Counter Attack

In an alternative universe wars are taking place between humans and ghouls. A thousand years ago, humans built a siege to keep the ghouls trapped inside and stop them from attacking human villages. Fifty years ago, the siege cracked, and ghouls flooded the human world, destroying many cities. They disguise themselves as humans or animals when they infiltrate cities. Then, they reveal their true forms, attack, and burn everything to the ground. Scientists built a barrier system to keep ghouls out, and governments trained warriors to use high-tech devices to fight them. The strongest group of warriors, who fought bravely for the last decade, are called the Knights of Askalan. They fought the battle that took place ten years ago, protecting their city from ghouls, and are now the heroes and protectors of the city. Ali is a 21-year-old fresh graduate. On the day of his graduation, he was having fun with his friends and taking pictures during the ceremony when ghouls attacked from the sea. Somehow they broke the barrier. His friends were killed while trying to escape. He went to check on his family, but two of his brothers had been killed while defending his mother and younger sister, and his father was injured. He tried to get them to safety amid the chaos, but they were trapped. So, he decided to sacrifice himself, leading the ghouls away from his family. The ghouls surrounded him and attacked one by one. Just as he thought he was finished, a system screen appeared, giving him a choice: start over the day with new armor or carry on and die.

They left him to die, now he'll bury them one by one Adam has always been invisible—the kind of kid who blends into the back of the classroom, mocked for his awkwardness and despised for a single mistake that branded him a snitch. His classmates made his life a living hell. Sanchez, the golden boy of Westfield High, made sure of it. Then came the field trip. The humiliation. The beating. And the moment Adam was left for dead in the woods. But Adam didn’t die. Something else found him. A malevolent spirit with a hunger for vengeance. A whisper in the dark offering him the one thing he craved most: power. Now Adam is back, sharper, stronger, and cloaked in a confidence no one can explain. One by one, his bullies begin to fall. The school watches in fear as the once-forgotten nerd becomes the center of a storm that no one can stop. Yet something is wrong. Each attack follows Adam’s secret plans exactly—but some of them aren’t his. Someone else is hunting Sanchez’s circle, striking in the shadows, pushing Adam’s bloody game further than even he imagined. Is it the mysterious new girl with the unnerving smile? A rival spirit playing its own cruel hand? Or is Adam himself losing control of the monster he invited in? As fear spreads and Sanchez grows desperate, Adam must untangle obsession, betrayal, and supernatural terror. Because in this game of revenge, the line between predator and prey is razor-thin— and Adam isn’t the only monster walking the halls.

Two weapons clanged. A sturdy long stick with a large mace on top was swayed aside by a strong female warrior. With her short reddish hair and a menacing yell, she trusted her chain mace towards a tall girl with a long pointy tail and protruding fangs. She barely dodged her attack, throwing her body to the ground of the arena. The audience behind the flimsy fence roared and cheered in a frenzy. They were packed tight around the rocky walls, thirsting for blood. The fallen girl heaved, holding her weapon tight. Standing up, she narrated, "Someone once joked 'Go to Heaven for the climate, Hell for the company'. Only fools can believe this to be true." Her opponent cackled with a smirk, ready for another attack. "Do you want to know what it's like down here? Well, let me tell you.” The woman in question entered this world as a very old and very ill woman. Surrounded by her loved ones, she closed her eyes and entered a hell-like dimension. It resembled a large city floating on a lake of lava, called Helltown. With very little resources, she had to find a way to survive. Luckily, there was hope. The woman used a spell to become a beautiful young woman with super strength. Disguised, she fought demons, escaped the slums, ended up in a brothel and then as a gladiator in an arena. With many enemies and shifty allies, she finally managed to catch a break and get to the top floors, where the intrigues truly start. Along the way, we learn more about her life on Earth and the possible reasons for her being there. Can she stay sane among such evil? What is Helltown, and does it affect the life on Earth? A lot, actually.

Silence. Like a nice bucket of shhhhhhhhh. Everyone shut the effing fudge UP! That's all I've ever wanted. *Sigh.* But silence comes in different flavors. There's mint - the peaceful kind that wraps around you like a blanket. The kind I chase at 2 AM. I've cried once. Just once. With a bucket beside me, watching heroes with super suits and impossible strength tear each other apart. Somehow that feels less broken than my reality. Then there's the suffocating silence at school. Not an ice cream flavor. This one tastes like metal and shame. High school is my personal hell. Empty wallet, empty lunch tray, empty seat beside me like I'm radioactive. Empty soul on Wednesdays because middles are always the worst. *The usual.* But Emily made the silence bearable. Mint-flavored again. Until she broke something between us. *Snap.* One moment she's whispering secrets with me, the next she's weaponizing them. She scattered my private thoughts, added her own twisted lies. The betrayal burns hotter than the stares drilling into my back. I went from invisible to spectacle. Being a ghost feels like luxury when you're dodging spit balls and "accidental" lunch trays. But somewhere between my third panic attack and contemplating switching schools... *Something shifted.* Like in those games you play, when your character suddenly glows and the screen flashes: "New Skill Unlocked" And it wasn't just in my head. I tested it. Small things at first – a pencil moving across my desk when I focused hard enough. Then books. Then someone's lunch tray right as they walked past Emily. *tap tap tap* I used to think rock bottom was the end. *Well ladies and gentlemen,* it's just a really messed up spawn point. And now? I don't stumble from cliffs anymore. I swim in gravity, and dive head first.