I tried to sleep that night, but it felt impossible. I couldn't get that girl off of my mind. Ava. Ava Lane. The name resonated in my mind. It rolled off my tongue as I whispered it to myself.

Ava. Ava. Ava. Ava. Ava. Ava.

Ava Lane.

What was it about her that made her different. I no longer had a desire to kill her.

Since I couldn't sleep, I decided to do some research on this girl. I got up and walked into town. It was around 3:00 in the morning. The only people out were the homeless and local drug dealers.

"Lex," someone whispered to me. I angrily turned around.

"How many times do I have to tell you? My name is not Lex Luther."

The person chuckled and emerged from the darkness.

"Gomez," I scoffed. "What do you want?"

"I want to call you Lex," Gomez answered.

"And I would like to know your first name."

"Not gonna happen, kiddo."

"Don't call me that," I rasped. "I'm nearly 18."

The Brazilian chuckled, his bald head shining in the street light's glow. His green gaze suddenly turned cold and knowing.

"So, what are you doing down here at this time of night."

"Research," I answered bluntly.

"On what, exactly?"

I rolled my eyes. "None of your business!"

"Come on, Lex. Don't do this to me. I'm the only reason you're still living in that crap hole of a house."

"One of the reasons," I corrected. "You're not the only one paying the bills."

"Okay, Lexi, okay." He held up his hands. "So are you gonna tell me what you're doing down here or not?"

I let out an exasperated sigh. "There's a new girl at school. I almost raped her today, but I decided to let her go. I'm doing my research on her."

"Ooooh...a new girl. What's her name? Why's she so special?"

"As I said, its none of your business."

"Awe, please?"

I rolled my eyes again. "It's Ava. She's..." I couldn't think of an adjective. "Different."

He lifted an eyebrow. "You like her."

I shook my head. "I do not like her."

His face lit up. "You like her, you like her!" he sang.

I started walking away. "Yeah...I'm not dealing with this right now."

"Suit yourself," he said. "But just know, that I'm not an idiot."

I turned around. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"I know you've killed people."

I rolled my eyes. "Everyone knows I've killed people."

He shrugged. "I know you've killed more people than you've let on..."

I turned and started walking away again. What did he know? The son of a bitch was always getting himself involved in things he had no business getting involved in.

I passed by a floral shop with "new owner" painted on the window. I walked back over to it and looked more closely at the store. I smirked to myself, thinking of the perfect plan I had in mind for Ava.

I snuck around the back of the store. Having broken into stores several times previously, I was sort of the expert. I used my finger nail to jimmy the lock and pry open the door. I disabled the alarm.

Luckily for me, it was fairly easy to see in the darkness. I gathered up a dozen red roses and made sure to wrap them in the store's signature wrapping paper. I smirked to myself.

After I got home, I stuck the flowers in a pot with no water in them, and waited for them to die.