Chapter two

Kyrian

Kyrian's eyes widened in horror as he realized what was happening. A group of masked men had taken over the bus, and they were shooting at the people on the street. Kyrian and the director were trapped in the middle of a war zone, and they had to find a way to escape.

"There's a side street up ahead," the director said, pointing down the road. "We can take that and get out of the line of fire."

Kyrian nodded, his heart pounding in his chest. They began to run, dodging bullets and debris as they went. They turned the corner onto the side street, The director was right - they had to get out of there, but Kyrian's ankle was throbbing and he could barely walk.

"I can't," he said, collapsing to the ground.

"We have to," the director said, grabbing Kyrian's arm and pulling him up. "You can do this. We just need to find a safe place to hide until the danger has passed."

Kyrian gritted his teeth and forced himself to stand. They began to walk, slowly at first, but gradually picking up speed as Kyrian found his footing. The gunshots grew fainter as they moved further away from the scene of the attack. They turned another corner, and the sounds of gunfire faded away. They were safe, for now.

The director led Kyrian to a small house on the edge of the neighbourhood. "We can stay here for a while," he said, unlocking the door and ushering Kyrian inside. Kyrian sank onto a couch, his ankle feeling like it was on fire. The director came over and knelt beside him, examining the injury.

"It's not too bad," he said, his voice calm and reassuring. "It's just a scratch. We'll clean it up and bandage My body ached all over, but I tried to ignore the pain. The officer opened his backpack and took out a loaf of bread, a can of Coke and a bottle of water.

"Here, eat something," he said, handing me the bread and the water. I was so hungry that I wolfed down the bread in a few bites, then washed it down with a swig of water.

"That's better, right?" the officer asked. I nodded, and he gave me a tired smile. I could see the stress of the past few hours etched on his face, and I felt a wave of gratitude that he had been there to help me. I wanted to say something, but I didn't know what to say. Instead, I just reached out and squeezed his hand, trying to express my thanks. He squeezed my hand back, and I knew he understood.

We sat in silence for a few minutes, just resting and catching our breath.

I kept observing the officers as they sat in a circle while deliberating on a particular case.

"They are called the MK, short form of merciless killers. These groups of boys formed this crew just to terrorize the city. I heard they are from different tribes but mostly Fulani's. This is a picture of their capon, it isn't so clear but he is distinguished from others with his mark. They call him "Scorpion". This is the only information I was able to get from an insider". A thin, tall, dark policeman muttered while projecting some of the photos of the terrorist on the wall.

I was familiar with the picture, especially the shoe. These were the shoes of the bandit that killed my parents, and the mark too, that was their commander. "I know them“ I managed to say but no one heard me, guess my voice was too tropical.

“What about their chambers, where do they stay?”. The director let out as he took a closer look at the picture

“Not yet known Sir” Ken's cracked voice echoed as he stood while looking at the director tiredly.

“We need to find out, this isn't enough information to pull through... Keep searching, don't stop. Make sure we get every necessary information needed for this mission to carry out”. The director whispered and left. I wished I was certain, I wish my voice could be held, these evil people are from the mountains, that's where they stay.

“Is it time to go?”. I whispered while gently tapping Ken on his trousers. But, he took a close look at the director who gave him a sign.

“Just take him home”. The director whispered before he jacked me up and we left.

“Bye-bye”. I muttered with a slight smile while waving at the director and the thin dark officer.

“Bye”. He returned with a smile and waved.

I smiled and leaned on Ken's neck while facing forward. I kept inhaling his sweet cologne as we went past some of the officers who he didn't stop to greet.

“Seems you got yourself a son now”

“Daddy Ken...”

“Ken?! He looks just like you”

“What a cute boy you've got there”

These were compliments we kept receiving from some of his colleagues until we were out of the building.

“Will my mummy be fine?”. I whispered with a cracked tone.

“Do you love strawberry ice cream?" He let out a smile.

“I prefer vanilla”. I mumbled before he took me to a mall that was close by and purchased the ice cream.

The mall was bustling with activity, but as we made our way to the ice cream shop, it felt like we were in our little world. I savoured the taste of the vanilla ice cream as we sat on a bench and watched the people passing by. At that moment, I felt a sense of peace and contentment that I hadn't felt in a long time.

Then, I remembered what the officer had said about finding me a safe and loving home. Could that be possible? Could I have a place where I felt truly safe and cared for?

I noticed the confusion that was in his head, his facial expression kept showing off with a troubled soul.

“Are you okay?”. I managed to say as he looked at me and smiled.

“yes”. He whispered but I found it difficult to believe as I kept looking at him confused.