I walked as calmly as possible towards Malvin.

And then something incredible happened.

The rude guard from before held the door to the elevator. I was so shocked that I couldn't help but hesitate.

I stared at him wide-eyed even when Malvin nudged me from behind and pushed me into the lift.

"The cameras in here are temporarily down," he explained to Malvin. "That should buy you guys some extra time."

Malvin amiably put his hand on the formally-evil guard's shoulder.

"Thank you Nathan. I owe you one."

I looked at Malvin, ignoring his second push, this time to get me out of the elevator.

"What the hell is going on?" I whispered to Malvin, pointing at 'Nathan'. "He hates us."

"I think my actions just proved the statement wrong," Nathan intervened. "I'm one of you."

I tried my best to conceal my shock.

"I'll explain this all to you later, Pacem." Malvin practically threw me out of the elevator. "We need to go now."

We started moving with leading me as he clung to my arm.

"When we get down this passage, we're both going to go in opposite directions."

"What?"

"We'll meet up once we're both past the gate. There's an old diner two blocks from this place, find it and get to me."

"I can't do this alone-"

Malvin let out his signature laugh.

"If I thought you couldn't, would I have invited you?"

And with that, Malvin fled down the passage and I was left alone to fend for myself.

I sprinted out of the lift in the opposite direction that Malvin had abandoned me in.

There were a series of passageways to choose from, but Malvin had assured me that they were all under heavily guarded security.

I picked randomly and  ran faster than my feet could handle.

Of course, after a couple of sprints, I heard voices behind me screaming,

"Get her!" and "Don't let her get away!"

I should have picked the other path.

I took a deep breath and forced myself to run a little faster. At least Malvin seemed confident that I could do this.

When I looked back I saw ten men in suits chasing after me. Apparently they'd been ordered not to shoot, but I knew if it came down to it they wouldn't hesitate.

They had that look in their eye.

l just needed to get out of their sight for five minutes so I could slip into one of the rooms down this never ending passage.

But how the hell was I supposed to accomplish that?

And then I saw it.
The fire extinguisher.

Back at school the rebellious group had decided to get smart on prank day and pull the extinguisher out. It just ended up making a mess and breaking the only thing the school had to prevent a fire hazard but it gave me an idea.

That thing could do some serious damage.

I smashed my hand into the glass as elegantly as possible and pulled out the extinguisher.

It was different to the traditional ones I had usually seen. It was smaller and had more buttons.

Why complicate something so simple?

I had about two seconds before they caught up with me. I untangled the cord connected to the extinguisher and then felt around the side of it to try and press one of the many little buttons. It made a beeping noise, but nothing happened.

After a slight anti-climax, I was on the verge of panic. I pressed the button again and again and finally white goo aggressively sprayed out all over the men.

I turned the corner and ran into the first room I saw.

The wrong room, unfortunately.

At first I couldn't make out the grunts and heavy breathing until I got a glimpse of the couple in the dim glow of light coming from the windowsill.

Seriously?

Somebody was having sex while a hostage was breaking out?

Maybe they didn't get the memo.

I tried not to throw up a little and slowly tiptoed towards the cupboard, avoiding the naked bodies as best I could. Unfortunately it was particularly hard to ignore the vivid sound effects.

The cupboard made a little squeak as I climbed inside and I was eventually left in complete darkness.

Thank God.

Luckily I had been motivated to move so quickly because a second later I heard a bang and realized the door had been slammed open. The grunting immediately stopped and I heard a girl squeal in disgust.

"What the hell?" I heard the male's angry voice.

"Oh um... Sorry Mr Maxwell," the guard stumbled over his words "two of our hostages escaped and we thought the girl might have gotten into one of the rooms."

"Well as you can see she's not here. Unless she's in the cupboard watching the show."

My heart pounded.

"Right." The guard clear his throat. "Sorry to have disturbed you, Mr Maxwell."

The door slammed shut.

I heard footsteps as they climbed off the bed and from what I assumed (and hoped) started to put their clothes back on.

"It's like I wasn't even in the room. Am I invisible or something?" The girl complained.

"Trust me I think all of you was very visible, Veera. Isn't it time for you to get going?"

"We don't have to be finished." She turned on a seductive tone.

"I think we are."

And that was that.

I heard shuffles and stomps until the door slammed shut. Now all I had to do was wait for him to leave the room and I was out.

Except I forgot for a moment that nothing in life is that easy.

Before I could even blink the cupboard opened.

I gasped in surprise.

"Having a good time in there?" The guy I'd pieced together as 'Mr Maxwell' asked.

My mouth dropped open.

He was stunning. Truth be told I had to fight to maintain eye contact.

His shirt was off so I could see the lines of his muscles clearly even in the shadows. He was clearly a good few years older than me and he carried a rustic look about him. His dark brown hair matched his chocolate eyes and his teeth were annoyingly straight.

