The creature stood perfectly still for a few seconds before grabbing him by the neck and lifting him into the air.
"Put... me... down," Lucas managed to choke out.
The monster immediately released him, Lucas hit the ground hard.
The creature then stared at its own hand in confusion, as if wondering why its actions were no longer its own.
"You can't hurt me..." Lucas forced confidence into his voice, even though he wasn't sure it would make any difference.
If his theory was correct, he needed to issue commands. That was how he controlled it.
The monster stared at him blankly, showing little reaction.
"It's working."
Despite his pounding heart and sweat running down his body, a grin spread across his face.
"Can you talk?" he asked.
A second later he sighed.
"What the hell am I thinking?"
The creature suddenly turned its attention toward the corridor Gavin and Elena had disappeared into.
Then it began walking in that direction.
"Wait. Where are you going?"
The monster didn't even glance at him. It simply kept moving.
"Hey, I said stop."
This time it obeyed.
The creature halted and slowly turned its head toward him. For a brief moment they stared at one another.
Then the monster slammed its heavy legs into the ground, again and again.
The concrete cracked beneath the impact. Before Lucas could react, it bent over and began digging through the floor, disappearing underground within seconds.
Lucas stared into the hole it left behind.
'Why had it acted like that?'
It was as if something made the monster to resist his command.
'He doesn't seem capable of talking, but there's definitely something going on inside his head'
A thought occurred to him
'and why am I even calling it a he? It could be a she. Or maybe monsters don't even have genders' He shrugged.
'Either way, it's good to know my Charm works on monsters'
Though apparently not perfectly.
'I wonder what else I can make them do'
A grin slowly crept across his face.
'Maybe I can make one kill itself?'
That would be amazing.
Free Karma Points for practically doing nothing.
'First I need to find that monster again'
His grin widened.
'It'll be my special lab rat'
Suddenly his legs felt heavy.
The strength drained from his body so quickly it was as if someone had pulled a plug.
The corridor tilted, then he collapsed as the darkness covered his gaze.
When Lucas opened his eyes again, something felt strange.
For one thing, he wasn't lying on hard concrete anymore.
His head was resting on something soft. Very soft.
At first he thought he was still unconscious because everything was dark.
Then he realized his eyes were simply closed.
'Something is pressed against my face'
Curious, he reached up and squeezed it.
Soft.
He squeezed again.
Then a third time.
His brow furrowed.
Wait.
His other hand moved experimentally.
There were two of them.
And the surface beneath his head felt suspiciously soft as well.
Realization struck him like lightning.
Lucas shot upright.
He turned around so fast he nearly gave himself whiplash.
Sitting behind him was a woman.
Not just any woman.
"Ms. Carol?"
Carol raised an eyebrow.
"Did grabbing my boobs actually wake you up, or were you taking advantage of the situation?"
"Taking advantage?" Lucas said quickly. "No, no, of course not. I just..."
He opened his mouth.
Then closed it.
There was absolutely no defense for what had happened.
"...I didn't mean to."
"It's fine." She waved it off,
"I guess the universe is trying to tell me I need the touch of a man. I wonder how long it's been."
She sounded more like she was talking to herself than to him.
Lucas could only stare.
He was honestly impressed she could joke about something like that in a place like this.
Carol looked down the corridor.
"I found you lying here when I arrived. Where are the others?"
"They went that way."
Lucas pointed toward the empty hallway.
The moment he raised his arm, a sharp pain exploded at the back of his head.
He winced and instinctively reached for it.
"Easy," Carol said. "Looks like you hit your head pretty hard."
"You must have used your ability a little bit too much and used up all your innate Karma, if you close your eyes, you would probably feel as your body desperately try to replenish it,"
"Innate Karma?" He murmured and tried to feel for it by focusing on his breath.
Indeed he could feel a foreign energy flowing directly into his body from all over.
"You should try not to use your skills for a few days,"
"A few days?!"
"Yes, unless you want to die of exhaustion," she got up to her feet.
"Come on, let's go. Stay close to me and I'll keep you safe for the rest of the night," she offered him a hand.
Lucas didn't expect her to be so accommodating so it took him a few seconds to react.
"O-Okay," he accepted her help and got up to his feet.
"Thank you,"
"You're welcome," she replied with a little blush as their eyes met, turning away abruptly.
Lucas noticed but thought he was just imagining things, after all what could he do to possibly make someone like her blush.
What actually surprised him the most was her confidence. The fact she could say she'll protect him without any hesitation.
'What kind of power do I need to get that kind of confidence?' he wondered.
She stopped at the hole in the ground, studying it.
"Did one of the Burrowing Spiders do this?"
"Yeah. I think it's still going after them."
"But how did it manage to miss you? You barely looked scratched up,"
"I guess I was just lucky," he chuckled dryly.
The silence stretched as she stared at him blankly, it became even more awkward for Lucas when he remembered she found him passed out from using his ability too much.
"Okay," she finally said and turned away. "I'm not going to force you if you don't want to tell me,"