The following night, I lay tucked in my bed. Sleep came fast that morning, yet I wasn't apt to crawl out of bed and face another night of worrying about Lucious. Yes, his disappearance was strange indeed. However, so was that club I was introduced to last night.

I passed in and out of consciousness while the evening went on. Nothing could get me out of bed. The tavern downstairs was perfectly fine without me foreseeing every little detail. Besides, it was Sunday. Many people would return home early in preparation for the morning commute to work.

I must have fallen asleep for a moment in time, because I did not hear the door open nor his footsteps enter into the room. I failed to even sense him as he stood above me, staring down at my sleeping corpse.

Very strange indeed. I had fed while on my way home last night which should have helped me regain my strength and senses.

“Mikael,” his voice came to me like the howling of the wind, soft and silent.

I positioned my hand in front of my face trying to block this ghostly noise.

“Hey,” he spoke again.

Finally, I peered out of sleepy eyes and gazed at his face.

“What's wrong with you?” he wondered. “You should be downstairs, shouldn't you?”

His lips curled into a smile and he held that emotion, baring his vampire teeth every time his lips broadened.

“Ugh.” I wiped at my eyes, trying to awaken. “Is it dusk?”

His argent eyes met mine. “It's past that. Almost midnight.”

I looked closely, blinked my eyes, and caught his staring back at me. “Lucious?”

“Yes?” He chuckled, that grin stuck on his lips.

“Where the hell have you been?” I wondered, my arm coming down at my side.

“I was...” He began, “out. I told you it wouldn't be long.”

I crooked my neck and looked closely. He was acting strange indeed. Hyper, cheerful, almost playful... not like him at all. Immediately, I propped myself up on the bed causing him to move a little.

“It's been four nights,” I groaned. “Something else must have happened in that time!”

“Hey, hey! Take it easy. I came back, didn't I?” He spoke with that joyful smile propped on his lips.

Did he not understand my burden? What was with him anyway?

“I was expecting you to be back that night, Lucious. Not to leave me hanging for days!” I argued. “So tell me what happened?”

Immediately, he swung his legs over and sat up from the bed. His feet planted on the floor now, he turned around and faced me giddily.

I sat up watching him almost dance out his story.

“Would you believe, I got held up by a train on the edge of town?” he began.

“Bullshit!”

“Now, that is the truth, Mikael,” he continued. “Believe it or not, the train was long and slow... and...”

Now I really knew something wasn't right about him. I put my hand to my face in disgust at his lies. When I removed my palm, he stood uneasy on his feet with the same playful grin. I twisted my head and watched him carefully for a moment.

“Are you high?” I wondered.

He stepped back in confusion. “What are you saying?”

“I'm asking you if you are loaded, Lucious?” I clarified.

“Shit... why would you think that?”

“Well, for starters, you're all over the place. And I could smell the luce on you!” I explained.

“Mikael, it's not what it seems.”

I slid my feet off to the foot of the bed just then and looked up at him. “Chris was here.”

He looked at me in awe, his smile dropped. “What did he want?”

“He said,” I put my palms to my face again and tried to rub away my jitters. “That he wants you to come home.” I looked at him again, catching the concern in his eyes. “Tell me what this means?”

“Mikael.”

“Now, Lucious!” I demanded. “Tell me what happened in these four years we've been apart? Tell me why you smell like dope?”

He lowered his head, his silver eyes once happy and lively now showing apprehension. He didn't care to look at me now, yet he began to explain.

“Okay... He was looking for me. You see, I guess you could say I ran away from home. After you left me there, I stayed with him... I wasn't beaten... I was... a living experiment--”

I stood up immediately. “Are you telling me,” I interrupted. “You were a living pincushion?”

“Yes, Mikael. Oh, he wouldn't stop once Serena was gone, no. He needed someone other than himself to test new mixtures, improving on the old, and all that...” he told, his eyes wandering. “I guess I just happened to be there.”

I took my eyes away and focused them to the floor as I tried to gather my thoughts.

“I'm addicted, Mikael.” Lucious spoke up.

My heart dropped at his words. “Addicted?” I wondered as if it was a joke. “Impossible!”

He nodded as if he agreed with me, then lifted his eyes to meet mine “That's what I thought too. How could a vampire get hooked on anything? But it's possible, Mikael. Just as I'm hooked on running back to you... it's a drug.”

