Chapter 2
The next morning, Leo woke with a knot in his stomach. He still remembered the shadow he had seen the previous afternoon, and something inside him told him it hadn't been his imagination. As soon as he opened his eyes, a shiver ran down his spine and a faint tingling crawled through his hands: the first sign that something was near.
As he got dressed, the air in his room felt denser than usual. The shadows in the corners of the walls seemed to stretch and move, even though sunlight poured strongly through the window. A murmur reached his ears, soft, barely audible:
"Leo… Leo…"
Leo spun around abruptly. His heart began to pound, and his legs shook. There was no one there. Just his backpack resting on the chair, still… yet he felt it strangely "alive," as if something invisible was playing with it. That sensation—that the environment itself was charged with energy—was another sign: something malevolent was manifesting, something he could sense instinctively.
He decided he couldn't stay at home any longer. He needed air, he needed to move, even if it meant facing something he didn't understand. As he walked to school, his heart still raced, and every shadow, every tree, every corner along his path seemed to watch him. The temperature dropped a few degrees for no apparent reason, and the wind began to blow strangely, as if something invisible followed him. All of these were signs his grandmother had taught him to recognize: changes in the environment, chills, presences that cannot be seen.
Upon arriving at the schoolyard, everything seemed normal at first glance. Children played, ran, and laughed. But Leo could sense the energy flowing in the place and detected a disturbance: one child's backpack hovered, floating in the air before opening and spilling its books to the ground. The others didn't notice. Only he could see the objects move unnaturally and feel the presence of the cursed energy that controlled them.
His heart raced, but this time he didn't run. He remembered what his grandmother had said: "If your skin tingles and the air feels different, and you see something that shouldn't be there… that is Cursed Energy." He took a deep breath and decided to act. He recalled an old story about a mischievous spirit who had learned to live alongside humans and began to narrate it quietly.
The backpack paused for a moment. Leo felt a subtle vibration in the air, like a pulse responding to his words. Everything fell silent. The books dropped one by one, causing no harm. Leo felt a strange vertigo and a deep relief: he had managed to influence the cursed energy using his gift, though he still didn't fully understand how it worked.
"What the hell are you doing?" Nando asked, appearing behind him with his usual mocking grin. "You look like a clumsy magician in a ghost circus."
Leo wanted to explain, but he knew it would be useless: humans who cannot perceive cursed energy would never understand it. Before he could answer, a small murmur arose from behind the trees in the yard. Something dark and agile was watching him: a minor spirit, aware of his presence. Leo's skin tingled again; a shiver ran down his spine. The temperature dropped slightly, and a strange, damp smell floated in the air—signs that cursed energy was concentrated there.
"We have company," Leo whispered, pointing toward the shadow among the trees.
Nando furrowed his brow and stepped closer, this time without teasing. The shadow emerged: a mischievous spirit, small but unsettling, floating and subtly changing shape. Its eyes glowed with a faint reddish hue, like tiny embers. Leo felt fear, yes, but also determination. He remembered his grandmother's instructions: observe, learn, and, if you can, use your mind to influence them.
He took a deep breath and began narrating another story, this time about a playful spirit who learned to live in harmony with humans. The shadow flickered, pulsed for a moment, and then vanished. Everything returned to normal. Leo dropped to his knees, exhausted, but with a new feeling: his gift worked, and he could control it with practice.
When the bell rang for classes to begin, Leo felt both drained and relieved. His first encounter with a spirit outside his home had taught him something crucial: Cursed Energy not only existed, but he could interact with it. His heart still pounded, but now with excitement: he knew his life would never be the same.
"I can't believe you're telling me you saw that," Nando muttered as they entered the classroom. "But… well, if something really ugly ever shows up, I promise I won't laugh. At least not too much."
Leo smiled faintly. Grateful for his brother, he knew that most of the world could not understand what he saw. As he sat down, he heard a faint, barely perceptible murmur drifting across the classroom, repeating his name: only he noticed it. A reminder: someone—or something—was watching him.