A/N: DX -took a gun and shot myself in the face- I'M SO FREAKIN' SORRY! I didn't realize I hadn't updated it in a while. I thought I updated it, but clearly I haven't, so I'm gonna upload the two chapters I wrote.

Thanks for the reviews and I'm so so so sorry for the wait!

~~ Enjoy!

Chapter 10:

My middle name was beginning to lose its value as the days passed by agonizingly slowly.

Any hope or thought of being rescued from this living nightmare diminished more and more, tempting me to reach into the dark depths of my mind and switch my humanity off.

It was difficult to find a weakness in the organization's tight security, because all of the guards were on vervain, skilled in martial arts against vampires and outnumbered the prisoners.

I'd attempted befriending the other cellmates, but none wanted to take me seriously or ratted me out when I told them about my plans.

It seemed that many years of suffering broke the honor among vampires and I was certain Elijah would cringe inwardly if he saw how corrupt these vampires had become.

However, around two or three weeks in, I noticed a familiar face among the guards and briefly wondered if I was losing my mind.

Surely, Blake couldn't possibly be working here…

I kept seeing his face nearly everywhere and recalled how we used to meet each other in our wolf forms, bringing the old questions about his identity back.

Of course, he could belong to the pack of werewolves that were cursed to stay in their true form except for on full moons, but if that was the case, then he wouldn't be able to be here now.

In the evening, the familiar face returned as I sat alone in my cell and I came to realize that I wasn't hallucinating his presence.

"You look like shit, Mikaelson," he said quietly, using his keycard to open the door. "You're fortunate, though. You're going home today."

I grimaced but allowed him to help my weak body up from the floor and leaned against him for support.

"You can't get me out of here. How are you even human right now?" I asked, feeling as though I was dreaming.

I'd dreamed about my escape before, but it involved Zach saving me like a knight in shining armor.

"Magic. It's a wonderful thing, isn't it? That and your father is desperate," He glanced down the hallway where two guards waited and frowned. "Can you turn?"

"No. Not as long as I have this collar on me."

He groaned quietly when he noticed the collar underneath my tangled hair and attempted using his strength to break it.

Biting through the pain it sent through both of us, he managed breaking it and told me to turn, but I had nearly no energy left in my body from today's experiments.

"Please tell me you didn't come here alone, did you?" I asked, leaning against a wall instead.

"Of course not. I'm not a dumb pup like you, who falls for a psychopath's sop story," he retorted, making me scowl at him. "The guards outside shouldn't be a problem thanked to my pack and the cameras are on a loop, so they won't notice anything suspicious."

"Oh, you mean that secret pack of yours nobody knows about?" I raised a brow and gathered the strength to listen for the guards' movements.

It wouldn't be long before the two guards would be replaced by two others and they'd be able to have their nightly lunch.

They were both hungry and eager to leave their post, so an idea crawled into my mind.

"Convince them into going to the break room with you early," I said. "Sneak away when they're eating lunch and then I'll meet you by the fire escape."

"That… might actually work. Glad to see you're not all dumb," he replied mockingly before leaving.

I rolled my eyes and waited to make my move until he'd lured the guards away.

With a little persuasion, the three of them walked to the break room and I snuck out from the room, moving quietly down the hallway.

Once I found the fire exit, I hurried up the stairs to the ground level and waited for Blake to join me.

He arrived about five minutes later and showed me the easiest way out without being noticed in the process.

Blake's pack members were waiting outside, showing their true faces for the first time and giving me the opportunity to see who they truly were.

"Why are you stopping? We have to hurry," Blake said, noticing I wasn't following him.

"They've tortured me for weeks. Mr. Moore and Dr. Walker deserve to die," I said, venom dripping in my voice. "I'll release the vampires and–"

"No, you won't. Get in the damn car or I'll drag your sorry ass in there!" His usually relaxed facial expression twisted into a scowl and he pointed firmly at the nearest car.

Any other day, I would've smacked him upside down for ordering me around, but I was too exhausted and longing for my family to release my rage on him.

Stepping into the car, I kept my eyes away from the prison-like building and attempted forgetting the vivid memories in my mind.

I remained silent throughout the long drive home and sipped the blood bag a female werewolf had given to me.

Blake remained silent as well and acted as if he didn't know me, leaving me feeling confused and puzzled about his character.

Spending time in the cell had definitely toughened me up, but I felt the same towards my family, Blake and Zach.

I'd fallen asleep from exhaustion before we returned to my home, but I sensed a pair of familiar arms around me that alerted me that I was safe.

