CHAPTER ONE.

Fifteen year old Jayden was on his bed and his eyes were glued to the screen of his computer when his door creaked open and his mum entered. She had a bright smile on her face and Jayden returned the smile when his eyes caught the gift box she was with.

It was Christmas Eve by the way and it was a tradition in the house to exchange gifts on such days. His dad and his two elder sisters already gave him their first own gifts and his mum was bringing hers now. He in return made cards for them which they willingly accepted.

Jayden had always been a social nerd and he didn’t even know how to mingle with people. His parents were freaking rich but that didn’t stop him from being an introverted nerd.

“Won’t you even come down for dinner?” His mum asked as she perched on the bed beside him, “everyone is downstairs and you are here” her voice was filled with a lot of love and concern towards her last child and her only son, she loved him with all of her being and in return Jayden loved all of them so much.

“I just don’t feel like it mum, I am not that hungry either” he closed his laptop and focused his attention on the gift box on top of his bed.

“What did you get for me?”

He grabbed the box and unwrapped it, his eyes opened wide in amazement when he saw the content of the box.

“Why did you get me this mum?, you should be giving it to mica or even Jane. It is not for me, I don’t even need it”

All his life, Jayden never dreamt of acquiring power just like his father. He was okay with being the social nerd, he was okay with how he was and now his family was giving him such a big responsibility at such a young age”

Mrs Baxter smiled at him while caressing his cheeks,

“You are old enough to have your own inheritance, my love, I talked to your father and we decided to give you this. This will help in a long way”

Jayden sighed as he read through the document, the papers in his hands were worth more than fifty billion dollars. More so, he was just fifteen years old. Why would he need so much money?

“Just keep it okay?you will need it”

Sighing he packed the papers back into the gift box and pushed it towards her,

“You should give it to mica or Jane okay? I don’t need it”

Now his mother creased her forehead into a frown,

“I am asking you to keep it so keep it okay? Your father wants you to have it too” she took his hand in hers, “I know you like being on your own son and I am not trying to change you, just keep it. It will come in handy when the time comes, okay?”

His lips finally curved into a smile, “Thanks mum” Jayden gave her a hug and that was when the two of them heard a loud bang from downstairs, Jayden suddenly flinched in fear.

“What was that?” He suddenly asked as his mother stood up from the bed.

“Stay here” Mrs Baxter said, “i will go and check what is going on okay?”

“Hmm” he nodded and watched his mother walk out of the room while closing the door behind her.

***

Mrs Baxter met the shock of her life when she got downstairs and met the scene before her. This had to be the joke of the century right?o

Her two daughters were in the pool of their own blood while her husband was on his knees with a gun pointed to his head and the one pointing the gun had a smirk on his face.

“What the hell is going on here?” She asked as she rushed to her two daughters, blood was oozing out of the gunshot on their stomachs and they both were already dead.

“Mica!!” She shoved her eldest daughter but she was not answering, “mica!!! Jane!!!l”

Reality dawned on her, they were both dead and the person who killed her children was not a stranger.

“Are you done with the pity party?” The man with the gun asked with a more hideous smile, “I was waiting for you to finish”

He glanced at the gold plated wall clock and nodded his head, he still had a lot of time.

“I won’t spare you Gerald” Mr Baxter fumed angrily, sweat dripping down his forehead.

Baxter was the owner of the biggest automobile conglomerate in the whole of America and beyond. His name was gateway opportunity but right now he was on his knees and his best friend had a gun pointed to his head.

“Why the heck did you kill my children?” His wife yelled angrily as hard bitter tears flowed out of her eyes while she still shoved her children’s body. Christmas Eve was now a gloomy night for them. This was one thing they never imagined.

“Just let me have the papers Baxter and I promise not to harm your wife or you anymore”

“You are a bastard Gerald” Baxter hissed again and a bullet to his thighs made him wince in pain.

“Please don’t kill him” Mrs Baxter begged, “don’t kill my husband”

“Then give me what I want” Gerald backed, “I am not here to play pity games with you”

By now he already cocked the gun and pointed it at her.

“What the fuck is wrong with you Baxter? You really don’t love your family do you?”

After talking, Gerald gestured to his men and they began to search the living room for whatever they were looking for.

