*****In one of Riverton City’s most forsaken slums, where rows of ramshackle homes stood, neglected and decayed. Without electricity, drainage, or even the slightest decent roads, exuding a stench of decay and despair.Although it was currently very late into the night, with most of the other parts of the city asleep, this pitch-black street that hadn’t felt the presence of electricity in the past few years was currently alive with people.In front of a nearly collapsing, patched-up wooden house, a group of weary adults gathered, each clutching a flashlight in their hands, their faces heavily contorted with pity and horror at the grim sight presently unfolding before them."Argh! This... this sight is unbearable!" suddenly muttered a worn down, poverty-stricken middle-aged man, with only one functional arm, the other hanging crippled and useless beside him. His jaw tightened in frustration, voice thick with helpless anger.“Why? Just why does God allow such an injustice and horr
*****Although God’s Time had driven like a man possessed, fueled by his wife’s despairing call and prayed desperately against all hope that he wouldn’t be too late, he had, unfortunately, arrived, only to find out that… he was a moment too slow.That’s right.He had arrived just in time to witness the horrifying scene of his frail, helpless wife, savagely beaten by the landlord until she collapsed and fainted.The scene could be said to be the scariest he had ever witnessed in his life, a sight beyond nightmare—a blend of terror, heartbreak, and disbelief, unlike anything God’s Time had ever thought he would ever witness.He had literally frozen in place for what felt like an eternity, his body locking into place as if turned to stone, paralyzed as the scene replayed in his mind over and over, searing itself into his memory until… he had snapped and lost it.Yes, he had lost it.Despite being known for his calm nature and aversion to violence, God’s Time had felt a surge of ra
***** "Please… please, sir, let my husband go! He’s going to die!" A frail, battered woman with graying hair abruptly pleaded, her voice laced with desperation as she crawled forward, her knees scraping the rough ground, and nonstop tears streaming down her face. Though traces of her former beauty still lingered beneath the scars of hardship, she was now a shadow of herself, worn down by years of suffering. This was Selene, God’s Time’s wife, a woman once known for her resilience and grace. At this moment, however, she appeared utterly devastated, shattered, and teetering on the brink of collapse. She seemed broken, helpless, and terrified, with her hands trembling hysterically as she knocked her forehead repeatedly on the cold, hard, and unforgiving ground, pounding it until blood seeped from her brow, mixing with the dirt as she pleaded over and over. But the elderly man standing before her—a bloated, graying landlord with a fresh bandage wrapped around his head—remained as c
*****"Sir, you... you want us to hold our hand?" one of the thug-like officers finally asked, his tone cautious as he stared at the obese old man in disbelief after a long, thick, and tense silence had filled up the place, all of them, trying to process his order.“Hmmm.” The old landlord tilted his head slightly, a knowing smirk, the kind that hinted at schemes well laid and victories assured playing on his face.‘This…’ The cops froze, dumbstruck. Unease washed over them in the next second and they exchanged nervous glances, each thinking: ‘What about the promotion he promised us?’As soon as this thought went through their minds, one of the officers hurriedly looked back at the obese landlord, emboldened by desperation."Sir... we've almost finished dealing with him. Won't stopping now cause... cause future consequences?” He inquired after a moment of hesitation and as soon as Selene, who was still on her knees heard him, she froze with fear.She clutched the hem of her gown
*****“This…” Selene’s heart trembled frantically, seeing the eyes that blood had filled, and then;“Husband,” she whispered again, her voice breaking under the weight of her sorrow. She stared at God’s Time with tearful, wide eyes, trembling as if frozen for years, seeing him like this for the first time—a mangled figure far removed from the vibrant man she adored.She tried her best to hold it in and be strong for him, but unfortunately; the tears she had been fighting to hold back finally spilled over, streaming down her cheeks in uncontrollable waves.“Boohoo!” A deep, choking sob escaped her as she collapsed into the pool of blood beside God’s Time.Then with her body shivering hysterically, she wrapped her arms around his broken body, her trembling fingers brushing the blood-soaked strands of his hair and his bruised, battered skin.Without hesitation, she cradled his bloodied figure, gently helping him sit upright despite his fragile state.“Why?” Her voice rose with des
*****For a moment, Selene froze, her body paralyzed and her gaze fixed on her husband’s lifeless face, whose chest was no longer rising or falling.Her mind refused to comprehend the stillness until finally, a sharp, searing pain—unlike anything she had felt before in her life, even after getting brutally assaulted by the landlord that night—struck her, piercing through her very soul like a blade.“Help!” she abruptly screamed, her voice cutting through the night like a thunderclap. “Please, someone! Help… help me take him to the hospital! Don’t let my husband die!”“This…” Her desperate cries directly jolted the neighbors into action, and they rushed forward, determined to help. But before anyone could reach her—“You seem to be forgetting something,” the landlord’s cold, mocking voice suddenly cut through the air, dripping with malice, and in the following second, the neighbors’ hearts paused and they froze in their tracks, their courage dissolving as if on cue.‘Here it come
*****Selene’s breaths came hard and fast as she asked the question in her mind, her chest heaving with the weight of her anger, but the landlord, however, wasn’t moved by her outburst per se.Instead, he tilted his head with an air of smug amusement, staring at her for a moment before finally;“Bingo,” he drawled, clapping his hands slowly as though congratulating her on solving a riddle, and with this, his confirmation struck Selene like a bolt of lightning.She had only voiced her suspicions out of sheer desperation in the first place, never truly expecting the landlord to admit to such calculated evil.She stared at the obese, old man with a smug smile on his face in utter stupor for a moment until eventually, a sudden thought crossed her mind and in the following second;“You…” Her voice cracked. “You made him hit you on purpose, right?”“You… you intentionally made my husband hit you in the head?” She inquired, her breathing becoming laborious, but then the landlord shook
*****For a tense, drawn-out moment that felt like forever, after the sudden, cold voice rang out, no one under the oppressive shadow of the old, worn-down, and poor neighborhood could move. It was as if time itself had stopped, leaving them all trapped in a shocked paralysis.Even Selene, whose spirit had already been completely crushed, and the landlord, who had been relishing his vile fantasies of domination, were no exception, all of them gaping in the same direction.They stood frozen, wide-eyed, and slack-jawed as if they had just witnessed the impossible—an alien landing in their midst.It was Elliot who had spoken.“S—son, is… that truly you? Did you just speak” stammered the elderly man, his voice trembling with disbelief, staring at his son as if witnessing a miracle—a coward transformed.Although the old man’s love for his son was undeniable, it was marred by a single, bitter disappointment: his son’s utter lack of courage.Time and again, the middle-aged man, Elliot had ch