The courtyard at first glance looked completely normal—just the usual lively lunch break. But as Gordon focused his eyes, the knot in his gut tightened. Without wasting another second, he bolted out of the library. The heavy wooden door slammed shut behind him with a loud thud, catching Mrs. Harrilton completely off guard.
Mrs. Harrilton had been totally absorbed in sorting out her planner when she felt the whole vibe of the room shift. She stood up, her instincts screaming that something was wrong. Hurrying over to the window seat to get a better look, she adjusted her glasses, which had slid down her nose. The warm sun was streaming through the glass, but her heart instantly plummeted when she saw what was going down outside.
Gordon was marching straight toward a group of older high schoolers who were crowding around a young girl, laughing and jeering. As she focused in on the scene, Mrs. Harrilton's eyes went wide. The girl in the middle of that hostile circle was Edith—Gordon's older sister. A wave of pure panic washed over her, chilling her to the bone. The standard background noise of the school completely faded away, replaced by a massive spike of adrenaline for Edith's safety.
Panicking, Mrs. Harrilton scrambled back to her desk. Her heart raced as she fumbled for her phone, her mind spinning through worst-case scenarios. Could Gordon actually handle this, or was this way worse than it looked? Memories of past incidents flashed in her mind—she knew exactly how fast these things could spiral out of control. With shaking fingers, she dialed the front office, praying for immediate backup.
"Principal Ali, we have a major situation out here..."
Outside, the air was thick enough to cut with a knife. Something ugly was about to happen.
Gordon marched straight toward the courtyard gate, his focus locked entirely on the group. Taking a deep, ragged breath to control the tension crackling around him, he walked right up to the edge of the circle. His sudden, intense arrival immediately drew a crowd. Nearby students started whispering, a mix of curiosity and nerves hanging over the yard.
Just then, Eddie and his friend strolled out of the main building, completely chill and chatting away, when a sudden movement caught Eddie's eye. He looked up and saw Gordon charging forward, looking like he was about to start a war. Eddie's pulse quickened; he could lowkey tell that things were about to go down.
"Gordon?" Eddie called out, totally confused.
Ignoring him, Gordon shoved past one of the guys on the perimeter, grabbing the shoulder of the nearest dude to spin him around. The guy turned, irritation written all over his face. "Huh? What do you want, kid?"
Gordon leaned in close, his voice low and dangerous. "You should really watch your mouth before you finish that sentence."
Before the guy could even process the words, Gordon aggressively drove his knee upward. It wasn't a perfect textbook strike, but it connected hard enough right between the guy's legs.
The unexpected low blow made the guy instantly double over in pure agony. He let out a strangled groan and dropped straight to the pavement, clutching himself in the dirt. Knowing he was drastically outnumbered, Gordon didn't try to fight the rest. He instantly spun on his heel and sprinted back toward a gravel garden bed near the gate, desperately scooping up a handful of heavy, jagged landscaping stones.
The crowd of onlookers just watched in absolute disbelief. The whole yard went dead silent as everyone tried to process the sudden explosion of violence, nobody knowing how to react.
Gordon didn't care. He started pelting the rocks full force at the remaining group. Most missed, but one chunk of gravel pinged sharply off the chest of their leader. The massive guy stopped dead in his tracks and whipped his head around, his face contorting with rage as he spotted Gordon holding the remaining stones.
"Hey! Leave my sister alone and show some respect!" Gordon yelled, his voice cracking slightly under the adrenaline.
"You think you're tough, kid?" the leader snarled, his voice dripping with pure menace as he stepped forward. "You're nothing but a spoiled brat who thinks he's untouchable. Get the hell out of my face before I lose what little patience I have left." His eyes burned with genuine malice—he looked ready to break Gordon in half.
Gordon actually stopped, placing a hand thoughtfully under his chin in a desperate bid to buy time. "Hmm, give me a sec to think about that." He paused, locking eyes with the guy. "How about... this!"
Gordon snatched up the largest rock left in his hand—about the size of a baseball—and launched it with everything he had. The leader, showing surprisingly fast reflexes, brought his arm up to shield his face. The rock smacked heavily against his thick forearm with a brutal crack, breaking into pieces on impact. The guy winced, shaking out his bruised, bleeding hand, but the pain only made him angrier.
"I gave you a warning, kid," the leader growled, his knuckles white. "Now you're dead."
The massive guy lunged forward, sprinting full speed after him. Anticipating the charge, Gordon turned on his heel and bolted, racing out of the school gates and straight toward the city streets with three of the other guys chasing relentlessly behind him. Adrenaline pumped through his veins, his lungs burning as he wove through the chaotic traffic of the public roads.
Back at the school, the teachers finally burst outside, but the group was already long gone.
Edith was left kneeling on the pavement, crying her eyes out, surrounded by dropped backpacks. "Why do you always rush in to save me, Gordon?" she sobbed to herself, staring at the empty gate. "I don't get why you keep doing this... especially when I feel like I just let you down every single time."
Meanwhile, Gordon was sprinting down the empty city streets, his heart hammering against his ribs as pure panic set in. Shadows seemed to stretch around every corner, and the heavy, rhythmic thud of sneakers chased him down, closing the distance.
I need to lose these guys right now, he thought frantically, his breath coming in ragged gasps as the threat breathed down his neck.
Up ahead, he spotted a narrow alleyway between two brick buildings. Thinking it was his golden ticket out of there, he whipped around the corner—only to slam to a halt. His stomach dropped. It was a complete dead end, blocked by a massive, ten-foot chain-link fence.
"Oh no, I need to—"
The shouting of the gang echoed ominously down the brick walls, their shadows stretching into the alley as they blocked the only exit. Gordon scanned the dead end, desperate for any place to hide, his eyes darting wildly until they locked onto a heavy metal door at the very end of the alley.
Wait... was that door always there...? he thought, a cold chill running straight down his spine. It looked completely out of place against the weathered brick.
But with no other choice and the footsteps right behind him, he threw logic out the window, grabbed the rusted handle, and threw it open, throwing himself inside.
Suddenly, the moment his weight shifted across the threshold, the ground completely vanished beneath his feet. Gordon gasped as he was plunged headfirst into an endless, spiraling void. The walls around him twisted, melted, and blurred, dragging him deeper into a dizzying vortex of pure terror. Up, down, and sideways completely lost their meaning as the room's impossible geometry broke all the rules of reality, trapping him in a living nightmare with absolutely no way out.
The world ripped away, replaced by a sudden, violent vacuum.
"What's happening?! Why am I—" Gordon's voice was instantly sheared from his lips, the words torn apart by a deafening, roaring gale. He couldn't breathe. The sheer speed of the drop rammed the air right back down his throat, choking him.
Ahhhhhhh! God, no, no, AHHHH!
A raw, primal shriek finally tore out of him, but it sounded pathetic and distant against the screaming wind. He was plummeting into a bottomless, pitch-black void. The temperature plummeted instantly, biting through his clothes like a thousand needles. His eyes watered, the tears freezing into icy tracks across his temples before ripping away.
Time dilated, stretching seconds into agonizing minutes. His heart hammered against his ribs like a trapped bird, and a cold, sickening wave of adrenaline flooded his gut. There was no top, no bottom, no orientation—just the absolute, paralyzing terror of the dark, and the crushing certainty of the impact he couldn't see coming.