Lillian lived a glamorous life. Ever since her birth her parents had cherished her and spoiled her silly with gifts galore. At the one year mark, she could speak five different languages fluently, solve long division problems without writing them down, and politely refuse offers of companionship from fellow students. At the age of five, Lillian could remove a tumor from a dog’s belly, specify and use the proper silverware for every meal, and play any piece of music while sight reading. At the age of fifteen, she was accepted into Oxford University on a full-ride scholarship, had been on Oprah ten times, and could name any species of plant or animal by first glance.
The life of a young genius follows a treacherously lonely path in which few can successfully say that they are truly happy. In college, Lillian had the tendency to take long walks at night in the park and come back hours later. No one found this unusual since no one cared. Mr. and Mrs. Bennett occasionally called their precious angel, but only when they wanted something from her –which was mostly money. Once Lillian learned how to balance check books and crunch numbers, she entered the stock market and happened to make more money than her dad did. Blue blood ran through her veins, and her father was still a trust-fund baby. The only money he ever earned was from picking up a penny in the street –which Lillian usually did for him since it was “contaminated.”

When she reached college, nobody wanted to hang out with a fifteen year old baby; so the only friends she ever managed to associate with were moochers that were too lazy to get jobs. Even then, Lillian hated being around them and found herself alone night after night.
Then he stumbled into chemistry class and into her heart.
It all started that day he slept through his alarm and his roommate had already left for class. He woke up ten minutes after class had already started, so he threw on a shirt and pants and booked it to the lecture hall.
He walked into the room in a blaze of light and a crash. Lillian will never forget that angelic face that stuttered “sorry” as it came tumbling towards her.
“Is that seat open?” her heart stopped. She looked up with Bambi eyes and hoped beyond all odds that that sweet voice was speaking to her. He was staring directly at her, and she shyly nodded her head as he sat down in the open spot.
That entire class she couldn’t stop peeking at him through her peripheral vision. Anytime his hand twitched closer to her, her hand froze and she could almost feel his hand on hers.
After class, she decided to try and figure out his name. She would do anything to know what that hand actually felt like.
Unfortunately, as soon as she managed to catch up to him in the storm of hurrying students, he was out of sight and someone had knocked her over in their attempt to sprint out of the cage of education.
“Let me help you with that,” the sweet voice was back and more delicious than ever. He had been standing outside the door, busy with his phone, when he saw a guy run into Lillian. Her books had spilled everywhere and she looked so dejected that he had to come over and help her.
All Lillian did was stare up at the yummy green eyes in perfect awe. He was kind too. This day couldn’t get any better. Or could it?
“I have about an hour before my next class if you want to go grab breakfast or something,” Mr. Dreamy continued on. Once again, words left Lillian and she was forced to nod her answer.
They spent the next hour at the closest dining hall, sitting down and enjoying each other’s company as they discussed their life and what led them up to that point in time. Lillian soon discovered that this marvelous creature of a man was named Henry and that like her he was something of a child genius. Instead of being three years early, however, he was only a very young freshman that had skipped a grade in elementary school.
Finally, someone she could relate too. Henry later explained that he knew what it was like to be in her shoes and he felt obligated to reach out to her and help. He kept getting better and better in her mind.
It appears she spoke too soon. A dark haired, brown-eyed beauty came walking up to Henry and delicately placed her arms around his neck, “Who is this, love?”
“Oh, just a friend, sweetheart. Marissa this is Lillian, she’s in my chemistry class.”
As he dropped the f-word, Lillian’s heart plummeted into the eternal abyss that had always been her home. The only thing that provided some form of comfort was the darkness. Night was her one and only friend.
The six foot, graceful gazelle -named Marissa- trapped the loving Henry under her perfectly manicured claws during the first week of school. The day he tied his own knot around her finger was the day that Lillian’s only hope of love in the future crumbled into dust and withered away.
This would not be the last he heard of Lillian Marie Bennett.

