Chapter 4

"Luci- I mean, Damien, the group, has just arrived with Sinclair," Sam called as he walked up the driveway, watching me as I ran out of the front door to meet him.

"Where is he?" I asked, looking around but finding no one other than Sam.

"Coming up the road now. I told them to drift so that he doesn't have a single chance to escape. They will be here momentarily." Sam said with a nod, walking with me up the driveway and into the house, looking around the foyer curiously as he took a long and drawn-out breath. "Lucifer, something has happened."

"What is it?" I asked him, furrowing my brows in confusion as I inspected his face, the complete lack of emotion I saw on his face only fueling my worry.

"Someone has been hunting down your bloodline, trying to turn you into a recreant. It's the only thing they could do to dethrone you, and I don't know how we didn't hear about it before, but Bartholomew was the one to inform me of it. I wish I didn't have to tell you this, but it is news that cannot wait."

I watched him for a long few moments, searching his eyes for any signs of... well, anything, but I found nothing more than genuine anger and worry. "Are you sure?"

"Unfortunately, I am."

"How many have they killed?" I asked him, motioning for us to walk towards the basement where I tested the cage strength, as I didn't want to chance that my newest catch wouldn't be able to escape.

"So far, three. I've been searching through Karin's bloodline, and there are four left that I know of. There is one in Chicago, close to here, actually." Sam responded, then left the basement, coming back a few minutes later carrying a couple of files. He browsed through them for a moment before finding the one he was looking for, scanning through the page for a moment before nodding with a sigh. "Jennifer Morris."

"Morris? How many remain, other than Mrs. Morris?" I asked, shaking my head with a scoff, trying and failing to believe what I was actually hearing. "Trying to turn me into a recreant, huh?"

"There are five remaining, including Morris. There are Jason and Emily Morris in New Orleans and the Gerald's in Venice, a family of three. I have sent guards to protect them and make sure they cannot be targeted."

"Very well. Thank you, Sam." I responded as I stepped to the side, watching as Sinclair was escorted down into the basement and thrown into the cage. The second he was no longer being held, Sinclair lunged towards the cage door, trying everything he could to break the bars down, but to no great use, as he wasn't able to budge the bars in the slightest, which came as a great delight to me.

"Smile while you can, Lucifer," Sinclair said in a low growl, his golden eyes narrowed as he watched me, the corners of his lips twisting into a distorted version of a smile. "It appears you will join me soon, from what your little pet just said."

"You heard that?" Sam gasped, trying to blink away his surprise before turning to look at me.

"Recreants can hear nearly twice as well as we can, Sam," I said with a nod, watching Sinclair as I walked closer to his cage, eyeing him suspiciously. "Are you the one doing this? Are you hunting down my bloodline to have me turned into a recreant?"

Sinclair started laughing, a loud and deep thundering sound almost like an explosion, shaking out his dirty blonde hair with a chuckle as he watched me. "If it were me, Lucifer, you would not have learned of it."

"Yeah, is that so? Am I supposed to just take your word for it?" I responded with a growl, trying and failing to stop myself from walking closer, as I wanted nothing more than to reach in through the cage and bludgeon him to death, but I knew I would be no match for his recreant strength. "I trust your word just about as much as I trust you, Sinclair."

"Believe what you will, Lucifer, but the fact remains. If it were me, you would not know of it, even after you were turned recreant. How long will you keep me in this cage?" Sinclair responded, rolling his eyes before sitting on the cot in the cage's corner, his golden eyes alive with amusement as he watched me.

"Is there something you find funny, Alexander? You must not realize the predicament you're in." Sam said as he came to stand next to me, crossing his arms over his chest, narrowing his eyes as he watched Sinclair.

"I know the predicament you think I'm in, pet.-"

"Call me pet, one more time, and I swear!-" Sam snarled as he lunged towards Sinclair, only seconds from opening the door, but I grabbed him by the back of the collar and held him back, as I knew Sinclair wouldn't waste the chance to escape, should he see one.

"However!" Sinclair boomed, cutting Sam off just like he'd done to him, his lip twitching in anger as his golden orbs locked onto Sam with a hatred that made a chill run through my spine. "I am not quite as small-minded as you are. You believe I've survived this long without an ability to play the long game?"

"You think you'll get out of this cage without me letting you out?" I asked him as I continued to hold the back of Sam's shirt, as I didn't entirely trust his patience to release him, then pulled him back by my side. Much to my displeasure, Sinclair did nothing but cross his arms over his chest and lean back against the wall, watching me with a smirk I wished I could wipe off of his face.

"Let's go, Damien, we have things to do," Sam growled as he slapped my hand away and straightened his suit, leading the way out of the basement and back to the surface, where he more than happily slammed the door closed, locking Sinclair in his prison.

