-Noah's POV-

I didn't breathe as I carefully worked my way through the trees. I had my phone clasped tight in my hand, so tight I worried that I would break it, and would need to return to Crow and ask for his. My phone wasn't the best quality, Aldrich had made that very well-known since he put his number in it. But it would do just fine.

I didn't know if texting or phoning would be the right cause of action here, but Crow did say to message. So, I scrolled through my contacts until I found Aldrich. I hesitated over his contact, tempted to scroll down to Sawyer's. But in the end, I clicked on Aldrich's and began to type.

At least I could type without making too much noise. I had only bought a smartphone last year, and it was a huge difference to my regular phone. The text I sent was, 'Meet at St. June's hospital, tell the others, hurry.' I hoped he knew where this was, it wasn't a very well-known place. But maybe after a few years of housing an insane vampire, the location might be better known amongst immortals.

I turned on my heels slowly, the hair on the back of my neck stood on end. I tried to listen for any sort of movement, but all I could hear was the wind and a faint bubbling noise. If I could hear it from where I stood, chances are that the people in the hospital could hear it as well. I hoped not, but I didn't like our chances.

I tried to hurry back, but I couldn't trust myself to go any speed quicker than a fast walk. I had to avoid crunching leaves too loudly, or else it would cause suspicion. I didn't think that I had a similar dexterity to a stag or any animal which could be found in the woods.

Crow was in my sights by the time the uncomfortable feeling in the air caused me to stop in my tracks. A single twig snapped behind me. It could've been an animal, I hoped it was an animal, but knowing my luck, it wasn't. I didn't even have time to turn around, as I was pushed forward and into a tree.

My shoulder collided with it, causing it to fall down. The tree wasn't very thick, yet it was still tricky getting back to my feet. There was no care from the person, or people, who surrounded me. The leaves created a menacing crunching noise, which worked as motivation for me to hurry and stand back up.

I was pushed back down, causing me to do a half-cartwheel over the fallen tree. A few vocalisations left my throat, but nothing which made any sense. I wanted to scream out for Crow to run, but that would've been futile. Crow was standing right behind me, half of his body covering mine. He had his arms wide. I couldn't see his eyes, but the veins which ran along the back of his hands were glowing red.

In an attempt to salvage my ego, I stood and stood just behind him. I may look stronger than him, and actually had more vampiric strength than he does, but I wasn't at all confident in any kind of fight.

There were two people facing us who I didn't recognise. It was immediately obvious that they were human. They didn't have a red vein in sight, and they had quite a bit more colour on their cheeks in comparison to the vampires who I had met at the meeting. The people were both male and were wearing the same blue hoodies and blue jeans.

"Lovely," Crow commented, "we definitely missed the dress code." I understood that this was his way of coping, making snide comments and jokes, and I couldn't help but let the comment sink in and relax my muscles. The fact he could still joke at times like this was one of the things I loved most about him, despite how illogical that seems.

"This who they meant?" one of the men asked the other. His accent was very non-standard, but very normal for the north of England.

"Divvin' kna, but they're here." The other man shrugged and charged towards Crow, who easily pushed him away. The first man ignored the other's current position and tried to run at us as well. This time it was me who pushed them back.

"You'd think they would send someone who knew how to fight," I muttered. I didn't wait for the second man to stand up before kicking him back down. He struggled beneath my foot, but we were evenly matched between me pushing his back down and him trying to rise. "Stay down, if you know what's good for you." Caio had definitely rubbed off on me, which probably wasn't a good thing.

I couldn't keep my eyes from checking on Crow. I was glad that I wasn't breathing at that point, because I would've choked if I had been. The man had the upper hand against Crow. Crow was quicker and more skilled when it came to fighting, but this man had more strength than Crow was showing., It made realisation smack me across the face. They were obviously hybrids. Where was the detector? Why hadn't this all clicked a few minutes earlier?

The man below my foot rolled over, using my momentary shock to his advantage. He pulled on my other leg, causing my knee to give way. He crawled on top of me as I fell onto my back, and he began punching my face and chest. I blocked some punches, but I heard and felt the crack of my nose as his fist came into contact. Blood spilled down my face and onto my crisp, white shirt. Geppetto will be angry about that.

I caught a few of his punches, trying to cause as much damage as I could to his fists. I tried to aim for his throat, but he easily shoved my arm away. My mind still wasn't quite in tune with my actions. I was slipping into survival mode.

Crow yelled out in pain, causing anger to flash through my entire body. I pushed with even more effort, managing to punch the man in the chin. I pushed him off me and ignored him. I turned my attention to the man who was hurting Crow.

Crow was in front of the man, trying to kick the back of his shins, whilst his hair was being pulled harshly. The man was also punching him in the stomach, which made it tricky for Crow to stay upright. Crow had one hand holding the fist, which was tangled in his hair, and the other was attempting to target the man's other arm.

I raced at them and wrapped my arms around the man's neck. He let go of Crow with a surprised yelp and his hands tried desperately to pull my arms from around him. I felt a sickening crack shudder through his body. I didn't have time to think about it, as I threw his lifeless body onto the floor and followed Crow to the other person. It was quick enough to stop his movements too.

