“Pretty?” was all she managed to say back, her heart thumping in her chest.
He laughed, and it was most the beautiful sound she’d ever heard.
“Come on, they’re having all the fun. Why aren’t you?”
Without waiting, he approached her gracefully, held out a hand, and without even realizing it, she took his hand, jumping down off the stack of hay, and followed him, the two walking hand-in-hand into the corn maze alone. She was so swept up by him, she didn’t even stop to think or realize that this wasn’t exactly normal. A fantasy of hers had materialized, and had swept her way. But she wasn’t exactly about to start asking questions.
“Um… who are you?” she asked, tentative, her voice trembling, overcome by the feel of his hand in hers.
“I was looking for a date for the corn maze,” he said with a smile as they stepped inside. “This is my lucky day. Maria, right?”
She looked at him in wonder.
“How did you know my name?”
He smiled and laughed.
“You’ll soon find out about me,” he said, “that I know just about everything. And as for my name: you can call me Lore.”
Lore walked hand-in-hand with Scarlet’s friend, delighted with himself at how easy it had been to seduce her. These humans were too frail, too naïve – it wasn’t even fair. He had barely even needed to use his powers, and in just moments, he had her in the palm of his hand. A part of him wanted to feed on her, drain the energy from her body, and dispose of her as he had other humans.
But another part told him to be patient. After all, he had flown across the countryside and set down just for her. Lore had been searching for a way to get to Scarlet, and as he was flying, he had sensed Maria’s strong feelings cutting through the universe; he had felt her desire for Sage, her desperation. It attracted him like a magnet.
Lore had spotted Maria with his eagle eye from the skies, and as he’d dove down, he realized she would be the perfect trap after all, someone so alone, so vulnerable – and so close to Scarlet. If anyone knew of a way to find Scarlet, it must be her. Lore decided he would befriend her, use her to find Scarlet, and when he was through, kill her. In the meantime, he might as well have fun with her. This pathetic human would believe whatever fantasy she wanted.
“Um… I don’t understand…” Maria said, as they walked, her voice shaky, nervous. “Explain it to me again. You said you’re like… like new here?”
Lore laughed.
“In a way,” he said.
“So like are you going to be in our school?” she asked.
“I don’t think I have time for school,” he replied.
“What do you mean? Aren’t you my age?” she asked.
“I am. But I finished school long ago.”
Lore almost said centuries ago, but he stopped himself at the last second, luckily.
“Long ago? What do you mean? Are you like advanced or something?” She looked at him with wide, admiring eyes, and he smiled back at her.
“Something like that,” he said. “So your friends are back there, at the party?” he added.
Maria nodded.
“Yeah, all of them except… Well, I’m not friends with her anymore, so yeah, all of them.”
“Except who?” Lore asked, intrigued.
Maria blushed.
“Well, my former best friend. She’s not there. But like I said, we’re not friends anymore.”
“Scarlet?” he asked, then immediately regretted giving too much away.
Maria looked at him, suspicious.
“Like, how do you know all this? Are you, like, stalking me?”
Lore began to feel her retreat from him, and he didn’t want to lose her. He looked at her, held her cheeks, made her stare at him, and flashed his eyes at her. She blinked, and as she did, he wiped out the last thirty seconds of their conversation from her memory.
Maria blinked several times, and he took her hand, and they continued walking.
Close call, he thought. Let’s start again.
“So your friends are back there, at the party?” he added.
Maria nodded.
“Yeah, all of them except… Well, I’m not friends with her anymore, so yeah, all of them.”
“Except who?” Lore asked, intrigued.
Maria blushed.
“Well, my former best friend. She’s not there. But like I said, we’re not friends anymore.”
Lore paused this time, thinking through his words.
“What happened between the two of you?” he asked carefully.
Maria shrugged, and they continued to walk in silence, their boots crunching in the hay.
“You don’t have to tell me,” Lore said, finally. “Anyway, I know what it’s like to be estranged from a friend. My cousin Lore. We were once as close as brothers. Now we don’t even speak.”
Maria looked up at him with compassion.
“That’s awful,” she said. “What happened?”
Lore shrugged.
“Long story.” Centuries long, he wanted to add, but he restrained himself.
Maria nodded, clearly feeling sympathy for him.
“Well, since you seem to understand,” she said, “then I’ll tell you. I don’t know why, like I don’t even know you, but I feel you’d understand everything.”
Lore smiled reassuringly at her.
“I seem to have that effect on people,” he said.
“Anyway,” Maria continued, “my friend, Scarlet, she, like, stole a guy that I liked. Not that I care about the guy anymore.”
Maria stopped talking and Lore sensed she wanted to say something more, and he read her mind:
Well, not since I met you, that is.
Lore smiled.
“Stealing someone’s mate,” Lore said, shaking his head. “There’s nothing worse than that.”
He squeezed her hand tighter, and Maria gave him a half smile.
“So you’re not friends anymore?” Lore said, fishing.
Maria shook her head.
“No. I like totally cut her off. I kinda feel bad about it. I mean, she’s like still stored in my favorites and we’re still friends on Facebook and everything. I haven’t quite gotten that far. But I haven’t called or texted her. We used to text a hundred times a day.”
“Have you tried to text her at all?”
Maria shook her head.
“I don’t really want talk about it,” she said.
Lore sensed that he was pushing too hard. There would be plenty of time for him to seduce her, to find out all he needed to know about Scarlet. In the meantime, he had to make her trust him – to trust him completely.
They reached the center of the corn maze, and they stopped and stood there. Maria looked away, and Lore could sense how nervous she was.
“So, like, now what?” she asked, her hands trembling. “Maybe we should get back?” she added.
He read her mind:
I hope he doesn’t want to go back. I hope he kisses me. Please, kiss me.
Lore