A/N: So I thought this story needed livening up… and here is the result! Hopefully a good action-packed chapter compared to the past two which didn't get many reviews, so please let me know if you like this or not! But overall I have 260 reviews which is so incredibly amazing! Have a good weekend everyone!

Previously:

He turned away from me and walked away. Zach walked away.

"No, Zach!" I yelled out.

"Cammie just leave it" Macey placed a hand on my shoulder which I shrugged off.

"Zach, wait!"

And then I ran after the boy who'd just left me. The only person I could trust, the only person I could talk to, and the only person who had loved me… he'd left me.

()()()()

I decided to try the silent approach, finally feeling thankful for the fact I was what Mr Solomon referred to as a 'Pavement Artist'. I stuck to the shadows and followed the sound of Zach's deep, uneven breathing. Even from a distance I could tell he was seething with anger.

I followed him all the way through Roseville, into the forest. He was varying his steps and taking swift glances over his shoulder that looked so casual he could have simply been flicking his hair. He suddenly turned on the heel of his shoe.

"Cammie, leave me alone"

I blinked in shock, my heart racing as his eyes met mine.

"Cammie, go back to the castle now!" Zach yelled at me.

I slunk back from his glare, timidly shaking my head.

"Fine!" Zach stalked off back the way he'd come, leaving me trembling in the dark of the forest.

I kicked a twig across the forest floor and watched it bounce along. I looked back up and saw Zach was gone… that was when I panicked, because I had no idea where I was.

I knew I'd followed him straight through Roseville, but I'd never been on the outskirts of the town before, except when Mr Solomon had first taken me to Gallagher.

I collapsed on the floor and tried to stay calm. I buried my head in my hands, trying to get Dillon out of my head to think straight. Every movement made me jump; every snap of a twig went off like a bomb inside my head.

"Who's… who's there?" I whispered into the darkness, stepping back a little. My back slammed into a tree making me yelp.

"Pull it together Cam" I muttered to myself angrily. As my eyes began to adjust to the darkness I could make out the outline of a small road in front of me, winding around the trees.

I made my way towards it steadily, praying against hope that a car would happen to pass.

I sighed deeply as I sank down onto the curb. At least I felt a little safer here, away from the trees that brought nothing but bad memories.

Hours must have passed, but they felt like only minutes. I was practically frozen to the curb; my body was beyond making any kind of movement. My teeth were chattering uncontrollably and even Zach's jacket couldn't stop the numb coldness seeping through my skin. It reminded me of the day I'd tried to run away from Gallagher and Zach had stopped me. Except this was worse, because Zach wasn't here. Maybe I should have just run away after all… maybe that would have been better for everyone.

When I saw the headlights, the first thing I thought was I must be dead. Dead or hallucinating.

"You're freezing"

I blinked dumbly at the figure who stood over me, had I just zoned out for a few minutes? Everything seemed to be happening so slowly, and the person was just a blur in front of me.

"Where you headed to?" the woman asked in a very southern accent.

"I…" I could hardly speak, all I could do was stare at the figure in despair as my eyes became heavier and heavier.

"Let's get you in the warm" I could vaguely make out it was a woman talking, so I nodded numbly.

She led me to car and I slumped in the backseat, gasping at the sudden heat that engulfed me.

"You'll warm up soon" She smiled as she walked to the driver's side.

I felt drowsy in the stifling heat of the car.

"Would you like a blanket?" the woman asked kindly, leaning over to me.

I nodded eagerly and she laughed, grabbing a blanket from the glove box and draping it over me. I huddled up inside it thankfully.

"What's a nice girl like you doing in the woods at this time of night?"

I jumped at the sudden roughness of someone's voice, and then I realised there was a man in the front seat.

"Frank, you startled her!" the woman scolded.

"Sorry" the man looked at me guiltily.

"This is my husband" the woman said, and I felt myself relax a little and nodded.

The black dots were beginning to disappear from my vision and I started to make out the features of the two people a little better, even though it was pitch black.

"We'll take you into Roseville Cammie" the woman said. "You can use the phone box there"

I nodded gratefully and leaned back in my seat… but then my eyes widened.

"How… how do you know my name?" I stammered.

I saw a flash of rage cross the woman's eyes that made me cringe, as if I'd caught her out.

"You… said your name was Cammie" The woman replied quickly.

I thought back to everything I'd said to her, I was sure I hadn't told her my name… there was a little bit of spy in me that knew. But I was disorientated, I'd probably said it without realising, so I shook off my annoying inner spy thoughts and gave the woman a nod.

The woman passed me a carton of orange juice.

"You must be thirsty, sorry it's already opened, I had a sip earlier" She grinned and began to start up the car.

I grabbed the carton and gulped down the juice eagerly. The woman laughed again, and despite the accent, a chill went through me as I realised where I'd heard that laugh before.

