Deciding to skip my run, I walked outside to my car and went downtown to my mother's shop. I wanted to know if she had seen Luther walk in anytime that week.

This was all too surreal. Just the idea of Luther made me sick. And yet, I pitied him. It seemed to me that he was an orphan. And somehow, it seemed like he wanted to be one too...

Everyone was out for the Farmer's Market, so the streets were quite full. I had to park my car several blocks away from the floral shop. After locking up, I began the walk to the shop.

Many people were out. Children were frolicking, eating ice cream and playing with balloon animals. There were more smiling adults than I could count. I felt, somewhat, left out.

I wasn't a child anymore, let alone a happy one, and I was at that awkward stage between being a child and an adolescent. And not a happy one.

My mother was dumped by her deadbeat boyfriend, AKA, my father, just before I was born, leaving her to take care of me all by herself. Don't get me wrong, she was a great mom. She kept up with a business, all the while teaching me my ABC's and how to walk and talk. But there was always that one sturdy part of my life that was missing. I suppose, one person filled it in pretty well.

My Uncle, Michael. He was there for my mom a lot. Plus, he is a great man, although, quite pious. He was the priest at the church here. Mother and I were going to behind attending once we were all settled in.

In fact, that's why we moved to this town in the first place. Uncle Michael said that there was a vacant shop where we could move the business (due to lack of customers in the old town) and we could be close to him.

We gladly agreed, leaving all the memories of my childhood behind.

But, Luther was a new turn. I had a strong feeling that he murdered that girl. It definitely wouldn't surprise me if he did. And now, he was obsessed with me. This couldn't be good.

He wanted me to go to his house at midnight. I was still contemplating on what I should do.

If you tell anyone, I'll kill you!

I shuddered, for I knew that he was dead serious. Dead serious.

Just before turning the corner to turn onto the block on which the shop was on, I ran into someone. Literally, I ran into somebody.

Large orange envelopes went flying all over the place.

"I'm so sorry!" I apologized. I immediately bent down and began to pick up the envelopes. It felt like there were ziplock bags containing some sort of plant inside of them in the envelopes. I knew what it was.

I handed them back to the person I had run into. A tall, bald man with tan skin and green eyes. He was quite young looking and rather handsome. In a ruggish, thug sort of way. He had two piercings in his right ear and tattoos along his arms and crawling up his neck. He looked South American. Brazilian, maybe?

"I'm sorry, again," I repeated. He smiled, revealing a gold tooth.

"No worries, Chica," he responded. I cracked a small side smile.

"What's in the envelopes?" I asked, putting him on the spot.

He lifted an eyebrow. "Why? Do you want some?"

I laughed. "Not really..."

He smiled. "Aah! So you already knew!"

I nodded.

"Smart girl. What's your name?"

I looked around. "Um, it's Ava."

He stopped smiling. "Ava?" he asked. I gave him a funny look.

"Yeah..." I replied. "What is it?"

He slowly turned his head to the side. "So you're the one Lex likes."

I crinkled my brows. "Lex?" I asked. "Who are you talking about?"

"You know," he answered. "Lex Luther."

"Lex Luther? From...Superman?"

"Well, I call him Lex. But I think you can figure out who I'm talking about."

"Luther..." I whispered. He nodded. "How do you know him?"

He let out an exaggerated chuckle. "I pay his bills." He gestured to the envelopes. "His parents were close knitted in the system. But they committed suicide. Or, at least, that's what he tells us. I don't believe him for a second."

"What do you mean?" I asked. "Are you inferring that they were murdered?"

He bowed his head slightly. "Warmer."

I closed my eyes and opened them back up. "That he killed them?"

He nodded slowly. "I know what he's capable of. I know that he's killed people before."

My pulse quickened. "He wants me to come over to his house tonight at midnight," I told him. "To 'play a game or two'. Should I not go?"

"Well, Ava, I do think that you shouldn't be too frightened. If he was going to kill you, he would've done it a long time ago. He told me about you. He likes you. He won't kill you, at least."

I nodded. "So, yes?"

He nodded in return. "There's only one way to get Luther to cooperate. And that's to cooperate with him. If you want to get anywhere close to being safe, do what he wants with you for the time being. It will be okay."

I nodded again. "And, what is your name, might I ask?"

"My name?" he repeated. "Well, most people just call me Gomez. What is your full name?"

I furrowed my brows. "Ava Lane..."

He threw his head back and let out a laugh. "Wow," he said. "That's perfect."

"What? Why?"

"I think from now on, I'm going to call you Lois."

"Lois?" I repeated. "Why...?"

"Lois Lane. Lex Luther. It's perfect."

I rolled my eyes. "My, you're clever," I said sarcastically.

He stepped up to me. "But you know, if things don't work out between you and Lexi, give me a call."

He handed me a card. I took it and examined it. He winked and walked off.

I find it ironic that Lex Luther tried to kill Lois Lane. And now, here we are. But, do I have a superman to save me?

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

I just realized as I was writing this chapter how perfectly those superman references worked with their namesXD

anyway, the picture is the cover to the sequel, Outlier. It should be pretty cool...

Please vote and comment and have a FREAKING GOOD DAY!!❤️❤️❤️