Three Hearts Left Intact

Chapter 98: Escaping The Past

"What happened to James?" Mallix pondered looking concerned at Alex. He had only just been released from the hospital, he didn't to have to worry about ending up there again. By the way Alex fiddled with his fingers for a minute as he cleared his throat, Mallix knew it wasn't good news.

"Well...after I had gotten Lain outside to the car, I went to check on him but...he was gone. The rope that was on his hands and legs were still in the car just he wasn't." Alex admitted cautiously waiting for Mallix's response.

As he looked straight ahead blankly blinking his eyes Mallix gulped before face palming himself. "How did he even untie himself?!"

Alex simply shrugged, "although when we were trying to look around for him, Lain did manage to find more than one set of footprints heading towards the car. My best guess is that he contacted someone about where he'd be and to help get him out."

"So what he's just out there free now?! Who knows what he'll do next?! Or what he'll do with the information he has on us?!" Mallix briefly panicked thinking of a hundred different ways this could play out.

"I wouldn't be too quick to think that either M..." Alex looked down in his lap.

Mallix was lost. Alex had just told him that someone who knows deep secrets about the entire group is free somewhere, and yet he didn't seem the least bit concerned.

"What do you mean?" He felt his hands getting clammy. The anticipation was killing him.

"Well I told you that Lain and I didn't see James, but what I didn't tell you is that we saw something else." The way Alex's voice dropped and his eyes avoided Mallix's was sending goosebumps down Mallix's neck.

"Alex?! Come on what did you see?! Tell me already!"

"Well after Lain found those footprints we tried following them but it looked like two people headed towards the car, and three headed back through the gates..."

"So James is back at the facility?"

"More or less. But that wasn't all. It was still dark out and I thought there was a bug on the floor and so I ignored it, but once Lain and I saw you running to the gate and all the security lights started turning back on I saw it wasn't a bug after all. It was droplets of blood."

Mallix was speechless he just sat engrossed into the details.

"Now I don't know if it belonged to James but there was also blood on the ropes left in the car. So...I just...I don't know. He could still be alive in the facility. He could be dead. Hell he could also have faked all that stuff and may be completely fine walking the streets who knows where. But that's what happened."

Alex looked over his shoulder as Mallix remained silent. He just sat staring at the wall in front of him contemplating something in his head.

For as horrible and two faced as James was, Mallix battled his own internal feelings of anger and sorrow for him. After all James had an unbreakable blood bond to him. He was still his little brother at the end of the day. But through all the betrayal and heart aches Mallix didn't know what to think.

His mind wandered down memory road letting brief clips of them as children play. The clips started relatively peaceful between the brothers, but the closer he got to current times those clips deteriorated. Those lighthearted flashbacks becoming dark and grim.

Before he was able to fully let his subconscious take over, he was brought back to reality as Alex nudged him lightly. "I didn't know when to tell you this, but I figure this is as good a time as any. I still had a few connections who owed me favors and well I was able to find out what happened to Lauren."

Alex took a deep breath seeing the curiosity and hope in Mallix's eyes. "Apparently they rushed her to their medical center after Myra found out. She was going in and out of surgeries but in the end...they couldn't save her. There's been word a lot of commotion going on in their facility lately. Myra blames her husband for Lauren's death, and he agrees with her. Supposedly the empire they built in the Cave is starting to break. If they don't pull themselves together then I would say, with all my experience with different companies from the Cave, there power is going to crumble. Soon they'll be nothing but a story in the Cave's history book."

"So that's it..." Mallix finally said as he felt a rush of emotion. Lauren's death was a reminder of the horrible tragedies that occurred in that facility, but her sacrifice was a true testament that not everyone there was evil. Some were just unfortunate.

"I hope so. I don't know how much more of all this I can handle. Right now I'm just happy having Z. I don't want to go back to us constantly worrying and sorting through huge amounts of information. I just want to stay here with my only concern being Zander." He spoke honestly. The past few weeks have been rough on him. Having to put his main focus on helping Mallix get Kaila and Lain back meant putting his own desires and dreams on hold. Now that they had finally accomplished their mission, he wanted to get his own life back on track.

The next couple of minutes both men shared their new goals. Well Alex mainly. Not wanting to stay trapped in the past Mallix eventually was able to look towards his future with his family finally back together. It wasn't until Nina had broken their session announcing dinner for them to lighten up conversation.

Heading outside into the dinning room Mallix couldn't help but smile as he immediately saw Kaila sitting tiredly in Lain's lap. The small girl curled into her embrace with her head over the woman's heart. After taking a seat besides them, everyone else got situated before digging into the rather large feast placed in front of them.

"You guys take this cook off way too seriously." Alex said taking in the variety of food.

"Well if I'm going to prove how much better I am at cooking then it has to be perfect." Nina laughed helping herself as everyone joined in.

"Oh please! If you would try my stir fry then you should know that I am the queen of the kitchen." Lain defended as she made both her plate and Kaila's. Simultaneously she continued conversation while hand feeding the tired girl in her arms.

Leaving the memory of the facility back in Alex's room, Mallix was able to enjoy himself too. Letting himself get lost in the delicious meal and the company of his friends and family his heart felt whole again.
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A/N: Hey guys, just wanted to let you know this story is coming to its end soon. It's been a lot of fun getting to see all your lovely and curious comments. You guys are the reason I feel inspired to write daily!!❤️Thank you for all the support and for making it through this journey with the Colden's.

Thanks to the poll I had a while back, after this story ends an entirely new story with all your favorite characters will be released!! So stay tuned for that. But until then I hope you enjoy the conclusion to the Colden Series. I love y'all so much!! I seriously can't express how much I do!!❤️❤️❤️

Let me know what you guys think. Thanks Lexx signing off