Lucian would do anything to make Marise's life miserable. At first, he was not very resourceful: he would damage bushes so that Marise would be blamed or step on flowers; he would litter in clean places and taunt her by calling her demeaning nicknames.
Marise always told me that I was patient enough to put up with him, that that was the way of the world, and that Lucian was just too young and too easygoing to understand the magnitude of what he was doing and saying. But I didn't see it the same way, and I began to hate him. Even without knowing him, I hated what they did to him and told me about that cruel boy. I felt helpless most of the time, but Marise would try to reassure me that he would get tired at some point.
Lucian did not tire. Worse yet, he increased the level and severity of
