Merlyn High School was a pretty place to study. That was what Ken thought. Then again he had never been to a school ever in his life. He was home schooled in Japan from his father. His father taught him Japanese and English which was coming very handy here in New York. New York was a good place but it was very busy. It was jammed full of people unlike back in Japan where he lived. He lived in a small village. His father had a lake house about 3 kms far from the nearest village. He spent all his childhood near a lake. Now the sudden move to New York. He hated it. His father still didn't tell him why they moved. It messed up his life. But he was always taught to be positive and think positive. He had to take this in a positive way. He still needed to adjust then he will deal with the positivity. He hadn't made any friends. There were a couple of boys he was friends with and that was all.

Today was the 1st of November. Last night the school held a Halloween Party but he didn't attend. He didn't even know what Halloween was until this year. He was OK in his home thank you very much. Today was cold. Colder than usual. A light drizzle of snow covered the pavements and school grounds. But today was a different day altogether. Half of the school was taped off by the police. There were six police cars and four ambulances parked at the school playground. What was happening here? He walked around the taped areas. One block of the school was taped and closed off altogether. He entered his school through the main door and found that his year was holding an assembly. He went straight in the assembly hall. It was full with students chatting and whispering with each other.

Ken found an empty seat and just sat there. He wanted this to be over and done with then he could go and resume his studies. But he was a little bit curious as to what had happened and why the police was there.

Their headmaster, Mr. Reid, entered the hall and everyone went quiet. Mr. Reid adjusted the mic and coughed to see if it worked.

"As you all know what happened in the school last night was horrible. I would advise all of you students to be calm and cooperate with the police in any way you possibly can. Our thoughts go out to the families of the victims. If any of the students require emotional or any other kind of support then I have hired a team. Please contact me in those regards. Thank you. Studies will resume as normal apart from Maths and Chemistry. I will have mobile porta cabins installed in three or four days. Meanwhile Maths will resume in English classes and Chemistry will resume in Physics."

Mr. Reid left and the chatter broke again. Ken got up and searched for his class mates. He found Tony just outside the register office. "Tony? What happened here?"

Tony grabbed his arm and pulled him to a side. They started walking to their first class which was English. "Someone murdered six people in this school last night."

"What? Murder and six people? Who would do such a thing?"

"I don't know but a lot of juniors think it was some kind of a ghost."

"That's just nonsense. Well, I wasn't at the party last night anyway," Ken said.

"I was and it was so good," Tony grinned.

Ken looked at him confused. "Six people are murdered in the school and you are cheery as always."

Tony punched his shoulder lightly and laughed. "Man look at you." He dropped his voice low. "Do you know who they were? Tommy and the gang."

"Tommy the big bully?" Ken asked.

"Yes man and the school is secretly celebrating about it. They were a nuisance to this school. I mean you see murder happening every day. Don't you see it in GTA?"

"GTA? What's that?" Ken asked.

"Never mind that. Just think that the school is bully free and now the other low life bullies will think twice before taking on us juniors."

The English corridor was really busy today. The Maths students were here and the teachers were busy trying to allocate spaces and classes and trying to adjust the students in them. "Right now where do we fit in this mess?"

"I have no idea," said Tony. "Let's just ask Mr. Flex."

It took twenty minutes to sort out the students. The teachers announced that this will be format now for a week until the mobile porta cabins get sorted. Ken's class was the last to get sorted so they had to stand the whole twenty minutes.

The day went very well. The police paid them a visit two times and they asked some meaningless question to the students. It was crazy. When the bell sounded at 3, Ken was glad he was finished. He walked to his home. He had to walk through busy streets. The pollution from the cars and the noise was very disturbing. He hated this. He was short of patience but his father taught him to be very patient. When he reached home, he saw a pool of water and mud lying in front of his door. Every day when he came at this home, he was greeted by this puddle of water. He knew the neighbour throws his waste water here after he washes his clothes. Their neighbour was kind of a gangster. He was really thick. Ken wanted to teach him a lesson but his father wouldn't let him. Ken sighed again and looked at the water. He focused on it and slowly the water disappeared in the ground below. That's it. He opened the door and entered his house.

It seemed he had actually entered his lake house. The peace and the calmness was there in abundance. It was awesome. He always looked forward to seeing this. The house was dipped in semi darkness. The curtains were strong and little sunlight was coming through. Upon entering the hall, he saw his father sitting in a yoga position with his eyes closed.

"Welcome my son," he called, his voice soothing as honey and soft as butter.

Ken dumped his school bag on the sofa and sat in front of his father in the same position. A bowl of water was placed in front of them.

"Close your eyes and focus on the water." He heard his father speak in a soft voice. Every day he spoke the same words and everyday he felt those words were different.

"Think of it as an Angel descending down and it is sacred and you want to reside under the Angel's wing. Take the water up and pour it in our hands."

