"Malik, oh dear, Malik", Lily purred, reaching out her hand, daintily. Malik took her hand and brushed a single kiss along the back of her hand, her skin soft and sweet-smelling. He wrinkled his nose, rose and lavender, and wondered how on Earth she smelt so nice when he was given a plain bar of unscented soap. She giggled and stood, slipping her hand into the crook of his elbow. "Finally, you've come to rescue this damsel in distress", she sang softly. "You wouldn't have forgotten me, would you?"

"Of course not, how could I?" He lied. "Shall we, my lady?"

"We shall", she giggled excitedly. Lily took one last look at her room, the plain bed pushed against the wall, the lone table in the centre of the room and sighed. Malik looked at her dreamy look and tilted her chin up to face him.

"No time for nostalgia", he whispered.

Lily gave a secretive half-smile. "Darling, I'm not nostalgic about this shit-hole, but it is a shame to see my backup plans go to waste. It involved me heroically carrying you out of here, bridal style".

He chuckled and released her chin. "Come on, princess", he mocked, arm outstretched. They walked to the door, his steps stealthy and hers light.

"My, oh my!" Lily gasped as she took in the sea of bodies littering the passage. "A red carpet? Just for me? Oh, Malik, you know how to please a girl".

Malik rolled his eyes at her weird sense of excitement as she watched the bodies with gleaming eyes.

"Don't even think about it", he warned as he took another look at her.

"I can't help it", she sniffled dramatically. "This is the most sweetest thing someone has ever done for me. Dear me, I think I will cry".

"If you cry", Malik half-heartedly threatened. "I will drag you back in your cell, lock the door and then break the handle off".

Lily scoffed and wiped her imaginary tear away. "Don't be such a spoilsport, let a girl have her fun".

They continued to walk through the bodies, his strides wide but hers small so she could eagerly tread on each and every body, snickering occasionally. There were random bangs on the door from another patient, begging to be released but Malik ignored them all, his face stoic. Lily, on the other hand, took her time to smile and wave at each one, all traces of tears disappeared from her face.

"Really?" Malik asked as a man angrily shouted sexual slurs at her.

"I am accustomed to a certain lifestyle", Lily replied, mischievously. "I'm just practising for when I make my comeback-"

Lily trailed off as suddenly a door to the stairs opened and a woman stood in shock as she took in the sight that awaited her; bodies of the guards littering the large corridor and two patients strolling along as if they were on a date with the girl nuzzled close to the man.

"Oh my God!" The doctor gasped. Her skin paled a few shades as a stack of papers flew out of her hands, scattering along the floor in a white, ink-stained mess.

"Oh, my God!" Lily agreed, leaning forward. "I love that dress, it's soo pretty! I was really admiring it when you came for our session earlier today but you ignored me when I complimented you. Why did you ignore me?"

"Uh", the doctor faltered, her hand reaching for the pocket of her white lab coat. She wore a burgundy woolly dress underneath that came up to her knees in length and looked to be very expensive but it didn't seem to be particularly special to Malik.

"I said your dress is pretty, do you have no manners?" Lily snarled.

"Oh, thank you", the woman stuttered, stalling. Malik watched amusedly at the interaction, his dark eyes flitting from the doctor back to Lily.

"Well, what are you waiting for, doctor?" Lily tutted, impatiently. "Give it to me!"

"Excuse me-"

Lily let out a sweet giggle, cutting the woman's confusion. The sound was so sweet and angelic that if Malik were to close his eyes, he could picture himself to be out in the open wild rather than mid-escape. "Are you fucking deaf? Give. Me. The. Dress. Now"

"But... I have no clothes..."

"Is that my problem, sugar? No. Take it off, right now and move your hands away from your pocket", Lily ordered.

The woman gasped as she realised she was caught and tried to push the button anyway, her hand darting into her pocket. Lily sighed and reached over, casually slapping the woman across the face, sending her recoiling into the door. The movement was so quick and graceful that even Malik did a double-take. "Now and I won't ask again".

The woman looked at them with frightened eyes and shakily stood, her heels wobbling as she clutched her red, stinging cheek.

"Jessica? Jessica, let's-"

"Jessica?" Lily scoffed, incredulously, her pitch dipping to a dangerous low. "Who the fuck is Jessica?"

"Oh, I'm sorry, I meant Lily, Lily, let's talk about this", the woman begged nervously, her eyes darting to look for some form of escape.

"Now, after all this time, you want to address me as Lily?" Lily sneered. "What happened to Lily not existing?"

