11

Beyond the Veil: Kiran's Supernatural Hunt

Chapter 11: The Story of Ten Years Ago [1]

The world had started to change drastically over twenty years ago; one by one, countries implemented mandatory military service, and citizens' obligations for disasters increased, as if everyone were being prepared for something.

Kiran didn't know when it began; rather, he didn't know it fully right now. The only thing he was imagining was a very amusing scene that, for some reason, ignited in his memories—something that made him very happy.

"Those times..."

Ten years ago, the scorching summer sun beat down on high school students. For many of them, the last thing they wanted to do after a long day of studying was stay at school, preferring to go home or enjoy some fun activities with friends. But that day, something terrible was happening at the co-ed high school, forcing students to stay at school.

A student was causing a great commotion, one that required police and firefighters' intervention. Patrol cars and ambulance sirens wailed on the nearby streets as they headed towards the school.

On-site, police and firefighters worked frantically to keep the situation under control. A police car rapidly approached the school entrance, sirens blaring. Inside, Detective Chief Colin asked, stretching to relieve the pain in his back, "Damn hellish pain, I need information on the student. How's the situation around?"

The driving officer assessed Colin for a brief moment before quickly explaining, "His name is Kiran Jones; he is eighteen years old, and apparently, he was the star baseball player in the minor leagues before injuring his knee. As for the surroundings, we're following the established protocol; students and faculty remain in their respective classrooms until everything is resolved."

Colin was puzzled. "Kiran? Like Baba Yaga? Isn't that a foreign name?"

The officer beside him coughed to disguise his laughter and said, "That's John... Besides, we're in a co-ed school. Student Kiran Jones, like many, lived abroad, but his mother is Korean. He moved back to the country and naturalized shortly before his mother passed away."

Colin wanted to make sure external factors, like bullying, weren't influencing Kiran's decision to take his own life. Throughout his career, he has investigated cases where bullying and psychological abuse were part of the catastrophic decisions some students are forced to make.

The officer reported that Kiran had no relatives in South Korea, and the scholarship provided for his athletic talent had been withdrawn due to his injury. Combined with the pressure of sporting success, it had been enough for Kiran to reach this desperate situation.

When they arrived at the scene, Colin took the megaphone handed to him by a police officer and began talking to Kiran, who was sitting on the edge of the building.

"John Wi***! Cof* Kiran Jolins!"

"Kiran Jones, sir!" Reminded the police officer close to Colin's ear, holding the megaphone after hearing him mispronounce the name.

"Eh? Get out of here, damn it, quickly!"

After scolding the officer who interrupted him, Detective Colin shouted, "Kiran Jones! I was in the minor leagues just like you, so I know how you feel right now, and as an old man with backaches, let me tell you that the decision you're about to make is a mistake."

"Well, you can come down from that dangerous place so we can talk calmly and solve your problem."

While the detective was talking, Kiran, who had his foot in a cast and bandages hanging in the air, seeing all the commotion he was causing, responded with a low voice while swinging his feet, "Talk to me from down there."

Kiran didn't have the motivation right now, and seeing all the fuss he was making, he seriously considered jumping from this building and forgetting all the problems that were currently suffocating his chest.

"What is he saying? What did he say?" Colin asked the officers next to him, bewildered.

"He said, Talk from down there."

"Then give him a megaphone too, so he can hear you. Damn it!" Colin was losing his mind at how slowly everything was unfolding. One mistake, and the student on the rooftop would jump off the building, and there would be ketchup all over the school exit.

"No, I'll go up there," said Colin, looking at the police officer, then looking at Kiran and saying through the megaphone, "Wait a moment, I'll talk to you up there."

"Where are the stairs?"

"What stairs?"

"Quick, damn it."

...

In a classroom in front of the building where Kiran was sitting, a bored student lifted her head from the desk and murmured, "I can't believe he's still up there."

"Focus on your book." The classroom teacher murmured while ignoring all the commotion outside.

Later, the teacher mentioned a study claiming that concentration is so powerful that one wouldn't hear a bomb exploding nearby. The student, named Emma, asked, "Teacher, why are we still here when the class has already ended? Anyway, it's impossible to create a study environment with the commotion outside."