Ken had to focus really hard. With closed eyes, it was very difficult. Without his target in mind, it was very difficult to pinpoint it and use it. He focused at the bowl of water in front of them and in his mind, the water ascended in a perfect manner three feet up. Then in the mid-air it flowed opposite ways, making3 two streams. Both of the streams poured on their hands at the same time.

"Open your eyes and drink," his father said. He opened his eyes to find the bowl empty and his hand full of clear water. He held the water there and lifted his hand to drink it in one go.

Then his father smiled. "Now tell me how has your day been? I see some unsettlement in you. Is everything OK?"

Ken sighed sadly. "There has been killings in our school. Six students were murdered last night during the Halloween Party."

His father was lost in thought. "Hmm, that is strange. There is no peace in this world. I hope they catch the murderer."

"But father, those students were very bad students. They hurt a lot of people. They bullied a lot of junior students," Ken said then lowered his face. "They bullied me too for the first three months."

"I have given you enough training so that you know what to do in each situation but remember violence is not the answer but sometimes exceptions can be made."

"Like in this murder case?" Ken asked.

His father smiled. "You are very smart, my child. My advice would be that you stay away from this."

"And another thing I want to talk about is our neighbour is at it again. He dumped his washing water at our door. I do not like it."

His father sighed. "I know. There is nothing I can do about it. They just don't like the idea of foreign neighbours maybe. But at the right time we will take the right step."

Ken smiled and hugged his father. He was not just a father but his friend, his teacher, his mentor. He was all he had.

"But you must remember, we have greater things to deal with in the future and you just have not been trained enough. I will tell you everything when time will come."

Ken's smiled faded. He didn't like this mysterious side of his father. Every day he would use this sentence and wouldn't explain him anything. He just wished he opened himself to him. He was 17. He was ready for everything. He was not allowed to believe that he had enough training. Only Lord knows what more training he could get. But he just wished there were no secrets in between them.

He hugged his father tight. "I will wait for the day you tell me everything."

That was all he managed to say. He picked up his school bag and went to his bedroom upstairs. His bedroom was a large room with a bed in the corner and there was a huge fish tank on the opposite wall. A plant grew in a pot in the corner. He switched on the lights and sat on the bed. He looked at the fish in the fish tank. His favourite fish had swum forth to greet him. It was as if he could read their thoughts. They were happy, that much he could tell surely. But what he could do actually was measure the flow of water intake each fish was taking. The higher the intake, the more anxious the fish was. The water was clean as anything which added another factor to the fish's well-being. Seeing them made him happy. They played a big part in his life. He laid down back on his bed and closed his eyes.

When he woke up, he heard some noises outside his window. He checked the clock hitting 7pm. He really did sleep that much. It was insane. He opened the window to the sound of loud music in the neighbour's garden. The big fat bulky guy was drinking beer and screaming to really loud rock music. He thought it was Rock. Tony sometimes listened to it.

He wanted to shout and say something but he could not muster up the courage to do it. What? Was he scared of this guy? But his father's teaching about no violence. He was losing his esteem and his courage in all this. His rage wanted to flow out but his father's teachings pulled the rage back in. But there were some side effects which he was just beginning to understand. He wanted to shout at this guy. To put him in the right place but he could not, only because his father would not allow this act.

After thinking and struggling he shut the window down hard and the music was louder than before. The fat guy must have seen him here. Ken gritted his teeth and punched the punch bag hanging from the roof. He kept punching it, taking his anger out. After a 15 minute punching and kicking session, he dropped to the floor panting and sweating. The music was still there. He ignored it and went to the shower. He grabbed the towel and strolled to the bathroom. That...That bloody music.

That was it. He had enough of this. He paced to the window and opened it up with a bang.

"Hey! Quiet with the music!" He shouted down at the fat guy.

The guy lowered the music down. "What are you gonna do, you little pussy? Hahahah."

With that he threw the can of beer at him which hit the top of his window. The music was up again.

He dumped his towel on the floor and darted toward the door and down the stairs. His father was in the hall. "Where are you going, my son?"

"Going to teach this guy a lesson," he said.

"It is not wise to start a fight."

"I am sorry father but he started it. I am just going to give him a reply."

He didn't even wait for his father's reply and ran outside, skipping the fence and entering the back garden of his fat neighbour. He went straight to the guy and punched him in the face with a force over the rock music. The fat guy toppled over the chair spilling his beer all over. He was very drunk but he managed to stand up. In the meantime, Ken threw the sound player down on the ground and smashed it to bits with his feet. Then he landed on the guy's globe like belly and started punching his face bruising it.

"Never ever throw your dirty water again in front of our house. Do you understand?"

The guy nodded in horror and Ken let him go. He turned back to leave exhaling heavily. What had he done? He was blinded. When the cloud of rage subsided, it all crashed down on him. He had reached his lawn when he fell on his knees. What had he really done? He just put all of his father's training in a hole. He had failed everything. He began to sob with his face in his hands.