"What things have we to do?" I asked him as we walked up the stairs and into my study, where I was still unpacking the files we'd brought from my last office.

"I don't know. I don't know why I bothered to say that. I should be getting settled into my house, but it's weird. This will be the first time we haven't lived together since you turned me. I'm not sure that I'll know how to act, not being under the same roof as you."

"Yes, I feel the same way," I said as I turned to look at him, smiling as I watched him. "You have proven time and time again why I turned you, Alastair. I do not know where I would be without you."

"Dead, about a dozen times over," Sam responded with a laugh, clapping me on the back before pulling me into a hug, sighing softly with a shake of his head. "I never asked you this, as I did not want to appear ungrateful because I am forever in your debt for saving my life, but why did you save me?"

"Why?" I repeated as I sat at the desk, watching as he sat across from me, searching his light blue eyes for a few moments before nodding. "There are many people who deserve to die, but I did not believe you were one of them."

∞∞∞

180 years ago... 1808

"Sir, you can't go in there!" A nurse yelled as she ran after me, trying to grab my arm, but to no avail as I side-stepped her, evading her grasp.

"Do not touch me, woman," I growled, casting a quick glare over my shoulder as I walked forward, making my way through the different wings in the hospital. I wasn't sure what I was looking for, but I assumed I would know when I found it, though I didn't quite understand why I felt like I should have come here. 'The stench of death is so much stronger when you yourself are dead.'

"Nurse!" I heard a man calling out. His voice was ragged and shaky as he gasped out for breath, and though I could hear strength in his voice, I could also hear the death rattle in the back of his throat.

I don't know why, but I felt drawn to the man's voice, as if it was familiar to me, though his scent was not familiar in the slightest. I walked towards the source of the voice, trying to locate the man it belonged to. It only took me a few seconds before I found him, lying on a cot, reeking of blood, infection, and mortality.

"Sir, will you please call a nurse?" The man struggled out when he saw me, his left eye bandaged with gauze, as was the majority of his body. It looked as though he'd been attacked and was only moments from bleeding out.

"What happened to you?" I asked him as I sat down next to him, looking over his bruised and beaten body. I couldn't tell where the worst of the damage was, as it looked like this man shouldn't have been able to survive whatever had caused this much suffering. After giving his body a once over, I looked back up at the man's face and felt a shiver running through my spine when I looked into his right eye. Though it was overflowing with pain and torment, there was a strength and fight behind it that I didn't think he could be capable of in his current state.

"A group of men, they tried to attack my wife and daughter. They had weapons, while I did not." The man responded, his light blue eyes clouding over with sadness as he spoke, stopping to clear his throat before saying anything more. "They are dead, now, and I will follow not far behind them."

"You defeated a group of armed men by yourself? What of your wife and child?" I asked him, crossing my arms over my chest as I leaned back in my chair, watching him as we conversed.

"I do not know. Once the last man was down, I succumbed to my wounds."

"What is your name, boy?"

"Boy?" The man laughed out, then groaned as he put a hand to his stomach, gasping out in pain as he struggled to catch his breath. "Alastair Samuel is my name, Sir. Will you tell me yours?"

"Lucifer Damien," I responded as I stood and looked down at the man, watching him for a few moments before sitting on the bed next to him. I reached over to remove the gauze from his left eye, but the moment I reached towards him, he grabbed my forearm and sank back, refusing to let me touch him.

"Please, Sir, it is not a sight fit for the weak-stomached."

"You know my name, Alastair, do not be frightened to use it. I have seen gruesome sights, the likes of which you could not likely comprehend. I have been alone for half a century now, and I'm finding that I rather enjoy your company. I cannot very well enjoy the company of a dead man, can I?" I asked him before looking down at his hand on my forearm, then looked back up at him. "I can provide you a healing for your ailments, Alastair, but you will have to trade your life for it."

"I apologize, Lucifer, but I'm afraid I do not have a life left to trade," Sam responded, removing his hand from my forearm, setting his hands down on either side of himself as he pushed himself into a seated position.

"I was referring to your life with your family. If you accept my help, they will never see you again and must believe that you have died."

"What is this healing that you speak of, Lucifer?"

"Immortality."

"No, thank you."

∞∞∞

"I told you no?" Sam gasped, his eyes going wide in shock as he watched me, interrupting my story. "Ah, yes, I do remember telling you no, at first."

"Yes, then I told you I would give you a single drop of blood. Enough to bring you away from death's door, without giving you a miraculous recovery that you'd be sentenced to death for." I responded with a nod, chuckling as I watched him, waiting, as I knew there was something else he wanted to say.

"I know how you turned me, Lucifer, as I was there too. I was asking why you turned me, a man you'd known for less than an hour."

"Because you scared me."