𝐈𝐋𝐋𝐈𝐂𝐓 ❅ (𝐠𝐱𝐠)

19| mother

Possible TW: drug abuse.

Deep in the midst of ancient woodland, nature's tranquil ambience was disturbed by the gentle crunch of crisp foliage underneath the feet of its frequent visitor as she passed through.

Every so often the corner of her soft pink lips would twitch in enraptured thought, the intermittent reminiscence of her recent interaction with the older woman swirling like a warm summer breeze in her mind. Lily had never been particularly fond of the heat, especially the one that accompanied the ripe summer months. But the kind of warmth that the woman radiated from the softness of her skin, the cast of her angelic smiles, and her general aura that Lily experienced whilst existing in her company was burgeoning immensely on her soul.

Adversely to her flourishing affections for the woman, the sizeable area of woodland that created a bridge between her house and Hawthorne's premises had withered in the progressive season of aesthetic decay. No longer was it overshadowed by a boisterous canopy of vivid green, but rather its foliage had crippled—their lives so alluringly drained from their veins.

Lily hadn't wished to depart so soon, but she was an impotent fool when it came to the likes of Aurora Valentine. And like the love-sick idiot that she was, she had blindly allowed the woman to lure her with her euphonious giggles and wicked smirks into a pursuit throughout the school. But so cruelly was she deceived, Lily realised, when her undisclosed intentions were revealed. To finally catch up and find the woman awaiting her arrival at the entrance of the school as she held open the door, she was disheartened by this realisation yet so pleasantly thrilled by her devilry.

As much as she had wanted to plead and beg for mercy—longing for the woman to permit her to remain in her closeness, Lily grudgingly took her leave not to her own will. Puckish eyes had followed her as she brushed passed the woman and claimed back her bag. She had been foolish to even bother to grinningly suggest the possibility for her to drive her home as the idea was immediately met with hostility. So with a disappointed pout and her tail tucked between her legs, she had finally left the woman with her vanity.

And now, as the tender breeze that caressed her skin began to pick up into sporadic gusts of wind, jagged branches became irritated into frequent spasms and the uncanny whisperings of their leaves crescendoed in strident conversation. Eldritch shivers coursed through Lily's spine as its airy hand crept against her back, its curious finger tips frigid against her flesh.

Fumbling with her keys the bitter cold continued to press firmer into her, irking wisps of her hair to tickle her cheek and lips. As she pushed open the front door of her house she irately brushed away the stands that were blown into her aggravated eyes that were squeezed to a tight close.

It was only when she stepped through the door and finally opened her eyes did she come to face the two figures in the living room who's attention was focused on her. But only the presence of one of those individuals shocked her to completely freeze in her movement. And it could only ever be such a presence, one that she had not seen in a long time, to utterly rattle her and collapse the chambers of her heart with a myriad of emotions—contempt and dismay being the most prominent of them all.

"Lily."

The voice so impassive and sharp was one that had become foreign to Lily's ears over time. Yet endlessly when it was most unexpected, it lacerated the encrusted wound which marked her soul to leak more anguished blood over years worth of it that had dried up but never been cleansed of. The blood that had previously coursed with ardour and warmth through her veins now ran cold; all of her muscles stiffened, the ones in her hand contracting to a firm grasp around the set of keys it held.