Annoying like a Curse

The police officers' guns were still pointed at him, but Lukas just shrugged. "You can tear the city out from under me, you're allowed to destroy it all. But don't think you can stop me."

One of the police officers, the woman, took a step forward. She was fascinated by how someone could seem so confident and so dangerous. Her eyes almost glowed with interest as she looked at Lukas. She knew he was more than just a man—he was something else, something she was only too eager to understand.

"You... you're not like the others," she said, her voice calm, but with a slight hint of admiration. "What are you? What do you want?"

Lukas laughed softly, a smug, almost amused sound. "What am I? You're so curious. Why? Why the questions? You want to know what I am, but you have no idea what you're really looking at."

He looked at them for a long moment, as if reading their thoughts, then turned back to the police officers, who were still pointing their guns at him. "You can do whatever you want," Lukas continued, moving slowly and threateningly toward them. "The city, your world—they can all burn. But you'll never stop me."

He shrugged again, as if he thought the whole situation was a bad joke. "You're so sure you're in control. But what do you really have? Do you really think you can stop me?"

Suddenly, he took a deep breath, and the moment everyone turned their eyes to him, thick, black smoke erupted around him, enveloping the room in total darkness. The police officers stared into the void as the smoke thickened and Lukas disappeared in an instant.

The room was silent again. The weapons slowly sank to the ground, but the moment he had disappeared echoed in her mind, and the woman still stared into the darkness, fascinated by what she had just witnessed.

Dr. Aurora Stein stood at a table scattered with numerous files and documents. Her fingers absentmindedly stroked the papers as she repeatedly reviewed the notes on Lukas's understanding. Her eyes flashed as she reviewed the data on his abilities, his origins, and the events surrounding him. She was obsessed with the idea of ​​understanding Lukas, of deciphering what made him who he was.

"He's not of this world," she murmured, almost to herself. "There's no logical explanation that covers what he does. No human being can change like that, disappear like that..."

A soft knock on the door pulled her from her thoughts. The inspector entered, and immediately the tension between the two was palpable. He was the one who wanted to stop Lukas, who kept trying to see him as a threat, while she, Dr. Stein, considered him a fascinating enigma.

"Don't you still understand him?" Inspector Schäfer asked, a hint of impatience in his voice.

"He's a monster, Inspector," she answered calmly, without looking at him. "But that doesn't mean we should simply destroy him. He's... something else. Maybe it's us who pose the threat, not him."

Schäfer snorted. "I don't know how you see it, but he's a danger to this city. And if he's not stopped soon, he'll destroy far more than you can imagine."

"You don't understand," Dr. Stein said, turning to him and looking him straight in the eye. "He's an experiment of nature. Something that shouldn't be in this universe. But he's here. And if we don't understand him, we'll never know how to deal with him."

Schäfer shook his head. "I don't think he'll just let us 'understand.' If you try to understand him, we'll just be the victims."

"Maybe we already are the victims," ​​she whispered, more to herself than to him, and took a step back.

As she continued to think, she was aware of the urgency of the situation. Lukas was no ordinary person, she knew that. And the more she thought about him, the clearer it became to her that he was capable of changing the entire world—or destroying it.

Lukas stood in the darkness, the cold wind blowing against him. His footsteps echoed through the empty streets of the deserted city. The police officers were gone, the buildings deserted, but Lukas was sure he was being watched. Everything was quiet—too quiet.

He heard the faint click of shoes behind him and turned. A man, a police officer, stepped out of the shadows, gun in hand. Lukas smiled as he looked at the man approaching him. The gun was pointed at him, but Lukas just shrugged.

"You know what you're doing, right?" Lukas asked in a voice as calm as the wind.

The policeman hesitated, then replied, "You're beyond saving. No one here is safe."

"So you want to stop me?" Lukas snorted softly and took a step toward the man. "And you really think you can stop me?"

The policeman didn't hesitate any longer. He fired, but the shot narrowly missed Lukas. The moment of distraction was enough. Lukas reached for the man's gun and, with a quick pull, disarmed him. Before the policeman could even react, Lukas grabbed him by the throat and squeezed.

"You've made your choice," Lukas whispered as the man crumpled to the ground. "But I never intended to let myself be stopped."

As soon as he said that, he snapped the policeman's neck. The body slumped motionless.

In the distance, Lukas could hear a faint click as another person approached him. It was the woman. Dr. Aurora Stein. She had known he was coming. She had been expecting him.

"You killed him," she said calmly as she approached. Her voice was neutral, but there was a spark of recognition in her eyes. "He didn't stand a chance against you."

"He didn't know what he was doing," Lukas replied without looking at her. "No one here knows how to stop me."

Dr. Stein took a step closer, her gaze falling on the policeman's lifeless body. She shook her head almost imperceptibly. "So you came to test me, didn't you?"

Lukas laughed softly. "You were expecting me, weren't you?"

"Yes," she said, without changing her posture. "I knew you were coming. But you didn't have to kill him."

Lukas turned to her and regarded her for a moment. "You could have saved him," he said finally. "But you didn't warn him. Why?"

"I wanted to know what you were doing, Lukas," she replied with a slight smile. "I wanted to see how far you would go. And you didn't disappoint me."

"You didn't tell him anything?" Lukas asked as he took a step closer.

"No," Dr. Stein said, without taking his eyes off him. "Because I wanted you to. And you did."

Lukas shook his head and turned away again. "You're crazy," he said quietly.

"Crazy?" she repeated as she followed him. "Maybe. But I'm also curious. Curious to understand you, Lukas. You're more than just a monster. You're... something else."

