Of course it would end badly. How else could it possibly go?

Of course Lord Grey had security. How else would he keep me in?

And of course I was slow. Why else would Fang be forced to hang back?

My feet pounded on the unstable ground. Each time my foot hit the ground, I felt the dirt cave under my weight and grass crunch under my sole. Twigs and logs protruded from the soil, tearing at my exposed ankles, threatening to trip me. Fang was a black blur ahead of me, gracefully leaping over anything in his way. Meanwhile, the bark of hounds resonated from somewhere behind us. The trees obscured our view of the pursuers as well as what lay before us, and despite Fang's confident strides, his path was haphazard and crooked.

He doesn't know where to go, I realized franticly. Lost in thought, I didn't notice the branch rushing up to greet my face. At the last second, I managed to shut my eyes to avoid blindness. The tiny twigs poked painfully at my skin, drawing blood. I stumbled and collapsed, panting. My leg muscles felt sore from overexertion while each breath of icy air burned through my aching lungs. I struggled to stand, only to collapse in a heap of limbs.

"I can't…." I panted weakly, watching Fang's figure recede.

And go back to isolation? I reasoned. Now that I know who I truly am?

No.

I launched myself to my feet, feeling the numbing adrenaline course through my veins, providing the extra push I needed to catch up to Fang, who had apparently found a break in the trees. He paused, gazing out into the exposed field. After squinting, I realized a paved road cut through the grassy meadow, stretching off in both directions. Fang ran a hand through his ruffled hair, deep in thought. Meanwhile, the barking and voices grew nearer, this time obviously surrounding us. If we didn't move, we were going to be trapped.

"Fang…" I began warily.

"Max," he said, gazing into my eyes. "I need you to run. Don't stop. I'm going to catch up."

I gave him an incredulous look. "I am not a damsel in distress who will fall for this crap. I'm staying."

Both my eyes and his widened simultaneously in shock. I guess the freedom of speech came with package. I broke the awkwardness with a smile. "You know I can take care of myself."

Fang sighed and defeat, turning to face the forest.

"They're skilled," he whispered. "They aren't like our training sessions. They're out to kill me, but you, they'll bring back, even with a few fingers missing. Still, take advantage of the fact that they won't place any fatal blows on you."

I nodded, a nearby howl causing me to break out in a cold sweat.

"You're fast," he continued. "They, however, are more muscle than speed. Attack quickly; get in and out. Got it?"

"Yeah," I gasped.

My feet shifted into a familiar and stable stance that I had been practicing for months with Fang. I shifted my weight, adjusting to the soil beneath my feet. My hands shot up as two hounds burst through the forests, bringing with them two burly men.

Before I knew what I was doing, I pushed off the ground, launching myself off of the ground, speeding towards one of the men. I darted in before he even knew what was going, delivering a solid kick to his torso. He howled in pain, buckling over. This time, I kicked him on the side, sending him stumbling back. I smugly gazed down at his hunched figure. Fang was dealing with the other guard, using his height and muscle to pummel him to the ground. My man, however, had already recovered, rushing to meet me headlong. I quickly side-stepped him, using his momentum to toss him over my shoulder. He landed hard, the impact creating a cloud of dirt. He scrambled to is knees, drawing back to look for an opening. Much to his luck (and not to mine), he found one.

His dog tackled me from behind, digging its jaws into my shirt. I hissed, feeling the powerful canines draw blood from identical, teeth-sized holes. I collapsed to my knees, and spun to my side, attempting to shake off the foul being. As I felt the tension leave my back, a heavy boot met my side, sending me sprawling against a tree. My breath came in wheezing gasps as I struggled to stand up. Blood trickled down my back and I tensed for the next blow.

It never came.

An ear-shattering explosion sent me to my knees. My heart nearly froze and I was shaking like a soaked puppy that had been kicked and left in the rain. Instinctively, my eyes had shut themselves and my arms were wrapped around my midsection to offer a meager protection against any imminent blows.

