Chapter 6 – The Ambush on the Rooftop
The next morning, routine forced itself back into Titus's life—dull, suffocating, and mechanical. The same sermon echoed at breakfast, like a broken record: "Stay discreet." "Be home by one." "Watch your things."
But after the horrors of the previous day—and the bizarre reaction of his parents—Titus felt like he was walking straight back into the wolf's jaws.
He left the house toward the train, silently praying, pleading, that he wouldn't see the twins.
But they were there. In the same car. Waiting.
"Hello, Titus," Cristal said with a sweetness that didn't match her regal posture. Her brother Bruno only nodded—a silent mountain of muscle.
Titus stared at them in disbelief. His face flushed, heat rushing to his cheeks as nervousness squeezed the breath out of him.
I get nervous when I see her. She's just so beautiful, he whispered to himself. He had never had a girlfriend. Barely any experience talking to girls. He had no idea how to interact.
But Cristal found his nervousness strangely… charming.
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Hook: But something in the darkness was already moving, ready to change everything…
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At school, the atmosphere was tense, even though classes continued. But when lunchtime arrived, tension snapped like a rope.
Students burst out of classrooms in a frantic flood. Titus, remembering yesterday's humiliation, grabbed his tray and sprinted toward the one place he believed the bullies would never think to look: the rooftop of the fifth floor.
I'm a genius, he told himself, smug satisfaction blooming inside him. They'll never find me here.
He sat down, enjoying his food and the view. For one stolen moment… he felt peace.
And then—
BANG.
The rooftop door slammed open so hard it echoed. A swarm of students—eighteen or more—poured onto the rooftop. Ken and Melanie stood at the front, their faces twisted into triumphant, predatory smiles.
"Well, well… look what we have here," Ken said, voice dripping with mockery. "A disobedient slave."
"Get him!" he barked.
Titus tried to run. Panic surged through him. His tray fell, food scattering across the concrete. But there was nowhere to go—he was on the rooftop of a fifth floor. A trapped mouse.
The bullies grabbed him within seconds, dragging him to Ken. And Ken… unleashed hell.
"This is what happens to slaves who don't listen," Ken snarled.
He punched Titus again. And again. And again. Titus's face swelled quickly; his left eye began to close. Blood seeped from his nose. He collapsed to the floor, but Ken continued kicking him—each blow an explosion of agony.
By the time Ken grew tired, Titus was barely conscious, trembling, a mass of pain.
"Finish him," Ken ordered his lackeys.
Titus couldn't speak. His body was shutting down. Darkness crawled up the edges of his vision.
Then—
THUD.
A sound like a hammer hitting stone. Ken's body flew—literally flew—eight meters through the air, slamming into the far wall. Blood smeared instantly from the deep gash across his face.
Bruno stood there. A monster in human form. Eyes blazing gold.
Ken staggered to his feet, screaming, "Get him! Kill him!"
Two boys rushed Bruno. Bruno didn't even flinch. He moved with impossible speed for someone his size—silent, deadly, controlled. His front kick crashed directly into one bully's face. A crack. A spray of blood. The boy dropped like a puppet with cut strings.
The second bully threw a left‑left‑right combination. Bruno blocked the right with his forearm, seized the attacker's wrist, and grabbed the front of his shirt. In a single fluid motion—he pivoted, loaded his hip, and executed a perfect Uchi Mata, the signature throw of Russian Sambo.
The boy's back hit the roof with a horrible thud. Air left his lungs in a rasp. He didn't get up.
Another attacker made the mistake of stepping closer. Bruno headbutted him—a savage, brutal blow that knocked the boy unconscious instantly.
The rest froze. Fear replaced anger. They hadn't known Bruno was a black belt in Sambo, trained from age five by his own father. The girls in Melanie's group stared in horror as their friends fell like rag dolls.
At that moment, Cristal appeared at the entrance of the rooftop, uniform flawless despite the chaos. She ran toward Titus—
But Melanie, still staggering, blocked her path.
"And where do you think you're going, bitch?" Melanie hissed.
Cristal didn't hesitate. She headbutted Melanie with icy precision. Melanie collapsed instantly.
Cristal didn't spare her a glance. She reached Titus's broken body and gently lowered herself to the floor. Lifting him, she cradled him in her lap—softly, protectively. Her yellow eyes, once mocking and predatory, now shone with fierce tenderness.
"I'm here now," she whispered, her accented voice suddenly sweet amid the violence. "I'll protect you."
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Hook: What came next would be impossible to stop…
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