Alarm screamed.
Israel shot upright in bed, his heart beating heavily, sweat dripping down his face.
"Woah… that was a terrible dream," Israel muttered.
He stood up slowly and walked into the bathroom, turning on the shower. Cold water poured over his body as he washed himself, trying to calm his racing thoughts.
Suddenly, he felt dizzy.
"My head hurts…" he said quietly. "I shouldn't go to class today."
He sighed.
"But I won't hear the end of it from Abdul. He'll chew me raw."
After finishing his bath, Israel dried himself and began putting on his uniform.
A knock came at the door.
"Hey, son… are you awake?" his mother asked.
"Yeah, yeah. I'm putting on my uniform," Israel replied.
The door opened slightly.
"Are you sure you should be getting ready for school?" his mom asked, concern in her voice.
"Why not, Mom?" Israel said, forcing a small smile.
"Well, because of….."
Before she could finish, the sound of the school bus horn echoed outside.
"Oh damn—the bus is here!" Israel said quickly.
"Love you, Mom!" he shouted as he rushed out of the room.
"Israel, wait—" his mother called.
Israel ran downstairs.
"Good morning, Pops," he said.
"Morning, son," his dad replied.
Israel dashed out of the house and headed for the bus.
His father turned to his mother, worry etched across his face.
"Are you sure he should be going to school?" he asked.
She hesitated, staring at the door.
"I'm not even sure he should be out of bed…"
⸻
"Are you sure he'll be okay?" Abdul asked, worry written all over his face.
"She said he will be," Ben replied.
"I hope so," Abdul said quietly. "We should go visit him after class."
Ben hummed thoughtfully.
"Knowing him… he'll probably come to school. And if he does, he'll act like everything's normal."
As he spoke, Ben's eyes drifted forward.
Tari sat in the front seat, just like always
calm, silent, unreadable.
Ben frowned slightly, watching her.
"Hey yoo, fellas—God's perfection is here!"
Israel shouted as he walked into the classroom, spreading his arms dramatically.
"Hell yeah, bro!" Ben and Abdul shouted back, laughing.
"I'll let you call yourself that, Mr. Self-Proclaimed God Perfection," Abdul said, smirking.
"Nah," Israel grinned. "I am God Perfection."
They burst out laughing.
"You three troublemakers—go to your seats!" the teacher screamed.
Israel, Ben, and Abdul rushed to their seats, still laughing playfully.
Before the teacher could begin the lesson, he slammed his hand on the desk.
"Before I start teaching today, I need to give some warnings."
Abdul leaned toward Israel and whispered, "This warning is because of you two. You both know that, right?"
"Because of us?" Israel whispered back, confused. "What did we do?"
"Oh, don't act like you don't know," Abdul muttered.
"You three—stand up!" the teacher barked angrily.
Israel and his friends jumped to their feet.
Israel whispered urgently, "What did we do again to piss off Mr. Princewill?"
The teacher turned to the class.
"Class, look at these three fools here. Because of them, we will not be going on any more field trips."
The class erupted into noise.
"Yeah! Those three fools almost got themselves killed!"
"We should call them The Three Foolish Boys," one classmate shouted.
The whole class burst into laughter.
"Wait—what?" Israel said, genuinely confused. "I don't understand."
Abdul turned to him sharply. "Wait… you really don't remember?"
"I'll tell you after class," Ben whispered, tapping Israel's arm.
The teacher continued, his voice sharp.
"If not for our wonderful class rep, Tari—who came to call me and Mr. John—how would we have known you three fell into a sinkhole?"
Ben and Abdul bowed slightly. "We're sorry, sir."
Israel stood there, still lost.
"Three foolish boys!" another student shouted.
"Stop that, Luckiry," Abdul snapped.
"You can sit now, fools," the teacher said.
The class laughed again as they sat down.
Israel leaned toward Abdul, whispering, "Did that really happen?"
"Yeah," Abdul replied. "You ran into the woods. Me and Ben followed you. You must've hit your head really bad to forget all that."
"Really?" Israel whispered, turning to Ben.
Ben slowly shook his head—but didn't say a word.
Israel sighed. "Wow… so my love came to my rescue, and I don't even remember. Damn."
"Don't call that witch that," Ben muttered under his breath.
Israel heard him. "Why would you call her that, dude? She saved us."
"I'll tell you after class," Ben replied, turning away angrily.
Israel turned back toward Tari, smiling softly.
"I'm glad she was there to save us," he thought, love clear in his eyes as he almost blushed.
"Stop that," Ben snapped.
"Stop what?" Israel asked.
"You really like her, huh?" Abdul whispered with a grin.
Israel smiled.
"You two—stop," Ben said angrily.
Some hours passed.
Tari turned slightly in her seat and glanced toward the back of the classroom.
