“Hey, you! What are you still doing in bed at this hour?”A sharp voice rang from the doorway.Silas’s sleepy eyes snapped open. He immediately recognized the voice—it belonged to his grandmother, Mrs. Julian Creed.Without wasting a second, he jumped out of bed, stumbling slightly as he rushed to the sink. Cold water splashed against his face, jolting him fully awake.“Be quick and come out here! I have errands for you to run,” she muttered, hissing as she walked away, her unsteady legs supported by a wooden cane.Silas sighed, drying his face with the edge of his shirt before stepping into the living room.“Good morning, Grandma,” he greeted, his voice barely above a whisper.She didn’t even glance at him. Instead, she pointed at a stack of boxes near the door.“Take those to Mrs. Emmy. And don’t waste time.”Silas clenched his fists. He still had school, yet she always sent him on errands that made him late. But he dared not complain—skipping school wasn’t an option either. The con

“Hey, you! Strip the girl and record it,” James said, pointing to one of the boys.Excited, the guy walked toward Zulie with a twisted smirk, while another readied the camera and started recording.Silas lay on the ground, groaning in pain as he held his head. His body ached all over, but despite it, he couldn’t bear the thought of watching Zulie get humiliated. He knew exactly what they planned to do with that video—either expose her all over the school or use it to blackmail her into being their toy.Sniffling and barely able to breathe properly, Silas forced himself to his feet. Every movement sent waves of pain through him, but he kept moving, dragging himself toward the guy approaching Zulie. He had to stop him—even if it was the last thing he ever did.Just as he got close, a powerful kick slammed into his side.Wham!He was launched across the rooftop like a ragdoll, completely out of control. His body skidded toward the edge—there was no railing to stop him.Silas struggled to

“Silas,” a voice called from inside the house.Perched on the thick branch of a tree just outside his bedroom window, Silas had spent the entire night gazing up at the sky. He hadn’t slept a wink. The stars were beginning to fade, giving way to the early light of dawn. But all he could think about was Zulie—what she might be going through right now.The sound of his grandmother’s voice broke his train of thought. He climbed down from the tree and slipped back into his room through the window.“Where did you go?” she asked, standing in the hallway.“Outside,” he replied flatly, not bothering to explain.“Outside?” Her voice was laced with disbelief.Silas had always avoided eye contact with his grandmother. Not because she was violent, but because of the way she looked at him—like he was a curse. For years, she’d reminded him that he was the reason her son, his father, was dead. That he didn’t deserve to be alive. Her words had shaped the broken boy he used to be.But not today.Today,

Silas gave a slight, humorless smile as he looked at Zulie, her hand still gripping his. His eyes flickered with something unreadable.“You’re still worried about that, huh?” he said in a low voice. His tone wasn’t comforting; it was almost distant, as if the question wasn’t worth answering.Zulie didn’t pull her hand away. She didn’t care how cold Silas sounded, or how distant he acted. He’d just been through so much, and she couldn’t understand why he was so different now.“You fell from that height,” she insisted, her voice rising slightly in desperation. “How are you standing here? How are you still alive?”Silas stopped walking. His cold gaze finally met hers, and for a brief moment, it seemed like he was about to tell her everything—every detail of the fall, of what happened after—but then he simply shook his head, a bitter smile playing at the edges of his lips.“It’s not something I want to talk about,” he said firmly. His voice didn’t waver, but the steel edge in it was enoug

The Next MorningSilas was up early, quietly preparing breakfast for his grandmother before getting ready for school. He set the plate in front of her with care.“Take care, Grandma,” he said, bowing his head slightly as he turned to leave.Just as his hand touched the door, her soft, fragile voice called out, “Silas.”He paused, turning back slowly. A rare, small smile tugged at her lips, a sight that felt unfamiliar.“You look different… Not in a bad way. You look good,” she murmured.Silas chuckled, a warmth spreading in his chest. He quickly turned away, his heart doing an unexpected flip.What does she mean I look good? He wondered. It’s the first time she’s said something nice instead of scolding me… That’s… kinda cool.As he walked to school, his attention was caught by a black van approaching from a distance. His instincts flared—nothing about this van felt right. It wasn’t the usual vehicle seen in their neighborhood, and something about the way it moved felt off.The van slo