The chamber was colder than usual tonight.
Not the natural cold of stone buried deep beneath the city, but a deliberate, calculated chill — the kind Aro liked to use when he wanted a subject… compliant.
Lucian sat alone on the floor, thin legs pulled to his chest.His eyes were too bright for the darkness, pupils trembling faintly.He looked younger in this light, almost fragile.
Aro entered first, the long hem of his cloak whispering over stone.
Caius followed, his steps sharp, purposeful, impatient.
Marcus drifted behind them, silent as a shadow.
Lucian didn't move.He rarely did when they entered.
Aro smiled gently — falsely gentle, the way one speaks to a frightened animal.
"Hello, my young one."His voice floated through the chamber like silk dipped in poison."We have much to discuss."
Lucian's lips parted, but no sound came out.
Aro crouched to meet him at eye level.
"You saw something earlier, didn't you?"
Lucian blinked slowly.
"I… don't know," he whispered.His voice cracked on the last word.
Caius hissed softly."He knows. He always knows more than he admits."
Aro lifted a hand in soft reprimand.
"Patience, brother. He is delicate."
Caius scoffed."Then we should have made him stronger."
Lucian flinched — a tiny movement, but Aro noticed it and immediately softened his tone.
"Lucian. My dear boy. We only wish to help you."
Lucian swallowed.
"I didn't mean to… see her."
Caius stiffened."Her?"
Aro's eyes glittered with hungry interest.
"A clairvoyant?"
Lucian's head jerked as if fighting an invisible pressure.
"I didn't try," he whispered."She saw me. And then I—"His breath hitched."I didn't want her to."
Aro glanced at Caius with slow satisfaction.
"He made contact," Aro murmured."With a mind outside these walls. Untrained. Spontaneously."
Caius stepped forward, gripping Lucian's chin sharply.
Lucian whimpered, but didn't pull away.
"Who did you see?"
Lucian's heartbeat accelerated — a hybrid heartbeat, too fast, too loud.
He whispered:
"I don't know her name."
Aro placed a hand on Lucian's shoulder.
"Show me."
Lucian froze.
Everyone in the room went silent.
Marcus looked up — surprised, faintly, which was rare.
Caius frowned."He resists."
Aro's expression sharpened.
"Lucian," he said softly, deadly. "Let me in."
Lucian hesitated.
And that tiny hesitation enraged Caius.
The blond vampire stepped forward so quickly the air cracked, grabbing Lucian by the back of the neck and yanking him to his feet.
"You will answer when spoken to."
Lucian gasped in pain — the kind that comes from someone who has experienced far too much of it.
Aro touched Lucian's head then, placing both hands against the sides of his face.
Lucian's breath stilled.
Aro inhaled sharply.
Then—
Aro saw a flash.A girl with amber eyes.A forest.Snow.A house.Peace.
And then—
A roar of fractured static that knocked Aro back a step.
Caius caught him.
"What was that?" Caius hissed.
Aro's eyes were wide with exhilaration.
"He resisted me," Aro whispered."Not fully. But enough."
Caius' fury flared.
"You will NOT resist us," he snarled into Lucian's face.
Lucian's knees buckled.
Aro regained composure quickly.
"Caius, perhaps it is time."
Caius' expression darkened.
"Yes. The conditioning."
Lucian froze.
"No," he whispered."I—I didn't mean to— I'll try harder, I—"
But Caius grabbed him by the arms and dragged him toward the center of the chamber.
Aro watched with something like fascination.
Marcus watched with something like sorrow.
And Lucian…
…looked like a child about to break.
The conditioning table was not made of metal.It was stone.Old, worn, with grooves carved by years of use.
Caius strapped Lucian down with vicious efficiency.Arms.Chest.Ankles.
Lucian's breath broke into painful sobs.
Aro stood beside the table, hands raised.
"Lucian. You must listen to me very carefully."
Lucian stared up at him, tears gathering — hybrid tears, shimmering faintly.
Aro's voice softened into something that would sound kind to anyone who wasn't listening carefully.
"You have a purpose."
Lucian whimpered.
"You will obey."
Lucian's eyes fluttered.
"You will follow instruction."
Lucian trembled.
"And you will go where we send you."
Caius leaned down, eyes burning.
"To the Cullens."
Lucian's heartbeat spiked.
"No— no, please, don't—"
Caius pressed a needle filled with dark liquid to his neck.
"Stop resisting."
Lucian's breath shattered.
Aro whispered:
"Let go of yourself, my child.Let us guide you."
And then Aro pushed.
Not physically.
Mentally.
Deep into Lucian's fractured mind.
Lucian screamed.
A sound too raw, too young, too broken.
And the room shook.
Lights flickered.Dust rained from the ceiling.Stone cracked beneath the table.
Caius cursed, bracing himself.Aro held on, eyes cold and focused.
Marcus closed his eyes — a tiny gesture of mourning.
Lucian's mind writhed.
Something inside him splintered—
—shaking—shattering—collapsing
Until suddenly…
He went still.
Breathing soft.Eyes half-open.Face blank.
Caius released a long, satisfied breath.
"Finally."
Aro touched Lucian's cheek gently, like a proud father.
"He is ready," Aro murmured."Look at him. All resistance gone."
Caius smiled cruelly.
"We will send him soon. He will do whatever we command."
Lucian did not move.
Did not blink.
Did not speak.
Aro turned away, triumphant.
Caius followed, cloak snapping behind him.
Only Marcus lingered for a beat.
He looked at Lucian with that empty, ancient gaze.
And then his eyes widened — the tiniest fraction — as if he sensed something the others missed.
A flicker.
Barely there.
But real.
A twitch of Lucian's finger.
A quiet exhale that did not match the dead calm of a conditioned mind.
A spark.
Hidden deep.
Protected.
Alive.
Marcus whispered under his breath:
"…clever boy."
But he did not warn the others.
He simply turned and left.
And Lucian — alone now — let his eyes flutter closed.
The mask of compliance settled perfectly over him.
His breath slowed.
His mind quieted.
And in the deepest part of him, far beneath the fractures, beneath the pain and fear, a single thought pulsed steadily:
"I'm coming.Please wait for me."
He had seen a girl in the vision.One with amber eyes.One who wasn't cruel.One who didn't hurt.
And he knew:
If he could reach them,he might finally escape.
Not to destroy.
But to be saved.