Long Live. // Luke Hemmings 5SOS (Vampire)

Chapter 17 - Catch 22

Although Luke would've loved to stay another night, Rosemary had to go to work... and he had to eat. She saw him off at her door with a peck on the cheek, and he headed off home with dozens of thoughts running through his mind.

More information had been brought out into the open last night than Luke had anticipated. From the moment that he woke up, in the unfamiliar darkness of Rosemarys bedroom, he could not have predicted what was to come - and he was still processing it as he walked down the street, not necessarily rushing to get home this time despite his hunger...

He thought of the feeling he got upon waking. The air of sharpness in the room, crawling into his skin and sinking into his bones like water into freshly rained upon earth... It was a recognisable feeling.
He knew that the doors swinging open was no act of God. Whilst Rosemary expressed her concern, her fear and confusion over the predicament, having no clue what was the cause... Luke knew.

Things don't happen without an explanation. To some, the idea of doors flying open without being touched was simply inexplicable - to think that it was the powers of a witch bringing upon that action was not a valid explanation to many. To Luke, it was the only explanation... and it was one that he could not introduce his Rosemary to. She was simply not ready - even if the reality already lived within her. And truly... he wasn't either.

Whilst he was aware that it must've been Rosemarys repressed powers causing the unusual events in her home, he still didn't have a full understanding of what exactly was going on with her - with her magic, her dreams, her memories. Even if he wanted to explain the situation to her in the way that he understood it, it would likely only do her more harm - cause her more confusion - than good.
So he wanted to talk to someone else who he hoped could guide him in what to do next. Or at least just listen to him talk about it...

However, on his journey, his main goal was interrupted by a pesky obstacle he thought he'd already overcome. Only a couple of metres down the street from his home, Luke was stopped in his tracks by a body suddenly appearing right in front of his, stood toe to toe with his tall figure. He looked down at the angsty glare on Steph's face and sighed irritably.

"You again? Get out of my way." He immediately huffed, shoving past her only for her to appear in front of him again in a flash.

"Luke, I'm not here to cause problems." She sounded desperate, and Luke couldn't help but raise an eyebrow at her unusual tone.

"That's new." He scoffed. He noticed that she looked different, too - her shock of black hair wasn't styled, blonde roots peaking through her half-assed topknot. Her lips, usually painted red, were plain and chapped, and her eyes were stained with smudged black eyeliner. She wore a distressed tank top and tartan trousers and she looked... exhausted.

"Look, I know you don't like me... or Victor." Lukes jaw immediately tensed at the name. "But I know you don't want Victor doing what he's doing right now."

"And what exactly is it that Victors doing, Steph?" Luke provoked, cocking his head and watching her furrow her eyebrows.

"What, you think I've got some kind of inside scoop? I've seen the news, I'm sure you have too. It's not hard to put the pieces together." She narrowed her eyes at the glaring blonde, aware of how hard she had to fight just to make him listen to her.

"I wouldn't be surprised if you knew something we didn't. You seem pretty confident that it is Victor, after all." Luke narrowed his eyes, slowly beginning to walk with Steph trailing beside him. It didn't take a genius to realise that Victor was responsible for those murders, but Luke wanted to push Steph, hoping to get more information out of her...

"I'm confident that it's him because I know him. You don't... Not like I do." The last words came out quietly - Luke could tell she was truly attached to Victor, and that she seemed lost without him... It was almost sad.