Chapter 37: I will absolutely kill you in the worst possible of ways.

"Alright, I need to leave."

Lucian spoke as he looked at the clock. Naomi poked her head out of the blanket and—

"Take care."

Lucian nodded.

"I dried the clothes you left yesterday, you can use those."

He spoke as he pointed at the clothes, Naomi nodded, however, just as she was about to move out, she looked at him and—

"Go out."

"Even now...?"

Lucian raised his eyebrow.

"Now."

Naomi did not back down.

Lucian sighed in defeat, then, he grabbed his remaining clothes and walked out.

About 10 minutes later, Naomi came out.

"I’ll go now."

She nodded. Lucian nodded back as he walked with her towards the door and just as she was about to leave, she turned around and—

"I’ll see you at university?"

"Of course."

Lucian nodded.

"Good."

Naomi nodded back, then she turned around again, ready to leave, but then she stopped and turned again.

"Take care, okay?"

"You too."

Lucian nodded.

"And stop being nervous."

"What? I am not nervous."

Lucian frowned.

"You are nervous."

"No."

"You are."

"I am only going to work, why would I be nervous?"

"You are going to work at nine at night, for a suspicious security company, after talking to your female lawyer."

"Why do you keep mentioning her gender?"

Lucian couldn’t help but question.

"I don’t like her."

"You have not even met her..."

"I have good instincts."

"You came to a troubled man’s house, alone."

"Maybe that was my plan all along."

"..."

Lucian had no clue what to say.

"Just... be careful, okay?"

Naomi spoke in a low voice.

"I will."

Lucian nodded and with a smile on her face, Naomi finally left.

Lucian watched her leave, then he looked at the clock again.

8:30.

30 minutes left.

Bzzzz

That was when his phone buzzed.

It was an unknown number.

Car will arrive in 30 minutes.

Lucian’s expression changed, he looked at the scratches on the walls and the floor, then, he remembered what happened two days ago.

The blood.

His parents.

That... bastard.

His fists clenched and his purple eyes shined with absolute rage.

I will kill you.

I will absolutely kill you in the worst possible of ways.

He sat down, closed his eyes and started recalling every single thing that happened, every single thing that bastard did, that bastard’s face, just to make sure he didn’t forget.

Just like that, 30 minutes passed by, Lucian’s phone buzzed.

Bzzz

His phone buzzed again.

It was the same unknown number.

Come out.

Lucian put the phone in his pocket and stood up.

The moment he got out, he saw a black car waiting at the end of the road, his purple eyes glowed for a short moment before he started walking.

He stopped beside the car, the back window lowered halfway and the driver looked at him.

The driver was a man in his early thirties, plain face, short dark hair, tired eyes. He wore a simple dark jacket over a white shirt, honestly, he didn’t look anything special, it didn’t even seem like he knew what he was here for.

Does he not know about the Enclave?

Lucian wondered.

That was when the driver called his name.

"Lucian Cross?"

"Yes."

"Good. Get in."

Lucian nodded and sat in the backseat.

"You know, this is exactly how people get kidnapped."

The driver spoke as he looked at him through the rear mirror.

Lucian blinked.

"Didn’t someone teach you not to go with strangers? I didn’t even offer you candy."

"I doubt someone would want to kidnap me."

Lucian let out a hollow laugh.

"Why would you say that? You look okay enough. I am sure someone would pay enough to buy you."

The driver answered, his eyes never leaving Lucian.

"Shouldn’t you be driving now that you have successfully kidnapped me? What sort of kidnapper just starts chatting with the victim?"

"Don’t worry, I have child lock on, you can’t leave."

Lucian looked at this man with a hollow look on his face.

"Just drive.

Please."

He gave in.

"Seat belt."

"Seriously?"

"Yes."

The driver was very serious.

"...and here I thought I was going to some secret supernatural organisation."

Lucian muttered, mostly to himself but—

"You are."

"...what?"

"You are going to some secret supernatural organization."

"You... know?"

"You think the Enclave would send someone who doesn’t?"

"Then are you also..."

"Seatbelt."

The driver repeated and Lucian—

"Seriously? You are from a secret supernatural organization and you care about seatbelts?"

"I care about not getting in trouble."

"You know the seatbelts at the back aren’t even that important, right?"

The driver just looked at him for a second, Lucian looked back, then, he just sighed and put on the seatbelt.

"Good."

The driver nodded.

The car started moving.

For a few seconds, neither of them spoke.

