CHAPTER 3 — RUN, IF YOU CAN
1374 Words
Kayden didn’t release Malia’s hand until they were far from the greenhouse—running past empty corridors, down the stairwell, out the side gate used only by cleaners and senior prefects sneaking out.
Her breathing was uneven, fast, terrified.
His was steady. Controlled.
He’d been running from danger his whole life.
They stopped behind the old sports shed, hidden by rusted metal walls and overgrown bushes.
Malia leaned against the wall, clutching her chest.
“K-Kayden… who was that man?!”
“One of Adebayo’s.”
His tone was ice.
His eyes were fire.
“You kicked him like—like you’ve done that before.”
Kayden didn’t deny it.
He didn’t need to.
“I’ve fought worse,” he muttered. “But this one was trained. He planned on dragging you out of here by force.”
Malia’s hands trembled. “He used to be one of my mother’s guards…”
That punched Kayden in the gut harder than any blow.
So the man wasn’t just a henchman.
He was someone who knew Malia.
Someone who smiled at her once.
Someone who watched her grow up.
And if even he came after her…
Things were worse than Kayden thought.
“Listen to me,” he said, stepping close again. “You can’t go home. Not today. Not alone.”
Malia’s voice broke. “Where will I go then?”
Kayden’s jaw tightened.
There was only one answer.
“With me.”
---
The bike roared to life, vibrating beneath them as Kayden drove through the back streets, avoiding cameras, checkpoints, and main roads. Malia held onto him tightly, her cheek pressed against the back of his jacket, her heart racing in sync with the engine.
For the first time since the gunshot…
she felt safe.
But Kayden?
He felt something he hadn’t felt in years:
Fear.
Not for himself.
For her.
Because protecting someone made them a weakness.
And a weakness got you killed.
He didn’t stop until they reached a part of the city nobody from their school dared to enter — the industrial district.
Broken streetlights.
Graffiti on every wall.
Smoke rising from hidden factories.
The air smelled like danger.
Malia swallowed. “Where are we?”
“A place Adebayo’s men won’t look for you,” Kayden said. “They think I’m just some school criminal. They don’t know everything.”
He parked beside a massive warehouse—abandoned on the outside, heavily protected on the inside.
Malia clutched his sleeve. “Kayden…where are we going? Whose place is this?”
He looked at her for a long moment.
Then—
“It’s mine.”
Her eyes widened. “You live here?”
“No,” he said. “This is where I work.”
He knocked twice on the metal door.
It slid open.
And a tall man with braids, scars, and a handgun tucked at his hip stared down at them.
“Boss? You brought her here?”
Malia froze.
Kayden stepped in front of her. “Move.”
The man immediately stepped aside. “Of course.”
Malia’s heart pounded.
“Boss?” she whispered. “Kayden…what is this place?”
He walked ahead of her without answering.
Inside, the warehouse transformed.
Computer stations.
Weapon racks.
Surveillance screens.
Dozens of men and women moving with military precision.
It wasn’t a gang.
It was an organization.
A secret one.
Malia’s breath caught. “Kayden…what are you?”
He exhaled slowly.
He’d avoided this question for years.
But there was no running anymore.
“I lead them,” he said. “The Shadow Wolves.”
She stared at him.
“You’re a…criminal?”
“No.” His voice was firm. “We take down criminals. Corrupt officials. Smugglers. Men like your stepfather.”
Her lips parted in shock.
“So you’re—”
“A vigilante,” he finished. “An illegal one.”
Malia’s mind spun.
The rumors.
The fear.
The danger surrounding him.
But the way he protected her…the way he held her when she trembled…
didn’t match someone evil.
“Why tell me this?” she whispered.
Kayden held her gaze, eyes burning with something unsettling and beautiful.
“Because you walked into my world the moment they shot at you. And once you’re in…there’s no going back.”
---
Kayden pulled one of the operatives aside.
“Get me everything on Adebayo’s movements today. Check traffic cams. Bank records. Phone pings. And pull up that file from last year—his secret trip to Cape Verde.”
The operative nodded and ran off.
Malia looked overwhelmed.
“Kayden…what if he finds me?”
“He won’t,” Kayden said. “Not unless someone here is stupid enough to betray me.”
A muscular girl with undercut hair and tattoos smirked.
“No one’s that stupid.”
She approached Malia.
“You must be the girl he’s risking his life for.”
“Aisha,” Kayden warned.
“What?” She raised her hands. “I’m just saying—boss never brings anyone here. You must be important.”
Malia blushed.
Kayden didn’t.
He just looked annoyed.
---
Later, he took her to a small room in the back — a quiet space with a couch, blankets, and a first-aid box.
“Sit,” he ordered gently.
Malia sat.
Kayden knelt in front of her and reached for her hand.
“May I?” he asked.
The softness in his voice shocked her more than the bullet earlier.
She nodded.
His fingers brushed her bruised wrist — the one she tried to hide.
“This wasn’t from today,” he murmured. “Who hurt you?”
She looked away.
“I don’t know.”
“Malia.”
“It wasn’t him,” she whispered. “Not my stepfather. Someone working for him. I think they were trying to send a message.”
Kayden’s voice grew lethal.
“They succeeded.”
He bandaged her wrist with slow, focused movements. His touch was careful, almost tender.
She watched him.
Really watched him.
The cold badboy.
The dangerous vigilante.
The broken genius with a fire inside.
“Kayden,” she whispered, “why are you like this? Why fight criminals? Why risk your life?”
He paused.
Then he said the words he’d never said out loud:
“Because my father was one of them.”
She froze.
“He hurt my mom,” Kayden continued. “Hurt me. Hurt everyone around him. And nobody stopped him. No police. No protector. Nothing.”
His jaw clenched.
“So I became the person I needed when I was a kid.”
Malia’s heart twisted.
This boy…
This dangerous, cold, violent boy…
was fighting to save people from becoming what he became.
She reached out and touched his cheek—gentle, shaky, terrified.
“I’m sorry,” she whispered.
Kayden inhaled sharply.
No one had touched him like that in years.
“You shouldn’t be,” he murmured. “I’m not a good person.”
“I don’t believe that.”
He swallowed hard, eyes flickering.
“Malia,” he whispered, “don’t look at me like that.”
“Like what?”
“Like I’m worth saving.”
Silence.
Heavy.
Intense.
Electric.
He leaned closer, their faces inches apart—
Beep-beep-beep.
A screen outside the room flashed red.
Warning alerts.
Threat detection.
Kayden stood instantly.
Aisha burst into the room.
“Boss,” she gasped. “You need to see this.”
Kayden rushed to the main screen.
Malia followed.
And then her blood ran cold.
On the security feed—
A black SUV drove past the warehouse. Slowly. Deliberately.
Watching.
Searching.
Adebayo’s men had found them.
Malia grabbed Kayden’s arm, panic rising.
“K-Kayden—they’re here! They found us!”
He stepped in front of her protectively, jaw set, voice dark and lethal:
“Let them come.”
He looked down at her, brushing a stray curl from her face.
“You’re not running anymore,” he whispered. “This time…I’m the one hunting them.”
And as the SUV circled back for a second pass, Kayden’s eyes ignited with that frightening flame —
the very fire that made the world call him
Child of the Devil.
---
- Writer
