Chapter Text
Lumen had thought her darkness faded out of existence when Jordan Chase's body disappeared into the ocean. She went home to her parents, got a job, and privately recovered from her experiences in Miami.
It's incredible how wrong she was. The darkness hadn't gone away at all, just festered inside her out of notice. The realization came when she felt the urge bubbling up into her consciousness once more after over a year of peace, and despite her best attempts to wrangle it into submission, that urge kept getting stronger until she was dizzy with it. She ended up standing over the whimpering, dying body of a stray dog, bloody knife in hand and feeling so guilty for not being able to restrain herself.
Amazing how animals could earn more sympathy than other humans - as if the people who beat, raped, and killed twelve women before her could even be called human at all.
The next day, Lumen was packing up her belongings and putting in for a transfer to Miami. It was a sudden decision, but she knew that Dexter was the only person who could help her with this. She left for the south a couple of weeks later, letting her parents know this time and hugging them both tightly.
Now she's standing in the baggage claim at Miami International Airport, already missing her family and hoping she's made the right decision. Lumen rubs clammy palms over her jeans as she waits for her suitcase to swing around on the carousel and planning out what she'll say to Dexter when she shows up on his doorstep out of nowhere.
'Hey Dexter, I know it's been over a year since we've seen each other, but my urge came back and I need you to teach me how to kill on my own. Please?'
It sounds kind of pathetic, but what other option does she have? Just wing it and get caught almost immediately, upsetting her family and friends and having to spend the rest of her life locked up in a cell? No, this is her only hope of being able to continue living a normal life.
She sees her luggage coming around, so she rubs her hands down her front once more before grabbing her suitcase and heading towards the exit and hailing a cab. The weather outside the airport is just as hot and humid as she remembers. The cardigan she wears gets swiftly removed and the sleeves of her shirt are rolled up past her elbows.
A taxi pulls up and the driver stows her luggage in the trunk as she sits down in the passenger seat. The air conditioning is a welcome reprieve, but being alone in a car with a stranger sets her on edge and her hands clam up again with a different kind of nervousness than before.
Lumen recites the address of Dexter's apartment in a careful monotone, swallowing thickly as she watches the driver input it into his GPS. Then they're finally moving, the late hour meaning there's not as much traffic - less time for her to compose herself, but she weighs that against the boon of a much cheaper trip and she feels a little better.
Arriving at the familiar complex, she waits anxiously at the entrance before gathering up her courage and heading towards number 10B. Heart hammering in her chest, she stalls again with a fist raised to knock; she feels a little silly for being nervous about meeting her ex not-quite-boyfriend again but not murdering four people and dumping their corpses in the ocean.
Come on, Lumen. Just get this over with already!
She knocks. There's some fumbling from inside - maybe she's caught him at a bad time? - but eventually the door opens.
Dexter looks older now, wrinkles starting to form on his forehead and around his eyes. He seems tired too, drained like the blood out of a victim's chest wound. Despite that, her long-faded feelings for him come flooding back into focus, making her flush slightly and mouth go dry.
And then he speaks.
"Lumen?"