CHAPTER: HELL ON THE ROOFTOP
Alex woke up before the sun, as always.
3:00 AM sharp.
Push-ups. Sit-ups. Weight lifts. Sprints.
By 5:00 AM, the gym floor was soaked in sweat. No time to rest.
He grabbed his delivery bags and began the morning grind—paper routes, food drops, house cleaning.
One of the homes belonged to the richest man in the area, and Alex cleaned every inch with care.
But just before leaving, a sound caught his attention.
Metal scraping. Backyard.
He tiptoed around the corner.
There—a figure in a hoodie, masked, trying to break the gate lock.
"Hey! What are you doing?" Alex shouted.
The masked man jumped and ran. Alex chased for a second but let him go—he had work to finish.
By 6:00 AM, he was done. Then came the gym.
More reps. More sweat.
7:00 AM, school time.
But this wasn't a regular school day.
It was a school holiday.
The campus should've been empty, but the school had granted access for students to form study groups.
A few classrooms were open. The rest of the building? Deserted. Silent. Dangerous.
Elsewhere… In a dark garage lit by a single hanging bulb…
Liloyd lay on the concrete floor, bloodied and trembling.
Sean, the gang leader, sat calmly on a chair, cigarette between his lips.
"So…" Sean exhaled smoke. "You let some nobody punch out your captain?"
Liloyd coughed. "I… I didn't know what to do…"
Sean laughed coldly. "Then you don't deserve to stand beside me."
He motioned to his men. "Beat him again."
The thugs swarmed.
Ben stood frozen. Others just stared, terrified.
When Liloyd finally passed out, Sean stood and walked toward the exit.
"Let them rot. This ain't over."
At school…
Alex parked his motorbike and spotted a group of older students bullying a younger boy near the lockers.
He walked over calmly, tapped one of the bullies on the shoulder, and leaned in with a fake smile.
"Hey. What are you doing?"
He rested his chin on the guy's shoulder like a friend.
The bully stiffened. "Uh… nothing. We're just… playing."
Alex sat beside the frightened student, placing a reassuring hand on his shoulder.
"Really? Can I trust you?" he asked, voice low but heavy.
"Y-yeah…" the bully muttered, eyes down.
Alex stood and walked away. He didn't need to threaten them. His presence was enough.
Then—shouting from upstairs.
A crowd near his classroom.
Two guys fighting.
Alex pushed through—one of them was John.
He broke it up fast. "What the hell is going on?"
John wiped a bruise. "The other guy disrespected Mark."
"Where's Mark?"
John looked up, serious. "They took him to the rooftop. Go now. I'll explain later."
"Don't start another fight," Alex said, and ran.
The rooftop was hell.
Mark lay curled on the concrete, shielding his body as Ben and others kicked him again and again.
But that wasn't the worst.
Liana and Hannah, tied naked to metal poles, gagged and crying.
Gang members laughed, touched them, took pictures, licked their skin like animals.
Alex stood frozen. His blood boiled. Then his voice roared across the rooftop like thunder.
"HEY, YOU MOTHERF*CKERS!
LILOYD—WHAT THE HELL IS THIS?!
YOU THINK THIS IS A NIGHTCLUB?!"
Liloyd, smug, licked Hannah again. "What's wrong, hero? You mad now?"
Alex's eyes burned with fury.
He stepped forward. Hands clenched. Muscles tight.
Liloyd laughed and snapped his fingers.
"Boys. Kill him."
They charged.
But Alex moved like lightning.
BAM! Right hook.
CRACK! Elbow strike.
WHAM! Spinning back kick.
Blood sprayed. Bones cracked.
One after another, they dropped. Groaning. Screaming. Defeated.
Alex stormed toward Liloyd. Fury in his veins. Liloyd backed up, panicked.
He grabbed a metal rod and swung wildly.
"You forgot how to fight properly, huh?" Alex dodged.
"I don't care!" Liloyd screamed. "My mission is to beat and kidnap you—to bring you to Sean!"
Alex paused, confused. "Sean? Who the hell is that?"
They clashed.
Liloyd swung.
Alex countered—CRACK! Clean uppercut.
THUD. Liloyd dropped.
Alex yanked him by the collar. "Talk."
Liloyd spat blood. "The guy you beat last night… that was Halen. He's Sean's underdog."
Alex's eyes narrowed.
"Sean runs the gang at Aldenham School. He's powerful. You shouldn't have touched Halen."
Alex's voice dropped cold.
"I'm not scared of death. Or Sean. Or you."
Liloyd coughed. "Then don't cry when you lose everything…"
Alex let him drop.
He rushed to untie Hannah and Liana, covering them with jackets.
Mark was barely standing. John arrived at the stairwell, eyes wide.
They didn't speak.
They just walked off that rooftop—bloodied, bruised, but alive.
The school bell rang in the distance.
But no one rushed to class.
It was a holiday.
Only the quietest corners were alive.
The rooftop echoed behind them—
the screams, the blood, the threat still hanging in the air.
They made it to the canteen.
It was quiet. Empty.
They sat at the back, nursing their wounds, trying to process what had just happened.
**Alex didn't know it yet…
but by knocking out Halen, he had picked a fight with the devil.
And Sean… was already watching.**