Marcus sighed as he walked into the comic shop the following day, after spending the night at the Grey's warehouse and having an casual day during the school hours, it was nice for Marcus to escape to the comic shop, when he realised why the group were all stood around the cash register.

"Marcus just in time." He nodded, walking over to Maria of whom wrapped her arms around him, Saya and Billy raising their eyebrows to the boy, Maria not noticing.

After his confession to Samuel Grey the night before, Marcus realised that it was not fair for him to carry on seeing Maria when he felt stronger for Lilith, his head pre-occupied with his thoughts about Lilith and her lack of safety in this current predicament.

Marcus was brought out of his thoughts as he sat down on one of the stools, removing Maria's arms around him as he picked up one of the photos Saya had thrown his way.

"Jesus... is that Shabnam's dad?" Saya nodded.

"His mom could be in there as well." Maria spoke up as she picked up another photo Saya had taken of Shabnam's family home that was ransacked by Chester and the hillbillies.

"All the more reason we have to do this now." Billy chimed in, taking the photo out of Maria's hand, dropping it back onto the table. Marcus looked up to see Willie subtly shaking his head as the group continued to look at the photos.

"Shabnam's house is rigged with traps... Chester has seven to eight people inside helping him." Marcus nodded, Saya taking a deep breath as she nodded her head to Marcus, mentally asking the boy if he was okay after last night.

"You're sure he has Chico?" Maria asked, worry flooding her words as she looked at Saya.

"It's no bluff, he knows everything." Saya said, shaking her head as she looked at Maria. "He has to be getting information from someone inside of King's."

"Shabnam's parents." Marcus suggested, Saya and Billy agreeing with the boy.

"There's another problem..." Maria interjected, bringing the attention of the group back onto her. "El Diablo... If this animal sends him Chico's head, if he finds out it was me-"

"We're going to need some serious firepower." Marcus said, interrupting his girlfriend as his eyes scanned throughout the group. "Guns, explosives."

"Y'all must be out of your damn minds." The group silenced, looking at the sudden shout from Willie as he stood with his arms crossed. He said nothing further, instead he made his way out of the comic store before the group could get a word into him.

Marcus shrugged his shoulders to the group as he stood up from his chair, following Willie quickly out of the store.

                                             **************

After a total of ten hours of torture, Lilith was relived to see Jason had left the warehouse to go do some of his 'jobs' as he liked to say, leaving Lilith alone in the dark warehouse, the smell of burning skin flooding her senses. After the burning, Jason turned to teaching Lilith the wonders of the human body. She winced as she looked down to her arm to see blood tinting her skin as fresh blood fell out of one of many cuts Jason had made to show the wonders of the biology behind the body.

The opening of the door alerted Lilith, fear running through her as she wondered what Jason had in store for her next. Due to the darkness of the room, Lilith could not distinguish the figure in the doorway looking her way, resulting in Lilith to pretend to be asleep to cause no further harm to come her way.

"You're not asleep." Lilith opened her eyes as the figure turned on the light. She released the breath she didn't realise she was holding, more relief rushing over her body as the boy that winced at her harm yesterday stood at the door, empty handed.

"What you going to do?" Lilith questioned the boy, as she fidgeted in her chair, attempting to loosen the grip on either her legs or hands.

"I'm here to help." The boy responded, quietly closing the door behind him.

"If you're here to help... get me the bloody hell out of here." Lilith demanded, the movement of her neck making her wince.

"Duh... that's why I closed the door." Lilith smiled at the Cheshire boy, recognising his accent to match her own as he made his way closer to her. She saw the boy dangle tiny keys in her face as he leaned down, releasing the strap around her ankles, freeing her legs.

"Why are you doing this?" Lilith questioned, confused as to why the boy standing before her would even think about helping her and betraying her brother.

"Well love, you see... Jason's a dick." Lilith snorted, giving the boy a high five immediately after he released the metal grip on her hands, Lilith wincing at the immediate pain from the contact of the high-five on her hand.

"Names Lilith." She held her hand out to the boy as she jumped up from the chair.

"Charlie." He smiled, taking her hand, directing her towards the door.

"Well Charlie... I would like to thank you for doing this... but how can I be sure that you aren't tricking me?" Lilith questioned the boy, eyebrows raised as she went to cross her arms as a reflex, but the pain of the burns restricted her arm movements, causing the girl to wince.

"Let me show you."

Charlie went to grab Lilith's hand, but stopped himself as he looked down at the scarring the burns Jason had inflicted on her covered her palms, he smiled sadly at the girl, peeking his head out of the door.

Lilith noticed the boy look down at his watch before directing his eyes back out of the door.

"Okay it's currently noon... which means there are only two people left in the building... besides us of course." Lilith nodded, joining Charlie, sticking her head out of the door, surprised to see natural light filling the corridor in the warehouse.

"Whose here?" Lilith whispered, Charlie leaning into her, so she didn't have to whisper too loudly.

"Finley and Greg." Lilith nodded her head, not knowing who those two men were, but by the look on Charlie's face, they were two people not to worry about.

"Won't you get in trouble once Jason finds out I'm gone?" Lilith questioned, her words filled with guilt as Charlie grabbed a part of her arm that was not burnt, directing her through the corridors of the warehouse.

