Chapter - 62
The night reeked of death and aftershock.
Red and blue lights pulsed against the rain slicked ruins of the once brightly lit and bustling police station in dizzying cycles. Sirens scread through the wet city air, waking up every damn cat and dog in the city.
The pavent outside the police station was now soaked with not just the rain, but also with blood. Blood along with the rainwater made a puddle outside the police station. The sight was grotesque that even the police offciers had to try their best not to vomit.
Everyone was busy doing their jobs.
More than two dozen ambulances with their rear doors flunged open, were surrounded by white-coated paradics yelling and screaming orders to one one another as they rolled the stretchers in and out of the police station.
"...found another body in the south corridor."
"His neck was—God, just co look."
"...we need the forensic team inside now!"
Along with the ambulances there were also two firetrucks parked on stand by. Firefighters were making way and helping out the paradics with the injured and the dead bodies.
But the ss here, almost in the center of the city was so big that even the dia could not help but sniff the smoke. News crews had already arrived, flashing caras like fireflies.
"What we are seeing here is nothing short of a massacre," One reporter whispered into her mic, "But what should scare you the most is that the place that is hit is no civilain hotspot."
"It is the one of the Police stations downtown itself."
"So here’s a thought for our viewers. If they can’t save themselves, are you willing to trust your safety in their hands?"
And in the middle of it all stood Elena Frost, drenched in sweat and lukewarm blood. One could still see the marks of the zip ties on her wrist.
She sat their in one of the ambulance with a blanket wrapped around her staring at nothing without blnking.
This was her station. Her team. Her command.
But now it was a cri scene. A fucking war zone. They ca, they killed, took them hostage and almost killed the rest of them. They would have killed them all if not for him. Him...
A dic tried to speak to her, but she barely heard him.
Everything around her had beco a blur of motion and noise, all saring together into a raw, humming drone in her skull.
[Elena’s POV]
The more I tried to make sense of it, the more complex it beca.
Who the hell was Lucius?
Earlier tonight, he was just supposed to be a victim to a Kidnapping case. We were ant to protect him. It was that simple.
He was just a civilian.
When he walked into the offic e with that cocky grin on his face, I thought he was just an extra smartass brat. He was goodlooking, Maybe that’s why the predator took fancy to him.
But that was it. He tried to be funny, tried to flirt with , cracked useless jokes... Fuck he was just trying to get into my pants.
I was about to kick him out of the station, but then it all changed.
Predator ca. How did he know Lucius was going to be there? Maybe soone in my team slipped the ssage to him.
I was supposed to protect everyone. I should be the one standing on the front. I should be the one protecting Lucius. But...
I can rember his exact words he told .
"Invite to dinner, and I will save you."
I could not believe my ears. Has he gone mad? At the ti, it sounded absurd. Arrogant. Juvenile.
But then, the mont I agreed to his agreed to his words, he vanished into the dark... And... And the bloodbath began.
I can still hear them scream. The way those masked n fell one by one, like soone was playing god with a butcher’s blade.
And the worst pasrt, I couldn’t even see him. Only that n were getting dragged into the shadows.
Lucius never said a word. The monster had no need for voice, just a whisper and two minutes of carnage.
And then the Predator. The brute. The one everyone feared.
Lucius made a ga of it. Toyed with him. Mocked him.
And when he was done with the Predator, I can still feel that mocking smirk. The way he looked at as if wanting to say, "I was waiting for you to stop ."
Like the whole thing had been a performance... and I was part of the script.
My hands were trembling.
But at that mont... I froze.
Not from fear. No. Sothing worse. Fascination.
He was terrifying... and beautiful.
I hate myself for thinking that.
[Elena’s POV End]
"Elena!" a familiar voice called, as she turned still in daze.
It was Captain Hawk, her imdiate superior, making his way through the crowd. His uniform was unbuttoned at the neck, his tie loosened, his face tight with worry and sothing bordering on fear.
"Are you alright?" he asked, stopping beside her.