Crunching leaves made me curl into myself and whimper, my battle bravado dissipating into fear and pain. A pairs of hands gently wrapped themselves around me, pulling me to my feet. I stumbled, nearly running into a tree. A hand nestled itself at the nape of my neck, gently pulling me into a tight embrace.

"You can take of yourself, huh?" the owner of the gentle hands inquired.

I relaxed into his arms, my knees caving and only his hands holding me aloft. Slowly, as if not to spook me, Fang lowered himself to the ground, pulling me down with him. I stretched my legs out on the cool soil and rested my head on his lap. My eyes were yet to open.

With a tender touch, he pulled open my eyelids. I gazed into his dark eyes with my own brown ones and nearly drowned in the endless sea beneath his eyes. His hand then travelled to my hair, stroking it back from my sweat soaked brow and massaging my scalp.

We sit in silence, none of us moving, just gazing into one another's eyes, thanking our lucky stars that we were in this together.

"Fang," I finally whispered, my voice coarse. "What was that explosion I heard?"

His fingers stopped and slowly pulled out of my hair. His eyes darted away from mine, searching for something in the horizon. With a groan, I pulled myself, my blood plastering my shirt to my back. Fang's eyes shot to my spine in surprise, but I swiped away his fingers when they attempted to probe and examine the extent of the damage. Instead, my eyes travelled to the bodies of the ground. They didn't stir or move and their chests didn't rise and fall. I noticed the pool of blood gathering around my attacker's body, trailing from a gaping, circular wound in his chest. Hot and tainted bile rose up my throat.

I scrambled up, fighting the nauseous and dizziness, retching into the nearest bush. Then Fang was there, holding back my dirt and blood caked hair, rubbing soothing circles in my back, careful to avoid my injury.

When the last of it left my system, I collapsed against a tree, using it for support.

"What did you do?" I sputtered. "They're….. dead…."

His facial features hardened and his voice was chilling: "I did what I had to do."

"But they didn't need to die!" I exclaimed.

"I saved your life!" he replied angrily.

I used my hand to rub my pounding cranium. "You shouldn't kill anyone," I whispered.

"You don't realize what you've gotten yourself into, do you Max," he said, stressing my name as if I were some child. "This isn't a musical. We are running away because this old house isn't going to fulfill our plan. We aren't going to get secretly married or start a family; this is serious."

My breath hitched at the word marriage as blood rushed into my cheeks. Luckily, the cover of night kept it hidden from Fang's eyes.

"I know."

"You know we can't stay here any longer?"

I groaned and pushed off the tree. It took me a second to get my balance, but I was able to stand with minimum swaying.

"We should treat those wounds," he suggested, tugging at the back of my shirt.

I moved to tug the shirt down, a blush creeping up my neck and face. "Fang…."

"I need to see what that mutt did to you," he firmly replied.

I allowed him to peal my shirt from back to revel a oval of teeth-sized indentation, each crusted with blood and dirt. Thankfully, he was modest and didn't let him fingers wander farther than I wanted him to. He poured water onto one of his shirts and dabbed at the blood. I hissed and clenched my teeth.

After he had gotten rid of all the blood, he produced a medicinal balm and began to dab the white substance onto my wounds. The soothing immediately rushed to my nerves. I sighed contently. Before long, he was lowering my shirt and helping me stumble to the road we saw earlier.

"Let's go," he stated.

The forest drifted away behind us as we silently plodded down the asphalt. My weakened limbs were pushed to their limit, yet I kept going. And each time a stumbled or tripped, Fang's hands were there. Catching me or pulling me up. Rubbing soothing circles and helping me along. Yet as I groaned and moaned, Fang never once complained or argued. He radiated a calm that kept me stable. Somehow, in my destabilized state, I wasn't able to notice how he favored his left leg or the dark spot appearing on his black pants until it was too late.

Did I update twice in month? WHAT?

Yes I did. I got overexcited and updated Ascend as soon I had the chance. I would have had the chapter up earlier, but I'm suffering through a minor sickness and lack of computer. I am being forced to use my school computer and borrow my sister's. I hope you like the change of pace and the nice cliffhanger. I'm moving onto New Addition after this. Read on and review!