At that point I realised that I was breathing heavily, old habits die hard I suppose. I was overwhelmed with the scent and taste of blood, mostly my own. "Are you alright?" I asked. I turned Crow to face me.

His glowing red eyes were alert and frantic, his feet were constantly moving, there was blood running down his head and several scratches on his face. "I'm fine," he replied smoothly. I didn't miss his hand hovering over where he had previously been stabbed. "I'm just a little tender." Then his eyes looked me up and down, eyebrows furrowing in concern. "You look like a mess."

I couldn't help but laugh at him. "I know." I looked down at my blood and dirt-stained clothing. "I'm sure-" my words were interrupted.

"What happened here?" Geppetto asked. There was some sort of satisfaction in his voice, along with disappointment, which made me clench my fists. "We missed out on a good fight."

"I'm sure it wouldn't have been much of a fight if we were there," Caio commented. I didn't know how the other two groups had split up with the detector, but nearly everyone was here now.

"Where's Miss Munro?" Crow asked distractedly. "This was her idea."

Aldrich shrugged. "We came straight here after getting your message. I think she was going to catch up with us." It was his turn to look Crow and I over. "You boys had your butts handed to you."

"Hey, we're alive," Crow argued.

"Arguably," Geppetto retorted. "Anyway, what did you find? Besides these two newbies and how to permanently ruin a shirt?" He sent a glare my way. It was probably one of the fiercest looks he had given me, even when he was torturing me or was locked in his dungeon, he hadn't looked that angry.

"There's something strange about the hospital," I informed, gesturing in the direction. "And I'm pretty sure that we're on the right track, thanks to our friends." I nodded towards the floor.

"But they did mention something." Crow held up a hand. "Someone must've mentioned something to them. Because they were looking for someone." He looked down at the two bodies. There was a gleam of guilt behind the anger and frustration, but we didn't have time for those emotions. I found that extremely ironic. Ever since I became a vampire, I had been obsessed with time, and thinking that we didn't have enough of it.

"That's true." I shuffled forward and grabbed Crow's hand, entwining our fingers. Our palms were sticky with drying blood, but I didn't care. "They were talking about someone else, telling them to find someone? Because they didn't know if we were the right people."

"So maybe they didn't hear you?" Sawyer commented, stepping out from behind his father for the first time. "Maybe someone knew you were coming." That sent a child own my spine.

"There's only one way to find out," Geppetto said and then cracked his knuckles. "Take us to the hospital." I wanted to argue, but his tone showed he held no care for anything we would say contrary to his wishes.

I glanced at Crow and noticed that he held a similar expression to me. He met my gaze and nodded. We turned slowly and walked back in the direction of St. June's. Despite what Sawyer had said, I still tried to be as silent as I possibly could, which wasn't so difficult with vampiric abilities.

The building looked much bigger now, and far more abandoned than it had been a few hours ago. It was just my imagination, I was sure of that, but it loomed over us like a gigantic monster.

"Fitting," Aldrich whispered.

I felt breathing down the back of my neck. The familiar sensation caused me to tense and look back. Haven was standing not far from me. She was beside Sawyer, and straight behind Crow. She looked mortified. Her pale skin looked paler, causing her red hair to look even more like flames. I hadn't noticed her much earlier, since she had been silent.

I turned back and took brisk steps towards the entrance. Maybe they wouldn't expect us to take the direct entrance, and we could catch them off-guard? Maybe they were too confident in their abilities or would underestimate ours. I was clinging to these thoughts for dear life, as I reached for the handle and opened the old door.

The familiar scent of blood, bleach, and various other chemicals immediately made me want to throw up. I squeezed Crow's hand tighter, but I had to remind myself to be careful. I didn't want to break any of his bones or cause him any more pain than he was already experiencing.

Aldrich put a hand on my arm, causing me to jump and reel backwards. He slid in front of Crow and I, along with Geppetto. I wondered for a brief moment where his bravery had come from, but then I realised maybe it was protectiveness? I found that pill difficult to swallow, but he had been the one who came to us after I had been rescued by Crow. He had found where we were and came to help. Hell, he even got a job at the Sixth Form to make sure we were safe.

Caio moved in front of us as well, but only just. He had pulled Sawyer behind him, so the three of us were side-by-side. Haven was the only one trailing behind, so I pulled her forward as well. I wasn't going to let anything attack us from the back, because then she would be their main and only target.

The hallway itself made me want to curl into a ball and cry, protecting my vital organs and letting my emotions run freely. There were too many memories here for me to handle, too many anxieties, and too much fear. My feet were almost shuffling on the ground, my body losing the energy it had a few minutes ago, as it had been wasted on worrying.

A faint noise came from the centre of the hospital, the dead middle of a maze of corridors and operating rooms. There must've been thousands of deaths in this building, I was nearly one of them. They must know that we were here. They have to. They were toying with us, playing us like instruments.

The tension built and built, like water in a dam. Then, the dam exploded with a single clapping of hands.