He walked toward the warehouse door, stopped with one hand on the rusted frame.
"You all have your reasons. Your powers. Your mission. Me? I just wanted something simple. A job. A way out of the mess I grew up in."
He turned slightly, meeting Ren's eyes.
"I've already watched people I care about get hurt. And yeah, I can't stand that. Still can't. But that doesn't mean I'm willing to die for strangers."
Ren took a step toward him. "You might not get to choose next time, Kade."
Kade's voice dropped. "Then I'll deal with it when it happens."
And just like that, he walked out.
No goodbye. No dramatic exit. Just a kid with no powers, walking away from a war he never asked to be part of.
Leaving the warehouse—and whatever destiny waited inside—behind him.
—
The air outside hit different.
It wasn't just the cold. It was the silence. That strange, thick silence that came after something big — not quite peace, not quite relief. Just space. Like the world was holding its breath.
Kade walked fast, hands buried in his pockets. His shoulders were tight, his jaw set, eyes straight ahead. He didn't know where he was going. He just knew he had to be away from there.
He cut through the dead part of the city where everything looked abandoned — graffiti-covered fences, power lines hanging too low, the occasional flicker of movement in windows that shouldn't have light. The place had that eerie hum to it, like the city itself was whispering to anyone still dumb enough to listen.
"Monsters," he muttered under his breath, kicking a crushed can off the sidewalk. "Freaking monsters."
Everything they'd told him circled his brain like sharks — the Hollowborn, the artifacts, the curse marks. The fact that he didn't have one. That they didn't know what it meant. That he didn't know what it meant.
It should've scared him. But all he could feel was this weird numb pressure in his chest.
Maybe it was adrenaline fading. Maybe it was denial. Or maybe it was that part of him — the part that snapped when Nico was about to die — still waiting for another reason to lose control again.
He hated that part. Because it didn't feel like him.
It felt more.
He rubbed at his side again, half-expecting the mark to suddenly appear now that he'd walked away. Still nothing. Just bare skin and cold fingers.
He ended up at the train tracks, the ones near the edge of town that always looked haunted at sunset. He sat down on a cracked bench near the crossing and stared at the rusted rails.
"I didn't ask for any of this," he said softly, mostly to himself.
A pigeon landed nearby and stared at him like it expected food or answers. Kade stared back. "What are you looking at?"
The bird didn't answer. Typical.
He stayed there awhile. Watching the sky darken. Watching headlights flicker on in the distance. Watching the world move on like nothing had changed, even though everything inside him felt different.
He could've kept walking. Could've hopped a train, disappeared somewhere quiet where the Hollowborn didn't exist, where Ava didn't glare at him like he was a mistake, where Lila didn't argue about killing him, and where Ren didn't look at him like he mattered.
But he didn't. He just sat there.
Maybe because deep down, a part of him already knew the truth.
You don't walk away from something like that. Not really.
—
Eventually, the cold started creeping into his bones, and he stood up, stretching his sore legs. He took the long way home, cutting through backstreets and alleys like he always did, avoiding the places where people might ask questions.
The lights in his building flickered as he climbed the narrow stairwell. Second floor. Third. The paint was peeling on the walls. It always smelled like old meat and bleach.
He pushed the door open to his apartment. A narrow space with no heat and a broken sink. One window, half-covered by a towel. A couch that sagged in the middle. A mini fridge that buzzed like it was trying to die.
He didn't even bother turning on the lights. Just tossed his jacket on the couch, kicked off his shoes, and flopped onto the lumpy mattress in the corner of the room.
Everything felt heavier now. The air. The quiet. His body.
He stared at the ceiling.
He should've felt relieved. He walked away. That was supposed to be the smart move. He chose life. Chose normal.
But something in his chest wouldn't let him settle. Like part of him was still back in that warehouse.
Like part of him knew he just made the wrong choice.
But he shook it off. That wasn't his world. It never was.
He closed his eyes.
Sleep came in fits.
—
He was dreaming. Or something like it.
He stood in the alley again. The one where everything started. But it wasn't nighttime. It was that weird washed-out gray, like a memory trying to remember itself.
The ground pulsed beneath his feet. A low hum vibrated through the bricks.
He turned — and the creature was there again.
The first one. The one that had almost killed Nico.
But this time, it wasn't moving. It just stood there, twisted and silent, like it was waiting.
And then he heard her voice.
"You can't run from this forever."
He spun around.
His mom stood behind him.
But not the tired version he remembered — not the one worn down by bills and heartbreak and life.
She looked young. Fierce. Alive.
"Mom?"
She smiled, soft but sad. "You've always been stronger than you knew."
He stepped toward her, but the moment he blinked—she was gone.
The creature was gone too.
And the alley was empty.
He stood there, alone, heart racing.
Then he woke up.
—
Kade sat up fast, sweat clinging to his skin. The room was still dark, early morning just creeping through the blinds.
His chest was tight. Not fear. Not anymore.
Something else.
Resolve.
He stared at his hands.
They were shaking.
He didn't want to go back.
But…
Something told him he might not have a choice.
Not for long.
To be continued…