"Emma, if all the students in this school rush out like heartless humans just to go home, as if we don't care about what's happening right now, would Kiran be happy? He's already stressed and upset about his situation; we shouldn't blame that student for what's happening and give him our support by staying in the classroom."

Not satisfied, the teacher raised his eyes from his book for the first time and pointed, "Listen to everything I have to say, and I want you to know it very well before opening your mouth again... If by chance Kiran saw us leaving school and suddenly decided to jump, then do you really all want to leave now or continue studying in this place?"

After a brief silence, the teacher asked, as if he had resolved all the objections, "Do you understand now?"

"I'm sure you have a great study environment at home!" The teacher looked at the girl, desperate to go home, and then he understood that rumors about her were due to the fact that this girl had no desire in her life.

"Can we leave if he comes down?" Emma asked with a bored voice, not paying attention to her teacher's words. Although she understood some of what her teacher was referring to, her life was already tough enough to endure the problems of other annoying students seeking attention. It's not that she lacked empathy; it's just that she had many problems lately that prevented her from empathizing with everyone around her.

"Yes, you can go straight home when Kiran decides to come down," the teacher replied with a bored voice, lowering his gaze back to the book in his hands.

"The police are negotiating with him as we speak. Don't irritate me and go back to sleep, study, or play with your cellphone."

Just as Emma was about to go back to sleep, the teacher said with a fake voice and a mocking tone, "You've been studying here much longer than most. It must be stressful for you; you just need to focus."

Emma raised her hand and quickly said, "I need to go to the bathroom." Without waiting for the teacher's response, she immediately got up and walked towards the classroom door.

The only thing she couldn't stand was being mocked about her academic results because she repeated the year twice. No one knew her well enough to have the right to talk about her private life, let alone criticize her about it.

The repetition of the year is often perceived as a failure and can generate feelings of shame, isolation, and stress in students. But Emma didn't care about this; what she couldn't stand was how others used this fact to talk about her and secretly mock her—even the teachers did, making it a very sensitive issue for her.

However, Emma understood that to avoid causing a commotion that would ruin her life even more, she always left the place long before she exploded in anger and caused problems for her future, which was already difficult until now.

"I told you not to make me lose my patience!"

"Well, as long as you're quiet..." The teacher murmured without worry.

"Listen, everyone, focus. Concentrate on your studies." The teacher calmed his students.

...

Meanwhile, firefighters started to climb the stairs of the building where Kiran was sitting on the rooftop.

"Hoo... Hoo... Hoo... Damn stairs, my back, damn it." Detective Colin, after ten minutes, climbed the stairs of the building.

The reason he took so long was due to his poor physical endurance and the fact that he had previously attached a certain device to his waist as a safety measure in case he needed to act quickly.

The firefighters were doing their job just below, but they weren't ready yet, so he tried to buy them time, but he knew there was no guarantee that Kiran wouldn't try to jump now.

"Here I go, yes!"

As he was approaching Kiran, Colin tripped on the same rope that was on his waist. His gaze went to the police officers and firefighters crowded at the rooftop door.

Colin looked at Kiran and said, trying to take control of the situation as the negotiator. "Hey kid, I promise to make sure you fully recover from your knee problem; it shouldn't be that bad."

"I was striving to be professional; I focused so much on my physical condition that I started neglecting studies. Tell me, How do I survive in the future in a country where the demand for studies and getting into a good university is what matters?"

"Well, I understand; if I can't help you, I'll help you become a detective. Trust me and come down from there." Persuading the stubborn student once again, Colin spoke nervously.

"I don't want to be a police officer." Kiran said as he moved from where he was sitting.

"Oh, well, wait!" Seeing Kiran trying to jump, or that's what it seemed like to Detective Colin, he couldn't help but shout nervously to draw attention and prevent the young student from jumping.

Colin didn't want to remember in the future that he couldn't save a student, and definitely, if something goes wrong, it will be a black mark on his dreams from now on.

"This is getting out of control. Call the firefighters below and tell them to get ready because the student will probably jump." A firefighter looked at the strange way the detective was communicating, so he preferred to be prepared than face a tragedy.