Happy Together

Mouth

Lucius drove through the winding, darkened streets with a sense of exhilaration pulsing through him. Turning on the radio “Mouth” by Bush blared. It’s raw passion spurning him on. His grip on the steering wheel was firm but relaxed, his body humming with a giddy anticipation.

The plan was simple—he hadn’t really thought it through, but that didn’t matter. Plans were for Alistair, the careful one, the weak one. Lucius thrived in chaos, in the raw thrill of seizing the moment.

He glanced at Victoria out of the corner of his eye. She nervously bit the bottom of her lip as her eyes darted between him and the shadowy landscape outside. She wasn’t entirely at ease—good.

The corner of Lucius’s mouth curled into a smirk. Not too trusting, are we? That’s smart. But not smart enough to stay away from me.

He savored the power in the moment, the knowledge that she was completely in his hands. He could feel her unease growing, like a small ember he could stoke into a roaring flame whenever he wanted.

Alistair really thought he could have this? Lucius mused, his thoughts laced with disdain. A normal life. A girlfriend. Laughable. She doesn’t belong to him. She doesn’t belong to anyone... yet.

The car dipped as they turned onto an unpaved road, the gravel crunching beneath the tires. The trees on either side loomed like silent sentinels, their gnarled branches twisting in the moonlight.

“Almost there,” Lucius said, his voice calm and smooth, betraying none of the storm raging inside him.

He couldn’t decide yet what he wanted from Victoria. Was she just another opportunity to indulge his darker impulses? Or was she something more—a way to keep Alistair under control, to remind him that Lucius was the one truly in charge?

Maybe both, Lucius thought, the idea sending a thrill through him.

He pressed harder on the gas, the car jolting slightly as it hit a bump in the uneven road. Victoria gripped the edge of her seat, her knuckles whitening.

“Alistair,” she said cautiously, her voice cutting through his thoughts. “This doesn’t look like anywhere I’ve been before.”

Lucius felt a flicker of irritation at the name—his name. But he kept his expression neutral, glancing at her with that same practiced smirk.

“It’s special,” he said. “You’ll see.”

The way her brow furrowed, the way her lips parted as she started to form another question—it amused him. He could see the gears turning in her head, the doubt creeping in.

Go on, Victoria, he thought. Keep trying to figure it out. By the time you do, it’ll already be too late.

The road opened into a clearing with a large gate ahead, and Lucius slowed the car, coming to a stop near the edge of a dense forest. The sound of the ocean and smell of the water was on the breeze. He turned off the engine, the sudden silence pressing down like a heavy weight.

“We’re here,” he said, his voice almost a whisper.

He turned to Victoria, his dark eyes gleaming. “Trust me. You’re going to love this.”

Victoria’s stomach tightened as the car came to a stop in the middle of nowhere. The clearing was eerily quiet, the tall trees around them swaying gently in the night breeze. She glanced out the window, searching for anything that might make sense of why they were here—a picnic setup, a hidden viewpoint, something.

But there was nothing. Just shadows and the large ominous gate ahead.

She turned to Alistair—or the man she thought was Alistair—forcing a nervous laugh to mask her growing unease. “Okay, so... what exactly is this place?”

He didn’t answer immediately. Instead, he sat there, his hands resting lightly on the steering wheel, as if savoring the moment. When he finally turned to look at her, his smile didn’t feel like the warm one she had seen earlier that evening. It was sharper, colder.

“It’s... special,” he said, his voice too calm, too measured.

Victoria felt a chill creep down her spine. Something was off. She’d noticed it earlier, the way he carried himself differently tonight, the way his eyes lingered on her a second too long, the faint but unshakable sense that he wasn’t quite the same Alistair she knew.

She forced herself to stay calm, offering another nervous laugh. “Well, I hope you’re not planning on murdering me or anything,” she joked, her tone light but her eyes scanning the clearing for anything that could explain what was going on.

To her surprise, his smile widened, and he tilted his head slightly as if amused by the suggestion.

“What if I was?” he said, his tone teasing but laced with something darker.

Victoria froze, the air in the car suddenly feeling suffocating. She told herself it was a joke, that Alistair was just being playful in a weird, edgy way. But every instinct in her body screamed at her that this wasn’t a game.

She reached for the door handle, trying to mask her movements as casual. “Well,” she said, forcing a grin, “I’d probably run for the woods, and you’d never catch me.”

Before she could pull the handle, his hand shot out, gripping her wrist with a force that made her gasp.

“Victoria,” he said softly, his grip tightening just enough to make her stop moving. “You’re not running anywhere.”

Her breath hitched as she looked into his eyes. They weren’t Alistair’s. They were darker, colder, filled with something she couldn’t name but instinctively feared.

“Alistair, what’s going on?” she whispered, her voice trembling.

He laughed, low and menacing, and it sent chills through her. “Oh, Victoria,” he said, leaning in closer. “You’re so sweet. So trusting. But I’m not the man you think I am.”

