Mike noticed that ever since she arrived, whether it was mealtime or break time, the woman had not removed her huge wide-brimmed hat.
She remained shrouded in shadow, which was extremely peculiar.
Selena looked at Mike's handsome face, seemingly very pleased. She formally introduced herself, "My name is Selena, and I am a member of the Volturi family."
The Volturi family is equivalent to the royal family among Vampires. Compared to the term Vampire, they prefer to call themselves the bloodline.
Due to the "Peace Treaty" reached with humans, the bloodline was confined to Washington State and Oregon, two remote states in the northwesternmost corner of America.
As compensation for being "imprisoned," as long as the bloodline lived in those two states and did not actively cause trouble, no one would bother them.
Under these circumstances, a group of "vegetarian" Bloodline members gradually developed within the bloodline.
They were close to humans, no longer drank human blood, and instead used animal blood to maintain basic energy supply.
And because of their long lifespan and ageless appearance, those vegetarian bloodline members who had a good impression of humans would actively integrate into local life, even joining local high schools and universities as students to learn human knowledge.
To make their long lives more fulfilling.
Of course, besides the moderate faction within the bloodline, there were naturally also radical factions.
Selena, over two hundred years old, was a bloodline member dissatisfied with her imprisoned fate; she yearned for freedom.
This time, after secretly escaping from Washington State, she traveled eastward all the way to New York, the most prosperous city in America.
And then… there was no "then."
The power of Christianity made this Vampire royalty realize the cruelty of reality.
The mystic power of Christianity, and even the technological power of humans, could annihilate the ancient race of Vampires several times over in minutes.
Selena, who went to New York, was targeted by the local Christianity before she could enjoy herself for a few days.
After some interaction, and when her opponent was careless, Selena escaped a disaster by relying on her extremely high physical constitution and her innate "charm" talent.
Afterward, Selena, not daring to stay long in the prosperous big city, thought of taking a detour back to Washington State.
Only there did Vampires have a space to survive.
As for Texas, with its vast land and sparse population, it was precisely the escape route Selena had planned for herself.
Originally, with Pastor Jeff's cover, she only intended to rest for a few days in Medford Town before leaving.
However, life is full of surprises, and it was at this time that Selena met the handsome Mike.
If the bloodline had no goals in their long lives, it would be very boring.
At this moment, Selena had made Mike her goal; she wanted to take him back to Forks (a town in Washington State) with her.
Although Mike did not know the woman's thoughts, the decaying smell on her was enough to make him uncomfortable.
Therefore, facing the woman's self-introduction, Mike merely nodded perfunctorily, acting very coldly.
"I watched your game on Monday, and among humans, you are already quite excellent…" Selena seemed not to notice the boy's resistance and continued to search for topics.
"Thanks—" Mike's eyes flashed, and he replied perfunctorily again.
On the other side, Pastor Jeff was drinking with George, enjoying their rare leisure time.
"This gathering must have cost a lot of money, right?" George lay on the grass, took a sip of iced beer, and chatted casually.
"Of course, this is a big gathering after all." Pastor Jeff smiled and shook his head, relieved, "But thankfully, Christianity will reimburse me for these expenses later."
Christianity is a semi-public welfare organization, and even Pastor Jeff, as a church pastor, does not have much private salary each month.
The income source of local churches mainly relies on donations from local believers. In a small place like Medford City, the money donated by believers is just enough to maintain the church's operation; holding large gatherings is simply impossible.
George was not a Christian and did not know the intricacies of it, so he had nothing to say in response to Pastor Jeff's answer.
The scene became quiet for a moment.
Perhaps feeling the awkward silence, after a while, Pastor Jeff pulled out a credit card and actively sought a topic: "Look, what is this?"
"Are you showing off your wealth to me?" George joked with a smile.
"No, no, no—" Pastor Jeff shook his head, glanced around to make sure no one was nearby, and then whispered, "This is what I stole back from Selena…"
Hearing the gossip between Pastor Jeff and his wife, George immediately became interested: "Why?… Hmm, I mean, it's good for a wife to manage finances after marriage. Why did you 'steal' the card back?"
"You don't understand." Pastor Jeff said with difficulty, "Ever since Selena took my credit card, my mailbox has been flooded with monthly bank statements and various luxury item tax declarations.
Don't look at me like this now, but I actually owe the bank a lot of money."
Wow, this is big news! Indeed, Pastor Jeff didn't look as happy as he seemed, and Mary's guess was wrong.
George secretly rejoiced. Then, he suppressed his smile and advised, "Since your financial situation doesn't allow it, why don't you confess to your wife? The most important thing between a couple is mutual understanding."
How could Pastor Jeff not know this principle? He said bitterly, "I want to, but when Selena and I first met, I hinted to her that my family was very rich…"
Men, they care most about face.
Pastor Jeff's current situation was one where he was still trying to put on a brave face despite his difficulties.
"Alright." George sympathized with Pastor Jeff's situation and continued to advise, "I still think you should confess to your wife sooner. Regardless of the outcome, at least it will make your future life a little easier."
"I can't do that." Pastor Jeff hesitated for a moment and explained, "Actually, besides loving to spend money, Selena is otherwise fine. Especially, her demeanor is so… perfect."
It seemed Pastor Jeff was deeply "charmed" by Selena.
And in George's opinion, Pastor Jeff was too ordinary and simply not a match for his beautiful wife.
As a result, George was very perplexed as to why Selena would choose to marry Jeff.
Meanwhile, on the shady side of the small hill, Selena brought up several more topics, seeing that Mike was still not interested.
At this point, she finally realized that he was being perfunctory with her.
Looking again at Mike's handsome face, Selena suppressed her inner anger and chose to lay her cards on the table: "Mike, do you want to have a stronger body and a longer life? As long as you nod, you can easily obtain all of this."
Selena would not be staying in Medford Town for too long; she needed to deal with Mike quickly.
This was planning to use "force." Mike looked at her greedy expression and realized something was wrong.
'Maybe I should stabilize her first, then find an opportunity to stab her in the back again.' Mike thought to himself.
He had done this once before and had some experience.
Just as Mike was thinking about his escape route, Georgie came over. He boisterously yelled, "Hey, Mike. So you're here! The three-legged race has already started. We can go beat Sheldon, don…"
When he saw the beautiful Selena was also there, the words he was about to say got stuck in his throat.
"Uh, sorry, I didn't know you had other plans." Georgie stiffly changed the subject and winked at Mike.
At the same time, he was also extremely envious of Mike's popularity with women.
"You came at the right time. I promised Missy to participate in the activity together. If you hadn't reminded me, I probably would have missed the time." Mike stood up and folded his blanket, then said to Selena, who was waiting for an answer, "I have something else to do, so please excuse me."
"That's fine." Selena regained her aloof expression and prompted, "You can seriously consider what I said earlier. If you change your mind, feel free to come find me anytime."
Mike pretended not to understand and made no response, calling Georgie, and walked towards the activity area.
Watching Mike hastily flee, Selena licked her red lips.
At this moment, she was still full of confidence in her plan. Because she clearly knew that no mortal could resist the temptation of "immortality."