But that's not why my jaw dropped... I was so shocked that he had found me and obviously he had known I was in there the entire time.

It had just taken me by surprise.

"You... You knew I was here?"

"Of course I did. I'm not blind."

"Well you were certainly distracted." I pushed past him and stepped out of the cupboard.

"I'm always distracted and that's never prevented me from multi-tasking." He smirked.

I didn't understand who this guy was.

If he was a guard I would have been arrested by now and he definitely wasn't a prisoner. He was acting more like he was on vacation.

"Why didn't you tell the guards about me?"

He shrugged. "I figured I might as well give you a fighting chance. They're bound to catch you eventually anyway."

I put my hands on my hips. "I'm not going to get caught. I have no intention of going back being their puppet."

"Then you shouldn't have chosen Malvin as your partner in crime." He leaned in closer so his mouth was by my ear. "Malvin always gets caught."

"Well Malvin hasn't always had me. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to be on my way."

I was trying to make a clean exit in case of the situation changing. He seemed a lot stronger than me. If he wanted to take me down, I would be a goner.

I swayed my hips and headed towards the door, trying to seem as bad ass as possible.

His voice made me hesitate before I could exit,

"Wait."

I turned around to look back at him.

"Down the hall, take your first left and keep going straight. The staircase will lead you to the exit. There's surveillance in the second corridor-"

"I know all of that, already." (I actually had no clue), "But thank you for the help, Mr Maxwell."

Once I was out, I immediately started running again. I followed his instructions until I was practically out of the building.

But like I said: Nothing's easy.

I was two steps away from the exit when I heard voices. I quickly sprinted behind a desk in the corner because it happened to be closer.

"I want her found now!" I recognised Alluna's voice immediately.

"With all respect, Alluna, what does that have to do with me?"

The second voice sounded familiar too. It was the guy from before who I'd caught 'in action'.

Mr Maxwell.

"I have every employable guard out there looking for those two idiots. God knows Malvin will probably wander back on his own but I need the girl found now. Go out there and find her."

"You really don't have that much faith in your guard service if you want me on the job, do you Mrs Boss Lady?"

"Don't use that tone with me Jake." She warned. "You're right, I am the Boss, and next time I put you under experimentation you might just wake up with one less finger."

There was a pause before she got any form of response.

"I wasn't trying to be disrespectful." I could detect a hint of fear in his words as well as hatred for having to concede. "I just want to know what this has to do with me."

"She's connected to you somehow."

"What do you mean 'connected' to me?"

"It's not your job to ask questions."

"It's not my job at all since I don't get paid." They raised their voices.

"Oh yes, you just get a luxury suite and free food."

"Trust me, I'm paying a price and I don't hunt down your strays."

"Well now you do." She concluded. "Take Veera with you."

"What?"

"She'll make sure you get the job done."

I remembered the name. It was the insecure one I'd caught him in bed with. The one he'd pretty much brushed off before.

Insecure girls weren't exactly the most successful human kidnappers and besides the girl had been so skinny I'd probably easily beat her in a throw-down.

Her legs and arms looked like they came from a chicken and she probably weighed less than my dog.

Jake had also seemed slightly confused by Alluna's orders but he hadn't argued with her any further.

Malvin had warned me that I shouldn't underestimate anyone. He said that "everything isn't always as it seems". If Alluna wanted her out there looking for me she had to be worth something.

I waited a long time after hiding behind that table. I wanted to make sure that everyone looking for me was out there so I had the advantage. He would have caught up with me if he were in the lead.

After about an hour, I heard movement again. 'Veera' was complaining about something and Jake was silent for the time being aside from his footsteps.

"Did she think you couldn't do this yourself?" Veera whined. "Usually I'm not invited."

"Shut up, Veera."

"I'm just saying. It's not like this girl's superhuman. From what I hear she's just some teenager from the Dinosaur-Age."

"Quiet Veera!" Jake shouted in a way that made me think his snappiness was more than just annoyance. I held my breath at the absurd idea that he might have heard the sound of my breathing.

"What is it, Jake?" she nagged.

"Just wait there." He ordered, and I heard the sound of his steps drawing closer.

I took another silent breath and held it again, resisting the urge to close my eyes as the adrenaline pumped through my veins.

This is it. I thought to myself. He's going to find me and it's all going to be over.

I clung tightly to the table and made an effort not to move as I waited for my grand escape to be declared a failure.

Eventually I tilted my head to see him staring down at me. Once I'd seen him I froze like a deer in the headlights and waited for him to tell his annoying sidekick that he'd found me.

"What is it, Jake?" Veera repeated herself, impatiently.

I studied him quizzically, unable to understand his hesitation. He looked back at me deep in thought.

"Nothing", He eventually responded to her as he straightened to standing, "Let's go".

Maybe 'Mr Maxwell' wasn't the villian after all.

So what do you think readers?

Is Mr Maxwell a nice guy? Or is he just a villain in disguise...