"Well, I- I was wrong?" The doctor stammered, trying to hold back her fear but failing miserably.

"That's lovely to hear, now take it off", Lily ordered, nonchalant.

"Lily, please-"

"No".

"No?" The woman asked, taken aback.

"No", Lily confirmed. "When you would come for our sessions, Doctor, you would force me to answer your questions. You would force me to take those stupid tablets. You never took no for an answer and I learn from the best so neither will I. Give me the dress, this is your last warning".

The doctor visibly gulped and turned her attention to Malik, eyes begging to disagree with Lily. As that realisation dawned on Malik, he tipped his head back and laughed throatily. Was she really expecting the other mental institution patient to come to her aide?

"What she said", Malik said, shrugging his shoulders - still chuckling.

The doctor sobbed and slowly took off her lab coat, holding it close to her body. She nervously peeked at Malik as she did so and Malik felt himself grow angry. Why did every woman think he was interested in them like he had no standards?

Lily stood excitedly as the doctor she hated stood in front of her with just her plain cotton underwear on, frantically slipping her lab coat and buttoning it up. Lily snatched it off her and tore off her uniform, tossing it on the floor in a pile and pulling the dress over her head. "How do I look?" She asked, spinning around. Malik did have to admit that dress looked much nicer on Lily than on the woman.

"The same", Malik grunted. "We need to go, so hurry up".

"Fine", she huffed toity. "Well, escort me out".

He was about to turn when he felt Lily tug at his arm.

"What now?" He asked annoyed.

"Well, we can't leave her, she'll open her big mouth", Lily said innocently.

"So deal with it then".

"But... I can't, I'm far too weak and fragile, I'm just a little girl", she said with angelic soft eyes, fluttering her eyelashes.

"Ah, I should've fucking left you in that room", Malik sighed, walking towards the doctor with a grim expression. He could hear Lily clapping eagerly as pulled the trembling woman in a chokehold, slowly flexing his bicep until he could feel her heart beat slow to a dangerously low pace. He could barely feel the scrabble of her nails on his arm or hear her heels on the floor.

"You could've taken a little longer, God, I hated that bitch. ", Lily commented as the doctor's body hit the floor. "She would force her way with just about everything".

Malik looked at her with a cocked brow.

"What?" Lily gasped.

"Sounds like someone else I know", Malik muttered, heading on as she huffed in protest.

The halls were eerily silent as they walked in synchronised steps, their strides perfectly matched. The night was dark as well, the moonlight struggling to pierce the thick, dense canopy of clouds. The passage lights were dim and dull, only casting a yellowish glow over the white walls of the hospital, setting a ghostly tempo. They had made their way to the large deserted lobby, the piano alone and the reception empty. It seemed most of the staff went home for the night which made his life an awful lot easier. Malik looked around the marble lobby and the first time his eyes met hers came to mind. That moment was permanently etched in his brain and he could mentally re-enact every second he had spent with her vividly. He shook himself out of it. There was no point remembering the past when soon he would be reunited with the present one. He pushed on, Lily in tow and forced the front doors open. There was a creak as the handle was bent out of shape until it finally snapped off. He looked at Lily took a step out of the front door when the first shout rang out.

"Well?" Lily asked, the wind softly brushing her hair. Her blue eyes gleamed in the night, like two beacons paving the way through the darkness.

"You tell me", Malik responded, looking out at the horizon.

"I think it's time we separate", Lily said with a smile. "It's time I met my beloved father and mother and have a little family reunion".

"I must leave too-"

"For her?"

Malik nodded once.

"Then go", Lily smiled, her eyes shining with worry betraying the little smile on her face. She knew the trouble that lay ahead for him and she looked at his face like it was the last time she would ever see him. He look dark as always but there was this silent anger brewing inside him, one that was soon to chaotically boil over. His golden eyes flashed briefly and she imagined that they would stay so warm and full of life, forever.

There was this numbing emptiness she felt her whole life as she was shunned from her family but Malik was like her companion in the aching darkness. His face was hard and troubled and she could feel his pain and worry emanating from him in waves.

Malik tousled her hair affectionately and began to run towards the woods. He turned for a second to see Lily already gone, vanished into thin air, the only sign she was ever there was a small set of footprints.

This part was the dangerous part. He was in the open, his back exposed. These guards, they had aconitum bullets, his body would try to heal around it and trap the poison inside him. If he was hit with one of those bullets, it was game over.

He wanted to shift but he felt traces of aconitum still in his system, restraining him from doing so. He hadn't used his wolf in years, he wondered if he would be like a newborn pup walking on its legs.

