Silent Havoc

Last Stand

Silas had never been one to sleep easily. Every night, he would read until exhaustion finally forced his eyes shut for a few minutes—only to be woken again by his grandmother. It was routine, just like the endless errands that made him late to school every day.

But this morning was different.

As he rushed into class, panting from his usual sprint, something felt off. The desk beside his was empty. Zulie wasn’t here.

She was always early.

His stomach tightened. The classroom bullies—James and his gang, who called themselves the Big Boys—were nowhere to be seen either. He barely noticed their usual cruel pranks, the ones they set up just to humiliate him.

None of that mattered now. Zulie did.

He turned to the girl seated next to her desk. “Hey, have you seen Zulie today?” he asked, keeping his voice calm.

The girl smirked. “Oh, Silas, so you actually care about her now? I never knew you could even speak to me. Anyway, she’s with the Big Boys.”

Silas’s breath caught.

The rooftop.

Without another word, he spun on his heel and ran.

Silas had been dragged to the rooftop more times than he could count—beaten, humiliated, punished for refusing to do their assignments.

But this time, as he burst through the door, the sight before him made his blood run cold.

Zulie was tied up. Her mouth sealed with tape. Her wide, terrified eyes locked onto his, shaking her head frantically.

Warning him.

He didn’t stop. “I’ll save you, Zulie!” he shouted, sprinting toward her.

A sharp crack exploded against the back of his skull. Pain burst through his head like fireworks. Silas hit the ground, gripping his skull as his vision blurred.

Laughter echoed around him.

“Come on, Silas,” James’s voice sneered from above. The scent of cigarette smoke drifted in the air as he approached. “You’re no hero here.”

Silas gritted his teeth, forcing himself to look up.

James exhaled a cloud of smoke, grinning. “I warned you yesterday. Now, let’s see how much confidence you have left.”

Two boys grabbed Silas by the arms, yanking him to his knees, forcing his head up.

James turned back to Zulie. He grabbed the front of her uniform, the fabric tearing beneath his fingers.

Someone in the gang pulled out a phone, recording.

“You shouldn’t have sided with this loser,” James taunted, his voice dripping with cruelty. “Now, look at him. Helpless.”

Zulie struggled, muffled screams lost behind the tape.

Silas thrashed against the grip of the two boys holding him. They were huge—twice his size—but he fought anyway, rage and panic clawing at his chest.

James ripped more of Zulie’s clothing, exposing her bare shoulders.

Silas’s world narrowed.

“No!” he roared, his voice cracking. “Please, let her go!”

James paused, amusement flickering across his face. “Oh? Begging now?” He crouched in front of Silas, watching him with mocking curiosity. “You wouldn’t beg for your own life, but you beg for hers? How touching.”

The gang laughed.

James stood and turned back to Zulie. This time, he gripped the waistband of her clothing.

Something inside Silas snapped.

An unfamiliar force surged through him, an adrenaline-fueled strength he had never felt before. He ripped his arm free from one of the boys restraining him, using the momentum to slam his elbow into the second.

The force sent him staggering backward—right into the third guy rushing forward.

They crashed to the ground.

Silas didn’t hesitate. He bolted toward James, fury blinding him to everything else.

He swung.

James dodged with ease. Before Silas could react, a fist slammed into his stomach, knocking the air from his lungs. His body instinctively curled inward as he gasped for breath.

The gang pounced. A wooden plank came down hard against the side of his head.

Silas barely felt himself hit the floor.

James smirked. “You’re just a loser, Silas.” He turned to his gang. “Hold him down again.”

Silas struggled, chest heaving, pain throbbing through his skull. But he forced himself to grin, masking his fear with defiance. “What’s wrong, James? Afraid to face me one-on-one? Or do you need your dogs to fight your battles?”

James’s smirk faded.

For a moment, the gang hesitated. Silas had never talked back like this before.

James studied him, eyes narrowing. “Let him go.”

The boys released him.

“You really have guts, kid,” James said, rolling his shoulders. “But you’ll regret this. What’s your last wish? Should I tell your grandma anything before I break your face?”

Silas’s jaw tightened. “Don’t talk about my grandma.”

James grinned. “Oh? Touched a nerve?”

