Vee Loring · May 31, 2023
She lives on the far edge of town. She doesn’t like neighbors and neighbors wouldn’t like her. When she does do her shopping, she’s not one for idle questions. The kind of mind firm enough to bend reality to her will doesn’t slide nimbly through small talk.
This creates a bit of a barrier to securing an introduction. I’d say I’m not a total stranger, but you can’t just knock on someone’s door and say hi, I know we’ve never talked but please take my will and make me your plaything.
We have a few friends in common from high school, though, when we were both acne-scarred weirdos on opposite edges of the social scene. I went off on a scholarship, while she stayed here and worked on her… talent.
Everyone knew she had it but it didn’t look like the “gifted kid” stereotype they stuck on me, so they mostly tried to ignore it. That’s how she liked it, and she mostly got what she wanted.
It wasn’t until college that I realized how strange it was, how many stories from my childhood left friends there open-mouthed. Yes, she never took the bus again after that one gum incident in third grade, she just walked… how many miles?
It just took a bit of time in the stacks to understand what a rare and dangerous thing we had been living with. I suddenly understood why no one came back after college: it wasn’t just that it’s a depressing cowtown.
It had its advantages, though: everything was so loud and bright in the city, I could barely even hear myself think. And people were so… pushy. She and I had very similar tastes, I began to understand. Except I couldn’t do what she could.
I toughed it out through my degree: my momma didn’t raise me to be a quitter. I learned a lot of very useful things, too, tips and tricks from the history of people like her. It usually doesn’t end well, but it’s usually much more… malignant.
Now comes the tricky part. I honestly don’t know how she’ll react, what she knows about herself or things like her. Has she ever even heard about zombies, or thralls, or dolls, as various people call them?
I think it’s best to just be completely open, and to simply throw myself on her mercy. She’ll get what she wants anyway, she always does. The quiet here feels so good, and the silence will feel even better.
I just hope I’m useful in return.