The monsters continued to converge on the hotel, their numbers growing by the second.
The parking lot seethed with supernatural creatures - vampires scaling walls with inhuman speed, werewolves loping across asphalt, wraiths floating eerily above the ground.
Lucien observed the scene with calculated calm, his mind already formulating a response.
"Step aside," he told Katherine quietly, moving toward the balcony.
Katherine's eyebrows rose. "You can't be serious. There are hundreds of them."
"I know," Lucien replied, sliding the glass door open. "That's why I need you to step aside."
Something in his tone made Katherine comply without further argument. She moved back into the room, watching as Lucien stepped onto the small balcony overlooking the chaotic scene below.
The creatures noticed him immediately, their frenzy intensifying at the sight of their prey. Howls, snarls, and inhuman shrieks filled the night air as they surged forward, climbing over one another in their desperation to reach him.
Lucien stood perfectly still, watching the tide of monsters approach. Then, he took a deep breath, drawing the Force around him like armor.
When he spoke, his voice was barely above a whisper, yet it carried across the entire parking lot, each syllable infused with the Force:
"Stop."
The effect was immediate and absolute. Every creature froze mid-motion - vampires clinging to walls, werewolves suspended mid-leap, wraiths hovering motionless.
Confusion rippled through the horde, their bodies immobilized but minds still active, eyes darting wildly in panic.
Lucien's gaze swept over the frozen tableau, assessing the threat with detachment. Without looking away from the monsters, he extended his hand backward.
A knife flew from inside the hotel room, slapping into his palm with a metallic sound. He examined the blade almost casually before releasing it to hover in the air before him.
Lucien took a soft breath in and out of his nose, 'Time to make an example,' he thought to himself.
Without a word, with a simple subtle gesture of his fingers, the knife transformed into a blur. It shot forward, faster than sound itself, carving through the frozen monsters.
The blade sliced through vampire throats, pierced werewolf hearts, and severed limbs with machine-like efficiency. Blood sprayed in arterial fountains as the knife weaved an intricate path of destruction through the horde. Bodies collapsed in heaps, yet the knife never slowed, never hesitated.
"Consider this mercy," Lucien stated, his tone conversational as the carnage unfolded. "I could have made it last."
A vampire's head separated from its body, eyes still blinking in confusion as it fell. A werewolf's chest cavity exploded outward as the knife punched through its sternum and out its back, only to curve immediately into the skull of a ghoul behind it.
"This is what happens to those who hunt what they don't understand."
The knife returned to hover before him, now coated in blood and viscera. Dozens of bodies littered the ground, but Lucien did not forget the spiritual entities - wraiths and ghosts - that are unaffected by normal physical attacks.
He raised his hand toward the night sky, his face illuminated by the light of his burning bright like fire bleeding mark.
"So long as something exists," he stated, voice resonating with power, "there is nothing I cannot tame."
Dark clouds gathered overhead with unnatural speed, swirling into a vortex above the hotel. Lightning flashed within the clouds, building in intensity as Lucien's will through Force telekineses converged the clouds and what they contained.
Katherine watched from inside, her legs weakening at the display of raw power. Her hand gripped the doorframe for support, her eyes wide with a mixture of awe and desire.
Lucien's eyes glowed slight gold as he drew the lightning downward. A massive bolt struck his raised hand, electricity coursing through his body without harm. The Force and lightning merged, creating tendrils of energy that Lucien directed toward the spiritual entities.
The wraiths and ghosts writhed as the Force-infused lightning burned through them, their ethereal forms dissolving as their connections to the physical world were severed. Their silent screams formed a discordant harmony as they faded from this world.
The parking lot was illuminated in stark relief by the lightning, revealing the carnage below. Bodies of monsters lay scattered across the asphalt, blood pooling beneath them.
A few creatures at the periphery attempted to flee but were struck down by lightning bolts that left nothing but ash in their wake.
As the storm subsided, an eerie silence fell over the scene. Lucien lowered his hand, the slight gold disappearing, as he surveyed the destruction he had wrought.
Katherine stepped onto the balcony beside him, her expression a mixture of awe and calculation. She scanned the devastation, then pointed to a single vampire cowering against a car, trembling violently.
"You missed one," she observed, her voice slightly breathless from the display she'd witnessed.
