CHAPTER 5 — Marked for War
1194 Words
Night fell too quickly.
The sun dipped behind the rooftops like it was hiding, leaving the streets under a heavy blanket of silence. The kind of silence that didn’t feel peaceful.
The kind that warned you something was coming.
Aiden felt it before the first streetlight flickered on.
He stood by the hospital window, watching shadows stretch across the pavement. Every passing motorcycle made him tense. Every silhouette made his heart beat harder—not with fear, but with calculation.
Blade was coming tonight.
Risa lay asleep in the room behind him, breathing softly, unaware of the storm gathering outside her door.
Rina was pacing.
Back and forth.
Back and forth.
Like someone fighting her own mind.
“Aiden,” she said finally, voice quiet and tight, “we can move her. I know someone. A nurse. We can take her to another ward, another building—”
“No.”
“Aiden—”
“I’m not running.” His voice was steady, calm, frighteningly calm. “And neither is she.”
Rina stopped walking. “You’re not thinking clearly.”
Aiden turned to look at her fully.
“I’ve never been more clear.”
Rina’s jaw clenched.
She hated how he sounded—like someone who had already accepted the violence waiting for him. Like someone who didn’t care if he made it out alive.
She stepped closer. “You don’t get it. Blade has more boys now. They’ve been calling for backup all evening. I heard them.”
Aiden’s eyes narrowed. “You heard them?”
Rina swallowed nervously.
She’d slipped out earlier. Made a call. Tried to gather information like she used to.
It had been risky—Blade’s boys didn’t trust her anymore—but they trusted her enough to talk in front of her by mistake.
“They said… they said ‘tonight is the night.’”
Aiden’s expression sharpened.
He wasn’t surprised.
He wasn’t scared.
He was ready.
Rina stepped even closer, voice trembling. “Aiden, I owe them, but not like this. I didn’t sign up for this.”
He stared at her.
Rina looked away before continuing.
“That night… when they saved me… Blade told me I’d never owe him money. Just favors. Small ones. Warnings only.” She swallowed. “But now he wants blood. That’s not part of the deal.”
Aiden softened a little—not fully, but enough to remind her he wasn’t a monster.
“Rina,” he said quietly, “you don’t have to do this anymore.”
Her eyes lifted.
“You don’t owe them your life.”
Rina flinched—not because of fear, but because deep inside, she wanted to believe him more than anything.
But the truth was cruel.
“Aiden… you don’t know Blade like I do. You don’t know what they do to people who betray them.”
Aiden stepped forward until they were inches apart.
“I know what they did to Risa. And I know what they’ll do if I stand back.”
He held her gaze.
“And that’s enough for me.”
Rina’s breath caught.
Something dangerous.
Something honest.
Something that terrified her more than Blade.
“Aiden…” she whispered, “you’re changing.”
He didn’t deny it.
He simply turned back to the window.
“Good,” he murmured.
---
Outside… the hunt began.
Blade moved through the shadows like he owned the night.
Tank and four other boys followed him, armed with knives, bottles, and rage. They kept to alleyways, slipping past shops as they closed for the night.
The streetlights flickered again—almost like they were scared too.
Blade touched his bandaged hand and snarled.
“You see wetin that boy do me? You see am?”
“Yes boss,” the boys muttered.
Tank pointed ahead. “Hospital dey for front.”
Blade grinned.
“Perfect.”
---
Inside, Aiden had a plan.
He slid a chair under the doorknob—the simplest way to slow an entry.
He placed himself between the door and Risa.
He checked the windows, the corners, the hallway outside.
Rina watched him like he was someone new. Someone she didn’t fully know anymore. Someone whose darkness was no longer buried.
“Aiden,” she whispered, “what if they don’t come through the door?”
“They will.”
“What if Blade sent someone else?”
“He did.”
Aiden wasn’t guessing.
He was sure.
Rina shivered. “So what do we do?”
Aiden finally looked at her again.
“You stay with Risa. No matter what happens. Don’t leave her side.”
Rina shook her head. “No. I’m not hiding while you fight.”
“This isn’t your fight.”
“Then stop making it sound like you’re about to die!” she snapped, voice cracking.
Aiden’s eyes softened—but only for a moment.
“I’m not dying tonight.”
Rina stared at him…
And realized he meant it.
---
The first hit came softly.
Just a knock.
Three taps.
Rina froze. “Aiden…”
“I know.”
Aiden walked to the door, slow, quiet, ready.
He held the handle but didn’t open it.
Someone outside breathed heavily.
A boy whispered, “Blade say make we check if she dey awake.”
Aiden didn’t speak.
He slammed his fist into the door with brutal force.
There was a scream. A fall.
Footsteps scattered.
Rina gasped. “Aiden—!”
“They’re trying to see how many people are inside,” he said calmly. “Blade is testing the room.”
Rina’s heart pounded loudly. “This is too much. This is crazy.”
Aiden turned to her.
“This is revenge,” he corrected.
---
Ten minutes passed.
Too quiet.
Too still.
Then—
A crash downstairs.
Shouting.
Running footsteps.
The hospital erupted.
Rina grabbed Aiden’s arm. “It’s them—it’s them—Aiden, please—”
He pulled away gently.
“Stay with Risa.”
He stepped into the hallway.
The lights flickered violently.
Some patients screamed.
A nurse ran past, panicking.
Aiden walked calmly toward the noise.
Because he knew Blade wasn’t looking for victims.
He was looking for him.
---
The confrontation happened at the stairwell.
Blade appeared at the top of the stairs.
Aiden at the bottom.
They stared at each other across the dim hallway, under a flickering bulb that buzzed like a dying insect.
Blade smirked.
“So you dey wait for me.”
Aiden’s fists tightened.
“You touched the wrong girl.”
Blade lifted a knife, eyes gleaming.
“And tonight, I go touch another.”
Aiden didn’t blink.
“You stepped into the wrong building.”
Blade laughed. “This your bravado go finish today.”
He whistled sharply.
Footsteps answered.
Three boys emerged behind him.
Two behind Aiden.
They had Aiden surrounded.
Rina watched from the ward doorway, hand over her mouth, tears filling her eyes.
She whispered, “Aiden… no. Please.”
Aiden didn’t turn around.
He didn’t retreat.
He didn’t tremble.
He only said one thing:
“Let’s finish this.”
And the night exploded.
- Writer
