Divine Contract

Rude

Coming with Tara had been a terrible idea.

    She took shot after shot and kept trying to talk Lillian into it until it became clear to the group that Lucius wasn’t having it.  He’d taken every shot meant for her, downing it with a dark, pointed gaze directed solely at her.  Lillian didn’t know him and yet, every time Seth tried to talk to her, Lucius was quick to intercept his attentions, even positioning his body in a way that pushed Lillian further from the group.  He was the epitome of uninviting.  Unwelcoming.  Just plain rude.

    And Lillian, having watched Tara pull Wes upstairs like a drunken two-man parade, found herself wandering outside of the house to the front porch trying to figure out a way to get back to campus by herself.  She wondered if she should try calling a cab. Then she remembered that she didn’t have internet access on her phone so how would she even get the phone number she needed to do that?  Pulling out her old flip phone, she noticed the missed calls.  Lady Catherine.  It was already past 11 pm so it would be unsavory to call back now.  Plus Lady Catherine would have many questions about the timing and the background noise. Lying wasn’t Lillian’s strong suit so she would just have to wait until morning to call her, then.

    “What kind of phone is that?”

    Lillian jumped, glancing up to find Lucius standing over her, eyes focused on the small device in her hand.  Embarrassed by the dinosaur phone, she hid it behind her back, turning to face him.  When her eyes met his, she dropped them back to her feet shyly.

    “Let me see,” he said, pushing forward.  Lillian took a step backwards, jumping when her hands bumped into the porch railing behind her.  Glancing about, she realized she was trapped by the figure looming over her, his expression unreadable.  He was at leat a foot taller than her and his presence was so domineering, she felt intimidated by him.  “Well?  Give me.”  He held his hand out, his tone one of finality.  Blushing, she put the phone in his palm, keeping her head ducked to avoid looking at his expression.  When he snorted, she was glad she did, cheeks flushing red.  “This isn’t even from this decade.  Can you even text on this thing?”

    Puffing her cheeks, she shifted unhappily.  It was an old phone, sure, but it was hers and she felt oddly defensive as she mumbled, “There’s a text feature on it.”

    “You have to hit the number one button three times to get the letter C,” he laughed.  “Jesus Christ, what era are you from?”

    Yes, well, have a good laugh at me then, Lillian thought, feeling tears well up in her eyes.  She was used to whispers and gossip about her at the Convent but Lucius was outright cruel, singling her out publicly, ridiculing her every chance he got.  She blinked quickly, trying to stop the tears from falling because he didn’t deserve them.  She hadn’t done anything to deserve his treatment.  Putting her hand out, she mumbled, “May I have my phone back, please?”

    “Hm?” he asked.

    She sniffled.  “My phone,” she said slightly louder. “May I have it back please?”

    “What was that?” he pressed.

    “My phone!” she snapped, looking up to find that they were nearly nose to nose, this amused expression on the man’s face.  She grit her teeth, heat flooding her face at their proximity.  It was hard to ignore how familiar his features were.  He was dangerously handsome, the kind that tempt you in magazines—but those models are airbrushed and Lucius just naturally looked like this.  And his smile was breathtaking, even if it was more of a smirk.  She knew it was impossible but he was identical to the man with the fire crown.  He chuckled quietly, making her heart jump.  “You’re . . . teasing me,” she realized, frowning up at him.  “Why are you so mean?”

    He gripped her hand in his, pressing her phone to her palm.  She tried to ignore how warm his skin felt or how small her hand looked in his.  “I’ll take you back to campus.”

    “What?” she asked, quickly shoving her phone in her pocket.  “I don’t think—“

    “Are you going to wait for Tara?” Lucius asked.  Then, smirking, he added, “You know what she’s doing with Wes right now, don’t you?  Or maybe they don’t teach s*x education at the Convent.”

    Lillian frowned.  “I’ve learned about pre-marital intercourse.”  Lucius looked surprised for a moment before he abruptly threw his head back and laughed.  Flustered, Lillian just stared up at him seriously.  What is wrong with this guy?  He was openly laughing at her now.  When he finally saw the intense humorless grimace on the girl’s face, he pressed his hand over his mouth, bending at the hip as he tried to stop his laughter.  Fed up with the display, Lillian tried to walk away but he caught her arm, pulling her back to him.  “What do you want, Lucius?” she snapped, glaring at him with a hostility she’d never known she had inside of her before.

