I have no new readers to dedicate this chapter to so this is for everyone!

"Who", I demanded. "Who will be pleased?"

She giggled and danced out of my reach.

"You know who I am talking about. I did try to warn you. I thought we could be friends but you didn't listen to poor, old, lonely Lily, did you?" She stood on her toes as a ballerina would as pirouetted and tilted her head back. "Wasn't that elegant. And pretty?"

I stood up quickly, my chair falling back with a harsh thud at my sudden movement. My hands were clenched tight. I'm not sure what was going on but something was clearly wrong. All my instincts were screaming at me to run, run far away from here where no one could find me and hide.

"Ooh, not so fast, where are you going?" Lily sang, mockingly still dancing.

"Away. Home", I spat as I started to head for the door.

Out of nowhere, she appeared in front of me, gripping my arm with her nails digging in to hold me in place. Her other hand reached up and pulled my hair tie roughly causing me to cry in pain as my tight bun was tugged on. My hair fell back in a messy curly mop.

"Not yet", she hissed. "The time is not right. Sort your hair out".

"Let go of me!" I yelled, trying to snatch my arm back. "And give my hair tie back, what's your problem?"

"Sweetie, I am helping you", she smirked. "You will see, just wait a few more seconds".

I fumbled around in my pocket until I found the panic button and pushed it. The guard outside was alerted and quickly entered the room, his tranquillizer gun raised and aimed at Lily.

"Miss, let go of her and go back to your bed. NOW!" he shouted as he inched his way closer.

"Hello", she smiled. "Who do we have here? Why don't you just lower the gun, sugar?"

The guard remained motionless, watching her carefully. Lily pulled me closer and began smoothing my hair back in a faux loving way.

"What lovely curly hair you have Arya, you don't mind me helping you tame it do you?"

Every cell in me felt disgusted at the way she touched my hair and the way she was treating me. I decided to break the policy. I didn't care anymore if staff weren't allowed to harm patients, Lily was crossing a line. I quickly yanked my body away from her and pushed her, catching her unaware.

The guard pulled the trigger as soon as I was free and hit Lily square in the chest. Her grip loosened from my arm and then she let go. As she started to fall, the guard caught her body and dragged her back to her bed.

She noticed me watching and smiled smugly. "Set scene. Clear stage. And enter - the beast", she whispered as she fluttered her fingers at me. Suddenly a loud crash resonated through the building.

"Dr Carlson, we need to go. I'm going to escort you to the safe room, okay?"

I nodded in response, numbly.

"This is 66-42, escorting Dr Carlson to SR-3, Patient-0157 tranqed. Over". He called into his radio.

"66-42, This is 12-37. Coast clear, SR-3 accessible. Make haste, Over".

He nodded at me and reloaded his gun, this time with real bullets. My pulse immediately jumped at the sight. How much of a threat was this person?

He began leading his way through the dark corridors with only emergency lighting leading our way. All patient doors were locked with bars over them and it was strangely deadly silent. Medical trolleys were abandoned and not a single person was to be seen. It felt like a ghost town, something apocalyptic.

"SR-3 - Safe Room 3 is this way, make sure to stay close. If I tell you to run, you run. If I tell you to hide, you hide. Understand?" he whispered.

I nodded mutely.

We continued walking. The guard despite his gear was silent whereas I was wearing heels that made clicking sounds as I walked, cutting through the stillness. I hesitantly reached down and took them off, holding them in one hand. The guard nodded at me in appreciation.

"SR-3 is past the Lobby. We need to take the stairs and cross the Lobby, okay?"

We half-ran/half-tiptoed down the emergency stairs when suddenly BANG, another crash reverberated through the building.

I gripped on the handrail. My heart was pounding so fast, it hurt.

"What was that?!"

"What we need to avoid, we don't have much time!"

I wiped the sweat off my palms. Shit, I wished I had grabbed my hair tie off her. My hair was sticking to the back of my neck and face which only stressed me out more.

I continued down the stairs, sticking as close to the guard as humanely possible as we neared the exit that would lead to the Lobby.

He pushed the door open and I held my breath.

Nobody was there. I sighed in relief and so did the guard. We trekked through the expanse of the Lobby.

"Nearly there", he said in a hushed tone.

I could see the exit. It was so close. Thirty more steps roughly and the safe room was there.

Twenty-five more steps. I gripped my heels tightly, so tight that the edge was imprinting itself on my hand. My sweaty palms threatened to drop them so I held them tighter. I had never seen the appeal of combat boots before but now my heart was singing for a pair right now.

Twenty steps. Why were we moving so slowly? Time itself had decided to slow down. I could hear every tick that the clock made slicing through the quietness.

Fifteen steps. So close. My heartbeat was so loud and rapid, it was outcompeting the noises of the clock.

Suddenly, the elevator in the centre of the Lobby dinged.

"Ground floor", the automated voice rang out.

We both froze as the doors slid open slowly. The guard motioned for me to remain still, as to not grab the attention of the person in the elevator.

We held our breaths in apprehension. Smoke seemed to pour out of the elevator. A large figure appeared, outlined in the smoke, facing us directly.

He knew, he knew we were there. He could see us. My heart felt like it was going to break through my ribs with the exertion I was feeling.

"RUN!" The guard yelled as he pulled the trigger on his gun aimed at the man. His outline seemed to flicker briefly but he continued taking slow measured steps.

I couldn't move. The air felt so heavy like I was trying to walk underwater with dead-weights attached. I couldn't talk, barely could breathe.

The guard emptied his gun but still, the man pressed on.

"Go, quick!" He cried out.

I couldn't move.

A force seemed to surround us, keeping us still and it felt like gravity had tripled. The guard cried out and dropped to his knees. I wanted to fall down but something stopped me and made me stand upright against the force.

The smoke started to clear and I waited with bated breath to see. My heart was beating faster than it had ever done before but not with fear, but with apprehension and excitement?

Then the smoke cleared and I wanted to cry as I saw the creature before me. I had never seen someone with such raw beauty. He was perfectly proportioned and perfect. I tried to find words but I couldn't speak. His face was perfectly sculpted, perfectly angular, perfectly perfect. Thick eyelashes framed those golden eyes that have been haunting since that night, and I was drawn into its depths and I was drowning. Rich dark hair pushed back, high cheekbones and those eyes. I felt like I saw something so regal, so illegal. Something a mere human shouldn't see. Anyone could take one look at him and know that he was ethereal being, superior to all man.

As he walked closer, he glided. Despite his size, not a single sound was made from his steps. His clothing was well made, better than any of the other rich patients here.

My self-instincts told me to run, cry, plead for mercy but I held my head high.

I realised the force we felt earlier was coming from him, as the closer he got, the more I felt like giving in to my instincts and collapsing.

I was ready to defend myself, even it was only with the heels in my hand and tensed myself for whatever was coming my way. Instead, he stopped. Right in front of me. I stared right back into his eyes quizzically,

His hand raised but I wasn't scared. For reasons I couldn't fathom, I felt safe. He reached out to my face and cradled it between his hands. All the tension left my body and I could feel myself subconsciously nuzzling into his palms.

He sighed in contentment and brought our foreheads closer until they rested against each other.

"I waited a very, very long time", he whispered, his voice a deep, dark, low baritone that flowed over me like velvet.

I had never felt at ease like this in my whole life and I wanted to cry in happiness. I barely registered that my heels fell from my grasp and hit the ground loudly.

"Who are you?" I whispered.

"Malik".

Ummm yes.

...

I died writing this

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