Several hours later, I awoke in my bed with my mother sitting next to me and watching me like a hawk.

Her presence hadn't woken me up from my slumber, but the sound of Zach's voice had.

He was arguing with Aiden downstairs and asking to see me now that I was back home and safe after weeks of having been missing.

"Clary…" Mom spoke softly, distracting me from the argument. "How are you feeling?"

"Famished," I replied hoarsely and sat up, feeling sore everywhere – mostly around my neck. "Am I really home?"

My eyes started brimming with tears involuntarily and I curled up into a ball, unsure of whether to feel relieved or vengeful.

Her arms wrapped around me and I fought hard to blink back the tears, because I didn't want to show her how horrible the experience had been to me.

Comparing her to a mother bear would be an understatement of what she was and if she knew even half of what they did to me, she'd rip all of them apart.

"I'm so sorry, Clarissa… We tried getting you out of there, but we couldn't enter the building and–"

"I know, Mom. It's not your fault," I murmured into her neck. "I shouldn't have trusted Enzo."

The door suddenly sprung open and Aiden entered, sighing of relief when he noticed that I'd woken up from my deep slumber.

"Welcome back, sis," he said, smiling widely. "There's an idiot downstairs claiming to be a close friend of yours."

"He is. Let him in, please." I had so much to tell and explain to Zach if he was allowed entrance.

"But he's a hunter. If Dad knew–"

"Let him in, Aiden," Mom repeated. "Your father isn't home yet, so he won't know anyway."

Furrowing his brows, Aiden returned downstairs to get the impatient and slightly agitated Zach while I embraced my mother.

"Did you get my notes, sweetie?" she asked worriedly.

"I did. Thank you. Where's Dad?" I answered with the same amount of concern in my tone.

Knowing my father right, he was either planning to attack the organization or already in the process of doing it.

Judging on the facial expression my mother made, he was definitely out doing something that involved violence.

"Damon feels horrible about what happened," Mom said, heaving a sigh. "He tried hunting Enzo down. After Elena and Damon broke up many years ago, he went off the rails with Enzo and he… well, he turned his back on Enzo again, which Enzo wasn't happy about."

"Figures. I–"

The door opened again and Zach stepped inside, awkwardly greeting my mother and holding a bouquet of hand plucked flowers.

"Mom, can we… talk privately?" I asked quietly, feeling my cheeks turn red.

"Of course. I will be right downstairs with Aiden if you need me," she replied, embracing me gently.

After she vanished out of the room, Zach walked closer to me and struggled to form a proper sentence.

"We need to talk," I said, patting the chair next to me. "Please sit."

"Oh boy… do I want to hear what you have to say?" he asked worriedly, taking a seat after handing me the flowers. "Your parents wouldn't tell me anything, but Rebekah said you were held captive by scientists."

"Yeah, pretty much. They're called the Augustine…" His eyes widened a tad and his lips parted in shock followed by anger and guilt.

"If I'd known I would've come for you. My family has been… involved with the society. They would catch the vampires and the society would give us the means to protect themselves in return."

I couldn't bring myself to tell him about the arranged marriage and kissed him instead, longing to feel the sense of safety, comfort and normality he gave me.

Our lips never parted for several minutes and the things I'd planned to tell him became nothing but a forgotten memory.

However, Zach eventually broke contact and his eyes were full of questions that I didn't want to answer.

"You seem different," he said, his index finger resting under my chin. "You wanna talk about what happened? I might be a guy, but I'm a surprisingly good listener."

A faint smile formed on my lips and I reluctantly summarized the horrific experiments Dr. Walker forced me through, the fights against other vampires and excruciating torture when I wouldn't tell them how to kill an Original.

Telling Zach about everything did ease my pain a bit, but I still craved revenge and an end to the society's experiments.

Sometime during our long conversation together, we both grew hungry and Zach helped me downstairs to the kitchen, so we could make something together.

Aiden eyed Zach suspiciously the entire time while he texted his friends and my mother simply smiled whenever she saw us laughing or smiling happily.

I still had a lot to learn about Zach's hunter family and the reason behind his ex' random desire to take him back, but right now I didn't care about his past.

My past wasn't exactly pretty or normal either anyway.

"Who would've thought? Vampires actually eat food," Zach joked as we sat by the dinner table and ate grilled cheese sandwiches.

"Oh, shush! We do eat – well, Aiden and I do mostly. Mom does too at times, but my Dad, uncles and aunt usually just drink blood," I replied, taking a big bite.