She tried to pull her wrist free, but his grip was unyielding. Her heart pounded in her chest as she realized just how much danger she was in.

“Alistair, please,” she said, her voice breaking. “This isn’t funny.”

His smirk faltered for a moment, replaced by something darker, more primal. “You’re right,” he said, his tone colder now. “It’s not funny. It’s necessary.”

Victoria’s mind raced. She needed to stay calm, to think of a way out. “Please,” she said, her voice shaking. “You don’t have to do this.”

For a brief second, something flickered in his eyes—hesitation, maybe even guilt. But it was gone as quickly as it appeared, replaced by that chilling smirk.

“Alistair might not,” he said. “But I’m not Alistair.”

Her heart sank as the truth of his words hit her. Whoever this was, it wasn’t the man she thought she knew. And she was completely alone with him.

As Lucius stared into Victoria’s wide, frightened eyes, he felt a strange pang in his chest—a flicker of something unfamiliar. It was an irritation at first, a nagging whisper that grew louder with every passing second.

This isn’t right.

He gritted his teeth, trying to push it down. He was in control now—finally in control. For years, he’d been trapped in the dark corners of Alistair’s mind, suffocated by that spineless fool’s pathetic attempts at normalcy. But now, here he was, free to make the choices he wanted, to live as he saw fit.

Yet, the flicker refused to be extinguished.

Victoria’s voice trembled as she repeated “You don’t have to do this,” her words cutting through the moment like a blade.

Lucius’s jaw clenched, his grip on her wrist tightening briefly before he let go, shoving himself back against the driver’s seat. He turned his face toward the window, trying to drown out the rising noise in his head.

Alistair, the voice hissed, unmistakable now. It was him—the weaker half, clawing his way to the surface. Let her go.

“No,” Lucius muttered under his breath, his hands curling into fists.

You’ll ruin everything, Alistair’s voice pressed. She’s innocent. She doesn’t deserve this.

“She’s mine,” Lucius growled, barely aware he was speaking out loud. “She doesn’t belong to you.”

Victoria, still frozen in her seat, watched him with wide, terrified eyes. She couldn’t understand what was happening, why the man in front of her seemed to be arguing with someone who wasn’t there.

You don’t have to hurt her, Lucius. The voice was louder now, relentless. She trusts us. Don’t ruin this. Don’t destroy her.

Lucius slammed his fist against the steering wheel, the sound reverberating through the car. “Shut up!” he snarled, his head snapping back as if the force of Alistair’s presence was physically painful.

The battle in his mind raged, the walls between them cracking under the strain. Alistair was pushing harder than ever, fueled by something stronger than fear—guilt, maybe, or even love.

Lucius sneered at the thought. “Love,” he spat under his breath, laughing bitterly. “You think this is love, Alistair? You think she’ll love you back after she sees the truth?”

She doesn’t have to know, Alistair pleaded. You can stop this now. Walk away.

Lucius leaned his head back against the seat, closing his eyes. His breathing was heavy, his grip on control slipping as Alistair clawed his way forward. For a moment, the two of them occupied the same space, their thoughts overlapping in a chaotic blur.

Victoria saw the shift, the brief flash of vulnerability in his expression. She didn’t understand it, but she knew she had to act fast.

“Alistair,” she said softly, her voice trembling but steady enough to break through his spiraling thoughts. “If you’re in there, please... don’t let this happen.”

The sound of her voice hit Lucius like a slap, jarring him out of his internal war. His eyes snapped open, and for a brief second, they softened, as if Alistair had managed to wrestle back control.

But the moment passed, and Lucius’s smirk returned, though it lacked its usual confidence. “Nice try,” he muttered, more to Alistair than to Victoria.

Still, the hesitation lingered, and for the first time, Lucius felt something foreign creeping into his mind—doubt.

He turned off the music that had been playing on the car stereo, leaving the cabin eerily silent. His hand hovered over the gear shift, his mind spinning as Alistair’s voice whispered relentlessly in the back of his head.

Let her go, Lucius. It doesn’t have to be this way.

“Shut up,” Lucius whispered again, but the fight in his voice was weakening.

Victoria, sensing the cracks in his armor, stayed perfectly still, watching and waiting for her chance.

"EVERYBODY STOP AND SHUT THE f**k UP! YOU!" Lucius angrily pointed a finger at her. "SIT THERE SHUT THE f**k UP AND DON'T MOVE OR SO HELP ME GOD!" Taking the keys he got out of the car locking it.

The image of Alistair stood in front of the vehicle. "IT'S MY BIRTHDAY TOO!" Lucius screamed at him. "I WASN'T GOING TO HURT HER! AND BEFORE YOU BRING UP GERMANY SHE WAS A COP SHE WAS ON TO US!" Growling and snarling like a feral beast he paced. Calm down Lucius the voice in his head softly said.