The Breakers of Divine Boundaries

"Yo, Hanan, you want a hand getting to the door?" the security guy at the lobby asked, his eyes full of that pity Hanan freaking hated.

Hanan forced a weak smile, the kind that hadn't seen any real light in forever. He adjusted a little gift wrapped in pink paper sitting on his lap. "I'm good, man. I want to surprise Sarah. It’s our five-year anniversary today."

The guard just gave a slow nod. He didn't say anything else, but his look said it all. Everyone in the building knew the deal. Hanan used to be a star architect, a total genius with the world at his feet. Now, after that wreck two years back, he was just a ghost in a wheelchair. His savings? Gone, swallowed by surgeries that didn't do jack, leaving him and his wife drowning in debt in some cramped apartment they could barely pay for.

Hanan gripped the wheels of his chair, pushing forward with a grunt. His arms were all skin and bones now, forced to do the heavy lifting his dead legs couldn't. Every turn felt like a slap to his pride, but the thought of Sarah’s smile kept him moving. He wanted to prove that even like this, he could still be a husband who actually mattered.

When he got to the door of his place, he stopped. He smoothed out his messy shirt and took a deep, shaky breath. Reaching into his jacket pocket, he pulled out his spare key and turned it as quietly as possible. He didn't want the sound of the hinges to ruin the surprise.

The door creaked open just an inch, and that’s when the sound hit him.

It was laughter. But it wasn't the happy, sweet laugh of a wife waiting for her man. It was a low, flirty sound, heavy with a vibe of intimacy Hanan hadn't heard in years.

"You're crazy, Rendy. What if Hanan comes home early?" Sarah’s voice drifted from the living room, sounding all breathless and teasing.

Hanan froze. His heart hammered against his ribs so hard it actually hurt. Rendy? His best friend? The only guy who had stuck by his side and helped him navigate the absolute mess his life had become?

"The cripple?" a guy’s voice answered, dripping with pure mockery. "He's probably still begging for scraps at his old office, getting kicked out like some stray dog. Besides, what's he gonna do if he catches us? Chase us down in that scrap metal chair?"

Their laughter exploded together, a nasty sound that tore right through the hallway.

Hanan didn't think. He didn't try to be quiet anymore. He slammed the door open, the wheels of his chair skidding against the floor as he forced his way into the living room. The sight waiting for him completely wrecked whatever was left of his soul.

Sarah, the woman he literally worshipped, was all tangled up in Rendy’s arms on their sofa. They weren't even fully dressed.

"Sarah?" Hanan’s voice was a ragged whisper.

The two of them jumped, but what broke Hanan wasn't their shock. It was how they acted a second later. No shame. No apologies. Sarah just rolled her eyes and casually pulled the strap of her nightgown back over her shoulder.

"Oh, you're back," Sarah said, her voice totally flat. "Whatever. I’m glad you finally saw it. I was getting sick of playing the role of the devoted little nurse anyway."

"What the hell are you doing?" Hanan asked, his voice cracking. He looked at Rendy, who was calmly standing up and lighting a cigarette. "Ren, you’re my brother, man. You’re the one who helped me find the cash for my surgeries."

Rendy blew a cloud of smoke toward the ceiling, wearing a disgusting smirk. "Helping? Hanan, I only kept you going so I’d have an excuse to come over and see Sarah every day. You're a total anchor, man. You’re a piece of trash that should’ve been tossed in the landfill the day of the crash."

"Shut up!" Hanan screamed, trying to heave himself out of his chair.

His dead legs gave out instantly. He hit the floor with a dull thud, his body totally useless. He tried to crawl, his fingers clawing at the carpet to reach Rendy’s feet, but Sarah stepped forward and kicked his hand away with pure disgust.

"Don't touch me. You smell like meds and the sweat of a loser," Sarah snapped. Her eyes, once so full of warmth, were now filled with nothing but cold venom. "You want to know why I stayed for two years? I was waiting for you to die. But you're so freaking stubborn. You just kept living, wasting all our insurance money on those pathetic therapy sessions."

Hanan looked up at her from the floor, tears blurring his vision. "I did it for us, Sarah. I fought to stay alive for you."