Lukas stopped walking and turned back to her. "And what if I tell you that you can't understand me?"

"Then I'll try anyway," she replied with an almost conspiratorial smile. "Because you are more than a riddle. You are an answer to questions no one has dared to ask."

Lukas let out another soft laugh. "And what will you do when you find the answer?"

"Then I'll know what to do," she said, her voice now firm. "I'll know how to deal with you."

"You're really determined to find out, aren't you?" Lukas asked as he moved on. "Good. But rest assured, Dr. Stein, you won't stop me."

He disappeared into the darkness as she watched him go, silent and almost thoughtful, the policeman's body and the questions she was asking herself still on her mind.

Lukas continued to creep through the deserted streets, the silence almost palpable, as he spotted his next target. Another policeman was patrolling alone near an abandoned supermarket, unaware that he was already being watched by Lukas.

Lukas stepped out of the shadows, and the police officer turned to him, startled. "What... what do you want here?" he stammered, gun in hand, but clearly nervous.

"You hid well," Lukas said, his voice calm, almost serene, as he slowly approached the man. "But you know what happens if you mess with me."

The police officer raised his gun, but before he could fire a shot, Lukas quickly grabbed his wrist and forced it down. The gunshot narrowly missed him and bounced off an old sign hanging on the wall nearby. Lukas already had him in his grasp. Without another word, he pulled the police officer's gun from his hand and pressed the muzzle against his neck.

"You're trying to kill me, but you're too slow," Lukas said in a cold, almost pitying tone. With a quick jerk, he twisted the man's wrist, breaking it with a painful crack, and the police officer screamed.

"Stop!" the man shouted, but it was too late. Lukas took a step forward and plunged the gun into the policeman's throat. It was a precise, fatal thrust that suffocated the man instantly. He fell motionless to the ground, and Lukas looked at him for a moment.

"I'm sorry. You got in my way." Lukas whispered with a mixture of resignation and disgust.

He stood up and continued walking, as if the policeman's life were just another tiny blip on his path. The darkness seemed to close in around him as he moved further into the deserted streets of the city.

A little later, he came across a small group of survivors barricaded in an abandoned building. They hadn't yet noticed Lukas watching them. Their fears, shared in their conversations, clearly demonstrated how little they knew about the true nature of the monster plaguing their city.

Lukas had heard enough. He knew they would become his next distraction.

He stepped onto the concrete floor with a soft creak of his feet and let one of the doors burst open with a powerful jerk. The survivors turned in alarm when they saw him, their faces contorted in fear.

"What more do you want?" asked the first man, a A skinny guy, shaking with a gun in his hand. "We have nothing to stop you!"

"Oh, it's not about stopping you," Lukas replied with an almost humorous grin. "It's just that you're all in my way."

He took a step forward, and the man fired. But Lukas was faster. With a single, precise flick of his wrist, he pushed the man's gun aside and grabbed him by the neck. The pain that followed was immediate. Lukas twisted his grip and heard the crack of bones as the man collapsed in his arms.

The other survivors tried to flee in panic, but Lukas was always one step ahead of them. He dropped his victims like chess pieces, their helplessness an easy target for his unstoppable wrath.

The last man, an elderly man cornered, begged for his life. "Please, please, let me live! I have family!"

Lukas stepped closer and looked at him for a long moment. "You shouldn't be in my way," he said simply. Then, with one swift movement, he pressed the rod of a steel pipe into his throat. It wasn't long, but it was effective.

"You made a choice," Lukas murmured as the man collapsed.

He stood over the corpses, the blood on his hands, and took a deep breath. The city he now ruled had become a place of horror—and he was the master of that darkness.

Dr. Aurora Stein would understand, but she wasn't a bitter one; she was part of this game. And he would continue to watch her.

Courtroom, 10:00 a.m.

The tension in the room was palpable. Cameras clicked, journalists eagerly recorded every word, and the murmur of the audience rose as Dr. Aurora Stein was led into the courtroom in handcuffs. Beside her walked her attorney, a vigorous, middle-aged woman with a sharp eye and a briefcase full of documents.

"Dr. Stein," the judge began in a calm but stern voice. "You are accused of willfully and knowingly withholding information about the whereabouts of a dangerous perpetrator, which led to three brutal murders. What do you have to say about that?"

Aurora's attorney, Ms. Bergmann, immediately rose. "Your Honor, my client is a scientist. Her goal was to study the perpetrator in order to create a sound foundation that would enable law enforcement agencies to combat such threats more effectively in the future. She is not to blame for the police's inability to do their job in a timely manner."

"Not in a timely manner?" Inspector Schäfer, who was sitting in the witness box, jumped to her feet. "This is ridiculous! Dr. Stein deliberately misled us! She knew exactly where Lukas would strike and said nothing. Three people—three innocent people—would still be alive today if she had spoken!"

"Inspector Schäfer," warned the judge, "sit down. You will be given your time to speak." Schäfer gritted his teeth but slumped back into his seat.

Aurora leaned forward, her voice calm but firm: "With all due respect, Your Honor, I didn't remain silent to endanger people. I remained silent because I believed that a direct confrontation with Lukas at that moment would only increase the risk."

"And yet, three people are dead," the judge interjected.

Aurora took a deep breath, but before she could respond, her lawyer spoke again: "Your Honor, the responsibility does not lie solely with my client. The police were unable to catch the perpetrator. And as my client already said, a hasty reaction might have cost even more lives."

"Ms. Bergmann," the prosecutor, an older man with gray hair, spoke up. "Your argument is understandable, but irrelevant. Dr. Stein knowingly withheld crucial information.