3.1 | Animal Instinct ✓

09 | north

"What about loyalty?"

He paused, the dim light from the hallway illuminating his tall frame. And when he spoke, his voice was colder than any other I'd ever heard before. "I don't know the fucking meaning of that word."

"Diego – "

I tried to reach for him but he was already gone, striding quickly down the hallway and disappearing past the corner. Defeat was a crushing blow and I sank down on the floor, burying my head in my hands and pressing my lips in a tight line as I tried to keep the desperation in.

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It was again in the middle of the night when I heard a howl.

I glanced up, trying to listen for anything else for a second or two, before losing interest and returning to my task. Everything I needed to have to escape was in the blanket. A spare set of clothes that I had raided from an empty room. Food that I nicked from the kitchen under the pretence of wanting dinner. And the most important thing of all – a bobby pin that I'd convinced one of the older ladies in the kitchen to hand over earlier. I'd already twisted it into some sort of loop at the end so that I could use it to pick Bianca's handcuffs apart later.

I was ready. I just needed to find a way out. There was another howl, this one more distant than the previous. As I stood, I heard footsteps outside my door.

But the door never opened. Instead, a note was slipped under the door, followed by two other objects that made a thud on the floor. I immediately reached for it, feeling a sudden relief surge through me when I saw the familiar gleam of a car key. Along with a compass. And a hastily scribbled note that read:

Go North.

It had to be Diego who'd sent this. Quickly, I gathered my things and scrambled up. But when I opened the door, he was nowhere in sight. I looked down at the compass, pointed the needle North and started walking.

To my surprise, the hallways were empty. Midway through, I took a detour to the dungeons. Nausea swept through me at the tang of blood. I clasped a hand over my mouth and crept across the room to where the frail figure was.

"Bianca?"

She jolted up, her eyes wide, only to relax when she saw me. I reached for the muzzle on her face and quickly removed it.

"Quinn," she whispered. "Why're you here?"

"You thought I'd leave without you, huh?" I said instead, trying for light-heartedness amidst a dark situation. Reaching down, I pulled out the pin from my pocket and started to pick at the lock within her handcuffs. "I made you a promise, didn't I?"

She remained silent as I picked at the handcuffs. After the metal chains gave, I rummaged through the bag in search of the clothes I'd gotten for her.

"Why?" She rasped at last, blood dribbling down her chin as she spoke.

I knew what she was referring to. Why had I come back for her even after the way she'd treated me the last time we met? The answer required no thinking at all. I held out the clothes to her and averted my eyes while she dressed with slow, painful movements. "Because you're not the monster here. And – we need all the help we can get to take him down."

She winced as her arm got caught in the sleeve, and I reached over, helping her to pull the shirt over her bruised body. "Twenty-three times," she said quietly, blue eyes flickering up to meet mine. "I counted."