The Price of Genius

Photographic memory sounds as cool as it is hard for anyone to believe. But yes, it is true: Ron's brain is much faster than that of other ordinary people, and for some reason, whatever he sees even once, he remembers in his mind exactly as it was. Even if you ask him a year later, he can tell you exactly as it was. Some people consider this a gift given to Ron by God.

But Ron knows what the truth is.

No one can tell better than Ron how painful it can be to remember everything. People don't know that the accidents that happened to them fade away with the passing of time, but Ron cannot forget them.

There are some events that happen in everyone's life which are better forgotten, because by remembering those memories we only hurt our own minds.

But just as a coin has two sides, this too has a good side.

Because of it, Ron becomes much sharper than the other students in his school. Ron can memorize any book in just a few hours.

That is why Ron had also received a scholarship from a big college, and today is Ron's first day at that college.

Most of the children studying at the college were from big families, such as doctors, lawyers, politicians or judges. If Ron hadn't topped in his city's school, they wouldn't have let Ron come anywhere near this college.

Ron was saying all this to himself in his mind.

Because the first day is a little difficult for everyone, and Ron knew that getting admission here is everyone's dream, Ron too didn't want to lose his chance.

As soon as he entered the college gate, Ron understood that he was going to face a lot of difficulty here, so he had already prepared himself from within. Ron quickly started heading toward his class.

But before he could reach the class, some students stopped Ron. They were senior students who were ragging the new students.

Ron didn't want to get into any trouble with anyone on the very first day.

Ron just stood silently in front of them. Then Ron said, "I'm getting late for class, let me go." They said, "You'll have to do one task for us, then you can go."

Ron asked, "What do I have to do?"

"Nothing much, you just have to give this letter to that girl, that's all."

Ron said, "Just that?"

"Yes, just that."

In a hurry, Ron took the letter and gave it to that girl. The girl asked Ron, "What's in this?"

Ron wanted to say that those boys had asked him to give this to her, but as soon as Ron turned to look behind him, there was no one there, as if all those boys had vanished.

Seeing this, Ron got a little scared and went to his class without saying anything.

But how was I to know that very soon I would receive a summons from the Headmistress office.

I thought maybe they wanted to ask about my first day, but I was wrong. As soon as I entered the Headmistress office, it was as if someone had started firing bullets at me.

The principal wouldn't stop yelling. She was holding in her hand the letter that I had given to that girl. She said, "Do you know whose daughter you gave this to?"

Ron said, "I don't know who she was." Then she screamed, "Look at what you've written on this!" She opened the letter and showed it, on which was written "Your father is a thief." She also told me that the girl's father was the mayor of this city. Hearing this, I started trembling, and the principal just kept screaming. But as soon as I noticed a locket she was wearing around her neck, it was as if I couldn't hear anything anymore and I got lost in the memory of my mother, because she too had a locket just like that. After a little while Ron came to his senses that he was sitting in the office. Yes, now the principal had also calmed down. She said, "Look, this time I somehow ended the matter right here. If you do any such thing again, I will throw you out of this college."

"Understood? What you have is the dream of many people. Don't let someone's sacrifice go to waste for nothing." When she said this, Ron wondered why she was saying that, sacrifice? That was a bit too much. Just then the principal said, "Go now."

It was a matter of just a few weeks, and every college student had come to know about me, that my brain was faster than a computer.

Soon he found a small group of friends who were curious to know about unknown things. Within a few weeks of the college starting, a strange rumor began to spread through the corridors.

Students talked in low voices about the student Headmistress Melinda. Although she was over fifty years old, an age at which most people in the city walk with slow, heavy steps, she looked barely thirty. Her skin was flawless, her energy boundless, and her presence almost unnaturally attractive.

"She's part of a Secret Society," one of Ron's friends said softly during lunch one afternoon. "No one stays that young without help. There's some dark truth behind it."

