CENTURIES | Lucien Castle

XVI. Behind the Black Horizon

Juliette panted as Lucien pulled her along through the woods. Her heart shattered when she found out it was him who had her kidnapped along with Freya. Lucien stared straightforward, trying not to look at Juliette as she sent him a murderous glare.

"Is this your idea of me and you getting back together?" Juliette snapped. "After everything that's happened?"

Lucien chuckled at the Mikaelson. "Think of it all as a date with destiny, love. Though I admit, four is a crowd," Lucien muttered while he looked behind him to see Vincent and Freya. "Vincent is a necessary evil I'm afraid, here to keep you in check should you misbehave."

"Yeah, you're leaving out the part where I ain't exactly here of my own volition, man," Vincent sighed loudly from the back. "The ancestors must have lost their damn minds."

"Quite the opposite. I've never dealt with a saner bunch," Lucien grabbed onto Juliette's shoulders.

"Lucien, if you don't take your hands off me, I will rip them off your body and feed them to you," Juliette spat once his hands came in contact with her skin.

Lucien looked stunned by Juliette's threat. "Don't be so dramatic, darling," he never moved his hands from her shoulders which caused her to scoff. "See, when I arrived in New Orleans, I made them a deal. Upon my request, they would grant me access to the Regent and in exchange, I'd provide for them a world without the originals minus the lovely Juliette and my unborn child," Lucien sighed in blissful arrogance. "Didn't take much convincing. They do despise your family. Ah, we're here."

The four stopped and Juliette took in her surroundings and felt her skin crawl. She knew exactly where they were and she didn't like it one bit.

"Yeah, but where the hell is 'here', man?" Vincent asked.

"How disappointing," Lucien scoffed at Vincent and Freya. "Two powerful witches who cannot sense when you're treading on hallowed ground? From the look on Juliette's face, she knows exactly where we are. Welcome to Mystic Falls. The place where it all began. Where Esther Mikaelson created the vampire species. Under the shade of the infamous white oak tree, she crafted the spell that turned each of her children. And I mean to replicate that spell. I have everything I need to become what I deserve to be."

Juliette felt her body go numb at the words that flew from Lucien's mouth. Lucien walked towards Vincent and after he let go of Juliette, she huddled close to Freya.

"You want to become an original," Vincent realized.

"Do I look like the sort who'd settle for some shoddy original model?" Lucien asked with disgust but then turned to look at Juliette. "No offense, beautiful."

"I intend to be an upgrade."

"You are insane to think I'd ever help you craft any spell," Freya refused.

"Oh, no, no, you misunderstood. Vincent will handle the spell," Lucien corrected the Mikaelson sister's thoughts. He pulled Freya away from Juliette. "From you, I need something a bit more intimate."

Lucien had his vampire features appear on his face and then bit into Freya's wrist.

****

Lucien held Freya's bleeding wrists into a bowl. "Okay. Okay, man, that's enough," Vincent advised as Freya's whimpering continued.