But Silas wasn’t listening anymore. He was watching James—his stance, his movements, the way he carried his weight.

Silas wasn’t strong. But he was fast. And he was smart.

James charged.

Silas faked a kick. James dodged, lunging for a counterattack—exactly as Silas expected.

Before James could react, Silas ducked low and tackled his legs.

James hit the ground hard.

Gasps erupted from the gang.

“Wait… who the hell is this guy?” one of them muttered. “He’s never trained, but he just took James down?”

James’s face burned with humiliation.

Silas didn’t waste time. He rushed to Zulie, fumbling with the knots on her wrists.

A shadow loomed over him.

He barely dodged as James came at him full force.

Silas rolled, forcing James away from Zulie. James lunged with a flurry of kicks and punches—faster this time, more aggressive.

Silas blocked the first few, but he wasn’t strong enough to keep up.

A punch to his ribs. A kick to his side. He staggered.

James smirked, thinking he had won.

Then—Silas struck back.

A single, precise punch landed against James’s jaw.

Blood splattered from his mouth.

The gang fell silent.

“What the fu—” someone started.

James stumbled, touching his bleeding lip in shock. His fury exploded.

“Get him,” he snarled.

The gang surged forward. Silas fought back, dodging, countering, refusing to go down. But they were too many.

Then—a sharp pain at the back of his skull.

John—James’s older brother—had stepped in.

An iron rod in his hand.

Silas’s vision blurred. His body wavered.

Blood streamed from Silas’s head, blurring his vision as he struggled to stay conscious. His body ached, his limbs refusing to move as he lay sprawled on the cold rooftop floor.

Zulie was still bound, her muffled cries breaking through the tape over her mouth. Tears welled in her eyes, rolling down her cheeks as she desperately tried to scream for help.

James, still holding a handkerchief to his bleeding mouth, glared at Silas. His fury burned hotter than ever. “You… you bastard! You made me bleed in front of my own crew,” he spat, rage twisting his face. Then, turning toward one of his gang members, he barked, “Hey, you! Strip her completely and record it. I want this loser to watch what happens when he messes with me.”

Silas’s body screamed in agony, but his mind snapped to focus. No… I won’t let them do this to her.

Ignoring the pain, he forced himself up, staggering forward with every ounce of strength he had left. His only thought was to stop the guy with the phone.

But before he could take more than a step, John—James’s older brother—moved like a blur.

Boom!

A brutal kick crashed into Silas’s chest, launching him backward. The world around him spun violently. There was nothing to stop his momentum. No railings. No barriers.

Just open air.

And then—

Silas plummeted.

Zulie’s muffled scream tore through the night, her entire body thrashing against the ropes.

A sickening thud echoed through the schoolyard as Silas hit the ground below.

For a moment, silence.

Then—

Screams erupted from below as students and teachers rushed toward the fallen boy.

Panic spread like wildfire.

John’s expression twisted. He glanced at the others and barked, “Get the hell out of here. Now!”

The gang members didn’t need to be told twice. They scattered, vanishing into the chaos as alarms and shouts rang through the school grounds.

James hesitated, his fists clenched. “Brother, let’s go—no one will find out!” he urged.

John shoved him toward the stairwell. “Shut up and move! Take James with you,” he snapped at the others, making sure his reckless younger brother didn’t get caught.

As they fled, John turned back to Zulie.

Her entire body was shaking, terror in her eyes.

He crouched in front of her, gripping her chin roughly and forcing her to look at him. His voice was low, filled with a quiet, chilling threat.

“Listen to me, girl. You didn’t see anything. You don’t know anyone. And if you ever—ever—breathe a word of this to anyone…”

He smirked darkly, pulling out his phone.

“I’ll make sure the whole school—hell, the whole damn city—sees this video. Your pretty little face, your body… everywhere. You’ll be famous for all the wrong reasons.”

Zulie’s breathing hitched, fresh tears spilling from her eyes.

John leaned in closer, his voice almost a whisper.

“So be a good girl and keep your mouth shut. For your parents sake” he smirked

Down below, the chaos continued.

Silas lay motionless on the ground.

Was he dead?

Nobody knew.

Yet.