Ron's friends had turned the rumor into an investigation, forming an unofficial club to find out the truth. Drawn in by the adventure, Ron joined them too.

Ron remembered his first formal meeting with Melinda in her office. What stayed in his memory was not just her intimidating presence, but a distinctive golden locket resting on her neck. A complex, ancient symbol was engraved on it, a symbol Ron knew well, because a locket just like it was kept at home in his late mother's wooden jewelry box.

As the days went by, the group quietly followed the Headmistress. Their effort paid off when, one evening, following her, they reached a deserted stone hall beneath the old city's church. But when they reached the entrance, they hit a wall, literally. The main door was locked with a heavy, keyless iron mechanism. In the center was a raised mark that matched the exact shape of the Headmistress's locket. The locket wasn't merely decorative; it was a key.

When Ron's friends discussed this obstacle the next morning, Ron said softly, "My mother had exactly this kind of locket too."

The group looked at him with suspicion and doubt. "Your mother? Are you saying she was part of a Cult too?"

"I don't know," Ron answered honestly. "All I know is that that locket is in my house."

The next day, Ron came carrying a piece of silver and gold wrapped in cloth. The group fell silent as they examined the identical engravings. Suspicion flashed in their eyes, but curiosity won. "Let's find out today," one of them said.

After the last lecture ended, the group went back to the underground stone door. With his heart beating fast, Ron pressed his mother's locket into the matching socket on the iron surface.

A heavy "click" echoed through the corridor, and the huge door slowly opened.

At first there was only pitch darkness and the heavy stench of incense. But as they went deeper along a winding stone corridor, a faint red glow lit up the end of the corridor.

Stepping into a vast room, they froze. Dozens of people in long white robes were slowly walking in a precise circle. In the center of the hall, on an Altar, lay a horned goat, surrounded by flickering candles.

Before they could retreat, heavy hands seized them from behind. Within moments, Ron and his friends were pushed into a side room.

Standing in the center of the room, calm yet cold-looking, was Headmistress Melinda.

"How did you get in here?" Melinda asked, her voice dangerously calm.

"So it's true..." one of Ron's friends said, trembling with fear. "You're in a secret cult! That's why you stay young... you've made a deal with some dark power!"

"Silence!" Melinda thundered. Her eyes turned to Ron. "How did you open the outer door? Which of you brought the key?"

Reluctantly, Ron took the locket out of his pocket and handed it to her.

Melinda said, this is your mother's locket.

Ron was startled hearing her words. Ron [asked], did you know my mother? Yes, Melinda said with a sorrowful heart, I knew her, and she was also a good friend of mine.

Melinda stood completely still for a few moments, staring at the boy. The coldness in her eyes turned into some heavy, grave emotion. "So... you

Ron's heart sank. "My mother? Why?"

"Do you remember the accident from your childhood, Ron?" Melinda asked softly.

"I... I remember faint fragments. I was very sick."

"You weren't just sick; you were dying," Melinda revealed. "The doctors had given up hope. Desperate to save your life, Marina came to us. To save your life, she traded her soul and her life force. That trade didn't just bring you back, it gave you the extraordinary mind that you have today."

The room seemed to spin around Ron. The reality hit him like a physical blow. The photographic memory, this effortless intelligence, this life he was living, all of it had been bought with his mother's great sacrifice. He stood silently, drowned in a deep, boundless grief.

"She loved you even more than her own existence," Melinda said, now in a gentle voice. "Now, take your friends and go. Never come back here, and don't speak a single word about this to anyone. If you do, you will face the consequences."

The group hurriedly nodded and turned toward the exit. Ron stopped and looked back, extending his hand. "Can I get my mother's locket back?"

Melinda closed her palm over the locket and slowly shook her head. "It would be better if it stayed here with me, Ron. Go home."

Without another word, Ron and his friends stepped out into the cold night

air, leaving the shadows, and that heavy truth, behind them.