The Devil In Disguise

CHAPTER 56: Soon.

Corina smiled.

"A visitor! Finally, I was getting bored," she exclaimed.

A flash of confusion entered Lazarus' mind as he locked the door behind him, but exited almost as quickly. This girl was a good actress, he'd give her that. He could tell that she was putting on a fearless, bored-of-the-situation facade to cover up her fear.

Lazarus smiled, his perfect lips stretching into that friendly gesture, although his eyes were anything but. He immediately started analysing this girl — Corina, he remembered her name. She was pretty, just like Grace, though they looked completely different. He liked that; beauty came in various forms, and each one was unique in its own way.

Lazarus had chained Corina's hands behind her while she was unconscious, but he now doubted his actions. She looked vaguely annoyed by them, but not as if she was going to hit Lazarus. He didn't need to chain her, he knew that now, although he also knew it was just a safety precaution.

A clever one, Lazarus thought, strolling into the small room. She won't try anything stupid.

"Hello, Corina," he greeted. She smiled lightly, unfazed by the fact he knew her name. "I'm Lazarus."

"Hi."

Lazarus almost tilted his head at her, puzzled. But he restrained. Her short response was somehow... unsatisfying. He expected her to say something else, maybe ask a question, maybe even scream and cry — but she stayed silent.

He studied her; she was looking around the room, bored and spaced out, like she had no intention of continuing the conversation. Lazarus felt himself getting annoyed; she was a hard one to figure out. Almost as hard as Lorelei; but maybe the same method of extraction should be used for Corina. Torture.

Not just yet, Lazarus told himself, and he took an inaudible deep breath.

"Corina," he addressed her, cautious, registering her every move. Her sharp eyes snapped to his, somewhat irritated that he would interrupt the silence.

"Yes?" she answered, raising an eyebrow. Lazarus felt a flash of irritation; he didn't like her attitude.

"Do you know who I am?" Lazarus asked, his voice and gaze hardening. He cocked his head at her, his eyes narrowing.

Corina still seemed unbothered. "Yeah, you're Lazarus."

Lazarus couldn't help it; he let out a general sound of frustration. Running his hands through his hair, he looked away to try to collect himself for a moment. But when he looked back, he could almost have sworn he saw a victorious gleam just disappearing from Corina's eyes.

"Hey — Lazarus?"

Lazarus' attention snapped back to her, his thoughts about her thought-process dissipating for the moment. She was confusing; she didn't work how normal humans worked. She didn't seem scared. It was vexing him. There was the likely chance that it was all an act but she seemed too composed for that. Maybe she was having a delayed reaction and her fear would hit in due time.

After nodding once, letting her continue, his curiosity rising, Corina said, "Can I call you Laz? Lazarus is too long. Don't like it."

She smiled sweetly.

"No," Lazarus said shortly, and Corina pouted.

"Why not? A murderer deserves a nice nickname to which his victims can refer to. Here, want an example? Lorelei could say, 'Hey, Corina, Laz tried to murder me again today', and then I could say, 'Damn it, really? Seems like Laz failed again though.'"

Lazarus froze.

"Yeah, see? I knew you'd like it, Laz."

A threatening tone hid behind her words, lacing them with venom so subtle that any unobservant fool would miss it. Lazarus didn't. His eyes slowly met hers and he saw absolute hostility filling the depths of them, hostility at which any sane being would feel at least a little threatened by.

Lazarus merely smiled. "It's a nice name," he said, nodding appreciatively. He noticed confusion flit across Corina's eyes. He almost chuckled inside — her attempt to intimidate him was admirable, really, perhaps even cute, but she was as much of an idiot as her friends if she thought that would work.

"But I don't think it suits me, personally. I'll tell you what," he continued in a patronising tone, as if she were a child, "I'll give you the privilege of calling me whatever you want, but only for a short while. The name will die with you and your friends. Literally."

He expelled a tinkling laugh when he finished, showing Corina that he wasn't even the slightest bit intimidated by her petty jabs. No, he was the opposite. And he controlled her and her friends, so her threats were empty.

Corina shook from anger, but she restrained herself. Only just. She wasn't as good at self-control as Lorelei.

But then again, she'd never been subject to his torture, had she?

Soon, she would be. Soon.

A/N
VOTE, VOTE, VOTE!

We all love Corina's balls. But will they get her far? Especially against Lazarus? It's obvious that he gets irritated by the jabs about his failures to kill Lorelei, but those failures are what made her so valuable in his eyes.

REMEMBER TO VOTE! I'll be putting another part out because this isn't enough and if I was a reader I'd be mad. SO ENJOY!

—deainlustris