"For me? You ruined me, Hanan! I can't buy new clothes, I can't go on vacations, I can't even walk down the street without people looking at me with pity because I have a broken husband," Sarah said, crouching down so she was inches from his face. "Every time I have to help you to the bathroom, I literally want to puke. You aren't a man anymore. You're just a biological burden."

Rendy walked over and grabbed Hanan by the collar of his shirt. He dragged Hanan’s limp body across the floor toward the balcony. The sliding glass door was already open, and a cold night wind rushed into the room.

"What are you doing? Rendy, stop!" Hanan tried to swing his fists, but his strength was nothing compared to the man standing over him.

Rendy shoved him against the balcony railing. They were ten stories up. Below them, the city lights looked like tiny, uncaring dots of gold.

"The world is crowded enough, Hanan. It’s a waste of space to keep a failure like you around any longer," Rendy whispered. "You said you love Sarah, right? Then give her her life back. Give her her freedom."

"No! Rendy, please!" Hanan looked toward Sarah, begging for a spark of the woman he used to know. "Sarah, help me!"

Sarah just stood there, her arms crossed, looking bored. "Just get it over with, Ren. I want to take a shower. I feel dirty just being in the same room as him."

Rendy grinned. He hoisted Hanan’s light, skinny body over the railing until his legs were dangling in the empty air. "See you in hell, buddy. If you meet God, ask Him why He made something as useless as you."

Rendy let go.

Hanan fell.

The world slowed down. He saw the faces of the two people he loved most standing side by side at the railing, watching him drop like they were tossing out a bag of garbage. There was no regret. Only a terrifying sense of relief.

The wind slammed into his face, cold and violent. For a few seconds, he was paralyzed by pure, animal terror. But then, that terror turned into a rage so hot it felt like his blood was boiling in his veins.

Everything he had given. All the love, the sacrifice, the sheer will to survive for her. It was all met with the lowest kind of betrayal. They treated him worse than a dog. They stepped on him and threw him away the moment he lost his value.

Why? his mind screamed. Why do I have to die like this? Why do people like them get to win?

Hanan’s vision started to blur as he picked up speed. The asphalt below was rushing up to meet him, ready to shatter his bones into nothing. At the very edge of the end, a promise was born in the darkest part of his soul. A vow that triggered something that should have never been touched by human hands.

If I live again, I won't be a weak human like this, Hanan screamed inside his head. His voice echoed in a sudden, impossible silence. I'll break every rule that made me helpless. I'll tear down the world that called me trash.

Just as he was meters away from the ground, something inside Hanan’s chest snapped. It wasn't the sound of a bone breaking. It was metaphysical. An invisible wall that had locked away his true potential since the day he was born shattered into a million pieces.

Time stopped.

Hanan could see every single raindrop hanging in the air. He could see the dust motes glowing in the streetlights. He could see the flow of energy moving through the air like complex threads of white fire.

"Is it finally time?" a heavy, ancient voice echoed through the void that suddenly surrounded him.

Hanan tried to move his eyes, but everything was just frozen in that split second. Right in front of him, reality itself started cracking like glass under a hammer.

"Your will is strong enough to break the chains, kid," the voice said, sounding way closer now, like it was coming from right inside his own head. "But don't forget. Once the limit's gone, you can never go back to being the human you used to be."

Hanan didn't give a damn. He was over being a human who people could just walk all over. He didn't want to be that paralyzed guy that everyone felt sorry for and then backstabbed.

Give me the power, Hanan demanded in his heart, his hate burning like a sun. I’ll pay whatever price, as long as I can wipe 'em all out!

The voice laughed, a sound that felt heavy as hell, like a mountain crashing down. "Then watch the beginning of the end of your humanity."

A blinding white light blew up from the middle of Hanan’s chest, swallowing the dark night and the cold street below. In the middle of that explosion of energy, Hanan felt every single cell in his body being ripped apart and put back together at an insane speed. The pain was a million times worse than the accident that paralyzed him, but he totally leaned into it. He loved every second of his old, weak self being stripped away.

The cracks in reality got wider, and for the first time ever, the Limiter on the human soul was totally wrecked.

Someone whispered from the shadows of his mind.

"Welcome to the real world, Hanan."