to not leave him there and pushed him to cell number 12 before uncuffing him and leaving without voicing a single word .
"Wait , wait , you saw it too , right ? he isn't human , don't leave me here" Logan hit the glass wall in hope to attract the guards' attention.
But again he was treated like air, totally ignored.
Another vague of laughters followed . Today the prisoners seemed pleased with the fun show .
Well, it's not something they could enjoy everyday.
The prisoners joked and mocked him further .
Logan sat on the ground, blocking his ears with his hands .
He didn't want to hear them , he didn't want to be here , why must he go through this? WHY ?
Maybe a passing deity took pity of him and granted his wish, as the turmoil died down abruptly.
Even Logan was curious as why they suddenly quietened down .
The cell in front of him was empty, so Logan turned his head to the one on the right, the prisoner inside was curled under his blanket, it was the same for the one on his left .
"Hi" A voice came from above.
Logan lifted up his head , right above his cell he could see the cell above .
The prisoner inside was a young man with long blond hair tied in a low ponytail. He was sitting on his bed looking down at Logan .
"I'm Jayson" The young man said with smile "What your name newcomer ?"
He seemed friendly a great contrast to the other prisoners, however it only made Logan warier. The most dangerous are always the one who hid their true intentions well.
But Logan didn't wish to offend this young man , who knows what he might do to him. After all everyone here is a criminal . People who have done evil before.
"Logan"
"Nice to meet you , Logan" The young man's smile widened "If you don't mind me asking , are you a phase 3, Logan ?"
'Phase 3 ? what's that?' Logan didn't know what he meant .
"I don't understand what you are saying" Logan lowered his gaze, afraid that the young man might get angered by his answer.
"Oh, you don't know ?"The young man raised an eyebrow "You can't be a phase 2 ? No , if it was the case, why would they bring you down here? Anyways ,you know at least what a possessed is, right?"
Logan was confused, not sure why Jayson suddenly asked this question , nonetheless he took a moment to think and answered "A-a possessed is a person with an evil spirit inside his body ?"
"Well , I'm not referring to the possessed we find in movies and novels" The young man saw the puzzled look on Logan face and couldn't help but sigh and curse at the people who decided to throw in a clueless boy in this hell.
'This boy won't last long in here' the young man immediately concluded in his heart .
"Logan , Listen carefully , as I'm in a pretty good mood today , I'll explain some things to you"
In facts, Jayson has nothing better to do and decided to toy a little with the boy.
"Open your ears wide and don't interrupt me, I hate being interrupted when I speak"
Logan gulped nervously and fixed his attention on Jayson .
"In this world , exist supernatural creatures that we call Specters, they are quiet similar to the spirit you talked about earlier ,they can possess a human being and make him do whatever they wished him to do, however before reaching that phase the possessed go through two beginner phases , phase1 starts when the Specter enters the human body and nests in it , phase 2 begins when the possessed's behaviours start to get influenced by the Specter , someone with a quiet personality suddenly became violent or a calm person getting frequent anger issues , incident of the sort"
Jayson paused for a few seconds, letting Logan digest the new information before continuing in his casual tone.
"Then comes phase 3 , in this phase usually the host discovers the Specter's existence and can even communicate with it , that's why it's really strange that you don't know anything , don't you feel something different about your body ?"
Logan shook his head then lifted up his hand.
"Yes , want to say something ?"
"Why is it strange that I'm not a phase 3 ?"
The young man looked at Logan with pity "That's because everyone here is at least phase 3 or above"
"You mean…" Logan opened his eyes wide .
"That's right" Jayson's whole eyes turned an abysmal black " Every person on level F is a possessed"
"Ah!" Logan took a step back subconsciously, horrified.
"Don't worry" Jayson's eyes reverted back to normal" If they put you in here , you must be a possessed too"
The statement that was meant to comfort Logan , threw him into a deeper sea of despair .
'I-I'm a possessed ? I 'm carrying something in my body? When , who , HOW ????'
"There must be a mistake , I didn't experience the phases you talked about" Logan cried out.
"That's really unusual, yes"
Logan's eyes shone with conviction. Yes, a mistake ,that's definitely a mistake .
"I said unusual not impossible" The young man laid on his bed "Those cases are pretty rare , but I heard that some Specters once they enter their hosts, they go into a slumber , so the possessed can easily appear like a normal human being.
Once the Specter woke up phase 2 starts"
'and in your position , that's not a good thing'
Jayson didn't said the rest of his sentence out loud, the boy will soon discover the harsh truth through his stay in Ricken .
'When it wakes up …'
Logan's legs trembled, he went to the bed and collapsed down.
He was sentences for a crime he didn't even commit and now they say that there is a monster hidden inside his body.
How can his seemingly ordinary life turn into such a mess in just a few days ?
"Why.." Logan mumbled under his breath "Why me ?"