Chapter - 26
Lucius bent down and reached into the driver's pocket and pulled out his phone. Without wasting any time with his bloody fingers dialled.
The line clicked, "911, what's your emergency?"
"Finally a comforting voice, I would love to chat with you non-stop miss," Lucius took a deep breath, "But I have just put down a fucking nightmare," Lucius spoke.
"Fuck... He might even be dead if you don't arrive soon," Lucius said with his hoarse voice. And with just that, he ended the call and threw the phone away.
"I sounded so fucking badass. I am sure she must be impressed."
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The police arrived after a few minutes, the flashing red and blue light blaring the night. It was a prompt response from the police.
In no time officers stormed the house, their footsteps echoing in the chamber of horrors.
"On your KNEES… Hands in the air where I can see them!" Lucius was just in sight as they entered and the officers pointing their guns at him ordered.
"Hey…. Hey… Hey…. Take it easy. I was the one who called you guys," Lucius complained but still got on his knees.
Another couple of officers walked past Lucius and started searching the house.
"You have the right to remain…" An officer walked up to Lucius, his gun pointed straight at Lucius.
He was about to handcuff him, when another officer cried out from downstairs.
"Sir we have a problem here," Meanwhile the other officers who swept the area recoiled at the bloody sight in front of them.
"This isn't what it looks like,"
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Two people carried the old driver on a stretcher, his hands cuffed together. He was too broken to even walk on his two feet, and as they passed by him, Lucius could hear a low whimper.
After the driver's 'Art Room' was discovered, two patrol units were not enough to take care of the mess. Now more than a dozen units of the police were parked outside the house. And the eerie silence in the middle of nowhere was bustling with the police officers.
Lucius sat on the back of an ambulance, resting against the sides of the ambulance truck. A paramedic wrapped his arm and cleaned the cut on his side. The sting made him flinch.
"You are lucky," the paramedic said, "If this cut on your chest was any deeper, you would have been in much more trouble."
Lucius let out a short laugh, "Yeah, well, luck has been playing games with me for a few days."
Right then an officer walked up to the ambulance with a notepad in hand, giving Lucius a quick once-over, "You okay to talk?"
Lucius nodded, "Sure, but I am not telling it twice. So you better listen closely."
The officer smiled, "As you say… Please, Go ahead."
Lucius leaned back slightly, wincing from his sore ribs, "That freak you just took? He isn't just bad."
"That bastard is a fucking insane monster."
"I sat in his taxi, and he brought me here. He tied me up, I fought back and then I found that room."
"Inside he was collecting people. Had a room full of puppets made of human corpses, real human corpses. He stitched-up the arm of one with the leg of the other on the body of a third person. He was creating freaking Frankenstein puppets down there in his den."
The officer blinked, "Real humans?"
"Totally 100 percent, Mother promise," Lucius nodded with sincerity.
The cop stayed quiet, scribbling in his notebook.
Lucius kept going, "He went on and on about how no one loved him. Said his parents called him crazy… so he killed them. Turned them into dolls."
"Said I was going to be his next masterpiece," Lucius said dramatically, "Can you believe that guy? I am already a fucking masterpiece."
Then Lucius turned towards the paramedic lady treating him, "What do you think?"
"Ahemm! Sir, can we get back to what happened next?" The officer tried to divert his attention back to the statement.
Lucius smirked, "Didn't you see it? I turned that master artist into a pile of broken bones."
The officer stared for a second, then shook his head slightly, "We will need a full statement in detail. But that's for later at the station."
"I am sure you are traumatised and exhausted. For now, get some rest."
Lucius nodded, "That I am, That I am," he then turned towards the paramedic and asked with a pleasing smile, "Instead of this blanket, would you want to keep me warm, Miss?"
"Sir," The officer interrupted him again, "Officer Bradford will take you back home."
"You really are hell bent on cuckblocking me man," Lucius shook his head and got off the ambulance, "I will leave alright."
"But I tell you guys… After you are done investigating. You better burn this place to the ground."
Soon, Lucius was dropped off at the Wellington Hills about an hour later. The car ride had been mostly quiet, with the officer occasionally asking Lucius about the incident.
When he got off, he looked at his clothes, and they were a disaster. His shirt was stained with dried and fresh blood. His knuckles were cracked open, and bruises had already started forming on his face.
Hoping to slip inside the house, Lucius unlocked the door quietly and walked inside.
The house was almost dark. And he could not see anyone around.
So he was relieved as he walked inside, but he hadn't crossed the hallway when he saw her, Iris.
She was soundly asleep on the couch, curled up with her arms hugging a pillow tight. She looked peaceful, and…
'She is beautiful,' Lucius thought to himself.
But then he also noticed that she was feeling cold. The clothes on her weren't thick enough.
'She is already a bit sick. And now this stupid girl is sleeping here. She acts so tough when she is awake, but look at her… So vulnerable in her sleep.'
Lucius sighed. His body was too sore to carry her to her room, so he went to his room, grabbed a blanket and gently placed it over her. She stirred a little, pulling the blanket closer to her, but didn't wake.
He watched her for a moment, "Guess I did worry you a bit," he muttered quietly.
He then turned around and started limping to his room. His body was in pain. So to ease it, he stripped off his clothes the first thing and turning on the hot water, slipped into the shower.
He didn't care about wetting his old and new bandages. He just wanted to get rid of the exhaustion in his body.
He closed his eyes, letting the water run down his face. It didn't wash away the night… But it did help.
After taking a long bath. He stepped out, grabbed a fresh set of bandages he carefully wrapped his injuries again
"With so many scars on my body, soon I won't have a place for my first tattoo," he muttered, "But it surely was a fun day."
But just as he realised what he said, he could help but frown…
"Fun day?" He muttered to himself.
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The next morning, Iris slowly opened her eyes, feeling something warm wrapped around her. She blinked a few times.
Then she looked down and frowned..
A blanket?
She sat up and looked around to see if there was someone. Iris didn't remember getting one.
In fact she did not remember sleeping on the couch itself. She must have fallen asleep on the couch last night while waiting for Lucius… and she was sure she had no blanket then.
'Lucius!' Her eyes narrowed, "Wait… what the hell?"
She stood up from the couch and the blanket fell on the floor. But she ignored her.
"Is he not back yet?"
Without delay she stormed up the stairs, down the hallway and pushed open the door to his room.
It was already open.
And just as she walked in, she saw him in front of her.
Lucius lay on his bed, asleep, breathing steady.
Iris sighed looking at him as she rubbed her forehead, "Seriously? This idiot makes me worried to death and he is sleeping here, dead like a log as if nothing happened?"
"I will kick his…" Iris wanted to beat the shit out of him, but then her gaze landed on his face, and her irritation paused.
There was a dark purplish bruise on his cheekbone.
She stepped closer, frowning, "Did he get into a drunk fight?"
She pulled the blanket down a little to check a bit more and then her eyes widened. Along with his face, even his collarbone, and his arms were covered in bruises. And not just that, there were even more bandages on his body, and one of them was a bit read.
"What the fuck…" she muttered under her breath.
Her hand moved before she could stop herself. She gently touched one of the bruises, almost just to make sure it was real.
But as if Lucius could sense her touch, his body moved..
Then bang!… He moved like lightning.
His hand wrapped her neck and before she could even react, he shoved her backward, grabbing her shoulder with his other hand and threw her on the bed.
"Uggghhh" Iris let out a painful gasp.
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