There's this new guy in town - he works at the little store, Lenny's, on Main. Now, ours is a very tiny little town, people notice when the new guy, especially when he takes a shine to the Cheer-leading Captain of the local high school, whose family has lived in Little Ridge for four generations, and who's dating the Quarterback, whose family is even older. They're an institution, those two, and people notice when someone decides to throw a wrench in the works.
My point is this - I know something that other people around here don't. There's more to this than just some random new kid crushing on the Queen Bee. Because Parker, the Grocery Boy, gets this look in his eye when he looks at Lorrie Wakefield. He looks at her like his next meal, and every time she looks back she looks more and more hypnotized.
I hate knowing all of this, knowing the causes and effects of stuff like this. I hate knowing that every time they make eye contact, he prepares her a little more for when he steals her soul. I hate knowing that, sooner or later, he'll convince her to make a move, and then we'll all be lost. I hate knowing that, when they kiss, and I know that sooner or later they will, it'll all be over, and pretty, bright, happy Lorrie Wakefield will be gone forever.
As the only person around here who knows the score, is it really my duty to do something about this? Should I confront him, and risk one or both of us becoming injured or killed, and throw our sleepy little community into uproar? Can I risk him letting loose, and taking out the whole town?
Or should I just keep quiet, and let nature - or, perhaps, nature's extreme polar opposite - take its course? Can I sacrifice Lorrie Wakefield, and let this Soul-Stealer move on quietly, knowing that I let an innocent girl befall a fate worse than death?
I don't mean to dump on the rest of you, but I'm only seventeen. I shouldn't have to make these decisions, no one should. I need help.
- Joanne (sightbound82)
