CHAPTER 14
The gym roof collapses.
Not fully. Enough.
Emergency lights. Chaos. Phones out. Sirens coming.
A kid is trapped. Bleeding. Crying.
Jack doesn’t hesitate.
He lifts the beam like physics are optional.
Everyone sees it.
Everything stops.
The kid is pulled free. Alive.
And every phone is pointed at Jack.
The silence afterward is brutal.
Power flips.
Fear rushes in to replace it.
Jack looks at me, wild-eyed. “I didn’t mean to.”
“I know,” I say.
The principal stares at him like he’s a threat.
So do the cops.
That night, Messiliah calls me for the first time.
“You’re out of time,” she says. “They’re done waiting.”
