*Note: Takes place Monday evening
After Brandon left, Lucas had gone to his room. He’d sat down at his desk and just…felt miserable. He hadn’t intended to lose control. Hadn’t intended to cost Jett his job, or disappoint Vince and Brandon. He thought they were maybe even angry with him. It hurt to know that he had, on some level, hurt those closest to him. He ran a hand through his hair, and looked up at the sound of a knock on his door. He said nothing, and the knock sounded again before it opened, and Jett walked in, closing the door behind him. He sat on the edge of the bed, hands folded between his knees as he looked at Lucas.
“I’m sorry.” Lucas started. It was all he could think of to say.
“I’m not upset about losing the job. I don’t need to work and had been thinking of quitting anyway.” he said quietly. “My concern is you.”
“You should’ve just let me die.” he mumbled, looking down. He looked up again when a hand lifted his chin so his face could meet Jett’s.
“Don’t ever say that again.” he said, a bit harshly. “It’s bullshit and you know it.”
“Is it? The first thing I did after I woke up as a vampire was attack someone. I feel like I’ve caused you nothing but problems.”
“That’s hardly true, Lucas. If you think about it, you know better.”
“Maybe.” Lucas said. He was being hard on himself, he knew – but it was also an ingrained response, a reaction that appeased his smug father in years past, so a part of him was hoping it would work here.
“I love you, Lucas. I’m just worried. From what I could tell, you could have lost control to your Beast. Probably would have if you hadn’t fed the night before.”
Lucas jerked his head out of Jett’s hand and looked away. Jett continued. “You have to learn to reign it in. There are people you can talk to – I can’t teach you – I’m still struggling with it myself. What I can tell you is that, with the vampires around here, there are essentially two ways of learning. Keep it caged and stuffed away by sheer force of will – that’s the Camarilla way of thinking. Or, learn to control it by letting it out, and riding it. That’s the Sabbat way of thinking. Vince or Brandon could probably teach you the latter. Petra is probably best for the former.”
Jett sighed and caressed the side of Lucas’ face, but he appeared not to react. “You have to do something, even if it’s just talking. I want to help you Lucas.” he said, dropping his hand before standing up. “I can’t do that if you don’t let me.” he waited to see if there was a response from Lucas, but when none came he sighed and left, leaving Lucas to mull over what he’d said.
Lucas didn’t think Vince or Brandon would be willing to help him – not with the mood he thought they were in now. While he knew Petra, he didn’t feel comfortable confiding in her. He ran down a mental list of names of the people he knew. Comfortably, he felt he could only converse with either the group of others around his age, or, more helpfully, Charles. He got up, pulling on a jacket and then grabbed his keys. He paused with his hand on the doorknob, wondering if anyone would be willing to let him out of the house.
There was always the chance he could slip out the window and head around to the driveway. Roger would notice, but he doubted Roger would know enough to alert anyone yet. They’d hear the car start, but he was betting he could have the car coasted out of the driveway and onto the highway before they did.
Coming to the conclusion that the latter was the better plan, he slid his window open carefully, trying not to make a sound, and slipped outside, landing on both feet. He closed the window as best as he could before heading around the house to the driveway. Climbing into his car, he set it in neutral, backed it out of the driveway slowly, indeed pulling out onto the highway before starting up the vehicle and taking off, turning towards town, and making his way to the outreach center. Once he felt he had been on the road for a comfortable distance, he picked up the phone, and dialed Charles.