    He was smiling widely now, showing off his perfect teeth.  “C’mon, a naive girl like you can’t wander around alone at night in a city like this.  I’ll take you back.”

    “I said I don’t think—“

    “What are you going to do, Lillian?  You can’t even access Google Maps with that device to figure out which way to go.”  He c****d his eyebrow in amusement, eyes gleaming as he looked her over.  She parted her lips to argue but pressed them into a thin line, realizing he was right.  She’d stupidly allowed a stranger to bring her to a party off campus and that stranger up and ditched her for her “not boyfriend”.  Lucius’ signature smirk came back as his eyes took in her expression as her helplessness set in.  “Come,” he said, his hand slipping to her wrist like a shackle.  She swallowed, staring at his strong grip on her small arm as he pulled her across the porch.  He's so bossy, she kept thinking as a car lit up a bit down the road.  She’d never seen a car like that except maybe in a movie.  Sleek white and looking brand new, her eyes widened when it started on its own.  She was too busy gaping at the expensive sports car to realize that he’d opened he passenger side door.  “In,” he said, giving yet another command.

    She wanted to tell him to stop telling her what to do but she wasn’t really in a position to tell him about himself.  He was the one taking her home from this awful party, after all.  Though, wasn’t he the reason the party had been awful for her in the first place?  Gritting her teeth, she silently slipped into the car, noticing the smug look on his face as he shut the door after her.  Lady Catherine’s voice ran through her mind reminding her never get into a strangers’ car.  And yet, here she was.  Her Mum would have an absolute fit if she knew.  Nervously, Lillian tugged at her shirt, watching as he slipped into the drivers’ seat, dark eyes lingering on her for just a moment before he put his car in gear.

    With him focused ahead, she found herself looking closely at his profile.  His curly black hair was sheen and healthy looking, his eyelashes long, lips an almost perfect bow, his jaw line strong.  She gnawed on her cheek, imagining him with the crown upon his head.  It’s him.  The black t-shirt clinging to his body like a second skin helped her make out the muscle lining his torso only made her more convinced that Lucius was identical to the man in her nightmares.

    Maybe it was symbolism, she thought.  Fire crown, falling, fear.

    Aren’t there psychological studies about dreams?  Lillian believed in premonitions.  Why not?  God could be trying to warn her about the person she’d just dumbly locked herself into a car with.  Swallowing, she watched his bicep bulge as he spun the wheel, making a right in traffic.  He had such a powerfully built body—Lillian was sure that he was well equipped to harm her if that’s what he wanted to do.  She would be too clumsy run from him, too weak to fight him off.  Aren’t serial killers usually attractive manipulators?  She’d watched a documentary about Ted Bundy once.  Good looking, had everything going for him, and still killed women without any viable reason.  Just because.

    “Do you stare at everybody or am I special?”  His voice snapped her back to reality, eyes flickering back up to meet his.  He raised an eyebrow in question before focusing back on the road.  “Do I remind you of somebody?”

    Her nightmares flickered through her head, one after another, like scenes from a movie reel.  His face was in all of them.  Every single one.  “No.”  Her voice was strained and she felt the weight of the lie on her chest.  “Not really.”

    The silence that followed seemed a bit heavy and Lillian found herself looking at the radio longingly.  She wished she was brave enough to turn on some music.  “Where are you from?”

    She chewed on her lip, glancing back up at him.  “Maryland.”

    “Yeah, I figured you couldn’t be a New Yorker.”

    Lillian wasn’t sure how to take that.  “Where are you from?” she asked curiously, wondering if he’d open up about himself.  She might find a clue of some sort.  An explanation for the night terrors.

    He just smiled.  “It’s a secret.”

    “A secret?” she asked, incredulous.

    He nodded.  “Ever heard of stranger danger?"

    "I told you where I'm from," Lillian tried to reason.

    "So?  It's not my fault you don't know how to keep your private information to yourself."

    "You asked!"

    He scoffed.  "I don’t want to give my information to a potential stalker.”

    Lillian blanched.  “I’m not a stalker.”