It all started the day Henry spoke to her. She wouldn’t leave him alone anymore. He’s asked her several times to stop with the phone calls at night and the random letters on his doorstep. He didn’t even give her his number much less his room number.
The first time he noticed that something was a little off was when he walked out of math and she appeared next to him as soon as he reached fresh air. The same thing happened when he left literature. After every class, he could expect to hear her squeaky voice bubble up right next to him as soon as he left the historic doors of learning.
Finally, Henry realized that as long as Marissa was with him, Lillian wouldn’t come close to him. Marissa proceeded to walk with Henry to every single class and even to his dorm. From then on Lillian could only be seen from far away. Watching at a distance, she could be seen across campus staring at them quite blatantly.
Henry at first thought that Lillian would eventually grow up and leave him alone so he could be with Marissa. But Henry was dead wrong. Lillian appeared more and more and before he knew it, she started risking getting caught and would hide underneath his first story window.
He was fed up with all of the stalking and decided to let Lillian have a piece of his mind. He called her a few really nasty words one day and thought that that would be the last of her. She looked so dejected and horrified before she ran away.
And then Marissa went missing.
Henry tried calling her cell but every time he redialed, it went straight to voicemail. She never has it off.
Running at a full sprint to her dorm, he came up to her door and hammered his fists against it until they stung.
“Marissa! Marissa if you’re in there, open the door! Marissa!” Henry screamed at the closed door.
A cold wind blew against the back of his neck. “Can I help you with anything?” a voice called from behind.
“Yes, if you kn-” he stopped himself as he turned to face the opposite door. Lillian. He should have recognized the mouse-like voice instantly.
“What have you done with her? What did you do pipsqueak?”
“First of all, my name is Lillian. You should know that since we’re dating, dear.”
“We’re not dating. We never were.”
“Oh yes we were. Then that rotten Marissa had to come up and ruin everything! You were mine and mine alone! Nothing is stopping us now from being together forever. Nothing.”
And with that last note, Lillian raised her arm and with a light spray, spots covered Henry’s vision and he collapsed into a world of darkness.

When Henry awoke, he was laying down on a couch and an array of breakfast items were surrounding him. An IV drip was hanging from a chain in the ceiling next to him and a beeping sound increased as his fear spiked. The confusion cleared a bit as events came flashing back from behind his eyelids.
Marissa gone. Loud noises. Cold air. Lillian. The last image he had was of the mysterious can that she sprayed as she aimed for his face.
“Hey there sleepy head, I thought that you would never wake up,” a stridulous voice said from the shadows.
“What did you do to me?” Henry demanded as a familiar figure walked out of the shadows.
“It’s not what I did, but what my new friend did,” responded the unmasked form.
“Ma-Marissa? Wh-What did she do to you? Why do you sound like her?” the panic began to set in for Henry as he looked at the face staring back at him. He once knew that face so well, and the new one in front of him was nothing like the old Marissa.
“She fixed me. Made me like her. Lillie needs someone like her and she said I was the best candidate,” the scars began to twitch as the black ants squirmed on her face. Her once beautiful face was a mess of slashes and stitches.
“I see you met the new Marissa, Henry. Don’t you like her? Isn’t she pretty? I think we look like twins. Wouldn’t you agree?” Lillian proceeded to walk from the same shadows that his love came from. “Now you can’t tell us apart! Who’s who? Am I Marissa or Lillian?” she giggled manically. Lillian’s face was just as cut up and brutally patched together as Marissa’s face.
“Why don’t you be a nice boyfriend and take your girls on a date?” she said and started walking closer to Henry. She barely touched his IV drip and the blackness overwhelmed him again.


“Now wouldn’t you say that that was a fine breakfast Mr. Henry? Mr. Henry? Oh my! I forgot! You can’t talk with those silly stitches on your mouth! Well that’s for the best now, isn’t it? After all I couldn’t have you blabbing to someone about my new sister. At least we look like one giant family now. Together forever. I told you we would never be apart ever again. I meant it.”