Dark Dreams

THE PYRAMID

A man was seated on a U-shaped red leather couch. His legs were wide apart, there was a glass in his shaky hand and a moronic smile was plastered on his face. Dripping sweat, he was moving to the rhythm of techno music, while numerous semi-nude girls danced around him as if venerating a god. After putting down his glass to slap the girls on the butt, and letting his hands wander a bit, the man leaned toward the black table that stood in front of the couch. The red and green lights typical of a nightclub flashed to the rhythm of the music, making it hard to see what the man was doing. I squinted and understood.

He rolled up a banknote and snorted a whitish powder lying on the table; the girls did the same. Everyone burst out laughing and the video ended.

I couldn't believe my eyes. On another occasion, I would have thought that a middle-aged man surrounded by prostitutes dressed as waitresses was no more serious than what I expected every day at school.

Unfortunately, the man represented far more. I knew his name and profession: Jiang, Chinese ambassador to the city of Goldmist for several years. His daughter attended my high school: Meilin, who'd been steady in fifth place in the pyramid for months. I could already imagine what was going to happen. I could say goodbye to my plan to walk down the corridor faster than the speed of light to get to the Latin room before they saw me.

Today the ranking in the pyramid would change.

They would find a way to put me at the center of this scandal, I was sure of it.

Any excuse to make me feel unwanted was more than acceptable to them.

A few seconds after the video ended, Urban Skull reappeared. It was like seeing a ghost.

"Weren't you the star of the video?" he asked, smiling.

For a moment, he seemed to be talking to me.

"Fear not. If you live in this city, you're hiding a secret, and I'll find it. I know you don't see me, but I see you; that's the only thing that matters." The pale light that illuminated the head and shoulders began to fade. "See you soon, the one and only, Urban Skull".

Although it was impossible to determine the sex of the strange skeleton, I was sure it was a man. The women of Goldmist were too busy spending their money to find time to disguise themselves as skeletons. Some thought it was a woman, arguing that only a female mind could be so twisted. There was one thing we all agreed on: Urban Skull was dangerous. He or she was a mix of V for Vendetta, Robin Hood and WikiLeaks, and was focused on Goldmist. No one knew who he was and how he acted. I didn't know much about computers, but I knew enough to understand that it wasn't easy to do what he did.

His purpose?

To ruin the reputation of anyone whose bank account exceeded seven figures.

His favorite target?

Everyone.

I admit that I had tried speculating as to his true identity on more than one afternoon. An ex-con with unfinished business? Maybe someone famous for his hidden abilities as a hacker. What if it was a Union Hills student with scores to settle? Or maybe it was that sweet old man from the ice cream cart in front of the library. Some said it was a man who'd risen from the dead to punish his murderer. Fernando called him Esqueleto de la muerte, lending him a certain mysticism. The truth was that no one knew who it was and I had a strong feeling that no one would ever know.

Damn!

Lost among skeletons and ambassadors, I'd forgotten about my lesson. I shook my head and started jumping on the spot as if preparing for a boxing match. My excitement lasted a few seconds. I quickly realized that there was no way to prepare for what was going to happen. I pushed my glasses back in place with my finger, opened the manga, brought it level with my eyes and skated towards the entrance. If it hadn't been for the two thick glass panes that served as the front door, I wouldn't have realized I was about to go in with my skates on.