Her eyes met Israel's for a brief second
Then she quickly faced forward again.
"Wait… did Tari just look at me?" Israel asked, smiling to himself.
"In your dreams," Abdul replied, teasing him.
"I said you two should stop talking about her," Ben snapped, glaring at them angrily.
"What did she even do to you?" Abdul replied. "You know if not for her, we would have died down there."
"Yeah, right," Ben muttered.
Suddenly
"My head—!"
Israel screamed, clutching his head as dizziness washed over him. His body gave way, and he collapsed to the floor.
"Israel!" Abdul shouted.
"Are you okay?!" Ben asked, panic in his voice.
"My head hurts," Israel groaned. "It feels like my heart is about to explode…"
Before anyone could react
Tari rushed toward them.
"Stay back!" Ben shouted at her.
"Let me look at him," she replied calmly.
"I said stay back!" Ben repeated.
"Bro, stop," Abdul said urgently. "Let her check him—he's in pain."
Ben hesitated. "Fine… but don't do anything funny."
Tari knelt down beside Israel and placed her hand gently on his chest.
Her expression darkened.
"One of the beasts is coming," she said.
"Everyone needs to get out of this classroom."
"What?" Ben and Abdul said at the same time.
"What beast?" Abdul asked.
"Those things from yesterday…" Ben whispered, panic creeping into his voice as his hands trembled. "It's coming."
"What beast?" the teacher asked, confused.
Before anyone could respond
BOOM!
Something burst through the ceiling, crashing into the classroom.
Students screamed in terror, rushing for the exits.
Chaos erupted.
As they fled, the creature slashed wildly
Blood splattered across the floor and walls.
"GRRRR… I hate noise," the beast growled.
Students fell as it attacked, screams echoing everywhere.
The hallway emptied.
"That's much better," the beast said, laughing.
"RAAWR—hahaha!"
The monster turned slowly toward Israel.
"Oh… there it is," it said with a wicked smile.
"The seal."
Ben's eyes widened.
The beast lunged toward Israel
But before it could touch him
Tari caught its arm mid-strike.
"Hey, you asshole," Tari said coldly. "What do you think you want to do to him?"
Abdul stared in shock. "H-how did she do that…?"
"She's bad news," Ben muttered. "She killed Israel yesterday."
"What?!" Abdul whispered frantically. "That's not—then how is he here?"
The beast snarled.
"GRRR… you must be the MALAIkA that killed Orimeta," it said to Tari.
"Oh? Are you here to take revenge?" Tari replied, smirking.
"I don't know… you vile, disgusting creatures even have feelings."
The beast jumped back, laughing.
"Oh no, no, don't get me wrong," it said.
"I was going to kill them myself. I hated that three-headed fool."
Its eyes locked onto Israel again.
"I need to destroy that seal," the beast growled.
"You'll have to go through me," Tari replied calmly.
Abdul swallowed hard.
"Why… why is he calling Israel the seal?" he whispered.
"You two—take Israel outside," Tari said to Ben and Abdul.
Before they could move
The beast dashed forward with lightning speed.
But Tari caught its hands before it could reach Israel.
BOOM!
The impact created a violent gust of wind that blasted Israel, Abdul, and Ben backward, throwing them across the classroom.
They crashed into desks and walls as the force tore through the air.
The beast snarled.
Tari didn't flinch.
The two of them began exchanging blows
Fists colliding like thunder.
Each strike shattered walls, ripped through classrooms, and sent chunks of concrete flying.
The school trembled violently.
Windows exploded.
Floors cracked.
Entire sections of the building collapsed as they fought
Their battle tearing through the school without restraint.
The beast smiled.
"You're a strong one," it said, clashing with Tari again and again, each impact shaking what remained of the school.
Then suddenly
It jumped back.
"I need to get serious with you," the beast growled.
"My time here is almost up."
In the next instant, it vanished.
A shockwave ripped through the air
The beast reappeared and punched Tari at the speed of light.
BOOM!
Her body was sent flying through multiple buildings, smashing through walls and floors like paper.
"GRRR—HAHAHA!" the beast laughed wickedly as Tari crashed again and again.
"Not so tough now, are you?" it sneered.
The beast grabbed her mid-air and slammed her to the ground.
Bruises covered her body.
She coughed out blood.
"GRRR—HAHA!" the beast laughed again, enjoying her pain.
Ben and Abdul lay on the ground nearby, their bodies broken from being thrown into the walls earlier.
Bones twisted.
Pain etched across their faces.
They watched helplessly as the beast tortured Tari.
Unable to move.
Unable to help.
Then—
Something changed.
A bright golden light began to glow from Israel.
The air grew heavy.
The ground trembled once more.
And the light kept growing.
"The beast turns towards Israel. 'The Seal is awakening,' the beast said, as his smile slowly faded."
TO BE CONTINUED....