"Catherine" I murmured as I dropped the empty carton on the floor.

I expected her to be angry or upset that I'd figured out who she was, but she seemed happy.

"I wondered when you'd recognise me!" she replied happily as she stopped the engine. The sudden silence echoed through the car eerily.

"How's Zach?" Catherine asked me. She sounded genuinely concerned. But Zach's words about his mother filled my head.

It was in that moment I think Catherine knew. She knew that Zach had told me about her. And that's when the smirk that I loved so much on Zach lit up her face… but on her it looked all wrong.

"I'm glad Zach's filled you in on my past" She laughed evilly.

Complete panic gripped me.

"You should have known better than to get involved" She snarled.

I winced at the change in her tone, and the way her friendly, southern accent had disappeared and been replaced with a cold and rough voice.

I couldn't wait any longer, it wasn't just my spy instincts that were telling me I was in danger… every single part of me knew I was in danger. I lunged for the door handle.

"Nice try" the woman laughed.

I could feel my eyes drooping as I desperately tugged at the door handle.

"Please!" I sobbed as I caught Catherine's eyes in the mirror. "Please let me go"

Catherine smirked again. "Now why would I do that?" she asked sarcastically. "If you cooperate, what you're feeling now will be the worst pain you will feel… if not, then what you're feeling now will seem like a scratch"

I stared at her in horror with new found realisation that she meant her words.

I lunged forward quickly before I had a chance to regret it and clambered over her, my fingers fumbling for the driver's side door handle. It wasn't locked.

Something hit my head hard and I felt myself slump on her lap as her laugh filled my ears.

I saw the hammer she held in her hand that dripped with my blood. Blood dripped over my forehead and into my eyes. I kicked my foot out and head a crack as it collided with Frank's head and he passed out cold. I didn't have time to rejoice and think of the praise Mr Solomon would give me; because this wasn't a CoveOps class... this was real life.

Catherine let out a horrified shriek as she saw Frank slumped in his chair and she tried to pull me around so she could see my face, and probably hurt me more. I was trying so hard to resist the temptation to sleep. I was so tried.

"Starting to feel the effects of the sleeping pills?" Catherine asked smugly.

"What?" I whispered in horror, and then my eyes caught sight of the orange juice carton. My head was pounding. I could just give up, surely nothing she would do could be worse than this.

But then I imagined Zach's face if I got caught. He would be so angry at me. So disappointed. He would think I was weak and stupid. I fought the drowsiness that was overcoming me and tried one last lunge towards the door handle, and this time I felt the door open. I threw my body out of the door. Catherine's hands tried to grip onto my jumper and I head a ripping sound. Relief filled me as I felt my body crash against the floor.

Catherine's hands tried to grab my wrist as my hands dug into the mud, trying to claw away from her grasp. My hands scratched against stones and twigs causing blood to cascade over my palms. I could feel my consciousness slipping away as the sleeping pills kicked in. I could feel myself giving up and my body being dragged back to the car… but then suddenly I felt my body crash against the floor again. I was thankful I was totally beyond feeling pain.

I could hear Catherine's shrieks in the distance. A body fell down next to mine. I immediately tried to use the little energy I had to crawl away from the body, encase it was Catherine.

"Gallagher… Gallagher girl"

I finally relaxed and collapsed into a heap as arms surrounded me.

"I'm so, so sorry" Zach whispered against my ear as he wiped the blood from my eyes.

"Your mom's on her way"

I nodded, but cringed with the pain it caused. I watched Zach's eyes, I felt Zach's arms around me, and I could smell his minty breath blowing across my face. I reached up weakly and traced my finger along his jaw.

"Catherine…?" I managed to ask weakly.

Zach's beautiful eyes left mine. "She got away Cammie, I tried to knock her out… but she got away… I failed"

"You saved me" I gave him a small smile, but he didn't return it.

"You only needed saving because of what I did Cammie" Zach was looking anywhere but at me.

I gently grabbed his jaw so he had nowhere to look except my eyes. He seemed to wince as if looking at me was painful. "It's not your fault Zach" I said firmly.

"It is" he argued angrily, before he suddenly cringed and brought his hand up to his stomach.

"Oh my gosh Zach" I rolled up his shirt and saw the bruises coating his stomach.

"It's nothing" Zach pulled his shirt back down and grasped my hands gently in his, his warmth seeping into my cold skin. He stroked my bloody hair back from my face.

"I'm sorry" He repeated.

I rolled my eyes. "If I say I forgive you will you stop trying to say sorry?"

"Probably not" Zach smirked slightly, the same smirk Catherine had given me… except it was different in so many ways, because when Zach smirked at me I felt happy, I felt like everything was perfect, when in fact, it was far from it.

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