A/N: Hey humans! I finally updated a chapter on time yay! I hope you like this one. I enjoyed writing it a lot and I'm becoming more obsessed with it as I write! Anyway, enjoy this chapter and don't forget to tell me what you think!

xxx

Perilous

Chapter Ten

Cammie POV

"I'm falling in love with her."

"You're what!?"

"Hey," I pointed a finger at him. "You said you wouldn't freak out."

Jonas shook his head. "Right, sorry." He then lowered his voice to a whisper. "You what?"

I couldn't help but roll my eyes. "Jonas,"

"I'm sorry but why? Dude, she has killed people. She's rude, she's violent, she-"

I threw my hands up. "So what? We've killed people, we've been rude, we've been violent. We're no different."

"Even so, she's-"

He continued to go on about every little thing that was wrong about her. Every little flaw, every little imperfection.

My anger only grew as time went on.

And finally, I snapped.

"You don't know her!"

Jonas was stunned to silence. But I wasn't done.

"Do you want to know what Catherine did to her? Every month or so, she would tie her up, throw her in the back of a van, and drive out into the woods. There was a wolf den there, and she would force her to fight them. She had to survive wolves, Jonas. She wasn't even ten years old! She was put through hours of merciless training almost daily, and she was tortured not only for her mess-ups but mine too! She was kept underground 95% of the time until she was sixteen, Jonas. Sixteen! She was forced to kill animals in order to train her to kill humans. Cats, dogs, birds, wolves, bears. She had to execute them, and she hated it. And the night she was taken, her father was murdered right in front of her. She didn't ask for this! She didn't ask to be raised this way! So why are you surprised? She murders because she has to. She's 'rude' because she hasn't been around normal people since she was eight years old. She's 'violent' because she doesn't trust anyone."

I was fuming. My fists clenched and unclenched as my nails dug into my palms. My breaths were quick and hard. Red spots clouded my vision.

"She cries in my arms every time she regains some of her memories, Jonas. She can hardly sleep, so instead, she sits out on a cold balcony looking at the only pieces of her past that are good and happy. And you know what those are? Jackets and hoodies that I gave her to keep out the cold of her cell. Those are music records and souvenirs I bought her to give her a piece of the outside world. Those are pictures I took for her, and food I brought her, and bloody bandages that saved each of our lives. I am all she has, Jonas. So don't give me any bullshit about what a merciless murderer she is. You don't know her. You don't see the pain and the loneliness in her eyes. You don't see her worry and anger every time she sees an actual killer with children. You don't see her shaking and staring into space when she falls into the painful void of her consciousness."

I shook my head, fighting the tears in my eyes. "So don't talk about her that way."

Jonas stared at me with wide eyes. I could see the gears turning in his head. "I- I don't know what to sa-"

"Thank God! There you two are!" Suddenly Macey was bounding through the door to the roof, fighting for her balance.

"What's going on?" I was the first to recover.

She shook her head, trying to catch her breath. "It's Nightshade, something's wrong,"

"What do you mean she- she was sleeping, I left her-" Then I realized. "Fuck! She was sleeping!"

I sprinted toward the door and down the stairs. "Jonas!" I shouted.

"Coming!"

I heard his footsteps behind me.

Macey followed closely. "We kept all of the maids and security out by telling them it was just a movie on the TV but we better hurry before they get suspicious again."

As we got closer to my room, I could hear her screams, muffled by the walls.

"This hasn't happened in fifteen fucking years and now-" I continued to grumble under my breath, trying to stifle my fear.

My arms pumped faster, my feet becoming a blur over the carpet.

When we were just feet away, then walking through the door, I said, "Clear the room- Jonas and Nick, stay."

My feet carried me over to the bed as everyone else filed out of the room.

I kneeled next to her side of the bed, shaking with fear at the sight of her writhing figure. Her screams were deafening.

"Cammie, wake up." I shook her gently.

The screams continued.

"Cammie, Cammie, please." I took her face in my hands, begging her to wake up. Tears filled my eyes. "Cammie, wake up. Wake up, Cammie, please."

With one last scream, her eyes flew open and immediately glossed over, tears streaming down her face.

Her hands gripped tiny fistfuls of the sheets as she looked around frantically. "Zach, Zach...where, where-"

"It's okay, it's okay, I'm here- I'm here, you're with me, it's okay, I promise."

She wrapped her arms around me, crying into my shoulder. She shook in my arms, sobs rocking her body.

I buried my face in her hair, holding her as tight as possible.

My eyes eventually connected with Jonas and Nick across the room, and instantly I knew.

Cam and I had some serious explaining to do.

And considering Nick didn't look as surprised as expected, he did also.

"How long have each of you known?" Cammie asked, wiping her eyes.

