Chapter 1: The Trap

May walked into high school classroom E-14 and saw five other girls. “I suppose you got the same note in your locker I did,” she said.

Iris, the student body president nodded. “That concert has been sold out for months. Who wouldn’t want to get a set of tickets?”

All the other arrivals were seated in a desk. Serena, the school’s head cheerleader, pointed to the chalkboard. “Please Take a Seat” was written on it in neat letters.

May shrugged, and joined the others, taking a seat.

Soon, four other girls joined, making for a total of ten, filling all the desks. They were the who’s who of the school. They included the two female class presidents, three cheerleaders, and several of the town’s richest girls.

I am the odd girl, thought May. She was not part of school government, and very middle class. Her only club was the chess club, and she was kind of nerdy.

Two minutes after the last girl entered, the door opened again. In walked a boy May had seen before, but didn’t know his name. He had recently enrolled in the school.

“You’re Henry, right?” asked Bonnie, the freshman class president.

He nodded. In his hands was a large glass jar with a metal lid. It looked like a mason jar.

“You have the tickets?” asked Iris skeptically.

The black-haired male smiled. “I think you misunderstood. The note just said that if you wanted concert tickets, to come to this room after school. It said nothing about me actually having tickets.”

May scratched her head. “Then why are we here?”

Without replying, Henry opened the jar.

A circle of golden light encircled the desks. It flared up for a few seconds then faded.

May felt like something had been drained out of her. Inside of her something was missing.

All the other nine evidently felt the same. Some of them were clutching their stomach.

“Wha-what did you do to us,” gasped Iris.

Henry gestured to his jar. In it was a swirling red light. He screwed shut the jar closed. “I’ve taken your libido.”

The school president was incredulous; “Our libidos?”

He nodded. “From now on you will feel no sexual desire.”

“You’re crazy!” said Iris, walking out. Three more followed her.

“You’ll see,” said the boy as they exited. “I’ll be here tomorrow. We can talk then.”

One of the girls believed him. “Give it back.”

Henry smiled. “Come back tomorrow, and we’ll talk.”

Misty, the field hockey team captain, clenched her fist and took a step toward the man.

He picked up the jar and held it over his head. “If the jar breaks, your libido will be gone for good.”

Putting the jar under his arm, he walked out of the classroom, closing the door behind him.

The remaining girls followed him. Out in the hall, he was gone. There were twenty yards of hallway in both directions. There was no way he could have gotten away that quickly.

That night, May still did not feel right. Her mom had made one of her favorite meals. It tasted the same, but didn’t thrill her taste buds like it usually did.

“Are you feeling all right?” asked her mother, ethnically Japanese. She placed her hand on her daughter’s forehead.

“I’m fine,” she said. “Just a little tired.”

She went upstairs to her bedroom and laid down on her bed. On the wall, next to her, was a poster of her favorite movie star. Just looking at him usually got her tingling. But on that night, she felt nothing.

The brunette retrieved her favorite romance novel from under her bed. She turned to the page that had a downturned corner. She read the passage that always got her hot. This time it did not work. The words and the meaning were still there. It just did not excite her like usual.

When she woke up the next morning, she didn’t feel as refreshed as normal. There was something wrong with her sleep. Her libido evidently influenced more to her life than just her sex drive.

As soon as the school bell rang, ending the school day, May ran to room E-14. She expected to see other girls outside the locked door. Tentatively, she knocked on the door.

“Come in,” was the reply.

She turned the doorknob again. This time it was open.

Inside was Henry. He was sitting behind a desk. On the desk was the jar, a piece of paper, and a pen. “How are you doing, May?” he asked.

“Not too good,” she muttered.

“Didn’t get a good night’s sleep?”

The girl’s jaw dropped. “How did you know?”

“Your dreams are what fuels your creativity. It is what inspires your stories.”

May was doubly shocked. Nobody knew that she wrote. “How do you...”

The enigmatic young man smiled. “I know many things about you. For instance, I know that you spell your name M-E-I, right?”

And he was right. May was half-Japanese. She was named after her grandmother, who had died the day before she was born. Her name was Mei, and that is how it appears on her birth certificate. He parents soon realized that people would have trouble pronouncing her name correctly, so they anglicized it to May.

She could not think of what to say, so she just bowed her head and nodded.

“Where was I? Oh yes, your dreams. Your libido helps make your dreams more vivid and memorable. Without those vibrant dreams, you probably won’t write any new stories.”

With her head still bowed, she whispered, “Please give it back.”

“Of course, just sign the form.”

Picking up the paper, the brunette could not make heads or tails of what was on it. “What am I agreeing to?” she asked.

“There are no words for it in English. That’s why it is in Latin. In short, I want your essence. Part of what makes you, you. It guarantees your obedience and insures that you don’t tell anyone about me.”

There was something ominous about this agreement. She put the paper down and stepped back.

“That’s quite alright. Many people live a long fulfilling life with no sex or passion. You’ll get use to the emptiness soon. You’ll come to forget that you ever had any dreams or fantasies.

“In certain circles, a young girl’s libido is considered a delicacy. I will be well paid for it.”

The sophomore looked at the paper again. With a sigh, she signed it.

Henry smiled. “Excellent! Just one more thing to make it binding: a small drop of your blood on the paper.” He handed her a small straight pin. “Just prick your finger.”