The Dark King and his Queen

F I F T Y F I V E || He's safe

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"Thank you for holding on. Thank you for never giving up but most of all, thank you for believing in me."

♤♤♤

Katherine's Pov

"Where is he?" Ashton asks

"Level 2, the dark room or dark house. It's where Joey would dump my body whenever I'd misbehave." A dark chuckle escaped my lips

I typed in the address on Ashtons phone. Not wanting to speak about the situation any further I turned my head to the side and looked out the window.

Going back there would sure as hell bring back some dark fucking memories. But I need to go in order or bring Max home, there's no way I'm letting my past stop me from saving him.

In fact, I'm willing to exchange my life for his. This is all a game for Joey like I've said before, maybe if I offer him my life in exchange for the safety of Max and the rest he'll agree..

But what if that's what he wanted all along

There's a possibility that he planned this right from the beginning. He wanted to make me go through all these things knowing in the end that I'd offer my life to guarantee their safety.

It's never been about me wanting to be safe, at the beginning I wanted to kill Joey. To finally rid this world of him but that changed.

For example, my first encounter with that dipshit Ashton, I never knew I'd fall for him like this.  He's an arrogant jerk with an ego even bigger than mine yet he still manages to be the sweetest guy ever.

Man, I hate his guts but there's just something about him that makes me feel safe and that's saying a lot. I don't feel safe anywhere let alone with someone..

I remember when Ashton helped me in the bathroom, fuck, I was so awkward and nervous. The way he handled my injury with care, made me like him a little bit more.

If I were to travel back in time and tell myself that I'd be falling for Ashton and we would stop Joey together, I wouldn't believe it. The plan was always to kill Joey alone with no help, I didn't want to risk anyones life.

Things obviously changed. I found Max and I had him for just a short while but I was already attached to him. Then sadly, he was taken and I had to find my brothers in order to save him.

I had a family reunion after running away from Ashton and Matthew, leaving Amelia in their care. If they weren't capable of taking care of her then I wouldn't have left her but I knew Matthew would definitely keep her safe.

He has a thing for her after all.

"Is this the place?" Kevin asked, pointing towards the small house covered by trees

I nodded my head and asked Ashton to stop the car. I unbuckled the seatbelt and opened my door before hopping out.

"Kelvin, Lucas and Brandon, you guys take the back door. Chad, Matthew and Amelia, take the door on the side. Ashton, Joshua and André cover me. I'll be using the front door, if anything happens come in immediately."

"Let's go!" Chad yelled as he ran with Amelia and Matthew to the side door

Kelvin led his team to the back door and Ashton them stayed behind to watch my back as I walked towards the front door.

My palms were a bit sweaty and my throat was kind of dry. I placed a shaky hand on the door knob and slowly twisted it open

"Hello?" i called out, while walking inside the house, "anyone here? Max? Or one of Joey's men that I can beat up?"

There was no response as I walked further into the house. I walked towards the red door that would hopefully lead me to Max.

I stood in front of the door, my shaky hand once again holding the doorknob. I held my breath as I slowly twisted it, opening the door and sticking my head in.

"Max?" I spoke softly while entering the room and looking for the light switch, "I-its me, Katherine, I'm here.." I stammered

"I've come to save you- rescue you from Joey and take you back with me, you know, like I promised." I flipped the switched and the room lit up

A gasp escaped my lips as I stared at Max tied to a chair, he had a dirty shirt tied around his mouth to keep him from speaking. His head was lowered, his clothing dirty and broken and his hands hand cuts and blisters on.

I quickly rushed to him and started untying his hands, "Max! Max, can you hear me? Open your eyes babe," I said, gently lifting his head up

His eyes fluttered open, he looked at me,blinking multiple times, "Katherine? I-is that you? Are you.. real?" he whispered, reaching out his hand to touch my face

"Yeah, it's me.. I'm real." I smiled softly, gently untying his wrists and ankles

"How.. how did you find me? I mean," he licked his lips and rubbed his wrists gently, they were red and bruised from the ropes,"I knew you would find me but not so soon I guess? I'm just really surprised and happy."

I laughed and stood up before picking him up gently. His body must probably be covered in bruises. If I'm not careful enough, I could accidentally hurt him.

"Everyone's outside you know.. waiting to see you. They're excited, we uhㅡ" I turned my head in the other direction as I carried him towards the exit, "we missed you kiddoㅡ I missed you so much and I'm happy that you're okay."

He rested his head on my shoulder and slowly closed his eyes humming in response. I kicked the doors open and walked out with Max.

Ashton, Joshua and André ran towards me when they saw that I had Max in my arms. He was exhausted and fell asleep in my arms, I kissed his forehead. All three of them smile at me as I walked with Max to the car.

André opened the door for me as I climbed in. Joshua went to call the rest and tell them that we had Max.

This means that I'm one step closer to finding Joey. I gently stroked Max's hair and Ashton placed his hand on my thigh.

Giving me a reassuring squeeze, I looked up and smiled at him. Everyone soon entered the car, the started bombarding me with questions.

I tried to quiet them down before Max woke up. He needed proper rest after being locked up in there.

"Kat?" Max spoke softly, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes

The car went silent, everyone was watching us. Amelia placed her hand on Max's head and rubbed it gently, Alex sat on her lap.

"It's good to have you back buddy, Iㅡ we missed you.."

"I've missed you all as well. You too Alex, I'm so glad that you escaped," He smiled gently at him, tears rolled down Alex's cheeks

"I'm sorry that we couldn't escape together.."

"We're together now, aren't we?" Alex nodded, a small smile on his lips

Together at last.

Let's never separate again