I couldn't believe what he was telling me. I stood still, planted on the floor like an unmovable tree, shocked and overwhelmed by the entire story. He looked on, watching me, waiting for me to move or to speak. His arms dancing again before he moved one hand up to his mouth to nibble on his long fingernail.

“So you're telling me,” I whispered as I turned away from him. “... that Chris has come back to take you home to play god knows what and all the while you've been out getting high?” I explained my interpretation of the story. “As I sat here worried sick about you!”

“You were worried?” he asked.

“Of course I was, Lucious. You told me you would be back soon, and here it is four days later and you're telling me this!” I stopped and turned to face him. “How do I know you weren't at Chris's this whole time?”

Soon, his lips upturned to that playful smile once more. He began to approach me slowly with his arms open.

“Hey, you need to relax,” he said. “You're way too uptight about this.”

Immediately, his arms came around me, pulling me in closer.

“And you think I wouldn't be upset, Lucious?” I voiced angrily.

“Calm down. Why would I go back there when all I want is you?” He pulled a small vial from his pocket and held it up so I could take a closer look. “Here, something to calm your nerves.”

The small jar was dirty, with the trademark ripped label that I knew all too well. Inside, the poison was it's usual thick crimson. How dare he!

“Don't.” I sighed in disgust.

He grasped on to my side tighter and drew his lips closer to my ear.

“You don't remember, do you?” His dark, tempting lips spoke. “That night.. in Serena's bedroom. Of course you don't remember, but I do. We were both high... maybe it really wasn't the luce though, maybe we were high on each other.”

I looked towards the floor as the memory came to me as if it was yesterday.

“We were wrapped so closely in each others arms. Pressed lips, warm and strange for the walking undead... yes? And what else did you do? Do you remember now?” he continued.

I nodded; of course, I remembered it clearly.

“Hmm, yes. Well let me repay you for that night. It doesn't have to mean anything... just a sip will do.” He held the bottle to my lips as he gently kissed my neck.

I leaned my head back, enjoying the pleasure as if I'd be seduced beautifully. My desire grew, my heart began to pound in my chest, and my wandering hands came around to embrace him. Lucious continued to run his bottom lip along the base of my neck and to my collar before he lifted his head up again to look at my dazed reaction.

With his teeth, he removed the cork from the bottle and held the concoction up to my lips. In an instant, I could smell the foul odor pouring out from the vial, a common characteristic of this poison that only Chris could prepare.

My lips curled with the stench and I wondered how it was that I even drank this substance at one time. Or how Lucious could become addicted, for that matter. It was not like the blood we needed to survive, it was a want... a desire for this disgusting, vile dope.

“I can't,” I spoke as the odor caught my senses.

“You can,” he whispered in my ear as he continued to place delicate kisses along my earlobe. “It is different now, you'll see.”

I felt a drop of sweat pool down the side of my cheek as my craving for him grew. I felt the lip of the vial come closer to my own lips, the odor overwhelming but so was his grip on me. I began to tremble on my feet as his other hand explored my naked midsection, his fingers ever so slowly voyaging towards my waist.

Carefully, he tipped the bottle up and I loosened my lips to the incoming corruption. Soon I noted the taste, the liquid seeping into my tongue as I choked down, feeling it drip down my throat. All the while, he continued to tempt my senses. His lips now brushing against the back of my ear and down my neck.

I shook at the feeling of his fangs scrapping along my veins and moving against my collar.

Memories of the first time I'd ever drank this concoction came seeping into my mind. After the first sip I would be bent down holding my stomach in pain. Patiently, I waited for that moment until Lucious spoke up.

“What are you waiting for?” he voiced in my ear. “The crash?”

“Yes,” I murmured.

“Oh but this time it's different. It no longer hits you like a lightning bolt... it will creep up on you when you least..” He kissed the side of my neck again. “...expect it to.”

I smiled at the sound of his voice, realizing the dizziness was coming on fast. Eventually, his lips came to mine and I clasped hold, grabbing at him, and pulling him in closer for more. I opened wide, our tongues tangled... in this knotted web of ours.

But the sickness, the dizziness was coming on too fast. Not like he described at all.

He wrapped his arms around my neck, his fingers digging into my hair as we shared our kiss. I closed my eyes to the hazy surroundings and only his face remained in my mind. Remained...

“Please...” His voice came out in a hush, “forgive me.”