A cold breeze was winding it's way through the trees of Central Park. It wasn't far until winter, and most of the leaves had already made their way to the ground. The few leaves remaining painted the park vibrant yellows and reds, giving it a new life quite unlike the usual green it settled into. There were enough people to appreciate the beauty, though few actually took the time to look around. Most were too busy going or coming to look farther than five feet in front of their noses. One of the few that took the time to look up was a young blonde girl sitting on a bench, all alone, desperately trying to find a way to focus on her book.
The sun, directly overhead, beat down on Liz Bennem's neck. She wanted nothing more than to throw the book onto the floor and leave it there, but her professor had ordered the class to finish Wuthering Heights by Wednesday. It was Tuesday, and the girl was barely more than halfway through the novel. She knew she wasn't going to finish it in time, not with the way it made her want to bury it in a hole after every paragraph, but some part of her just kept reading it anyway. She wanted to finish the assignment, but she only wished that the assigned book wasn't so terribly mind-numbing.
Instead of turning to the next page, Liz instead creased a corner and shut the god-awful story. She suddenly burst in a smile. She felt better already, and wanted to get up and do something with her day. The blonde's blue eyes sparkled with a new-found hope. She ran her fingers through her hair and shook her head quickly, and released the last of her stress with a sigh. Yes, it would be so easy to just get up and do whatever she wanted. Instead, though, the little angel on her shoulder was yelling into her ear that she was a good student, and that good students read their books when they were assigned, especially the one's that drilled holes in their heads. The devil must have been on vacation, because moments later the girl resigned herself to more drudgery and self-loathing.
Fifteen minutes passed, with Liz managing to read through the book without interruption. It was some sort of record, to that there was no doubt, but not a record the college student was particularly proud of. She probably should have been glad that she could at least suffer that long; it was a good test of her character and willpower. Also, it wasn't even her fault that she was torn away, oh so difficultly, from the torture device in the form of words: it was the stranger's voice.
"Catherine goes ape-shit, decapitates Heathcliff with an ax, and then runs off into the woods to be eaten by wolves."
The stranger standing in front of Liz was attractive, no doubt about that. Not the most handsome boy she'd seen, but he was very interesting. He looked a bit older than her, but he also carried himself with a lot of confidence and power. He was standing perfectly straight, even if his hands were tucked nonchalantly in his pockets. It gave him a sense of loose nobility. Liz found herself wondering exactly why her thoughts were heading that way with the boy, but they were heading that way whether she liked it or not. It may have been the fact that his green eyes, a stark contrast to his trim black hair, seemed to be staring into her soul.
Liz let herself digest the words, and then cracked a smile. It had taken her at least two seconds to smile, though, which the girl figured gave off the impression that she was just smiling to be polite. It wasn't true, and the boy didn't really seem all that shaken by whatever he took from the delay reaction. In fact, he even let a small smile sneak out from his mouth, which gave the girl the hint that he was trying to be funny. It wasn't hilarious, but it was definitely a good way to lighten the mood.
"I'm guessing you're joking, because there's no way this book could ever be entertaining."
The boy cocked his head and smirked. He pulled his hand out of his pockets and rested them on his hips in an exaggerated manner. It was ridiculous looking, someone as proper seeming as him just making himself look like a fool. Liz felt flattered that he was doing so for her benefit.
"Well, what if I told you zombies broke into the mansion and ate everyone except for Nelly, who tames them and raises an army to take over the world?"
Liz decided to just to play along with the boy's games. He seemed harmless, and was obviously trying to make fun of something that the girl very much wanted to burn. Just by that action alone, he was alright in her book. Let him draw her in. She'd bite.
"I'm pretty sure that's even more unbelievable than the last suggestion. Can't you come up with something at least slightly believable?"
The boy let out a quick laugh, and shook his head at the girl. A man walked past, and the boy stepped out of the way. The man walked on, probably never even seeing the boy there in the first place. The boy threw a meaningless gesture at the man and then turned back to Liz, who was enjoying the scene playing out in front of her.
"Jeez. Anyway, cut me some slack. If I throw out something believable, then you might just start believing it. If you believe it, then you might start doubting it. And then you'll have to read it to the end just to find out. And would you really want me to do that to you?"
Liz laughed despite herself. She supposed she didn't, even if it might give her a reason to keep reading. Green-eyes motioned to the bench, and Liz nodded, not really thinking about what she was agreeing to. The boy plopped down onto the bench and settled in. He was far enough away to keep things from being uncomfortable, but he wasn't as far away as he could be. He turned to look at her, smiling. Even sitting down the stranger had perfect posture.
"My name's Chris. It's nice to meet you."
He held out his hand, waiting for Liz to finish the gesture. She did after a moment.
"I'm Liz."
Chris absently nodded his head a few times, as if confirming that he heard her and understood. His eyes traveled back out to the park, and Liz found it hard to take her eyes off of him. He just seemed to be enjoying the day as it was, reveling in the beauty. After a moment, he focused back on Liz. The girl turned her head quickly, embarrassed to be caught staring. Chris never mentioned it, instead just continuing polite conversation.