Suddenly, the first floodlight turned on, illuminating the woods with a harsh white, almost blinding his enhanced sense of sight. There were more shouts and the sounds of stomping as more uniformed men made their way to stop him, to stop him from finding his mate.

The wired fence approached and he could hear the distant crackling of electricity. The fence was too high for him to jump over and the barbed wire on top would be painful for him to land on.

He glanced back at the advancing guards and back to the woods. He was running out of time and until he was deep into the woods, he was a sitting duck.

Malik swore as he tore his shirt off, the ugly hospital uniform easily ripping as tore it to two. He bound them tightly around both his hands and took a few steps closer to the fence.

Breath in, breath out.

He wouldn't jump; he would most likely end up really hurt and his rate of recovery was the slowest it had ever been. Instead, he put his cloth-covered fingers through the gaps in the wired fence and began to pull. The metal creaked and groaned as it slowly bent on the pressure he exerted. Every so often, his bare skin would brush against the fence and eight thousand volts would rush through his body, causing his muscles to spasm and shake. Malik gritted his teeth and tugged harder until he heard a series of snaps as the metal tore in half, one stray wire whipping him in the face. He pushed himself through the wire, biting his tongue as he was shocked once again. Thin red welts covered his sides and hands from the electric shock but they were already lightening from an angry red to a soft pink. There was the thick coppery taste of blood in his mouth, the metallic scent in the air from his exposed flesh and he spat, his blood a dark smear against the leaves on the ground.

As Malik ran through the woods, a rush of adrenaline raced through his body. That was it. He was out. All these years, escaping had seemed so... daunting, so improbable, so risky, but he had done it. He was free. There were shouts behind him, angry and he could hear bullets being fired, some whizzing past so close to his face but he moved so fast, so randomly that they could not lock on to him.

Had it always been this easy to leave?

Malik yelled in pure exhilaration, sending a flurry of birds screaming from the trees. He ran blindly but with a sense of purpose. Somehow he knew where to go and his feet took him along the grassy ground, deeper into the woods. The feeling of the wind tearing through his locks was indescribable, the feel of the damp, cold grass under his bare feet, the feel of insects brushing against his skin, it was all sensations that felt new to him. There was a slight relief of tension in his soul, feeling the touch of nature embrace his craving skin. He was free and nothing would make him go back now that he remembered all these sensations.

The woods began to thin out and he slowed down, his chest heaving. He had not run this much in ages, his muscles ached a pleasant, burning ache.

Malik was close to something, something of Arya's. In fact, he could just about pick up her scent but it was faint, faint enough to be concerning. Up ahead, the soft lights spilt out of the houses which lined the edges of the woods and he could smell warm dinners wafting out of open windows.

One house was completely dark, however, and strangely enough, that was the house where he could smell her the most. His heartbeat quickened as he neared the garden, dark shadows erupting seamlessly out of nowhere by the odd swaying tree or the overhead bird.

The garden looked to be well maintained but there were the beginning signs of neglect with the occasional small weeds sprouting between the titled floor. The curtains were drawn open but the lights were off, almost like nobody was home.

Malik hesitantly walked towards the back door and it swung open with the littlest of touch.

"Why wasn't it locked?" he murmured. There was a brush of wind and with it came a scent so terrifying, he felt his heart drop.

Blood. There was the thick pungent smell of blood clinging in the air, sweet and cloying. But he knew it wasn't her blood, he could the blood of a bastard from a mile away.

Mikhail had been here but the worst part was that he had been here a while ago. The blood seemed to be at least a week old and was coming from somewhere upstairs. As he made his way through the house, he picked up signs of struggle. Items lay strewn messily, drawers pulled open and scuff marks on the floor.

As he went deeper and deeper into the house, his pulse increased. What had he done? Why had he waited for a whole week to check? As he approached the attic, the smell grew stronger until he finally saw a large mishappen circle of rusty brown staining the light carpet. Bits of wood were scattered around the carpet from the broken lock and a serrated knife lay discarded on the floor.

"No, no, no", Malik whispered, tearing his hands through his hair. The blood was Mikhail's, he could recognise its scent from the numerous times they used to get into bloody fights but faintly lingering along it was the sweet seductive scent of his mate, her sweat, tears and pain.

The house was undoubtedly empty of his mate and had been for a while.

That's a long chapter.

anyway, I'm going to skip out on my author notes. Honestly, it's stressful trying to remember every question I've ever asked in this book and the others and trying to think of a new one and there's not much interaction anyway XD

thanks to everyone who's still around. ignore the typos