Part 26

[Past]

Lucien looked up at the university Lara goes to. The day was a very cold and windy one, and despite wearing a coat he felt chilled to the bone.

"Should I just go say hi to her?" He wondered aloud. It would creep her out though, and he wanted a more grand entrance. He stretched and looked up at the windows. Nothing was much visible in this heavy rain.

He leaned against a tree. Lately he had begun to feel very tired. Handling all the work at the company really took too much time. It was a miracle he still had time to stalk someone after doing so much work. He sighed thinking of his own predicament.

Suddenly, the thunder broke into his thoughts. He felt blinded by the sudden lightening and then before he knew he was frozen to his spot. Thank gods he moved away when he did because the tree he had been leaning against just a moment ago was now in flames. The lightening had fallen on the exact same tree.

His heart hammered in his chest so loudly that he felt like it would burst. He looked at the burning tree sideways and felt a sudden sense of amusement. He had never been this close to death before. It was thrilling.

Then he again looked up at the window of Lara's classroom and found her looking at him. His eyes widened and so did hers.

Ah, he realized he had gotten the exact dramatic entrance he wanted.

Before he could wave though, her attention seemed to be taken up by something happening inside her classroom. He felt a bit dulled by this but thinking he had done enough for the day he decided to go back. On the way he received a call from Jack, who informed him that his orders had come through.

Nothing in this world entertained him more than thoughts of seeing Lara in pain. One afternoon as he was sipping tea absentmindedly the thought of recreating the scenario from their time back in high school came back to him. He had immediately ordered a thousand dresses, jewelries and other gifts that he intended to deliver to her.

Today was as perfect a day as any to teach her what true pain was.

Lucien felt annoyance the moment he stepped into the club. The loud music was never bad but it was the smell of the cheap alcohol that really set him off. So what was he doing here? Stalking Lara, of course.

She was here with a couple of other girls. Good thing about this club was that a couple of light bulbs in the ceiling did not work which made this whole room too dark to see faces clearly. But he would know her face anywhere. Be it in a dark room or in a room full of a thousand people.

He could hear her laughing at something the little girl beside her said and he felt a sudden urge to steal her away.

But he knew he had to wait.

And after another half an hour, it was finally time. Lara and her group of girls came in to get drinks from the bar and Lucien sat, hidden by the crowd, silently observing. The bartender caught his eye and slipped something into the drinks.

Lara picked up the glass but hesitated at the last minute.

Looks like I was right, Lucien laughed softly.

"Do you want to change your one with me?" Lara turned to the girl on her right with bright red hair. She nodded and switched the glasses. Lara drank this one without any reservations.

Lucien had told the bartender to mix the drugs into each and every glass they passed out that night so it didn't matter which glass she took anyway.

He waited until she began swaying and by 1 A.M., everyone at the club was down on the floor.

He picked his way over the fallen bodies. "They would be out for at least 8 hours," he told the bartender who seemed to be the only one standing besides him. "Jack is outside, collect your payment from him. You breathe a word of it and I will hunt you down and kill you."

"I understand," the bartender stepped outside and Lucien picked up Lara in his arms from the floor. He waited until he heard Jacks footsteps coming in.

"He's dead."

Lucien nodded and picked Lara up in his arms, taking her to his car. He drove her to his hotel and laid her on the bed.

"I missed you," he picked up her hand and placed it gently against his cheek. "I love you, Lara."

"I will love you even when you can't hear me anymore," he kissed her palm. "Or see me. Even when you're not breathing anymore I would still love you."