The Transcended: They call him Lucius

Part 2: Legacy ~ Chapter 4

Amy stared at the couple, not believing what was happening. She registered the panicked look in their eyes, the swollen eyelids of all the shed tears, the crust under their noses. Please, let this be another nightmare, she thought as she looked away.

"Now Bobbi, come on. They have to die and either you do it, or I will." Lucius' hands slid from her shoulders, leaving gooseflesh in their wake. "You can give them a quick death," he spoke slowly, the menace dripping from the words, "I won't."

A shiver ran up Amy's spine; she knew he was serious. She parted her lips to speak, but the words seemed to have fled. After swallowing a few times she was finally able to produce some sound again. "Why?" The single word was but a mere whisper.

"Why?" Lucius chuckled. "Oh Bobbi, don't you know? You may have stepped out of their car, but you never left their minds."

Amy tensed up, her heart beating painfully in her chest.

"They played a very good game of detective and your old friend Tom missed it. When they finally called in and showed all their findings it didn't take long before my house got raided." Lucius shrugged. "Nothing a few phone calls couldn't fix, though." He smiled sinisterly. "These two are the final loose threads and it's only fair you get to tie them up, as it was your initial escape attempt that started it all."

The world spun. Amy closed her eyes and fell to her knees. It's not fair, she thought. They were only trying to do the right thing!

"Now come—do it or I'll go and dust off some old toys of mine."

Amy bit her lip and opened her eyes. Lucius was holding out his hand to help her get back up to her feet. Reluctantly she took it and black stars littered her vision for a few seconds. I can't do this, she thought desperately as she looked at the couple and their pleading eyes. I can't kill them—they helped me! And they tried to help me again even without me knowing so.

Lucius grabbed her right hand and placed something inside it. He gently folded her fingers around the object and Amy looked down, dazed. The knife shimmered in the light and a low moan escaped from her throat.

"Bobbi," Lucius said sternly as he stepped behind her and placed his hands on her shoulders. "Kill them." He slowly pushed her towards the couple and they started to murmur through the gags as they wriggled wildly in their restraints.

Amy held the knife so tight that her knuckles turned white, yet it didn't stop her from trembling. No, I can't! I won't!

She came to a stop in front of the couple and she could smell them—a foul stench that made her stomach turn. Lucius released her shoulders and in that instant she realised this was her chance. Without giving it a second thought, she spun around and embedded the knife deep inside Lucius' gut.

The feeling of the blade sinking into flesh sent waves of adrenaline into her veins. Oh God, what have I done?! Panting, she stared at her hand grasping the haft—the trembling had stopped. She pulled the knife out an inch, the silvery blade now stained a dark crimson, and her mind went blank.

With a primal scream, she pulled the knife free from Lucius' body, only to sink it back in again and again.

Her fury ended abruptly when fingers wrapped around her wrist. The force of the grasp caused her bones to shift, the pressure threatening to shatter them, and the bloodstained blade clattered to the floor. Dread washing over her, she looked up from the torn shirt to Lucius' face.

He looked down at her with a raging fire in his eyes and Amy's heart constricted in her chest. How— she started, but her mind was incapable of thinking anything more than that.