Bab 4: Trouble

It was as though they were waiting for the right opportunity to strike and the moment the teacher left the class, one of the students who could no longer exercise his patience slammed his fist on the desk in front of him and stood up.

"Hey!" He said, glaring at Alex and drawing the attention of all the other members of the class. "Who do you think you are? Acting all high and mighty, even making Master Kelvin like you especially, just who the fuck do you think you are!" The boy yelled in anger.

Because his hate was pretty much obvious, Alex had to turn to look at him, wondering why the boy didn't like him. He was not much of a talker so after staring at the boy for some seconds, he returned his gaze to the board in front of the class.

No one liked being ignored so the boy got so upset that he left his seat and stormed to Alex's own. Standing in front of Alex, he rolled his sleeves, ready to engage in a fight.

"Stand up and fight me! If you don't, I'll beat you to a pulp!" He said to Alex who still ignored him and tried to look elsewhere since his view was already blocked. "Trying to avoid fighting with me? Doesn't that mean you are weak, idiot!" The boy taunted Alex with a smug look on his face.

Hearing the word weak, Alex turned for the second time to look at the boy but this time around, it was different. Something about him didn't sit right. "I dare you to say that again," he said to the boy. This was the first time he was answering the boy — the look in his eyes, the heaviness of his voice, no one could understand what was happening. He was a whole new person from that moment.

"What are you going to do about it, weak ass!" The boy repeated and in the next second, Alex stood up and raised his hand to hit him.

"Stop!" One of the students yelled and Alex abruptly halted.

He tried hitting the boy again but he couldn't so he brought down his hand, glanced at the boy who shouted stop and then quietly walked out of the class.

"What was that, Raphael?" The boy who insulted Alex asked, glaring at the boy who shouted stop. "You should have allowed us to fight it out!" He grunted, displeased by the sudden interference.

The boy whose name was Raphael took out a piece of paper and pen and wrote down something which he showed the angry boy.

"Win me with just one blow? How is that fucking possible!" He yelled, not able to believe what Raphael wrote down.

Seeing that he wasn't ready to accept the truth, Raphael shrugged his shoulders and walked back to his seat.

"Damn it!" The boy grunted and went back to his seat in anger.

Outside the class, Alex saw an empty bench under a tree and decided to go there. He was having a complicated feeling because of what happened in the class and as such he wanted a quiet place to sit and think. Sitting under the tree, he felt more relaxed and the cool breeze soothed him, he wished the people around him would be like the cool breeze.

"Hey," Kelvin called as he approached him. He walked straight to where he was and sat down next to him. "You look troubled, what is it?" He asked him.

"They don't like me," Alex replied.

"Aww, is that why you are sad?" Kelvin asked him.

"I'm not sad about it. I'm just scared of hurting them in the process of trying to save myself or trying to ignore them," Alex replied. Just like in the class when he tried to attack the boy, he knew that wasn't his doing but the doing of the demon inside of him. The demon is capable of taking control of his body and doing things on his own, this was a big problem on his side because it could cause him unwanted troubles in the future.

"Just like you did in the class? Well... I can't say for sure, kids can be hostile towards each other, things like these are inevitable so just try as much as possible to ignore as much as you can," Kelvin said to him. "Don't worry, I'll be around to help you," he added, seeing the unsettled look on his face.

Alex sighed and gazed at the entrance of his class, he saw one of the students coming out and pointed at him. "Who is he and why does he have both sides of his mouth stitched?" He asked Kelvin who looked towards the entrance and saw Raphael.

"Oh, him? Well... the thing is that he can't talk all the time," he replied.

"But he was the reason —"

"The reason you suddenly halted and didn't attack the other kid, right?"

"Yes."

"That's because he used his ability on you. Let me explain his ability to you... Once he opens his mouth to say something, anyone within the range of his attack is forced to do as he says. For example, if he tells you to die, run, or blow away, you will be forced to either die, run, or be blown away. This is how his power works," Kelvin explained.

"It's powerful," Alex mumbled.

"Sure it is but it comes with a heavy price," Kelvin said.

"Which is?" Alex asked him.

"Because of the graveness of this ability, he can not communicate with other people or he may end up hurting or killing someone unknowingly. As a result of this, he isolates himself and spends more time in the library or some quiet places."

"Okay... So, is he heading to the library now?" Alex him.

"Yes, I think he is," Kelvin replied.

"I also need to go to the library," Alex said and suddenly stood up.

"Huh? What for?" Kelvin asked him, standing up as well.

"I like quiet places," he replied and turned and walked away.

"Be careful—" Kelvin said but stopped along the line.