(Answers, Or Lies?)

Korri POV

"Solstice, was my sister," he mumbles, as he digs into the ground with the toe of his boot.

"Hello to yourself. Why did you take Lola?" I shout, as an odd, terrifying calm rushes through my veins.

"Straight to the point," he mumbles roughly, his accent turning jagged. "Because she had the same illness that took Sol. So I was trying to help."

"Oh."

"And the reason I brought you here is because I am not a complete psychopath," he raises his eyebrows and adds, "At least not that I believe I am."

Wow he talks weird.

"Thanks?" I cross my arms.

"So, what is your name? I cannot keep calling you 'girl' in my mind."

I snicker. "I'm Korri-"

"Where'd your scars come from?" He asks, cutting me off.

Why is he asking about that?

"Um..."

He rubs his hands against his arms nervously. "Sorry-"

"No, you're fine,"—Why am I defending him?—I cross my arms. "I got it from getting attacked, repeatedly."

He raises his eyebrows. "Huh? I'm confused. Has the world changed this much.... Never mind, it actually hasn't. But, um, why would they do that?"

"I'm a murderer, haven't you heard?"

He crosses his arms. "I don't believe it."

He... Wow.

He's the first person EVER who said that I'm NOT a murderer. (Except for most of the adults, but they are rarely directly involved with my sister. And most of the time they never actually mean what they say.)

I laugh darkly. "So, I've never seen you before, and Mordigan only has one school."

He looks away. "I'm not exactly... from around here."

Then where ARE you from?

But I leave it.

I purse my lips. "So, why?"

"Why what?"

"The questions. Why ask me these things?"

He frowns. "I wanna know if I can trust you."

I chuckle, and grab him by the collar; his feet lift slightly off the ground surprisingly. "I should be the one saying that. I came here. I came here to get my sister back from YOU."

He glares at me. "Let me go,"

I feel everything tense as my hands let him go.

"Man, you're strong." He breathes, as he steps away from me.

I lick my lips. "I've had practice. So, ARE you the one who took her?"

He shrugs. "Depends on how-"

I frown. "I WILL kill you if I have too."

He clicks his tongue. "I don't think you're capable."

"Humor me," I say, as I step toward him. "Tell me something that YOU don't wanna admit, something that kinda scares you, makes you feel sick inside, makes you panic, just at the thought. Tell that."

He frowns, and a tiny, amused chuckle escapes him. "If you trust me, I will."

"Humor me."

He steps forward and answers in a sturdy voice, "I'm afraid of ME. Simple as that. Granted..."

You would think, WHY?

But...

I kinda understand that.

"I know the feeling," I say finally, making sure to keep my voice even. "I feel that way a lot."

"Do you trust me?"

I shrug. "I wouldn't trust you with my screwed up life, hell no, but I WOULD trust you with... small things. Anything less than an eighth of a Tootsie Roll."

He smiles. "Thanks," he rubs his face with his shirt sleeve for a second and when he puts his arm down, what I see is shocking.

His face is covered in scars, some still bloody and healing, others are all clean.

He stays quiet for a moment, but finally says, "They scared me every time I went out of line with them."

They?

And for the first time in seven years I am happy without Lola, then I feel guilty, but that's after I hug him.

"Thank you." I murmur.

He tenses, awkwardly wrapping his arms around me, and whispers, "You're welcome."

When we stop after what feels like instantly, but has probably been seconds, he has blushed such a bright red I could've seen him a mile away.

We sit down.

"Um, I assume that you want to see your sister and um... you don't really have a place to go back too..." He mumbles awkwardly.

"Yeah..." I shake my head. "But, what about my freakin' parents? They're already flippin' out... Plus, you're a guy, and..."

After a minute, Mars finally says, "Don't. Don't come with me, I'll bring her back, morning's light. Done, you can pretend that a miracle happened, and pretend you never met me."

A thousand thoughts rush through my mind, at first my everything screams:

YES! DITCH HIM!!!

Then after a moment of consideration:

OKAY?

Things aren't exactly perfect back home.... but....

I look away and mumble, "I'll stay ONE day,"

Mars nods. "Okay, fine by me, may I say something?"

I nod.

"You're the best person I've ever met, in my opinion," he says quickly, then regret floods his expression.

I smile. "Is that so?"

That is the nicest compliment I've ever gotten (even nicer than the compliments that Lola had given me when she was around).

He pales. "Wait, you're not laughing at me?"

"No, why would I laugh at you?" I giggle. "That's the nicest thing anyone has ever said to me!"

He blushes. "Because it's stupid."

"No, look I've hated everyone except for Lola my entire life and so far you're the only other person I don't hate right now, so don't blame stupidity." I say smoothly, but it burns my cheeks anyway.

He smiles and blushes even harder (which I didn't think is even possible).

"Thanks." He mumbles.

"I have a question."

"Yeah?"

"How did you learn about Lola? I mean my family never really made it public."

"Sol was Lola's teacher, and Sol saw that Lola was off one day, and when Sol passed I looked into Lola, and saw that she too went into a coma... like my sister's." He says quietly, pained at his mention of his sister. He runs a hand through his hair. "Do you have any other siblings other than Lola?"

I play along.

"No, I don't, that's kinda the reason I'm kinda freaking out as bad as I am, about the whole... You-Kidnapping-My-Sister-Thing. She's... kinda the one who's kept me running all these years."

WHY AM I EXPLAINING MYSELF TO HIM?!

"Ohh..."

"And why the dark clothes?"

"Don't wanna be noticed."

I grin. "I just terrify those who annoy me to succeed; being left alone, I mean."

"Not very well," he smiles softly. "I saw when people recognized you, all over town. Some of them followed you a ways."

"Like when?"

He raises his eyebrows. "Like when you went to the hospital downtown."

I sigh heavily. "They don't recognize me, they recognize my sister and try to make me her. It doesn't work."

We pause, as a heavy, deadly silence drapes its heavy blanket over us.

"Well, we should get going," I check my watch,

9:56pm

We had been talking for hours, yet it only felt like minutes...

"It's almost ten and I want to see Lola."

He nods in agreement.

We stand and brush the dirt off of our pants, not wanting to make our bikes grimy.

We pick up our bikes and leave the graveyard.

And for the first time in seven years I left smiling a pure smile of—maybe it is just the adrenaline, but feels like... joy.