Elena nodded slowly, "I am... not injured."
"That’s Good... That’s Good," He sighed in relief and took a deep breathe.
"We have got a situation," he said, voice low but urgent, "The commissioner’s coming. Internal Affairs is on the way. And you are the highest-ranking officer from the cri spot. You are going to have to debrief them."
"I—" Elena hesitated, "I don’t even know what I saw.
"We have got two dozen bodies in our own goddamn precinct, and we can’t even explain what happened without sounding like lunatics. I need you to talk."
The captain placed his hand on her shoulder and squeezed it a bit, trying to comfort her, "Just tell them what you saw."
And with that the Captain walked away.
’What I saw? He disappeared, Captain. Literally vanished into the dark. Like he wasn’t... human.’
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
[Iris’s POV]
I was busy taking care of Grandmother when I heard the echo of his footsteps... Sharp, steady and deliberate.
They cut through the stillness of the hall, trying to get everyone’s attention. But I could recognise who those footsteps belonged to.
I was angry at him. I ca ho with Grandmother, hoping he would be there, waiting for so that I could introduce him to her. But Mister had already gone out. And that too to the police station.
Whatever ss he has gotten himself into this ti, I am not going to help him out easily.
But when I turned to look at him, I was shocked.
He stepped past the door like a ghost torn out of war. His shirt was ripped, soaked through with blood. One of the sleeves was almost gone. His jaw was bruised, and his knuckles looked like they had been punched against the wall. Even from where I knelt, I could see that he was limping slightly.
What happened to you...?
I wanted to ask. But I stopped myself. My hands still rested on Grandmother’s cold, bony feet. The maids around us stood silently, their gazes downcast, but I could feel the air shift the mont he entered.
Despite the sounds in his body, he looked the usual self. Cheeky.
I wanted to stand up and rush to him. To ask what in God’s na had happened. But the weight of Grandmother’s presence herself held down like a chain around my throat.
She didn’t even open her eyes.
And Lucius... of course he didn’t leave. He never follows cues, does he?
The butler whispered to him and told him to go and change. I even gave him a glance, subtle, but pointed. Leave. Clean up. Don’t stand here looking like you just clawed your way out of a battlefield.
But no. He kept walking. unfazed.
Then he stopped a few feet away from us, about to speak, when Grandmother beat him to it.
"Is that the young man you pulled out of the sea?" she asked softly, eyes still closed.
There was a long pause.
"Yes", I told her. But even I wasn’t sure if he is the sa boy anymore.
Throughout the conversation, Grandmother tried to ignore him. But Lucius managed to let his presence known to her.
How did you get that confidence, Lucius? When did it happen?
I watched him closely throughout the conversation, trying to decipher the man behind the battered body. But I saw nothing. No hint. No crack.
And then he left.
He walked past us without another word, the heavy silence trailing behind him like smoke.
It wasn’t until he disappeared up the stairs that I exhaled.
I didn’t say anything aloud, but I quickly signaled a servant to take a proper dinner to his room. Sothing warm. Sothing comforting. Even if he didn’t ask for it.
Because soone had to care for him, right? Even if he didn’t care for himself.
It wasn’t until an hour later, once Grandmother had retired to her room and the rest of the staff returned to their duties, that I got the full picture.
I asked the old butler and he told everything that happened.
A massacre. A police station torn apart. Bodies. Explosions. Blood. And Lucius, at the center of it all.
And sohow, he walked out alive, killing every last one of them except for one.
How could soone like him... Soone I had to drag out of a damn river... Pull sothing like that off?
It didn’t make sense.
And yet he did it. THe old man was not going to lie.
Sothing is happening to him. Sothing’s changing him from the inside.
And a part of is scared.
But the rest of is fascinated.
I just hope there never cos a mont when I am forced to choose which side of him I belong to... The one trying to protect him... or the one trying to destroys him
Who exactly are you, Lucius?
** ** ** ** **
Reviews
All reviews (0)