"It seems to me that a park is an easy place to get distracted whilst trying to read, Liz. I don't think you really want to read that book at all, do you?"
One eyebrow slowly arched up on the boy's face, and it looked like it was a very deliberate action. Liz found herself entertained by the boy's behavior, which was probably exactly what he was hoping for.
"If you must know, I'm actually waiting around for a friend. She should be here any minute. I figured I could try and read before she showed up."
She watched his reaction carefully, waiting to see what he did. She swallowed hard. He just smiled. The boy clasped his hands together and stood up quickly. He took a few exaggerated steps, long strides that really didn't get him anywhere, and wound up almost right where he had started a minute ago. Back standing in front of her, Chris looked like he was ready to bow out and take his leave. In fact, Liz was almost sure of it by his reaction. Instead, though, the kid bent toward her, barely a foot in front of her face.
"Lying isn't very nice, you know? You could have just told me to buzz off. See, then I would have just left on my merry way, bidding you a nice ado and an apology for taking up your time. Instead, I'm just left insulted. Obviously you've been conditioned your whole life to lie and be polite, so I get it, but sometimes it's just better to look a person in the eye and tell them that you want to be alone, or that they aren't interested."
Liz was taken aback. He was being oddly blunt all of the sudden, though nothing he had said was being said effusively or rudely. If anything, it sounded like a speech he had given at least a few times before. Where this was going, though, she didn't exactly know. The whole park seemed like a blur around Chris, who had taken up most of her attention. He really was magnetic, his personality, behavior, and smile drawing interest away from everything else.
"I'd walked past you almost an hour ago when I was on my way to lunch. When I was finished with my meal and on my way back, you were in the exact same position as before. Why would you get here an hour before you were supposed to meet your friend, especially if your only source of entertainment was a book you didn't even like? And I haven't once seen you check your phone or a watch for what time it was, and yet you know, magically, that it's time for your friend to show up. All of this, it just seems a bit suspicious, don't you think?"
Chris looked smug and a bit impressed with himself, as if he had just one some battle between the two of them. Liz looked at him, and then noticed something behind the boy that made her smirk Chris must have caught her smile, because there was a beat in time when his face dropped, knowing that something was wrong, before a voice spoke up from behind his back.
"Liz, I'm sorry I'm late. We should get going if we're going to make it on time."
Chris spun around to get a glimpse of the girl who had suddenly spoken up, and the way he did it made Liz start laughing. He turned back, looking confused. Liz enjoyed the look on the confident boy's face: he literally had a look on his face like he had just done the most embarrassing thing possible. In a way, he probably had, at least to him. One way or the other, it seemed as if he wasn't the type used to being proven wrong. It only made the victory all the sweeter, even if Liz herself hadn't really done all that much.
"Who's your friend, Liz? A classmate of yours?"
Rachel Raleigh had known Liz since the two were in diapers, and they had both gone to the same schools until they had graduated high school two years ago. The girl's black hair reached down to her back, and she had a few freckles covering her cheeks, seeming to give her face a more youthful look. She looked a bit younger than she actually was, with most people guessing she was still in high school when they first met her. She always hated how young she looked, but it never showed in gray eyes, which always seemed to be smiling.
The question may have been directed to Liz, but Chris seemed determined to intercept and answer for himself. Liz wasn't sure why he was so determined to do so, and guessed that it might have been so that he wouldn't feel like such an idiot, making a good impression on Rachel to counteract his embarrassment. He had a small blush on his face when he stuck out his hand for the handshake.
"My name's Chris. Actually, Liz and I just met. I just felt it my duty to refused her the chance to enjoy her book."
Liz could tell that the boy had turned the charm back on. It probably was just the kind of person he was.
"It's nice to meet you, Chris. I'm Rachel."
Chris cocked his head to the side and gave Rachel a worried look. Liz just shook her head in amazement. He really was laying it all back down, this time on Rachel; the same exact glances and types of movements. It could be heard in his voice, but Liz wasn't sure if he really was just like this as a person, or if was all just some kind of act to draw in girls.
"See, that's bad. My last girlfriend, her name was Rachel. And lets just say she managed to drag away about as much of my stuff as humanly possible when we broke up. It was bad too. Almost bloody. Ever since then, I just swore off Rachels, and this means knowing them in any capacity. I'm sorry, but either you're going to have to leave, or I am."
The glint in his eye and inflection in his words revealed the lack of any seriousness, and his delivery actually gave the whole performance a hint of levity and whimsy. The way Chris could twist these lines he was throwing out into something interesting, clever, and witty just seemed to prove that the boy had lots of practice at doing so.
"Guess this is your lucky day, Chris, because Liz and I are heading off to the movies, so looks like you can enjoy the park to your heart's content."
