The Lies That Shadow Us

Chapter Four

Gravel and dirt crunched underneath her shoes as she exited her car. For a moment, that was all she could hear. Crunch, crunch, crunch. Her mind felt like it was a thousand miles away.

It didn't help that it was a scorching hot day in August. Lily wiped the beads of sweat off of her forehead and upper lip as she looked around. Her surroundings weren't anything abnormal but that wasn't what made Lily's skin crawl, it was the calm silence.

The calm before the storm she thought. There weren't any other houses or properties nearby. This property was vacant and had been ever since she could remember, in fact, she never knew of anyone who lived there.

It was always just there. Menacing. When she was a kid a couple of the neighborhood kids liked to dare each other to come here but nobody ever even got near the front gates.

Gates that were more for show because anyone could open them, they were massive arched iron gates that didn't actually lock.

Lily opened and closed her hands feeling her palms tingle and sweat. That same itch she couldn't scratch from earlier came rushing back as she opened the left gate and walked through.

Lily hissed and clutched her hands in tight fists willing the burning to go away. Being able to do nothing but ignore the pain, Lily pushed passed her discomfort and kept walking down the winding path.

It was a long walk she thought out of breath but then again Lily was a minimum exercise kind of girl so everything was a long walk. Hating this more and more with each step Lily cursed creatively.

Ivy leaves and mossy vines snaked along the entire path leading up to the house. It was like a house of shadows she thought. Chipped white paint, and white shutters that were almost completely covered by vines and moss.

The sound of a branch crunching had Lily snapping her head towards it so fast she lost balance and tripped. Strong arms were around her in an instant. She smelled wood and lavender.

Warm breath tickled her nape and she realized she was clutching the mystery stranger around the neck as if he were a lifeline. Lily felt herself blush deeply and quickly released him but almost lost balance again doing so.

Mystery man chuckled. Lily noticed then that the mystery man was very handsome.

He was tall probably around six foot one and had slightly tanned skin. Fluffy dirty blonde hair, chocolate brown eyes, and full lips that looked soft. Lily couldn't help herself as she lingered on those lips for a second too long.

He was muscular but not bulky more lean because of his height. Her blush deepened even more, it covered her freckled skin from cheeks to chest.

"I'm sorry, you scared me," Lily said breathlessly.

"No need to be sorry sweetheart, every man wants a beautiful girl in their arms," the handsome mystery man said and then winked. Oh my god, he was very handsome and she got the feeling he had no trouble talking to females whatsoever. Lily crossed her arms and defensively.

"What are you doing here?" Lily asked him. He looked at her with those charming brown eyes. And reached his hand out to her.

"Why don't we start with an introduction, I'm Roman Wayland and you are?" Lily paused for a moment wondering if she should shake his hand or tell him anything but she was just clutching him like a life vest so why not?

Lily took his hand gently and shook it.

"Um, I'm Lily Reid. I've never seen you before did you just move here?" Roman's fingers lingered on hers for a moment, his eyes locked on hers and her heart beat faster.