Nerdy Jayden who was getting a bit apprehensive came out of the room and just as he was about to go downstairs, he saw the scene at the foot of the stairs and he froze on the spot. His two sisters were dead and his parents were kneeling with guns pointed to their heads.

“Don’t do this Gerald” his mother begged but instead the sinister looking man smiled.

Jayden recognized Gerald, he was his father’s best friend and business associate. What the hell was he doing?

The moment he took a step forward, his mother’s eyes met his and she gestured for him to run.

Jayden didn’t want to go, he couldn’t leave his family like that but seeing the pain in her eyes, he turned around and ran back to his room and locked the door from inside. His mind was beating faster than usual and he was wondering what he should do, for the first time he was upset over the fact he didn’t have a cell phone in his room.

Back downstairs, Baxter and his wife were still pleading but when one of Gerald’s men walked up to him and whispered something in his ears, his countenance changed.

“You really don’t care about the life of your family right?”

After asking, Gerald immediately shot his wife right in front of him. Mrs Baxter immediately fell to her death.

“Gerald!!!”

But a bullet also penetrated his brain and he also fell to his death.

“Find that boy” Gerald yelled and made his way upstairs, he was not planning to leave until he got what he wanted.

****

Back in his room, Jayden was already freaking out. He could hear footsteps and he knew whoever that was, was coming for his room. He just watched his whole family being murdered and he just couldn’t wrap his head around it, nothing made sense to him.

A loud bang on his door made him flinch in fear.

“I don’t know what to do, mum” Jayden muttered under his breath as tears rolled out of his eyes.

He had never been in this kind of situation before and he just didn’t know what to do.

“I know you are in there little boy” Gerald’s voice filtered into his ears, “open the door Jayden and let’s have a talk”

“Get away from me” Jayden yelled, “leave”

He was crying and holding onto his head, everything was just too much for him to bear.

“Just open the door Jayden and let’s have a talk okay?” Gerald was smiling through his teeth and the little boy could feel it, “your parents are fools and they had to pay for the consequences of their actions, it is a pity that your sisters got tangled in the mix”

“Why did you kill them?” Jayden asked him, he wanted to know what crimes his parents committed to be punished in such a cruel way.

“Enough Jayden” the man outside the door screamed angrily, “break this door down” he ordered and his men set to work.

With each passing stroke of their feet against his door, Jayden knew he was done for. He had to leave or his would be dead if Gerald succeeded in opening the door.

Without thinking much, he opened his window and the gust of wind greeted him. He was on the third floor and jumping meant he could lose his life. Now he was between the devil and the deep blue sea, at this point it was better to jump and die than allow Gerald to have the luxury of killing him. Closing his eyes, Jayden muttered a silent prayer and he jumped out while forgetting about the papers on the bed.

His door finally opened and rushed inside but the whole room was already empty, Gerald’s eyes flew to the papers on the bed and his lips curved up into a smile.

“Bingo” he muttered to himself before turning to the man beside him,

“Find that boy and bring me his dead body”

“Yes boss” the man nodded and rushed out of the room while Gerald gathered the papers in his hands while smiling,

“Half of my problems have been solved” he casually strode out of the room. A Christmas Eve massacre.

******

Jayden kept running on the streets of New York City, he didn’t know where he was going but he kept running. Everywhere was glittering with Christmas lights and Christmas songs were being played from different shops and restaurants all around and he could see how happy everyone was but he was not happy. He was just fifteen and he had witnessed the massacre of his own family, everything was just overwhelming for him.

He continued to run and run, he didn’t want to stop because stopping meant death.

Jayden didn’t know for how long he had run but before he could cross a major bridge, a car from nowhere rushed towards him and in a moment, he was leaping in the air with blood gushing out of his wounds.

Jayden landed on the cold hard floor and he saw someone climb out of the car and walk up to him. Despite his blurred vision, he recognized the man well and that smirk on his face was one he would always remember.

“You made a very big mistake Jayden” Gerald bent towards him and grabbed him by the shoulders, “merry Christmas”

After talking, the fifteen year old boy closed his eyes and gave up the ghost.

“Throw his body into the water” Gerald ordered and began to walk towards his black Bentley, he had to spend Christmas Eve with his family by the way.