The taxi pulled up to the Westlake Hotel, a three-story structure with faded brick facade and a flickering neon sign missing its final 'L'. Not luxurious by any measure, but anonymous – exactly what they needed.
Katherine's hand trembled slightly as she reached for the door handle, the black veins from the werewolf venom now risen up her arm.
She masked her weakness with practiced grace, sliding from the backseat with fluid movement that betrayed nothing of her condition to casual observers.
Lucien followed, keeping his bleeding palm pressed against his jacket. The mark had slowed its bleeding during their journey, but crimson still seeped through his makeshift bandage of napkins and tape.
"Keep the change," Katherine told the driver, handing him several bills without meeting his eyes. The man nodded, clearly eager to be on his way.
As the taxi pulled away, Katherine swayed slightly. Lucien stepped closer, offering his arm for support without comment. After a moment's hesitation, she accepted, her fingers curling around his forearm.
"I don't need help," she murmured, even as she leaned against him.
"I know," Lucien replied simply.
The hotel lobby smelled of industrial cleaner and stale cigarettes. A bored clerk with thinning hair glanced up from his magazine as they approached the front desk, his eyes narrowing at the sight of a beautiful woman accompanied by a boy who couldn't possibly be of legal age.
"Can I help you?" he asked, suspicion evident in his tone.
Katherine straightened, releasing Lucien's arm and approaching the desk with confident strides. Her eyes dilated as she caught the clerk's gaze.
"You're going to give us your best available room," she said, her voice taking on a hypnotic quality. "Two queen beds. Ground floor if possible."
The clerk's expression went slack. "Best available room. Two queens. Ground floor."
"We'll pay cash," Katherine continued, placing several hundred-dollar bills on the counter. "My name is Debra Morgan, and this is my little brother, Dexter. You won't remember our faces after we leave, just that a woman and her brother checked in without incident."
"Cash payment. Debra and Dexter Morgan. Won't remember faces," the clerk repeated mechanically.
Lucien raised an eyebrow at the alias choice, but remained silent until Katherine completed the transaction and received their key cards.
"Room 114," she announced as they walked away from the desk. "End of the hall, near the emergency exit."
"Dexter Morgan?" Lucien finally asked once they were out of earshot.
Katherine's lips curved into a knowing smirk. "What can I say? We're both cursed with our own 'Dark Passengers,' aren't we?"
Lucien's eyebrows rose, a curious expression crossing his face.
Unseen to Lucien, behind Katherine, a blue-skinned feminine figure composed of smokeless azure flame materialized, her white fire hair flowing as if underwater. Nura's eyes, intense blue-white orbs, watched Lucien with immense interest.
Beside Lucien himself, was towering at seven feet tall, the black-armored form of his own Qareen - Vader's mechanical breathing echoing softly in this liminal space.
The two shadow selves regarded each other across the metaphysical divide - Nura with curiosity, Vader with protective vigilance.
Neither Katherine nor Lucien acknowledged these manifestations directly, yet both seemed to walk with the awareness of being perpetually accompanied.
The elevator doors slid open with a soft chime, reality snapping back to normal as they stepped inside.
"Room 114," Katherine said, examining the key card. "Let's hope it has decent water pressure. I need a shower after everything that's happened."
The room was modest but clean – two queen beds with floral comforters, a small table with two chairs by the window, and a television that had probably been cutting-edge during the Clinton administration.
Lucien sat down heavily on the edge of one bed, exhaustion finally catching up to him. The adrenaline that had carried him through the confrontation with his family was fading, leaving bone-deep weariness in its place.
Behind him, he heard the rustle of fabric as Katherine began to undress. Without turning, he closed his eyes and kept them firmly shut.
"You can look, you know," Katherine teased, her voice light despite her condition. "It wouldn't be considered a violation of our contract if we both agree."
"I'm good, thanks," Lucien replied dryly, eyes still closed.
He felt the air shift as she moved past him toward the bathroom, the door clicking shut behind her.
Only then did he open his eyes, throwing himself backward onto the bed with a heavy sigh. He crossed his arms behind his head, staring up at the water-stained ceiling.