We were now sitting in the lounge area of the suite. Nick and Jonas each sat in one of the armchairs while Cam was curled up next to me. She didn't want to leave my side, not after the nightmare she just had.

"Since this morning, with the blood test. Computers found a match." Jonas said.

"Since the transfusion," Nick answered.

This confused her. "How?

My eyes snapped up, instantly suspicious. "Why didn't you say anything?"

He shrugged. "The computers picked up a match of the name Cameron Morgan. Considering the only difference between the blood cells was the strength of them, it was safe to assume that Nightshade was Rachel's long lost daughter. But, knowing a little something about wanting to disappear myself, I figured there was a reason you didn't want anyone to know, and I respected that. So I wiped the match from the system and moved on with my day."

"That's it?" Cammie raised her eyebrows. "Just like that?"

Nick nodded. "Just like that. At the end of the day, it was none of my business. Besides, I was interested in how this whole scenario would play out. Why spoil the show before it's started?"

Cammie smiled in amusement at the metaphor. "Well, thank you. I'm grateful that you've chosen to keep my secret."

"No biggie," He winked. "But I also have a few questions."

Turns out, he just wanted to know how we were so close.

So Cammie and I told the story, explaining how we met and what we'd gone through together, filling in details the other had forgotten.

Jonas' eyes often connected with mine, dropping subtle hints that I should tell her you know what. I only responded with a slight head shake for "no."

"Now that Nick is all caught up to speed, I have a question I think we both want to be answered. What's up with the nightmares?" Jonas asked.

That's when Cam shifted, tugging absent-mindedly at the end of my sweater. Knowing instantly that she wanted me close, I wrapped an arm around her.

I began to answer the question, but Cammie spoke first.

"When I was, twelve maybe? It was eleven or twelve. At that time, Catherine started letting me out of my cell more often. It was the dead of winter and it got really cold in the cells, especially because it was underground. It was driving Zach crazy, watching me freeze to death all night. He didn't have control of me like Zion did so he couldn't ask his mother to let me out, so instead, he paid Zion, who knew about Zach and I sneaking around, 50 bucks to ask Catherine to let me sleep in his room on one of the higher levels. Zion agreed and I started spending my nights there. That's when my nightmares started. I don't know if it was because of Zion's psychotic energy constantly surrounding me or because I was older and my training had increased, but they were terrible. I would always scream and cry in my sleep. But when I woke up, I would never remember the dream, just the feelings. The terror, the pain. Zion never knew what to do so he always ran to get Zach. He was the one to wake me up and get me back to sleep. These episodes became so frequent that Zach ended up sleeping in a chair across from the bed most nights, just so he could be there when the screams began. And then they stopped."

"Just like that?" Nick asked.

I smirked, glancing at Cam to hint our shared secret. "Just like that."

We talked to them for a little while longer, filling in some details, but once it was over and we confirmed that this was going to be our little secret, they left, and it was just Cam and me once again.

"I didn't think you'd remember it," I said, tucking a strand of soft blonde hair behind her ear.

She tucked her feet underneath herself, criss-cross-applesauce style, shrugging. "I remember more than you think. There are still some dots I'm waiting to connect but other than that, we're gold."

I smiled. "I'm glad to hear it."

"Yeah, me too."

It was silent for a few minutes until I asked, "How much exactly do you remember? Of the nightmares and staying in Zion's room?"

"Well, I remember..."

CAMMIE'S MEMORIES

There were screams.

Blood-curdling, loud and afraid. You could hear the pain in them.

It wasn't until I heard his voice calling out to me that I realized they were mine.

"...Cammie, come on, Cam, wake up! Wake up!"

My eyes snapped open as my lungs shook with a gasp.

Tears filled my eyes, slowly streaming down my face. I looked around endlessly until I finally realized where I was.

I was in Zion's room. His desk was on the opposite wall of the bed to the right, the TV mounted front and center. The closet was to the left, near the bookshelf.

I looked to my right to see the twins. "Zach?"

I had to ask for confirmation. It was a lot more difficult to tell who was who back then.

Zach was closest to me. "It's me, I'm here." He reached for my hand and I took it, pulling him into a hug.

I cried for a good ten minutes before I finally calmed down.

"Cam, if it's okay with you, we're going to go talk for a second," Zach said.

I nodded, wiping my eyes, and sliding back underneath the covers. "Okay,"

As I settled into bed, the boys stepped outside. Due to the thick walls, I couldn't hear what was being said.

About five minutes later, they came back in. Zach appeared neutral while Zion was a little annoyed.

"Cammie, you're going to sleep in my room tonight," Zach said.

I sat up. "What? No, Catherine would see. She would find out and I wouldn't be able to see you again and-"

Zion rolled his eyes, clearly wanting the whole situation to end. "We'll sneak you in, and we'll sneak you out."