Lucian looked out the window as his house slowly disappeared behind him.

The driver turned the car onto the main road, then—

"My name is Miles Grant."

"Lucian Cross."

Lucian introduced himself but—

"You heard me call your name when I met you, did you not?"

"...it was a common courtesy."

"Quite pointless if you ask me."

The driver shrugged.

Lucian looked at him, then he listened to his heartbeat.

It was steady, completely normal.

And that made Lucian frown.

Was it because he did not know who he was?

Or was it because... he simply did not care...?

"Do you know about me?"

Lucian asked curiously.

"I know your name."

The driver smiled. Lucian looked at him with a deadpan look on his face and the driver laughed.

"Well, I know enough."

He gave a serious answer.

"What’s enough?"

"You ask too many questions."

"I was planning on being silent the whole ride."

Lucian defended himself, it was the driver who started the conversation, not him.

"How are you that boring?"

The driver blinked.

"Do you even have a girlfriend?"

He asked.

Lucian looked at him and just as he was about to answer—

"Don’t answer, I already know the answer."

He spoke with a bitter look on his face.

"Be glad you were born handsome, else you’d be dying alone with that personality."

"..."

Lucian didn’t even know what to say to that.

"To think you were recruited by Miss Voss."

"Is that a big deal?"

Lucian questioned.

"Well... in some way, yes."

"What kind of answer is that?"

The driver thought about it for a moment, then he nodded.

"It means you are either very valuable or very... unfortunate."

"Which one do you think is true?"

Lucian asked curiously.

The driver thought about it for a moment, then—

"The latter."

He answered honestly and Lucian just nodded, he wasn’t particularly offended.

The ride continued, Lucian had a few more conversations with the driver, but the driver made sure he didn’t reveal any information regarding the Enclave, no matter what question Lucian asked, the driver simply said he wasn’t authorized to tell him anything, to the point Lucian got annoyed and stopped asking questions altogether, something the driver appreciated.

In less than an hour, Lucian watched as the city around them changed, busy roads became quieter streets, the streets became a clean business district where glass buildings stood tall. Everything here looked expensive, controlled and... boring.

The kind of place where people wore suits, drank bad coffee, and sent emails at midnight. The driver pulled into an underground parking entrance beneath a medium-sized building.

Lucian looked up and saw the sign near the front.

Voss Security Solutions

Professional logo.

Glass doors.

Reception desk visible through the front.

It was a... normal private security company.

"This is it? This is the Enclave?"

Lucian muttered with a strange look on his face.

"Yes."

The driver nodded.

Lucian stared.

"What? Were you expecting a castle?"

"I mean..."

Lucian kept staring at the building and the driver’s expression changed.

"You really were expecting a castle..."

"Hey, not exactly castles but... I was still expecting something..."

Lucian spoke in a low voice.

"What something?"

"I don’t know! Something! Don’t you have something better to do!?"

"I am already done with my work."

The driver spoke as he parked the car.

"Whatever."

Lucian snorted as the driver unlocked the door and he stepped out.

The parking lot looked normal too, concrete pillars, white lines, a few parked cars, security cameras, there was even a vending machine in the corner.

Miles locked the car and walked towards the elevator, Lucian followed. The two stepped inside the elevator.

There were buttons for basement, ground, and floors one to seven.

Miles took out a plain keycard and tapped it against the panel.

Click

Something clicked and a new button lit up below basement, there was no number, just a small black mark, a circle split by a thin vertical line.

Miles, as if he was used to it, pressed the button, the elevator door closed and it began to descend.

At first, it felt normal.

But then...

It kept going.

And going.

And going.

For more than 5 minutes?

"Is that... normal?"

Lucian blinked.

Miles looked at him and—

"Should you really be asking that?"

"I apologise."

Lucian shook his head and turned silent.

Finally, the elevator doors opened, Lucian looked ahead and saw a clean hallway, white walls, grey floor, more security cameras, a reception desk, people walking with files and tablets.

Honestly, it looked like an office.

A normal office.

That was until Lucian’s eyes fell on a man with eyes that were completely black. Then he noticed the woman at the reception desk smiling politely while tiny sparks danced between her fingers as she stamped a document.

Farther down the hall, two men carried a metal box that shook from inside. It was very faint because it seemed like they had suppressed the voice, but Lucian could still hear it.

Something inside that box was growling.

And when Miles saw Lucian’s expression—

"Welcome."

He grinned.