The bleeding from his palm had mercifully stopped for the moment. I
n the taxi, he'd had to press a wadded-up napkin against it constantly, changing it twice to avoid dripping blood onto the upholstery.
The last thing they needed was to leave a literal blood trail for his family to follow - or worse, for something supernatural to track.
The shower started with a metallic groan of old pipes. A moment later, Katherine began humming to herself, the melody gradually transforming into full singing.
"I put a spell on you... because you're mine," her voice carried through the door, the Nina Simone classic delivered with richness. "You better stop the things you do... I ain't lyin'..."
Lucien sighed, shaking his head. Even dying of werewolf venom, Katherine Pierce couldn't help herself. Despite their contract, despite everything - she was still teasing him for her own amusement.
Yet somehow, he found himself smiling faintly at the ceiling.
His mind drifted to his family. By now, they would have freed themselves from the ropes. John would be organizing the search, Dean would be furious, Sam would be trying to understand his motivations.
And Trevor... Trevor would be tracking them, using skills honed over generations of Belmont hunters.
But even Trevor couldn't track what he couldn't find. Lucien had been careful - paying cash, using Katherine's compulsion to cover their tracks, choosing a hotel far from any logical destination.
They had time, if not much.
The question was what to do with it.
Finding Klaus wouldn't be easy. The Original hybrid was notoriously elusive, appearing and disappearing across continents at will. Even Katherine, who had spent centuries running from him, didn't know his exact location.
But... Lucien did have an idea on how to catch his attention. He just needed to do it right.
The shower shut off, silence replacing Katherine's singing. Lucien continued staring at the ceiling, mentally mapping their next moves.
They needed supplies, weapons, allies. They needed-
The bathroom door opened, releasing a cloud of steam. Katherine emerged wrapped in a black hotel bathrobe, her dark hair wet and slicked back from her face.
Without hesitation, she crossed to Lucien's bed and threw herself down beside him, propping herself up on one elbow to study his face.
Lucien continued staring at the ceiling, though he was acutely aware of her presence beside him. After a long, long moment of silence, of Lucien ignoring her, he finally turned his head slightly to meet her gaze.
"Why are you looking at me like that?" he asked.
Katherine's expression was unusually soft, almost vulnerable. "You're still so distant," she said quietly. "So distant."
Lucien's eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "What do you mean?" he asked, turning onto his side to face her fully.
"Despite how dedicated you are to curing me, saving my life," Katherine explained, her fingers tracing patterns on the bedspread between them, "you still keep such a distance from me."
Lucien remained silent for a long moment before looking back at the ceiling. "Of course," he finally said. "You're Katherine Pierce, after all."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Katherine asked, an edge entering her voice.
Lucien was silent again, gathering his thoughts. "Despite you... loving me as you say right now, and me feeling that love from you, for how long will that really last?"
He exhaled slowly. He was silent for a moment before he continued. "You no longer need to do this whole worship thing, or taking me as number one you know. You saved my very soul that night. I was going to be sacrificed and probably trapped with those demons, and you prevented that, at the cost of now dying yourself."
He turned his head to meet her eyes again. "I'm not an ungrateful person. I'll save you from this, and I'll make sure Klaus won't go after you as well. I promise you that."
Katherine's expression shifted to dissatisfaction. With fluid grace, she moved to position herself above him, hands placed on either side of his head. Lucien's arms remained crossed behind his head, but now Katherine's face hovered directly above his own.
"Do you really think that little of me?" she asked, genuine hurt threading through her voice. "Don't you get it? I've already opened and given my heart to you. I love you."
Lucien smiled gently, for a long moment both just looked into each other's eyes before he moved, extracting one hand from behind his head to raise his palm to her cheek. "I know," he said softly, "and that's why I'm giving you a chance. A chance to take it back. A chance to save yourself."
"Save myself from who?" Katherine questioned, leaning slightly into his touch, closing her eyes.
