Niklaus stalked through the hallway and I followed behind him in a daze, not sure where he was leading us. My mind was still lost in what had happened back in the room. I couldn't believe what I had done. It should have been physically impossible. I was a thin, willowy girl without much muscle mass. Yet, I had thrown a man that had been two hundred plus pounds across the room as if he had weighed nothing.

My eyes drifted down to my hands, clenching them into tight fists, "I tried to kill that man. I almost succeeded." I muttered to myself. Saying the words, a loud had reality crashing in on me, "Oh my god. I almost killed a man." I felt my muscles seize up and my stomach rolled as I stared down at my tightly fisted hands. A thin sheen of sweat broke out across my brow. I was careening straight towards a full-blown panic attack.

"Loren?" Niklaus voice called to me. I looked up from my hands to find that we had both stopped moving and were standing in the middle of the hallway. He looked at me with a hardened gaze that told me he was trying to figure out why I had stopped moving. My body swayed slightly as a wave of dizziness passed through me.

My tongue felt dry and heavy in my mouth, "I wanted to kill those men, Niklaus..." The words tumbled from my lips. 

His eyes softened at my words and drifted down to my hands before coming back up to my face, "You did it to protect me and yourself. If you hadn't done what you did they would have killed us. I can assure you." I stared into his eyes, wanting desperately to believe his opinion of the situation. I didn't want to accept that fact that I had wanted to hurt other people. That I had tried to take someone's life when I had always been the peacemaker.

I sucked in a shaky breath as my thoughts continued their downward spiral. I knew in the back of my mind now was not the time for a mental breakdown. I needed to get out of this place. I could freak out later but my brain didn't seem to care about any of that. It had already jumped onto the crazy train and there was no getting off, "I am turning into a monster, aren't I? I'm becoming like you?"

Niklaus sighed impatiently, in a rush of movements he suddenly stood in front of me. I let out a startled gasp stumbling back away from him, my heart in my throat. His eyes were trained on me, "We don't have time for this right now. That is a discussion for another time, once we get out of here." before I could contemplate his next move he picked me up and hoisted me up over his shoulder. He spun us around and began moving through the hallways at an almost blurring speed, reminding me he was more than human. 

I had to close my eyes to keep myself from getting sick, "Niklaus, you Neanderthal. Where are you taking me?" I shouted up to him as I tried not to concentrate on the feeling of my blood as it rushed to my head.

"Be quiet. You want to draw attention to us?" He whispered at me in a warning as he tightened his grip around my legs. I frowned but kept my comments to myself. We were unlikely allies, trying to navigate our way to freedom. There wasn't time for us to argue about the best ways for us accomplish that. It was either we succeeded or failed, at this point. 

Niklaus slowed his speed and I could tell that he was trying to figure out which direction he should go in this maze of a building. When the sound of footfalls reached my ears, my eyes snapped opened and I lifted my head in time to see a herd of men in black moving in our direction. My panic from earlier was abandoned as a surge of adrenaline rushed through my veins.

"Uh, Niklaus?" 

"What?" he snapped, clearly agitated. 

"you might want to get a move on it..." One of the men lifted his gun as we made eye contact with one another. My heart jumped in my chest and I smacked Niklaus on his butt, "Move your fucking legs, Fido!" He let out a low growl but didn't question my sudden insistent behavior. He pushed us into motion, speeding up as he turned us down another hallway as the men opened fire. I cringed and wrapped my arms around Niklaus's waist, burrowing my face into his back. I was really starting to get tired of being shot at.

We moved down a series of hallways, it seemed that he knew somewhat the direction we needed to go the more we went. The twists and turns through the hallways became more intentional. Once he was certain we had lost them he lowered me to the ground sliding me down the hard planes of his body. When my feet hit the ground, his hands began to search me all over as he looked for anything that might be out of place. 

My cheeks heated and I cleared my throat, "I'm fine. So, you can stop touching me now..." His hands stilled at my waist and he peered into my eyes. He stared at me for a moment in silence, desire quickly flashing through his eyes as he turned his face away. His hands fell away from me, and I watched as he clenched and unclenched them into fists at his side.

I turned my face away from him, scanning the area around us nervously, "What's the plan now, Niklaus? There is no way they are just going to let us walk out of here." My eyes found his again but I didn't hold his gaze for long because it caused a strange problem with my cognitive reasoning abilities. I blamed it on his nudity, because any other reasons were unacceptable at the moment and needed to be repressed.

"I've got an idea." He reached out and grabbed my hand, yanking me behind him as he continued down the hallway.

I stumbled over my own feet as I tried to and keep up with his pace, "Slow down." I hissed between my teeth. 

I crashed into him moments later when he came to a sudden halt, cursing under my breath at the stinging pain that rushed down my shoulder and into my fingertips. He quickly slapped his hand over my mouth to silence me as I glared up at him. He didn't seem bothered by my reaction, ignoring the disgruntled expression on my face as he nodded his head toward the adjacent hall. I slowly peered around him, noticing the two men guarding the double doors at the end. My heart sped up a bit as I pulled back, the fear of being taken swirled in the corners of my mind.

"Loren, look at me..." Immediately my attention on was on Niklaus. His bright eyes compelled all other thoughts and feelings to flee from me. I forced myself to focus on the calloused and warm skin of the palm pressed against my mouth and the way Niklaus's chest rose and fell with his even breaths. His lips twitched like he might smile, "I am going to get you out of here. I promise, if it's the last thing I do." I didn't know Niklaus from Adam but something deep inside me told me that no matter what else he might be he was not a liar. My instincts told me that he could be trusted. At least long enough to keep this promise to me.