    He smirked.  “The way you look at me, I’m not so sure.”

    Her mouth fell open.  She was thinking he might be a serial killer and he thought she might be a stalker.  She couldn’t believe it.  “I don’t look at you any type of way.”

    “You can’t stop looking at me,” he insisted.

    Lillian felt her face get hot again with frustration and she glanced out the window, feeling grateful when she recognized the street.  Finally, she thought as he pulled up in front of the student dorms.  “Thank you for giving me a ride,” she said in a rush, pushing the door open, and practically throwing herself from the car.  The cool, fresh air chilled her but it was better than being stuck in the company of such an infuriating—“Wait.”  Freezing in place at the command, she turned back to find him walking after her with an easy lope.  “I’ll walk you up.”

    “You don’t have to—“   

    “I said I’ll walk you up,” he said, coming just beside Lillian with a challenging expression.

    Stunned, she found herself yielding to him with a small nod.  Why can’t she tell him no?  Then again, she'd never met such a domineering person before.  It didn't help that in the Convent she’d never had to set boundaries since everybody was well-versed in discipline and understood personal space.  The outside world was different.  The rules were different.  And now, all because she couldn't say the word "no" the man from her nightmares was walking her up to her bedroom.

    Her bottom lip would bleed soon if she kept rolling it between her teeth but her nerves worked overtime as they stood in the elevator side by side.  There were two other girls in the confined space, both of which openly checking out Lucius who didn’t seem to notice as he thumbed through something on his Smartphone.  Curious, Lillian wondered what he was looking at with so much interest but, when she tried to take a peek, he turned and caught her in the act, raising an eyebrow in amusement.  “Stalker,” he whispered, smirking.

    Rolling her eyes, she dropped her gaze to the ground and when they reached her floor she found herself exiting quickly, hearing soft laughter behind her.  Once she got to her room, she pivoted to face him, nearly bumping into his chest.  Stumbling back a step, she wrung her hands nervously, staring up at him.  He was so tall she had to crane her neck.  “Well, thank you.  Again.”

    “You’re not going to invite me in?” he asked, dark eyes boring into her.

    Panicked, Lillian felt a sudden chill, realizing that he probably had ulterior motives about walking her to her room.  “Um,” she fumbled, searching in vain for the right words, “I mean, I don’t—“

    “I’m kidding,” he smirked.  “You should see the look on your face right now.”

    She frowned, pulling out her keys to unlock her door.  “I don’t think I like you very much.”

    Lucius chuckled.  “That’s cute coming from somebody who blushes every time I say something.”

    She threw him a dirty look, annoyed that she was struggling with the door lock while he watched.  Finally opening her door, she muttered, “You’re very rude,” and promptly shut it in Lucius’ face thinking, “There, that’ll show him.”  And then, standing there gripping the door knob, something twisted in her stomach as she thought about how rude she was being now.  Even if he was mean, he’d still made sure she got back safe.  He didn’t have to drive her back, didn’t have to walk her up to her room.  Groaning at the nagging feeling of guilt harassing her, she opened the door to rush after him only to find him standing there, this knowing look on his face.  “Why are you—“

    “Aren’t you going to apologize?” he asked, quirking a perfect brow at her expectantly.

    Lillian wondered how he’d known she would come back out to apologize.  Was she really that predictable?  “I . . .”  She swallowed stiffly, noticing how he was staring down at with an intensity that made her squirm.  “I’m sorry if I came off as ungrateful.  Thank you for bringing me back,” she muttered, looking up at him sheepishly.

    Smiling, he reached out and ruffled her hair gently.  “Such a good girl.” Embarrassed, she ducked her head, feeling like she was being treated like some kind of dog.  Letting out a low chuckle, he said, “See you in your dreams, Lillian.”

    At his words, her eyes widened, snapping up to him.  “What?”  Did he know about the nightmares?  Was it possible?  She searched his expression and came up short, unable to read him.

    Giving a strand of her hair a slight tug, he maintained a straight face as he said, “Stalkers always dream about their obsession, right?”  Disappointment crashed down on Lillian as she realized he'd just been giving her a hard time again.  With a frustrated puff of her cheeks, she shut the door between them, trying to ignore his booming laughter on the other side.