Zay hadn't slept in two days.

  He stared at frame 4 again. The kid didn't blur. Didn't duck. Just vanished—like a video stuttered mid-play.

  He paused. Zoomed.

  A mint tin on the counter slid sideways before the flicker. The shelf behind it bowed inward. The light dimmed like something sucked the voltage out of the room.

  "That's not motion," Zay muttered. "That's... displacement."

  He scrolled through the comments.

  "Camden got superheroes now?" "Frame 4 is actually cursed." "He didn't teleport. Bro got erased." "He looked scared. Like he didn't even mean to do it."

  Zay stopped on the last one. Read it twice.

  He played the clip again, frame by frame. The kid's hand was mid-reach. His eyes wide.

  Then—gone.

  "What happened to you..."

  ?

  Camden – 1:18 AM

  Javiel crouched behind a rooftop vent, hoodie pulled low, breath sharp and unsteady.

  Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.

  He'd seen the video.

  Everyone online thought it was fake. Or real. Or both.

  He didn't know what it was. Only that it happened. And someone was watching him now.

  The air felt heavy. Like it was choosing sides.

  ?

  1:20 AM – Opposite Rooftop

  Two men stepped out of the shadows. No badges. No panic. Just quiet confidence. Like they'd done this before.

  One looked up.

  "Javiel Rivera," he said, like he was confirming a checklist."You weren't supposed to stabilize."

  The second raised something black and blinking.

  "Collapse probability confirmed. Prepare cleanup."

  *Javiel FLICKERED—instinct.

  But the jump stuttered. Too short. Too late.*

  He slammed into gravel, scrambled to his feet, pushed through the pain.

  No time to think.No time to pray.

  He stumbled up a nearby ladder to the next rooftop, lungs on fire.

  ?

  1:24 AM – Upper Rooftop

  He collapsed, bleeding and alone. The city below didn't care.

  He turned back—and they were already there.

  No guns drawn.No emotion.

  "Thread identified. Closure imminent."

  He pressed his hand to the rooftop. Tried to FLICKER. Nothing.

  "Move," he whispered. "Please."

  The rooftop pulsed beneath him. The sky rippled. And the world split.

  ?

  Collapse.

  No scream. No shot. No flame.

  Just—

  absence.

  ?

  1:25 AM – Same Rooftop – Seconds Later

  A security cam on a nearby building glitched once.

  Frame 27: a boy on the roof.Frame 28: smoke.Frame 29: nothing.

  Zay leaned toward the screen.

  No blood. No body. Just static, whispering on loop.

  "You didn't fall," he whispered."You disappeared."