"No," Lucien replied calmly. "That one has a purpose."
With a casual gesture, he telekinetically lifted the vampire into the air. The creature floated toward the balcony, terror evident in its bloodshot eyes.
Blood stained its mouth - evidence of recent feeding - and dark stains spread across its pants where it had soiled itself in fear.
Katherine wrinkled her nose in disgust as the pathetic creature hovered before them, tears streaming down its face.
Lucien turned to her, his expression softening slightly. "Katerina," he said, using her birth name with deliberate gentleness.
Katherine stiffened, surprise flickering across her features at the use of her original name.
"I need you to close your eyes and cover your ears," Lucien continued. "Don't open them until I tell you."
She hesitated, confusion evident in her expression. "Why would I-"
"Please," Lucien added, his tone serious enough that Katherine complied without further question.
She closed her eyes and placed her hands over her ears, turning away slightly.
Once she had done so, Lucien positioned the vampire on the balcony, forcing it to kneel with its back to him. The creature whimpered, its entire body shaking with terror.
"If the stories I've heard about you are true," Lucien began, his tone shifting to something more formal, "if you're as smart, paranoid, and cunning as they say..."
He paused, reaching into his backpack and removing something.
"if you're anything like me, this should work. Otherwise, I'm giving you too much credit."
He tossed a wooden stake onto the ground before the vampire. It landed with a soft clatter, innocuous-looking despite its significance.
"White oak," Lucien said simply. "The only thing that can kill you."
The vampire's demeanor instantly changed. Its body language shifted from terrified victim to alert predator, muscles tensing as it attempted to turn its head.
Lucien grabbed it firmly by the hair, forcing it to face forward. "Ah, ah, ah. No cheating," he chided. "It seems I was right, isn't it, Mr. Klaus?"
The vampire's body went rigid, then relaxed into a different posture altogether - more confident, almost regal despite its kneeling position.
'So I was right,' Lucien thought with a smirk, though sweat beaded his forehead, as he sensed the immense aura permeating from the vampire now.
'He put a spell on his own bloodline - I recognized the same magic inside Katherine as in this one - that when certain conditions are met, he can see through them. Even possess them.'
"Well, well," the vampire said, its voice now carrying a British accent that hadn't been there moments before. "This is certainly unexpected. A child who knows my name and possesses white oak. Color me intrigued."
Lucien maintained his grip on the vampire's hair, keeping its gaze away from him. "I have an offer for you, Klaus. Beyond this stake that can kill you, I possess a way to give you true freedom. Freedom from your curse."
A low chuckle emanated from the vampire. "Bold claims from someone hiding behind a compelled servant. Show yourself, boy. Let me see the face of such... audacity."
"That's not how this works," Lucien replied coolly. "You'll meet me at a location of my choosing. On my terms."
"And why would I agree to such an arrangement?" Klaus's borrowed voice asked, amusement evident in his tone.
"Because you're interested. No one would be foolish enough to provoke you like this, without being able to back up their talk," Lucien answered. "And because you've spent a thousand years trying to break your curse. I'm offering you what you've always wanted."
A tense silence followed, broken only by the distant wail of police sirens responding to the chaos.
"You have my attention," Klaus finally conceded. "Name your terms."
"I'll contact you," Lucien said. "Until then, consider this a demonstration of my sincerity."
Without warning, Lucien's hand tightened on the vampire's hair and, with a single powerful motion, tore its head clean from its shoulders.
Blood fountained from the severed neck as the head itself was crushed in Lucien's grip, eyeballs bursting outward under the pressure.
Not a single drop of blood reached him or Katherine - the Force shield between them and the gore was absolute, invisible but impenetrable.
Lucien gently tapped Katherine's shoulder, signaling for her to open her eyes. She blinked, taking in the scene - the headless vampire, the carnage below - with widening eyes.
"We should go," Lucien said with a gentle smile, as if he hadn't just decimated hundreds of monsters.
Katherine stared at him, not even knowing what to say.
"What... what just happened?"
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(Author note: Hello everyone! I hope you all liked the chapter!
Do tell me how you found it.
So... Lucien contacted Klaus. Now, is this wise or not? Or is he just putting more problems onto his plate?
Or does he have a plan?
I'm interested in your thoughts. Hope to see you all later,
Bye!)