I glared at him. "And what the hell are you getting out of this? You wouldn't help me to save your life."

This brought on a smirk. "Zach gives me his favorite knife."

My gaze then turned toward Zach, raising my eyebrows.

He shrugged. "He likes the way it cuts, and I could earn enough money to buy another one in less than two months. No sweat."

Shuddering from the cold, I hugged myself. "Fine, but how are we doing this?"

And that's how I ended up crawling through the air vents, being guided toward Zach's room by his voice crackling in my ear.

"Alright, Cam, it's the one on your left. I already took the vent cover off so all you've got to do is drop."

"Okay, but be sure to catch me, please." I murmured.

"Of course, now come on. I'm getting tired."

I poked my head through the open vent, seeing Zach right below.

He smirked at me. "Rapunzel, Rapunzel- let down your hair,"

I rolled my eyes, stifling a giggle. "Shut up and catch me, you dork."

Then I switched my position so that my feet were hanging out of the vent. I slowly slid myself out of the vent until I was falling toward the floor.

I fought the urge to scream as the floor got closer and closer.

But then Zach's arms wrapped around me, catching me before I could fall.

I smirked at him. "Guess the weights you're forced to lift came in handy after all."

He laughed, taking out each of our comms units. "Yeah, whatever."

As he set me down, I winced.

"What is it?" He asked, concerned.

"The cut," I hissed, sitting on the edge of the bed. "I think it reopened in the vents."

Zach ran over to his nightstand, opening a secret compartment in the drawer. "Here, I'll stitch it again."

Nodding, I pulled my shirt over my head and waited.

He returned a couple of minutes later with a bottle of whiskey, a cloth, bandages, and medical tools I didn't know the names of. "How high is your alcohol tolerance? Assuming you've had it before?" Zach raised his eyebrows at me.

I scoffed. "P-lease. Zion introduced me to Catherine's stash ages ago. I've been training myself for a year."

"I'm going to assume it's pretty high then." He spilled a little whiskey onto the cloth, cleaning the tools with it. Then, he lifted the bottle toward me. "Drink. Just a few sips. I don't need you drunk while I'm renewing your stitches."

Rolling my eyes, I threw my head back and took a drink out of the bottle.

When I handed it back, Zach looked at me for confirmation. "You ready?"

"Yeah, just get it over with."

Slowly, he reached his hands toward the bandage on my side, peeling it back until it was no longer in contact with my skin. His fingers were instantly wet and sticky with my blood.

I winced as he cleaned the wound. "Can you hurry this up? I don't want to pass out from blood loss."

Zach glared up at me. "It's tedious work, especially for a beginner."

I snorted. "Beginner my ass. You've done my stitches plenty of times."

"Those were far smaller cuts than this."

"Uh-huh, whatever."

He removed the previous stitch before beginning the new one. I ended up biting down on my lip and gripping the sheets to stop myself from groaning in pain.

Once it was finally over, he replaced the old bandage with a new one and put away all of his medical knick-knacks.

Then Zach came back and sat next to me. "Here,"

He handed me a hoodie. It was bright green with a star on the front. I'd seen him wear it on many occasions.

I raised my eyebrows questioningly.

He rolled his eyes. "Take it. It's snowing outside and we're underground. It's freezing. That t-shirt won't do shit for you."

Sighing, I took the hoodie and slid it over my head.

Zach glanced at me before offering me a sip of the whiskey he held in his hand.

After my sip, we began taking turns sipping from the bottle. It was quiet and tranquil until I noticed a large, clear jar in the corner, filled only about a foot with cash and credit cards.

Nodding my head toward it, I asked, "How much have you got now?"

"Around 10 thousand."

"Is that enough?"

Zach shook his head. "No way. Not if we're planning to escape, run away, get to America, and evade the countless agents they'll send after us."

I sighed. "How long do you think it'll take us to get to a million?"

He tilted his head and calculated. "Well if they bring in 5 rich people every year and they have, say...5 thousand bucks on them, including credit and debit cards, and Zion and I split half and half...we'll hit a million when we're...twenty or twenty-one. Maybe earlier if I can get a part-time job in a couple of years and pick-pocket some of our agents."

"Great," I took the bottle from him, taking my sip. "Then we won't get out of here until we can legally drink."

Glaring at the bottle, I thrust it back in Zach's hands.

Before he could respond, there was a forceful knock on the door.

Our eyes connected for a brief second before we got to moving.

Zach ran over to his closet and silently tossed me a pistol, picking up his favorite knife from his nightstand.

I hid just inside the bathroom, out of view, as he flicked up the locks and opened the door.

Zach flicked his knife at the intruder, but lowered it when his eyes connected with his brother's.