Liz remembered that she still had to pack up her stuff, and threw a few of her things into her open pack, sure she wasn't forgetting anything. She zipped up the bag and stood up for the first time since she had met Chris. The boy turned to see her actions, and she thoughts she saw a glint of regret once he noticed she was leaving. His full smile was back in a moment, though, almost as if nothing had happened. She had seen, though, suspecting it was one of the few flashes of his true character. He likely was just putting on a front, but Liz had to admit that the front was interesting.
Rachel definitely had all her focus on the boy, and apparently his act was working on her like a charm. Liz wasn't surprised. The girl seemed to jump at any boy that even seemed to interest her in the slightest. Years of this behavior had mitigated Liz's desire to jump in the way and protect her friend; nothing Liz would do would stop Rachel now. Liz doubted that Chris would get in the way of them heading off to the movies, mostly because Rachel had been asking if they could see the movie all week.
"Well, it was nice to meet you, Chris. Who knows, maybe we'll see each other again."
Rachel held out her hand for another handshake, despite the fact that the girl had just shaken Chris's hand less than a moment ago. The boy accepted and went along with it, and Liz just rolled her eyes at how pathetic her friend was acting. It could get embarrassing at times; this was one of those times.
"It was nice to meet you too, Rachel. Who knows, I have a feeling I'll see you two again. Just a feeling, though."
Liz caught something in his tone when he said that, but didn't make much of it at the time. Instead, she proceeded past Chris to her friend, each giving each other a quick glance at the pass. He flashed her a quick smile, and she couldn't help but return the favor. In moments, Liz and Rachel were off, leaving behind the boy that had barged in on their lives for a quick moment. Chris stood motionless, though, as if waiting for something. Liz didn't realize what for a couple more seconds, amazed at her stupidity.
"Rachel, wait. I forgot my book back at the bench. Stay here. I'll go get it."
Rachel nodded, and Liz began running back towards the bench, and Chris, to find her book. When she got there, she found it resting in his hand. He handed it out to her, and she received it graciously, blushing lightly. Now both of them had been embarrassed at some point, and it almost felt like the score was tied. Before Liz could turn and run off, though, Chris opened his mouth.
"Hey, it was nice meeting you, Liz. It's always good for a guy to be humbled from time to time. You two be careful, okay? New York isn't the safest place for two girls, even if it is the middle of the day."
His smile said that he was done, and Liz, not knowing what to say, just nodded and ran off, desperate to catch up to her friend and put this whole interesting encounter behind her as she enjoyed a good movie and munched on some popcorn. When Liz was within earshot of Rachel, the girl started flapping her lips.
"He's pretty cute, huh?"
Liz watched her friend for a moment before suddenly deciding on a non-committed "I suppose so."
As Rachel kept talking, Liz felt the strange desire to open her book. She flipped quickly to the page she had folded over a few minutes ago, and found a small slip of paper tucked inside. Written on it, in neat handwriting, was a phone number, followed by Chris's name. When Liz turned back to catch one more look at the boy, though, he was nowhere in sight, seemingly having vanished off into the park. Still a little surprised by the action, Liz followed up her previous statement with a few more words.
"He definitely is something."
Gordon Viccen didn't know what to do. One moment the subject was in sight, and then he had vanished into the crowd. The man didn't know what to do, but couldn't help but panic a bit. It hadn't been easy to find the boy the first time, and now tracking him down again would be hard. He pushed himself off the bench and took another look around, only to see nothing. The man slipped his binoculars back into the bag and hoisted it up over his shoulder. As he turned around to leave, a figure was blocking his way.
"Looking for me?"
Gordon panicked. The boy was there, which should have been impossible. Nobody could have moved that fast. Besides, he hadn't been there moments before. This was not what Gordon had signed up for.
"Look, if you don't stop following me, I'll kill you. The only reason I haven't done so yet is because Central Park isn't exactly the most incognito place on the planet. Trust me, though, I'll do it. And they'll never trace it back to me, that much I promise you. I recommend you just walk on your merry way, forget this ever happened, and never let me see you again."
The man nodded quickly, ignoring the fact that a kid half his age was ordering him around. Gordon could see in the kid's eyes that he was dangerous and would do something if he felt he needed to. The man wasn't going to give the boy reason. Money wasn't worth this. The man took off quickly into the park, hoping to never see that kid or hear from those people connected with the Pandora Project.
The boy watched as the man hauled his ass out of the park as fast as possible, unconsciously scratching his neck while enjoying the show. They had been getting more forceful lately, and if They kept this up, he was going to act. All he wanted was a normal life. The boy pushed his black hair from his eyes as he wondered if Liz was actually going to call or not. He figured it wasn't worth the worry. If it happened, it happened. Still, he couldn't shake the feeling that he really would run into her again. He just felt it in his core. He rubbed lightly at the part of his shoulder where he knew the tattoo was, always aware of its presence on him. The "17" that marked his fate.
Okay, not really a whole lot to say right now. For all interested, the next few chapters of Path of Ruin should be up by the end of the week. I know I said that last time, but this time I really mean it. Yeah. I hope you guys are liking the new story. Review if you could. It's always nice. Either way, enjoy your day. Heh, that rhymed.