The Transcended: They call him Lucius

Part 3: Blood ~ Chapter 3

Gwen was just about to step out of her room into the hallway when she froze. "What the hell happened here?" She stared at Lucius, who was scrubbing the carpet on all fours. "It's barely noon. Don't tell me you already—"

"For fuck's sake, stop assuming," he snapped. "This is blood from last night's chick."

Gwen paled as she eyed the trail that went from his room all the way to the elevator. She wanted to ask what he had done, but she wisely kept her mouth shut. Instead, she silently snuck past him and made her way to the elevator. She went up to Khalida's penthouse and was relieved to find her there.

"What the hell happened downstairs?"

Khalida looked up from the tablet she was holding. "Does that question imply you saw a blood trail or that you saw Andrew cleaning up said blood trail?"

"The latter—which also makes me wonder how you got him to do the cleaning."

Khalida smiled wickedly. "Oh, I have my ways." Her expression dropped. "His behaviour is truly starting to worry me."

Gwen sat down on the fauteuil across Khalida. "What did he do? He said it was from the woman he choked to death so it doesn't make much sense to me."

"Correct." Khalida clicked her tongue. "I checked the security footage for an explanation and..." She shook her head and tapped on the tablet. "How about I just show you?"

Gwen waited for her to retrieve the recording. Once found, Khalida held out the tablet and Gwen took it from her.

The door to Lucius' room opened up, but nobody came out. After a few seconds, Lucius appeared with the corpse in his arms.

"What the..." Gwen frowned as she looked closely at the screen.

"Wait for it," Khalida said.

As Lucius stepped more into the light, it became clear that he had draped her bowels over his shoulders. Still holding the dead woman close, he moved through the hallway in a rhythmic way.

"Is he ... dancing with her?" Gwen asked with wide-open eyes.

"So it would seem."

"No way..." Gwen stared at Lucius as he practically waltzed through the hall. Some of the intestines that still hang from the corpse's belly dragged across the floor, staining the carpet. "Well, that explains the mess."

"And why I had him clean it up himself." Khalida drew a sharp breath through her nose. "I would have had him lick it clean, but sadly that's not effective with carpet. Even more regrettable: the staff downstairs already took care of the mess he left there, and they even cleaned the elevator before I was informed."

A single chuckle escaped Gwen's throat. "Lucky him." She shook her head. "What was he thinking?"

"Apparently he needed to vent some more and because I wouldn't allow him to get a new toy, he decided to play around with the dead one instead. I'm not sure if you can tell, but she was his breakfast too."

Gwen took a closer look at the woman's mangled arm. "Oh, I didn't even notice that." She shook her head. "You'd think his craving for human would have been sated by now."

"Correct, which is why I'm worried."

Gwen handed the tablet back. "Do you think his stress levels are too high?" The blood drained from her face. "Is he at risk of going rabid?"

"Hard to tell at this point—he might just be acting out because of Bobbi. The bowel-boa also made me wonder if that was his way of getting back at me for making a remark about Bobbi's guts." She huffed. "Hopefully cleaning his own mess will make him think twice before repeating that stunt a second time. For now, we will monitor him. Closely."