I nodded my head to show him I understood. He hesitantly removed his hand from my mouth as he twisted around to peer back down the hall, murmuring under his breath to himself. After a moment, he turned back to me, "Here's the plan...I want you to go out there and distract them. There is another hallway on the far side that leads to the door they are guarding. I can see it from here..."

I felt apprehensive about his plan but I continued to listen, "I'll sneak around behind them and take them out while they are distracted. We'll take their uniforms and that will make getting through this place much easier." I held his gaze with a good amount of skepticism, not liking the idea of being used as bait but it wasn't like I had any better ideas and time was of the essence. 

He stared down at me, suspecting my hesitance, "Trust me, Loren. I will not let anything happen to you. I need you, remember?" He reassured me and I recalled that he had told me I was his mate, that I was important in keeping his beast sane. 

I let out a long sigh, "Fine but If I get shot and die...I promise I will never forgive you Niklaus, never. I'll come back as a ghost and haunt you for the rest of your miserable life." I threatened, sending a glare in his direction to emphasize how displeased I would be over my own hypothetical death. 

His lips twitched upward in a semblance of a smile, which wasn't really the response I had been going for, "That doesn't sound as bad as you think..." he pulled away from me, turning back the way, we had come, "Wait a couple minutes before you make your move." With that he took off.

I watched Niklaus disappear, waiting a couple of minutes like he had instructed before I pushed myself out into the hallway, risking my body in our last-ditch attempt to escape, "Excuse me?" I cleared my throat to get the guards attention. My heart beat pounded in my ears as the men lifted their guns in my direction, stern expressions on their faces as they moved towards me and away from the door. I stood in front of them with my hands raised in surrender but my eyes trained on Niklaus as he stealthy walked up behind them.

I licked my lips nervously, "Are the guns really necessary? I mean what do you think I'm going to do to you?" I questioned them with a lifted brow, trying to sell my innocence. They shared a skeptical glance, looking back towards me before slowly lowering their weapons. I blew out a breath of relief, "I mean it's the big guy behind you that you should be worried about..." I stated with an apologetic smile.

I watched as my words settled over them and they both spun quickly raising their guns once more but it was too late. Niklaus grabbed the outstretched gun to his right as he elbowed the man in the temple. He swung the gun quickly, nailing the other guy in the side of the head with the butt of it. It was like watching a live action movie play out in front of my face. Within a couple blinks of my eyes, both of the guards were lying unconscious in the hallway. Niklaus dropped the gun to the ground and it clattered loudly in the silence. He bent over and grabbed the men by their legs and began dragging them towards the door to our right.

"Loren, the door-" He called to me impatiently and I snapped out of my haze, rushing over to the door and opening it for him. He pulled the men into the room that was about the size of a janitors closest. I followed in behind him not excited to be in the small crammed place with two unconscious men and a guy who turned beastly at the slightest agitation. 

Niklaus wasted no time as he began to undress them, glancing up at me with a raised brow, "Are you planning on having me undress you as well?"

My blood heated at his question and I shook my head. My cheeks stained with my embarrassment as I realized that I was going to have to get undressed in front of him and he was still naked. I cleared my throat awkwardly and tried to think of things to distract me as I slipped the hospital gown off of my shoulders and down the length of my body. I was happy knowing that I at least hadn't worn my granny panties when I was picked up by the men in black.

A low growl filled the room and I lifted my face to see that Niklaus was staring at me intently, his muscles tensed up as if he was ready to pounce. I shifted on my feet awkwardly in the tension, "The clothes, please..." I squeaked out as I held out my hand towards him, wanting to cover myself as quickly as possible.

"Do you realize how tempting you are, Loren?" His voice took on a husky quality that sent a shiver through me. His eyes seemed to grow darker as I blinked at him, "I want to sink my teeth into your skin and taste you on my tongue..." I swallowed hard at the images that were being sent into my mind. My body seemed to be completely aligned with Niklaus's desires but my brain screamed that he was a monster disguised as a man. 

I cleared my throat, forcing the strange feelings deep down, "Clothes. Now..." I tried to sound forceful but it came out sounding breathless.

His eyes teased over my body one last time before he handed me the uniform with a playful pout on his lips. I snatched them from his hand and quickly began to pull them on, feeling relief when I was shielded from Niklaus's prying eyes. Soon both of us were in the uniforms, though they didn't seem to fit quite right. Mine was much too big and Niklaus's was too small.

I opened the door and popped my head into the hallway looking both ways to make sure the coast was clear. When I found it was safe I opened the door and stepped out with Niklaus hot on my heels. I turned toward him, trying to keep from laughing at the way the pants looked more like capris on him. 

He pulled at them clearly uncomfortable and when he saw my amusement he scowled at me, "Lets get the hell out of here-" He turned and made his way towards the double doors. I jogged to catch up to him, making sure to scoop up a gun from the ground as I went.

He reached out for the door as I cocked the gun, which had him casting a hard look in my direction, "What is that?" He questioned with a disapproving tone. 

I lifted my brows, "A gun? I'd think you'd come well acquainted with it over the past hour with how many times you we were shot." I look over his body for the first time, realizing that he seemed to have miraculously healed. I forced the thought from my mind, not wanting to focus on the strangeness that had brought me here in the first place, "Some of us are actually human here, meaning I need some kind of protection..."

He reached out with free hand and snatched thegun from my grasp, chucking it over his shoulder. It skittered loudly over thehard tile, "You will not need that. That's what I'm here for." Hesounded annoyed as he pushed the doors opened and walked through it. I glaredat his back as I followed after him not sure what was going to happen next.Other than me possibly making a fur coat out of Niklaus if he didn't stopbossing me around