Imprinted Hearts

Chapter 2: Ding Dong Oh Shit

Lucien stood in the middle of the crowd, turning in circles and gasping for breath. The people passing him in the main section of the mall paid him no attention, as his eyes scanned desperately for whatever called to him with enough force to destroy his peace of mind. He had to find it if it killed him. When he reached the crowd, the trail had vanished, leaving Lucien feeling hollow. He felt so fragile that it seemed as if the gentlest of touches would cause him to be shattered beyond repair. Beside him, Leonardo finally caught up, panting to catch his own breath.

"What?" Leonardo gasped between breaths. "What is it? What are you looking for? Why did you suddenly take off?"

Lucien didn't reply, but looked around desperately in search of any sign of the call. He had to find it-it was imperative that he found it again. The call was like nothing he'd ever experienced before in his life. As if there were a piece of him missing and if he could just follow that call, he could find it and be whole again. It was a tingling in his chest when he could sense it-like a warm, shining beacon that was leading him home after being lost for countless years. Lost and not even aware he needed finding. It called to every fiber of his being, and he needed it. He didn't know why, but if he couldn't find it, he felt he would be driven mad, searching for it endlessly. He couldn't lose it - he had to get to it.

Whatever 'it' was.

Leonardo took Lucien by the shoulders and made him focus.

"Lucien!" he barked, but not unkindly. He was obviously worried. "What's wrong?! What are you looking for?"

The wild look in Lucien's eye that had been roaming the crowds in search of something that had been calling out desperately to him focused in on Leonardo's face then dulled slowly, his rigid muscles in his shoulders tensing even more as he tried to regain control of himself. His breathing slowed. Suddenly, the thought of sharing that call-that feeling-with anyone repulsed Lucien. It was his. No one else could have it. And when he found it, he would protect it at all costs. Like a dragon protecting its horde.

"It's nothing," he muttered harshly. "Let's get out of here." Though the very thought of leaving without finding the call repulsed him even more than sharing it, and he immediately wished to retract that statement. He clinched his jaw and said nothing, waiting for Leonardo to move.

Leonardo watched him. There was doubt in his eyes. Lucien wanted desperately for him to stall in hopes of the call coming back so he could find it, but he also hated the idea of staying any longer lest he look like a lunatic searching for some unknown thing. How could he tell Leonardo that he did not know what was calling to him and yet he needed to find it to stop this panic building in his chest?

"Fine, but I need to buy a few things here... If you don't mind?" asked Leonardo.

Once again, Lucien felt his mind torn in two. One part of him was so grateful to the Leonardo for giving him the opportunity, that Lucien wanted to hug him and kiss his balding head. The other part was desperate to get away from this situation as fast as he could. Whatever could make him act like this was probably dangerous. Tearing his own mind in two different directions? What could do such a thing?

Finally, he barked, "Fine, but hurry," and followed his assistant into a random store.

Leonardo pretended to be looking for a shirt amongst the racks while monitoring Lucien from behind his sunglasses. Lucien knew he cared nothing about the three shirts he was looking at as he carefully studied Lucien out of the corner of his eye. Lucien, however, casually followed him and stared into space with a disinterested air. When Leonardo turned away to pay the cashier, the call hit him again.

At first he felt nothing, closing his eyes. The noise of the bustling crowds and overly loud, terrible music faded away in his ears, leaving behind a deafening silence that soon gave way to the sound of his shallow breathing and rhythmic heart beat. Then it was there. The call that rang as clear as a bell in his consciousness. It was faint, but growing, and he held onto its warmth that filled him with an odd sense of comfort and ease. A sense that he craved with every fiber of his being.