Chapter three

Lucian’s POV;

“Master, we’re here,” my driver announced. The crunching sound of the gravel beneath the tires filling the air as he maneuvered into the small compound. The air was thick with anticipation, and the late afternoon sun casted a warm golden hue over the scene, illuminating the edges of the weather-beaten walls that surrounded us. 

As we arrived, the first car in front of us—brimming with my ever-watchful bodyguards—came to a halt, and soon the car behind us, too, with another set of bodyguards, followed suit. Their powerful silhouettes casting long shadows across the driveway. 

I glanced out the window, taking in the mundane surroundings in front of me, the compound had an air of quiet dignity. The small bungalow, centered in the middle, was something you’d expect from a middle-class family. With ivy climbing the stone walls and a few well-tended plants bravely and defiantly blooming amidst the rugged façade. It seemed almost at odds with the swarm of muscular men that emerged from the vehicles, like dark clouds gathering before a storm.

“Open up,” I commanded, my voice steady and firm. Immediately one of the guards ran to my door and opened it. 

As the door swung open, I felt the rush of the cool air envelop me, a refreshing contrast to the tension that had been building throughout the drive. My thoughts had been filled with the girl I was coming to take home; could she really be the one?

Stepping out, I was greeted by the sharp, alert gazes of my guards, their eyes scanning the area as if they could pluck threats from the very air around us. Each one moved with purpose, positioning themselves strategically as I took my first steps onto the grounds. 

Then almost immediately someone from inside opened the front door and came out, approaching us with a smile wide on his face. Judging from his facial features and height, he should be around nineteen years old.

“Omg!” He squealed, placing his hands over his mouth in amusement. “I can’t believe I’m standing right in front of Lucian Moonstone. I didn’t know you’d be coming in person.” He extended his hand for a shake, and I just stared at him blankly in return.

Humans were one of the most despicable creatures to me. Take this one for example: I had sent a letter expressing my interest in his sister, and he and his mother had on their own accord offered to sell her to me in exchange for money for themselves. I was repulsed. 

After a little more background research, I discovered they were just her stepfamily, but that was no excuse for the way they treated her.

Honestly, I couldn’t care less how a human was treated; if she was maltreated or abused, it was none of my concern really, but I needed this girl for a reason. A reason that even I have no choice but to give in to.

“I see you’re not a shaker. Well, follow me then,” the boy laughed awkwardly as he led the way. My guards tried to follow suit, but I instructed them to stay put.

 “I’m Noah, by the way,” the boy introduced as we walked into the house, obviously trying to start a conversation, but I wasn’t in the mood. I just wanted to get what I was here for and leave.

He showed me to a room and served me some refreshments. “I’d go get my mum so you both can finalize payments, and then we can hand over the item to you.” Noah said as he left the room after I'd settled down. 

How lowly could a person be that even her own species referred to her as ‘an item’? I was beginning to have doubts about this whole thing. What if I was wrong and she wasn’t the one?

I should have at least felt a kind of connection immediately I stepped into the same surroundings as her, but till now I haven’t felt even the tiniest of sparks. 

Suddenly I heard the muffled crying of a girl, and for some reason a pang of pain hit my chest. Usually I wouldn’t care to do anything that didn’t benefit me, but I just couldn’t withstand the piercing pain in my heart; it felt like I was being stabbed.

I stood up and trailed the cry to the back door of the house. As I got closer I could overhear some voices, “Listen, you brat, you better make sure he likes you. If he tells you to lick his boot, you do it. If he tells you to bark, you do it, alright? If not, you're dead meat.” The woman threatened.

I pushed open the back door leading to the backyard, and the grotesque sight in front of me was alarming. The woman, Noah’s mother, was tightly dragging the hair of a girl she had twirled around her finger. The girl’s face had turned bright red from the effect of the woman stretching her scalp. 

Seeing the display, a rush of anger flooded me, and I ran up to the woman, my eyes seeing only red. With one light push of my hand, the woman went flying and crashing into the solid wall behind her. She fell to the ground unconscious, a small crack on the wall where her body had made contact.

“Mom!!” Noah screamed, running to her. I paid them no attention, Instead I focused on the girl who still looked shaken from the whole ordeal. Recognizing her to be the girl I was here for, I grabbed her hand and led her out of the house. 

“I’d transfer the money by evening,” I said to Noah before I disappeared through the door with the girl in hand.

I led the girl out to where the cars were packed, and immediately the guard opened the door for us to enter. I helped her settle down on the seat before going the other way to sit beside her.

It was only after I had settled down into the car that all the adrenaline in my body calmed down, and I looked at myself in shock. 

What had come over me? Why had I gone all berserk when I saw this girl get hurt? 

Maybe I wasn’t wrong after all. Maybe there was a connection, and this blind girl was the right choice.

“Sorry…but who are you?” The girl’s voice suddenly reminded me of her presence again. Her lean face, evidence of how food-starved she was, had fear etched on it. The exposed part of her arm, which had beating marks on them, were shivering, and her feet, which were covered in a shoe with holes, tapped anxiously against the car carpet. 

Anger began to rise up in me again; even animals weren’t treated this badly.

I calmed myself. “I am Lucian Moonstone, the man you were sold to.” I could see her flinch at the mention of my name. It was to be expected. That was how everyone reacted to who I was.

The car started, and we headed back to my estate in the woods. As we crossed the gate of the compound, I couldn’t help but feel that a new chapter of my life was about to begin and this blind girl was going to be a determining factor in how things played out.