Clark’s POV:

The words hit me like a slap to the face, and for a moment, I could only stand there, staring at Lucas as he pulled away from me, his eyes burning with a mix of rage and confusion.

"You... YOU are working for him." His voice shook with disbelief, but the anger behind it was so raw, so genuine. "You allowed me to tag along so you could bring your master a snack." 𝒇𝒓𝙚𝒆𝔀𝓮𝓫𝒏𝓸𝙫𝓮𝓵.𝓬𝙤𝙢

His words cut deeper than I expected, hitting me like a sucker punch to the gut. Lucas was trembling, his voice breaking through the silence, raw with pain and anger. I could see his bloodshot eyes, the fear in them, and the hatred that was bubbling up, mixing with the terror and the hopelessness he had to be feeling.

The accusation felt like a weight crashing down on me. My chest tightened, my breath quickening as I scrambled for a response, but the words caught in my throat.

"No, no!" I protested, stepping forward, trying to close the gap between us. "That’s not what happened, Lucas. I swear—"

But he wasn’t having it. His eyes were wild now, his expression one of pure betrayal. "You fucking think I’m that dumb?" he spat. "I heard him. I heard Blaze say you brought along a snack. So I was the snack?" He pulled away from me, every movement sharp, defensive, like I was the last person he could trust.

It felt like a punch to the gut. I didn’t know how to explain, how to make him understand. But his words were coming faster now, fueled by anger, and my heart was pounding in my ears.

"No, no! That’s not what I—" I started to say, reaching out, but the look on Lucas’s face made my hand freeze mid-air. He wasn’t looking for an explanation. He wasn’t listening.

His hands trembled, his anger boiling over.

"Stay the hell away from me!" he shouted, his voice cracking. "I’m not your fucking snack, Clark!"

"You’re losing your shit, Lucas," I said, voice shaky as I reached out again, but he recoiled, his face twisted in disgust.

"No!" he yelled, backing up further. "Stay the fuck away from me. Next time, you’ll bring some poor, unsuspecting girl, right? Some fresh meat for your monster friend, huh?"" His voice cracked, but there was no softness in it, only bitterness and pain. "You’re working with these monsters all along, and you pretended you didn’t know shit!"

"Stop!" I begged, trying to keep my voice calm, but the frustration was building up inside me. "You’ve got it all wrong!" I let out a bitter laugh, half in disbelief. "I’m not working with him, Lucas."

But Lucas wasn’t listening. He was shaking his head, the horror and betrayal written all over his face. And that look... it felt like he was seeing me for the first time—as if everything I’d said up until now had been a lie.

I wanted to scream at him, to tell him that it wasn’t like that. That I didn’t want any of this, that I hadn’t known who Blaze truly was. But the anger in Lucas’s eyes made it feel like the more I said, the more I would make it worse.

"God," I muttered, shaking my head, "you got it all wrong!"

I laughed, a bitter, hollow sound escaping me, feeling the heat of frustration and guilt burning behind my words. "You think I wanted this? You think I wanted any of this to happen?" I stepped forward again, but he moved back, clearly not wanting me near him. "You don’t get it, Lucas. This isn’t how it works."

"You know what’s worse than monsters, Clark?" he said, his voice eerily calm now, almost too quiet for my taste. "Humans working for them, bringing other humans to be slaughtered, just to save their own pathetic hides." He laughed, but it wasn’t a real laugh. It was the sound of someone who had lost all hope. "And that little eye thing you were doing with him while he was feeding on me? I noticed that too. It’s messed up as fuck. Getting high watching people get fed on..."

The words hit harder than I expected. His betrayal wasn’t just in what he said—it was in the way he said it. The way his disbelief twisted into resentment, the way he looked at me now like I was just another part of the nightmare.

I opened my mouth to explain, but nothing came out.

Instead, Lucas stood up, shaking his head in disgust. He was trying to push me away, physically and emotionally, and it was working.

It wasn’t a game to me. This wasn’t some kind of sick thrill I got from watching Lucas suffer. But how could I explain that when it felt like everything I said was getting twisted into something darker, something I didn’t even recognize?

I took a step forward, desperate to make him understand. "Lucas, please, I swear to you—"

But he was already standing up, his movements shaky but determined. He didn’t even look at me as he turned away, his back to me.

"I’m done," he said quietly, his voice hollow. "Just... stay the hell away from me, Clark. I’m not your pawn."

"Fuck you, Clark," he muttered under his breath, before turning and walking away. His steps were unsteady, but his resolve was clear. "I can’t deal with you right now."

I stood there, my feet frozen to the spot, watching him walk away, the sound of his footsteps fading into the distance. The guilt, the shame, the anger—it all churned inside me, but I had no idea how to make him understand. I wasn’t working with Blaze. I wasn’t part of whatever twisted game this was.

But Lucas? He didn’t see it that way.

And right now, I didn’t know how to fix it.

I was lost in a sea of my own mistakes, with no way out.

I stood there, watching Lucas storm off down the hallway, his footsteps echoing against the walls like a painful reminder of how badly I’d messed up. I knew the look in his eyes—the anger, the betrayal, the way he couldn’t see past his own hurt. It was the same look that people gave when they realized they’d been deceived, manipulated. And I couldn’t blame him.

I’d been spared—he hadn’t. He had a right to be angry. But it still stung. I didn’t ask for this, I thought again. I didn’t want to be in this situation, but here I was, stuck between trying to survive and trying to save Sara.

I knew I had to give him some space. Time to cool off. I didn’t want to push him further away, especially not when things were already so fragile between us.

But that didn’t mean I was giving up on explaining myself.

I couldn’t just leave things like this, not with him hating me, thinking I was some kind of traitor.

He needed to know the truth. That I didn’t know Blaze before yesterday. That I didn’t choose this.

Blaze had appeared out of nowhere, like a storm with eyes full of hunger, and suddenly I was dragged into whatever twisted game he was playing. Hell, I didn’t even know what Blaze was at first.

I shook my head, taking a slow, steadying breath. I’ll tell him everything, I thought. But not now. Not while the anger was still too raw in his eyes. Maybe if I gave him some time to cool off, he’d listen. I had to believe that.

I could still see Lucas’s face, the way it contorted when Blaze bit him, and that scream of his... I hadn’t wanted to hear that. But I couldn’t stop it, not when I was just as helpless.

It wasn’t my fault, I told myself again, though the guilt still weighed heavily. Blaze doesn’t care who he hurts. He’s a predator. He did what he does. And me? I was just trying to survive in a world that had already decided I was prey.

I turned back to the hallway, moving slowly as my mind raced. There was no way I was going to let Lucas just walk away thinking I had betrayed him. He was my friend, my only friend in this godforsaken place now that Sara was no where to be found.

When I found him again, I would make him understand. I would explain everything about how I met Blaze, how I hadn’t even known the guy’s name until someone else had called him by it while he was dragging me to the dorm. It wasn’t like I was in on it.

I ran a hand through my hair and sighed. There was so much I still needed to understand, but right now, the only thing I knew for sure was that I couldn’t just let Lucas slip through my fingers. Not after everything we’d been through.

But for now, I had to let him be. I had to find a way to rebuild that bridge without forcing it.

So, I turned back toward the dorms and tried to shake the feeling that something else—something worse—was on the horizon.