Level Four

She instantly turned her face away from him, evading the contact that their lips were about to make.

'What am I doing?' she mentally slapped herself. Her brain seemed to have gradually started to function again.

Lucius only paused his movement, not pulling away to create any space between them. He continued to run his fingers on her cheek, his touch slowly descending down to her slender neck.

Leah shut her eyes and clenched her fists. "Please stop," she said pleadingly, begging him to end his torment.

As if listening to her pleas, Lucius pulled away from her, but his hands still remained on the wall, trapping her securely in between. Leah finally turned to face him and noticed that his eyes had returned to their normal color. She snapped her head towards the entrance when she heard someone clear their throat.

Andrea was standing there with her arms folded across her chest, her expression inscrutable as she stared at both of them.

"Robert wants to see you," Andrea said, her eyes focused on Lucius. "He said it's urgent," she added when Lucius did not reply or even budge.

Leah turned to look at Lucius and noticed that he was just staring at her chest with an unreadable expression, causing her to feel uncomfortable.

"Tell him that I will be with him in a minute," Lucius said, finally replying Andrea who nodded, she gave Leah a meaningful look before turning to leave.

Her heels echoed in the hallway as they clicked on the ground, causing Leah to wonder why she had not heard her footsteps before when she entered the hallway.

Lucius finally pulled away from her, his jaw clenching as if something was upsetting him.

"We will talk when I come back. There's something I need to tell you, but for now, I need you to stay in your room. Don't come out, and don't let anyone in until I return," he instructed, to which Lucius nodded.

"We will talk when I come back. There I something I need to tell you but for now, I need you to stay in your room and don't come out or let anyone in till I come back." he said flatly before beginning to walk away.

Lucius pushed his hand through his hair, running his fingers through the strands before pushing them back. A few escaped and came to rest on his forehead, giving him a slightly disheveled look. With a deep sigh, he turned and began to walk away. Leah could only stare at his back as he walked away, before completely disappearing from her sight.

She entered her room and locked the door, going to sit on the bed. She face palmed, groaning in exasperation.

"What is wrong with me? What is with me..." She asked herself repeatedly.

She was supposed to hate Lucius, because that is the normal way people are meant to feel when someone kidnaps and manipulates them. Leah hated Lucius, she was sure she did a few days ago, a few hours ago, but right now, she wasn't sure she even hate the man. Maybe she was just angry at him.

...

In the seating room, Robert and Fransisco were immersed in their conversation while Jane sat in another corner of the room, with a metal box in her hands, muttering incoherently to herself. She looked like she was in a trance, as she sat there, clutching the box in her hands even tighter.

Lucius stepped into the room, his eyes settling on Jane for a brief moment before they moved to Robert and Fransisco.

"You requested my presence," Lucius asked, taking a seat on one of the couch.

Robert nodded. "Yes. The higher ups in the council called this morning, there has been a few murders in France and they want me and Fransisco to handle it." he said. "We are leaving in five hours from now but Jane," he gestured towards Jane. "Will stay to continue your supervision."

"Why can't the council send other people to investigate the murders, the both of you are already on an assignment here," Lucius commented.

It was a little bit strange that the council were sending the both of them to work on another case when they already had an assignment at hand. The council did not operate like that, they never did, something was definitely wrong somewhere.

"Well, they said that the other agents are either on a mission or on vacation," Francisco replied, his expression showing little concern. "And besides, that cuff," Francisco gestured towards Lucius' wrist, "is more than enough to do our job," he added with a meaningful smile, a hint of wickedness lurking beneath it.

"As for your restriction, I was thinking of raising the level to step four," Robert said.

Lucius' eyebrows furrowed slightly for a brief second upon hearing this. "Did the council issue that order?" he asked.

"No, they didn't, but after this few weeks surveillance, I think it is very imperative given that you haven't been adhering to the restriction rules." Robert stated. "We know that you've been recklessly killing and drinking way too much blood even though you know very well that you are restricted from doing so." He added, as he gestured for Fransisco to wake Jane up.

"I understand that I have not been keeping to the rules and that I deserve some extra punishment, but don't you think increasing my restriction to level four is a bit excessive?" Lucius asked calmly.

"You have a point, but Fransisco made me realize that your punishment warrants more severe measures," Robert replied, his gaze shifting to Jane, who had just awoken from her trance. "Increase his restriction level to four," Robert instructed, causing Jane's eyes to widen in surprise.

The restriction cuffs were designed with black magic to diminish the vampiric powers of any vampire they were placed on. Each cuff was created with specific rules and guidelines depending on the vampire's offense. Throughout the history of restriction cuffs, the council had never elevated any vampire's restriction to level four. The highest level of restriction ever used was level three, which was only applied to pure-blooded vampires due to their heightened strength and tolerance.

An average vampire would completely loose their minds if they even dared to reach level three in their restriction. It had been tested once before and the result had been terrible. The council had increased an average vampire restriction to level three, the vampire was in a very weakened state at first — as council were expecting.

The vampire lost his all his vampiric ability, turning to nothing less than a human, but that wasn't all. After a couple days, the vampire turned corrupt, becoming even stronger than he had ever been before. The vampire killed the council agents assigned to supervise him. He didn't stop there; he also massacred his entire family and all the villagers before the council could even intervene.

"But I thought you said we were only going to raise it to level two?" Jane asked, glancing at Robert.

Robert shook his head in response. "Level four is the ideal setting for him, Jane," Robert replied, and Jane reluctantly nodded in understanding.

With hesitation, she made her way toward Lucius, who observed her calmly as she approached, holding the metal box in her hand. When she reached his side, she knelt down on one knee and carefully placed the box on the floor. She carefully opened it and extracted a small crate containing tiny silver orbs. The orbs were as small as melon seeds.

"Your wrist," she requested without glancing at Lucius.

Lucius simply extended his wrist, his expression still neutral. Jane selected one of the small orbs and placed it on the cuff around Lucius's wrist. The cuff magnetically attracted the orb, which slowly began to liquefy before completely merging with it. Jane repeated this process with two more orbs, each of which also merged with the cuff in a similar manner.

When she was done with her work, she simply closed the box and stood up, moving away from Lucius.

"Should I activate it now, sir?" She asked Robert who gave her a go ahead.

...

Leah stretched, her muscles aching from the long nap. She sat up, rubbing her eyes and glanced around the room. The sun had already set, and the room was bathed in darkness. She couldn't believe she had fallen asleep while waiting for Lucius, and to make matters worse, he had not even bothered to show up.

She sighed softly, disappointment reflecting on her face as she got down from the bed. It was quite a shame that she had hoped he would come to see her as he had said. She was hoping he would be a little bit truthful with her for once.