"A little paranoid, are we?" His twin asked, flashing that signature smirk.

"What the hell do you want, Zion?" Zach said.

Zion shrugged, leaning on the door frame. "I've come to collect my insurance. Plus, you guys are loud as fuck. I'm going to need some peace and quiet if I plan to sleep."

Sliding out of the bathroom, I pointed my pistol right between his eyes. "Give me one good reason why I shouldn't kill you, right here, right now?"

"Easy- you'll miss me." He winked.

I glared, tightening my finger in the trigger.

"Whoa, Cam. Let's all take a moment." Zach put a hand on my shoulder.

Lowering the gun, I gestured at Zion with it. "You heard him. The walls are three feet thick and we're four rooms away from you." I scowled at Zion. "He's fucking delusional."

"Many say that about me, " Zion agreed.

With a growl, Zach shoved the knife at his brother. "Take the damn knife and leave."

"As you wish, " Zion bowed mockingly, flashing a sadistic grin as he walked away, humming "Singing In the Rain."

Shutting the door behind him, Zach took the gun from me and slid it back into his closet.

"Come on, " He said, throwing back his blue duvet. "Let's go to sleep."

I ran a hand through my hair tiredly, instantly agreeing.

We had been lying there in the dark for a few minutes, him starting at the ceiling and me at the wall. Only our breaths broke the silence until I couldn't hold it back any longer.

"Zach?"

"Yeah?"

I took a deep breath. "Will you hold my hand?"

It was a few moments before there was any coherent response.

I heard his arm shift until his fingers were dancing across my palm, eventually lacing our fingers together.

Smiling, I opened my eyes, turning toward him. He did the same.

"Hi, " I whispered.

"Hi, " He replied, just as softly.

I held up our hands, allowing the silver charm bracelet on my right hand to jingle in the silence.

"Forever?"

My voice took on a vulnerable, insecure tone that was only ever heard by his ears.

Nodding, Zach squeezed my hand.

"Forever."

PRESENT

"That was the night they..."

"Stopped," I finished, looking at her. "That was the night they finally stopped."

Cammie nodded. "Yeah, "

"Can you believe we were twelve years old drinking whiskey? I mean, we finished half the bottle and we'ren't even tispy. Isn't that concerning?"

She laughed. "Considering what we've gone through, I'm not surprised. Underage drinking was the least of our worries."

I smirked, shrugging. "Yeah, I guess."

"Zion used to annoy the hell out of me." Cam shook her head in amusement.

I scoffed. "Obviously, you almost blew his fucking brains out."

"Eh, he deserved it."

"True."

We sat in comfortable silence for a few minutes. She began to braid a strand of her hair. I just watched her, the constant weaving of her fingers.

And then my mouth betrayed me and spoke my thoughts."You told me they stopped. The nightmares. You told me they stopped after you started staying with me. You were so happy they stopped. We were so happy they stopped. What happened, Cammie? What the hell happened?"

"I don't know, Zach." She shook her head, looking at me with those gorgeous, sad sapphires. One of my hands reached up to hold her face, and she leaned into the touch.

Her eyes closed briefly before opening once again, placing her hand over mine.

"I don't know."

A/N: Alright, so I know I said we would get more of the mission this chapter but by the time I got to the point where I wanted to add some spy action, the chapter was really long and I wanted to leave a bit to the imagination until next week. On the other hand, Zach confessed how he feels about Cammie to Jonas and defended her. Cammie's nightmares are back, unfortunately, but it gave us a chance to see a bit more of her and Zach's past, which I enjoyed writing so much. Can't wait for you guys to enjoy the next one!

Archer5210: Thanks! As of now, only Zach, Jonas, and Nick know about Cammie's secret, but the others will learn more soon. Thanks for reading!

CammieAMorgan: I'm glad you like it! Hope you enjoyed this one! Thanks for reading xxx

AllyCarterFan101: Hope you liked this update! And yeah, she's been through a lot, but Zach's helping her get through it. And yes I loved writing chapter five! Glad you liked it! Thanks for reading!

FanFix2.0: Thanks! I'm glad you liked it!xxx

Guest: Thank you! I wanted to try something a bit different with this story and have fun with it, but I didn't want to make it boring or too out there, so I feel like I took a bit of a risk in writing it. The goal was for it to be as captivating as Zach's eyes, so I'm happy you feel that way! I hope you liked this update and enjoyed how Jonas and Nick found out, and don't worry, the others will discover who Nightshade truly is very soon. Thanks for reading!xxx

Guest: Omg thank you! I never thought anyone would consider my stories one of the best and I'm so happy you do! Hope you enjoyed this chapter love!xxx

And that's all! I hope you have a wonderful morning, evening, or night wherever you beautiful people are in this beautiful world!

Thanks for reading loves!

xxx