Chapter 283: Malone Griffin’s Backstory

Malone wasn’t the firstborn of his parents. When he was born, he had two older siblings, but as he grew up, they disappeared, and he became the eldest child in the family.

Before one of them was taken away, he warned his little brother Malone to run as fast as he could before they came for him too. The older boy had gripped Malone’s shoulders tightly in the dark, his fingers digging into his skin, his eyes wide with a terrifying look that Malone couldn’t shake. But Malone didn’t understand what he meant. He had just nodded blindly, too young to realize that the house they lived in was a trap with a ticking clock.

Malone’s school days were rough as well. He was only four years old when his nose was broken by a brown-haired girl in his classroom. He hated it when people picked on him, so he avoided others whenever he could.

One day, he was sitting in class when that same girl offered him a donut.

"My big brother says I shouldn’t pick on weaker kids. Here, eat this donut so you can get strong and we will punch the strong one day," the girl said. She tilted her head, her eyes staring at him with a stubborn look that didn’t allow for any arguments.

No one had ever offered Malone free food before. Even at home, he had to work for food.

Malone accepted the donut. It was his first time tasting one. The sweet glaze melted on his tongue instantly, and the soft dough made his stomach stop aching for the first time in days.

From that day on, they became friends. They were completely inseparable, walking down the school hallways side by side every single morning.

His first friend’s name was Faye Grande.

Faye always shared her lunch with him because his parents never gave him any. Faye became Malone’s shield. She was also the one who gave him the nickname Malo. Malone constantly corrected her, saying his name wasn’t Malo, but eventually gave up because Faye never listened. She would just laugh, waving her hand dismissively and calling him Malo anyway until the name stuck for good.

Even when three girls were mean to him, Faye protected him.

Faye had stepped right between them. Even though she was an Omega and supposedly weak, she refused to act weak.

The two pulled a prank on the girls as payback, and the so called leader ended up crying to her brother as he carried her home.

That day was a victory, and the two became the talk of the school, the wolves who had taken down an Alpha. The rumor spread through the classrooms like wildfire, making the other kids think twice before ever looking at Malone the wrong way again.

The school playground became their favorite hangout spot. The two friends would swing together and play for hours.

Soon, their family became five, then six. Malone now had a two-year-old baby brother.

Whenever his parents went out, the boy would cry nonstop from hunger. The high-pitched wailing would echo through the walls for hours while the adults stayed out late at the local bars. Malone would beg them to take care of him since he was still little, but his parents didn’t care. They would just push Malone aside, slamming the front door behind them and leaving him alone with the screaming infant.

Faye would give Malone her lunch money so he could buy food for his brother. She would drop the crumpled bills into his palm during homeroom, her face serious as she told him to go to the convenience store before the sun went down. The two of them also helped the lunch lady serve food in the cafeteria, and in return, she rewarded them with extra meals, which Malone would take home.

Then one morning, while Malone was getting ready for school, a man walked into the house. He smiled at Malone and introduced himself as his uncle.

Malone didn’t understand what was happening until he discovered that his parents were giving him up for adoption, and this so-called uncle was supposed to find him a new family. He watched his mother hand over a small duffel bag filled with his clothes, her face completely blank as she signed a piece of paper on the table.

Malone soon found himself living with the man who claimed to be his uncle. He was taken to a building on the edge of the city, the windows covered in thick iron mesh that kept the sunlight out.

He wasn’t the only child there. There were many kids his age and older living in the building. They moved through the bare hallways like ghosts, their faces pale and their clothes completely worn out as they sat on the dirty floor.

They all said they had no parents or guardians, and Uncle Butcher promised them families. He would stand at the front of the room every morning, his deep voice booming as he told them about the rich people who were waiting to take them in.

But Malone already had parents, so why would they want to give him a new family?

One day, while sneaking around, Malone overheard Butcher talking and discovered the truth.

The man wasn’t finding families for children.

He was selling them. He was arguing with a buyer over the phone, listing out the ages and traits of the kids like they were pieces of property, his voice full of pure greed.

Malone tried to warn the other kids, believing they would listen.

Instead, one of them reported him to Butcher and told him that Malone was trying to start a rebellion. The older boy had pointed a finger at him right in the middle of dinner, wanting to win the man’s favor to get an extra piece of bread.

As punishment, Butcher starved them. He locked the pantry doors and turned off the kitchen lights, leaving the entire house in complete darkness for days.

"Hungry kids don’t bite," Butcher would always say. He would walk through the rooms with a heavy cane, watching them grow weaker and weaker as their ribs began to show through their shirts.

But Malone refused to give up. He gritted his teeth against the painful cramps in his stomach, keeping his eyes sharp as he looked for any weakness in the building’s security.

He and two other children continued planning their escape. They whispered in the dark after hours, mapping out butcher’s men shifts and the unlocked basement windows.

One of them was Bambi. She was tough and was just as desperate to leave as Malone was.

Their plan was solid, but it failed.

This time, Butcher shackled them. He dragged them down to the damp basement, snapping heavy iron cuffs around Malone’s ankles and pinning him to the cold stone wall.

Just when Malone thought he would never see his little brother again.

"Why is SquarePants crying?"

A familiar voice stopped him. The words cut through the dark, damp air of the cellar, sharp and clear.

When he looked up, he saw his friend, Faye.

She had come to rescue him.