Take my hand
We'll make it, I swear.
Six months had passed. Information was limited, and hiding places even more so, but somehow, they'd managed to stay out of the way. The Purge was wiping out the Vampire and Lycan races alike, and it disgusted the two Lycans that uncomfortably shifted from hotel to hotel, keeping as low a profile as possible until they got the next chance to leave. Burnings, silver gas, UV bullets and blasts…
What was this world coming to? A living hell?
It was like watching The Holocaust happening on television in real time. Rose had commented on this many times, though Lucian remained silent. Since Rose revived him with the concoction she'd put together, excreting the silver from his body, he'd stayed low and moved from place to place with her, watching as things unfolded and finally making the executive decision that they needed to get out. Rose had agreed, but they hadn't found the right way to escape just yet. When something had been mentioned on the news about Antigen taking care of two more of the problems that evening, Lucian had stiffened and Rose noticed him growing silent as he watched the shabby television on the dresser in front of one of the beds in the motel.
"What?" She asked, looking out of the bathroom, having been washing up for the evening. The once Lycan leader made a face, his eyes never leaving the screen. "…I believe they found Selene and Michael."
Rose grew quiet. They'd kept tabs on the two for quite some time now, and if Antigen had them now…well…
"We must go. As soon as possible." Lucian said simply, flipping off the television and standing, running a hand through his hair as he glanced out the window across the room. Rose reached behind her and cut off the bathroom light as she exited, and she watched her friend as he crossed the room.
"We haven't figured out how to leave yet. They'd put us through tests. They'd know—"
"I believe I have a way." He said with a sigh, glancing over his shoulder at the younger Lycan behind him. There were a good few hundred years between them; Lucian was pushing 800 while Rose remained at a simple 390. However, between the two of them, the information they both shared helped them to get by. Two quick witted minds, combined with Lucian's wisdom and Rose's intelligence…they were convinced they would survive, and for twelve years, they survived as far away as possible.
The days of shitty motels were far behind them. For twelve years Rose and Lucian stayed under the radar in Australia. Rose grew accustomed to the life, while Lucian didn't…not always. It was the ideal spot for them, and Rose had no intentions of going back to where everything was taking place. The sun, the beach, the animals, the atmosphere? It was all perfect, but Lucian seemed bothered, like he was waiting for something. As the years passed, it was more difficult for Rose to get a laugh out of him, even for him to be comfortable in the decent home they shared.
They were both on the lookout for other Lycans or even Vampires, but none turned up anywhere around them. That was one thing that made Rose nervous…had both species been almost wiped out? The television reports of what Antigen had been called 'viruses' they were working on cures for became fewer and far between, until one particular day, when news slipped about a possible escape.
Of course, Antigen tried to cover it up, but when Rose returned back to their home that day, half their things were packed on Lucian's own accord. She paused in the doorway, watching him as he continued to pack one box of his things. "Lucian…" Rose spoke softly, walking into the home and setting down a bag of groceries the female had purchased. The male Lycan looked up to Rose, and for once, he smiled to her again. It had been a few weeks…so maybe she counted the days between his last smile to her. She so did love his smiles.
"We're going back." He said, shutting the box and taping it up. "I have a plan. I have an idea. Someone who can help us is out there, and we are going to find her, and we are going to place Antigen under new management, mon cherie."
It was rare he used words in her native language, rare he spoke to her with such affection. Of course, his mind still lingered on his Sonja after hundreds of years, and could Rose blame him? No, but spending hundreds of years with him herself made it difficult, almost, to hear about Sonja in the times they spent alone. She was happy he'd experienced such love in his life, angry it was taken from him in the way that it was, but envious that she'd never experienced it. If she had, if she was, it wasn't returned.
However, she couldn't smile back at him this time. She couldn't believe the words that had escaped his lips.
"We're going back?" She repeated in an argumentive tone. "Just like that? Back into Hell? Back into all of that?" Rose asked, directing her index finger to the newspapers tacked to a corkboard they'd hung up by the television. "Back to where the biggest purge took place, back to where we lost all the others and back into possible danger just as we're establishing lives here?"
"Rose—"
"You never once said we wouldn't be staying here indefinitely. You made it sound as if we'd avoid all the issues, we'd stay under the radar, you and I! We wouldn't need to use my concoctions to save others, we wouldn't need to worry about others!" She was apprehensive about going back, and who could blame her? Rose had lost many of the Lycans she considered her friends, and it was merely by a fluke that years prior she'd been able to save Lucian, and it worried her that she could lose him again if one wrong step was taken…and she was almost certain this was the wrong step.
Lucian was on his feet now, looking as if he was trying to find the words to explain to her that this was the best idea. He looked off to the side, then approached her.
"Please calm down, listen to me, listen carefully. Selene escaped Antigen. She is alive. I assumed her dead for years—Rose, she is capable of helping us, she is capable of bringing Antigen down." He explained, although Rose began to take a step back. Lucian placed his hands on her upper arms and held her in place, gently but firmly. "I've been standoffish from time to time while doing my own research. I do not blame you for slacking off in your own, Rose, not at all; for years you worked to keep our kind safe and I even owe you a life debt. My research shows me that Antigen is run by Lycans. A hoard of Lycans who are horribly mislead. My intentions are to—"
"…bring Antigen under new management."
"Exactly!" He exclaimed, smiling to her. "Don't you see the good this could do us? Oh, do tell me you understand. Do…do tell me you'll come back with me." Rose had been Lucian's confidant for years, especially when they became the only two each had to speak to. He stared down into the brunette's blue eyes, and he gently brushed a strand of her hair out of her face. "We've been in this together for a long time now. Don't break our winning streak now."
He did have a point…and how could she deny him? Not when he was this desperate to get back. To find Selene and to fix things. Maybe this would be the turning point of the war that was still somewhat raging.
"…I suppose we're going back." Rose nearly whispered, looking around at all the boxes. Lucian pressed a kiss to her forehead and let go of her, walking away and back to the boxes.
"We leave in the morning."
"And if I'd said no?" Rose challenged him, walking further into the living room with a confused expression on her face. The once-leader-Lycan turned to look at Rose, and he grinned. A knowing grin.
"I knew you wouldn't." He said simply, watching Rose's expression contort into almost that of anger. "I knew you would want to help again…this will give you a chance to do just what you do best. Help others, help me fix things. We'll do this together, I promise you."
"You swear it?" Rose retorted, walking around to his front, staring at him with the most serious of expressions. Lucian smirked and nodded, using his foot to push one of the boxes out of the way, toward the stack of about five or six in the corner.
"Darling, I swear it."