"Nope... because I'm technically not on shift anymore... my timed shift is tomorrow morning." Lilith smiled, the tip of her fingers tapping Charlie's arm instead of squeezing his arm due to the weakness and pain she was feeling in her hands.

"Well haven't you thought this through." Charlie smiled, gently pulling her into an large empty room, consisting of training dummies and sofa's, Lilith noticed an emergency exit sign shining above a door.

"It's that easy for me to leave?" Lilith questioned, stopping in front of the door as Charlie looked down at her, Lilith becoming weary as this was too easy of an escape.

"I promise... just leave through this door, and head left... you'll be home in no time." Lilith rose an eyebrow, growing suspicious of the helping boy. Charlie nodded his head, looking around him to check the coast was clear before opening the door.

"Go." Lilith hesitated before nodding. She pulled Charlie into a quick hug, ignoring the pain she felt on her body, planting a kiss on the boys cheek.

"So long Charlie." Lilith whispered, using all her energy to run as fast as she could out of the door, ignoring the pain as she felt the coldness of the air hitting her damaged skin.

The sun was shining brightly in San Francisco, Lilith realising she needs to get a move on to prevent being seen by any of Jason's goons or Jason himself, making a beeline to the busy streets of San Francisco, allowing her to be safe by numbers as well as blending in with the locals.

                                             *****************

The sun was setting as Lilith turned the corner of the street King Dominion was located, releasing a sigh of relief to be back home. The temperature had dropped as the bright blue skies began to be replaced with a darker shade, Lilith not feeling any sense of cold as her burns across her body allowed heat to constantly be released from her body, acting as a continuous hot water bottle.

Entering the Chinese restaurant, Lilith noticed that it was fairly quiet for a Thursday night, relaxing Lilith's nerves as she was not ready to be faced with multiple questions by the 'locals' acting as guards sitting in the restaurant.

Because it was a Thursday night, Lilith knew that Billy would be with Lex and Petra, enjoying their night of quietness from the rest of the group, of which Lilith used to join in when she was avoiding Marcus and Maria.

The steps down to Kings Dominion made Lilith groan with pain as her legs were severely bruised from the abuse Jason had thrown her way, consisting on kicking and the occasional burn to her leather jeans, making the girl cry for ruining her favourite jeans.

Lilith sighed as she saw herself in the mirror as she walked through the grand doors of her school, finally noticing the severity of her cuts and burns. To avoid crying, Lilith sniffled as she grew upset as well as angry at the defaced ruin she had tattooed on her chest, now half covered by deep burns from the electric metal rod.

Not wanting to see herself anymore, Lilith punched the mirror with all her willpower, the glass shattering echoing through the quiet halls, Lilith not feeling any burn due to the burns on her hands taking away the pain.

As she made her way down the halls, her eyes began to grow heavy. Even though she had been asleep hours before, the pain and constant fear did not allow Lilith to fall into a deep sleep, the lack of effective sleep hitting a toll on the girl.

Reaching Lex's door, Lilith heard multiple voices behind it as she lifted her hand to knock. Instead of knocking, Lilith decided to swing open the door, to be welcomed by Marcus and Billy's backs to her, the two alongside Saya who stood in the corner of the room intrigued in a conversation between the three and Lex and Petra. Due to the heated conversation, the five did not hear Lilith open the door until felt the need to cough, the taste of blood filling her mouth.

"Well... isn't this cosy?" Lilith said, spitting blood out of her mouth into the corridor when she felt a tight pair of arms wrap around her. "Burns!"

The arms quickly removed themselves around her as she looked up.

"Hi Billy." Lilith said, a smile crawling onto her face as she noticed her best friend beginning to tear up. In this moment in time, Lilith pulled Billy back into a hug, once again ignoring the pain soaring through her body.

"You're okay." Billy mumbled into her head as she kissed the top of head.

"Of course, it would be cruel to leave you in a Lilith-free world." Lilith said, her words making Lex laugh as he jumped up from the bed, pulling her out of Billy's arms and into his own, directing her to his bed, allowing the girl to finally rest.

"Lilith what happened?" Lilith looked up to Marcus, worry and relief covering his face as she dashed to her side, joining her and Lex on the bed, Petra moving to the opposite bed after planting a kiss on Lilith's head.

"Oh just a few burns and cuts... nothing I couldn't handle." Lilith said, trying to shove it off, not wanting to show how vulnerable she was in this current state.

But the group knew better. The five all glared at Lilith, the girl shaking her head as she leaned back on Lex's bed, making eye contact with Marcus, winking at the boy.

"That's enough about me... what is it that you need to try and persuade Lex to help you in killing Chester?" Lex shook his head, dismissing her question as his eyes trailed over Lilith's body, wincing at the sight of the burns and cuts that covered her body.

"No one going to answer me?" Lex shook his head, Lilith sighing as she leaned herself up.

"Well Marcus... if you guys don't need none of mine or Lex's C4, then you guys may leave."

"You have C4?" Marcus questioned, his eyebrows raised, Lilith scoffing at his question.

"It's like you don't know me at all..." She shook her head as she got up from the bed, groaning in the sudden pain. "I only have a few left, but... me and Lex know a bloke that can help."

Lex stuck his tongue out at the girl, Lilith returning one, before nodding her head to Marcus, him following her to the door.

"Lex... tell them where to find him, I'll go show Marcus my little collection."