I was starving and being able to eat proper food was a welcoming experience.

"Food is delicious, but blood… it's on a completely different level. It's like… a really, fucking good cup of tea on a cold winter day."

Zach instantly grimaced and eyed me as if I were crazy. "Are you serious?"

I nodded and giggled, taking another bite of my sandwich as he processed my description of what blood tasted like to vampires.

"How come you're so… friendly towards people like me? You are a hunter after all."

He swallowed the last bit of his sandwich and leaned back in his seat, looking satisfied with the improvised meal.

"I have an older sister. Her name Marie and she… well, she used to be a hunter like me. She was incredible at her job and made our father so proud. Then she fell in love a vampire and everything changed. You can imagine how my parents reacted."

I was beginning to understand Zach better and better and enjoyed his company greatly.

"Where's your sister now?" Aiden asked curiously, sipping a glass of blood.

"Up north with her boyfriend. She… decided to become a vampire. I still love her, though, and want the best for her," Zach replied. "We still talk too."

"Hmm… but you still hunt? How ironic." Aiden rolled his eyes.

"Aiden… there are evil vampires out there," I retorted. "You didn't see the kind of vampires I was imprisoned with. They had no moral or humanity left in them."

My brother furrowed his brows and straightened his back as our father suddenly entered the kitchen, his concerned eyes staying fixated on me the entire time.

"What is he doing here?" Dad asked, shifting his gaze to Zach.

"Visiting me," I answered firmly.

He eyed Zach up and down and a faint smile formed on his lips as he approached both of us with the intention of shaking his hand.

Zach glanced briefly at me before rising and shaking his hand, but I wished he hadn't, because my father pulled him dangerously close to him to compel him.

"You should go home and never come back."

However, since Zach was on vervain the compulsion didn't work and he tightened his grip on my father's hand, staring dead into his eyes without showing a hint of fear.

"I'm not leaving until Clary tells me to, sir," he replied firmly. "If I'd want to harm her, would I then be here alone and unarmed?"

My father eyed him suspiciously, but released his hand and turned his attention to me, ignoring Zach completely as if he wasn't there.

"We discovered Enzo's body a few miles from the Augustine's headquarters. Beheaded. Any other day I'd be grateful, but not when they hurt my child. Tell me everything you know about them."

"Their security is pretty tight. Two guards at nearly every room, heavily armed with enough ammunition to take down five vampires at once. Mr. Moore finances the experiments, but I'm not sure what his role is in this. Dr. Walker is the mad scientist. He…"

I fell silent as vivid images of what he did to me flashed before my eyes.

My father noticed the somber expression on my face and growled quietly, cupping my cheeks with his hands and making me look into his eyes.

"That's all I need to know now. Stay indoors and rest, yes?" he said in a more concerned tone.

I nodded and wrapped my arms around him, having missed him so much despite hating him for arranging the marriage between Blake and I.

Speaking of Blake… I needed to thank him for getting me out of that hellhole.

After glaring warningly at Zach another time, my father left with Aiden to do some hybrid-combat training with him.

"Your father is… pretty much like a father. Just more intense," Zach said, laughing softly. "I'll look into what my family knows about the organization and help you."

"Thank you. You've been very kind towards me lately," I said, feeling more guilty about keeping secrets from him. "Since you're here, I might as well give you a tour."

"Sure you've rested enough to do that?" He quickly supported me when I stood up and wavered a bit.

"Uh, yeah. I'll be fine. C'mon, I'll show you the ground floor first."

Holding on to Zach's arm, we walked through the mansion and I showed him everything from my bedroom to the study and even the basement cells.

It was strange how his presence alone could distract me from the haunting memories in my mind and make me feel so normal at the same time.

He didn't look at me with fear, jealousy or hatred like most supernatural species did.

When he looked at me, I felt like I was a normal human being without a tarnished family past, and dangerous relatives.

By the end of the tour, we were hiding away in the library and locking lips, hoping that none of my relatives would ruin my brief moment of bliss.

"I didn't think I'd end up falling for anyone so fast and then with a life like yours," Zach said, breaking the kiss. "I'd like to take you on a date. A proper date. I hope you'll say yes."

His request was so sudden, but a part of me expected it to happen eventually.

"I… have business I need to take care of before I can do that," I replied hesitantly. "I do want to, though."

A small smile formed on his lips and he nodded understandingly, planting a soft kiss on my forehead as he muttered, "I get it. I don't mind waiting for a sweet girl like you."

Oh, how I wished my life wasn't so complicated…

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