"From me," Lucien whispered, his palm sliding from her cheek to gently cup her chin, drawing her face slightly closer. "I'm keeping my heart closed from you, not letting you in because... because if I do, and in the future you - in your Katherine Pierce fashion - try to leave, no longer want to be with me, or even... betray me, then..."
"Then you will kill me," Katherine completed for him after a moment of silence, her voice dropping to a reverent murmur. "Destroy me, for you are a jealous god."
"Yesss..." Lucien hissed, the sound almost serpentine in its release, relief evident in his tone at her understanding.
The moment hung between them. Katherine's eyes remained locked with his, neither backing away nor pressing closer.
Then she stiffened suddenly, nostrils flaring. "Blood," she whispered, eyes darting to Lucien's hand still cupping her chin.
Lucien felt it then - the warm droplet sliding down his wrist, falling onto his chest. The jaguar mark had begun bleeding again.
Before either could react, the door exploded inward, wood splintering as it flew across the room.
Two figures burst through - one a massive man with yellowing teeth and elongated fingernails, the other a woman whose features shifted and rippled like liquid.
Werewolf. Shapeshifter.
Lucien didn't hesitate. Still lying beneath Katherine, he raised his free hand and twisted his wrist sharply. Twin cracks echoed through the room as both creatures' necks snapped simultaneously, their bodies crumpling to the floor in ungainly heaps.
Katherine rolled off him in a fluid motion, landing in a defensive crouch beside the bed. Lucien swung his legs over the edge, rising to his feet as the sound of multiple footsteps thundered down the hallway outside.
"More coming," Katherine warned unnecessarily, the black veins on her neck pulsing as her vampire instincts heightened.
Lucien stepped over the fallen monsters and into the hallway. The corridor stretched before him, filled with a nightmarish parade of creatures rushing toward their room.
Vampires with blood-smeared mouths, werewolves in partial transformation, wraiths with hollow eyes, and things he couldn't even name - all drawn by the scent of his bleeding mark.
Planting his feet shoulder-width apart, Lucien extended both arms outward. He inhaled deeply, drawing on his connection to the Force. Power surged through him, crackling at his fingertips as he channeled his fear and anger into energy.
Lightning erupted from his hands - brilliant blue-white arcs that filled the narrow hallway from wall to wall.
The monsters' charge became a chaotic scramble as the front line was engulfed in electric fire. Their screams echoed off the walls, high-pitched wails of agony as flesh charred and bones blackened.
Lucien maintained the lightning storm, his face illuminated by the harsh blue glow. Bodies piled up, some still twitching as the electricity coursed through them, others completely still, reduced to little more than ash and bone.
The attack lasted nearly thirty seconds before Lucien finally lowered his hands, the lightning fading. The hallway was filled with smoke and the acrid smell of burned flesh. Blackened corpses littered the carpet, some still recognizable as once-human, others clearly monstrous even in death.
Behind him, Katherine had turned to the window. She pulled back the curtain, peering out into the night. Her sharp intake of breath made Lucien turn.
"What is it?" he asked, stepping back into the room.
Katherine's expression had lost its usual confidence, genuine concern etching lines around her eyes. "They're all coming," she said simply, nodding toward the window.
Lucien joined her, looking out at the parking lot below. What he saw made his blood run cold.
The street was filled with monsters - dozens, perhaps hundreds of them, converging on the hotel from all directions.
Vampires scaled the walls with inhuman speed.
Werewolves loped across the parking lot on all fours.
Wraiths and spirits floated above the ground, their translucent forms glowing in the moonlight.
All of them drawn by the blood dripping from his palm.
All of them coming for him.
Katherine's eyes met his, the gravity of their situation reflected in her gaze.
"Well," she said with forced lightness, "I guess we know the curse actually works."
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(Author note: Hello everyone! I hope you all liked the chapter.
Do tell me how you found it.
I especially liked writing the Katherine and Lucien moment, found it the most fun, as Lucien for the first time, to someone besides himself and his children, verbally acknowledged his possessiveness and all that.
Also yeah, monster wave. How do you think Lucien and Katherine will deal with all of them. Besides that, will Katherine take Lucien's warning?
Well, I hope to see you all later,
Bye!)