Lilly's POV
We both awkwardly walked in the garden side by side not saying a word. I did have to admit he was good looking, with his golden blonde hair and sea blue eyes. But I wouldn't allow myself to fall in love with this stranger. He kept glancing at me every now and now as we walked.
"Ms. Adams,"
"Call me Lilly, I sound old when you say that." With my remark he smiled a little and continued.
"Well Lilly I just thought that maybe we should get to know each other a little more by asking each other some questions."
Roses were scattered all along the path. Some were pure white, while others were blood red. The pathway was lined with stone and flowers in every direction.
"Okay, there's not much to know about me though."
"Well for starters I know your beautiful." Ethan said again showing off his perfect crystal white teeth.
Some part of me wanted to hit him, but the other was flattered. I kept walking trying my hardest not to think about his comment.
"Anyways, I guess I'll ask the first question. Where's your favorite place in the whole world?" He asked.
We both stopped at the path and sat down on a bench that was along the path of roses. The sun started to peak behind the clouds trying to make its appearance once again.
"At home, with my family. I haven't seen them in so long." I answered back. Which I was a little surprised I let myself say. The words spewed out of my mouth flowingly.
"Now you ask me a question."
"I'm not really into this kind of stuff."
"Well, I just thought maybe we should get to know each other. I don't want to start out on a bad foot, which I guess I already have."
I had felt a little guilty for saying taut but he didn't know me. I don't like opening myself up to others,yet I still don't know to this day why I even answered his question.
I didn't bother to look at him because I already knew he was staring at me, through the corner of my eye I saw it. Guilt was something I always hated to feel. and when I was around him I felt it quite a lot. He never knew what I went through, or what had happened between me and Harry in the woods, my final visit to him before he burned to death.
"Lilly, I know you probably don't like me, but I really think if we get to know each-other that,"
"That what!? We'll fall in love?! It's not going to happen! Your a stupid little spoiled rich boy!!! Who can't think of anyone besides himself!"
I ran, all the way back. Running across the stone path in the garden lined with white and red roses. Tears threatened to spew from my eyes at any second. Luckily my hand wiped away the first tear to tumbled down my eye. The path began to be more and more blurry. So I decided to go off it. I ran across the lawn not listening to Ethan trying to catch up to me.
Tripping over my feet with every step I took, I stumbled over to what appeared to be a hedge maze. When I entered the opening to it there were three options for me to go in, right, left, or the middle. As soon as I heard the voice growing louder I quickly went down the left path. At that moment I just ran into numerous paths without a care in the world. My only motivation was to get away from Ethan as fast as possible.
I ran the hardest that I had ever run in high heels and in a flowing dress. My mind was too busy on focussing on the path that laid before me. So when I looked up, I was frightened. An old woman was right in front of me staring at me. Who knows what her first impression of me was. Tears down my face, running like a mad man through that maze, and looking all fancy. Her eyes were grey, hair matching the color of her eyes, skin wrinkled, yet she looked interesting.
The old woman placed a cold hand on my cheek and tried her hardest to give me a genuine smile. I could tell she saw the look of confusion played on my face. The words came out of her rusted mouth with flow and ease. "They are coming. Only the number 99 will be your clue. Run child run he's after you." With her words I felt confused and lost. Who was coming? what did 99 mean? Only the last part made sense. Benjamin was after me. But how did she know?
But as soon as I heard the dreaded voice again I dashed off. Running away from him. The old woman simply just waved to me as I ran into the twisty turns in the maze. Her words stuck to me like glue. Someone's coming. 99 is the number. And I was being followed. Peter might have thought that he found me a safe heaven, but he was wrong.
I ran and ran panting and letting out short breaths of air. My heart rate started to pick up. I was terrified for what 99 meant or who was following me. Anyone would be if a strange old woman went up to you and told you that. And just the look in her grey eyes frightened me. My only thought was that maybe I had just imagined that old woman, but I knew it was real. I felt her cold hands on my face. She was real. I wasn't dreaming it.
Soon I stopped. My lungs didn't contain anymore oxygen. I was out of breath, feet sore, and panting loudly. The tears on my face had gone away, but the redness in my eyes stayed. I sat on my knees, the blue fabric of my dress spread out all around me like the ocean.
I was scared when I heard the footsteps starting to get closer and closer to me. My hands gripped my knees bringing them to my face to cover my red puffy eyes. I stayed as quiet as possible in hopes that he would not find me.
But the odds weren't in my favor, because as soon as I looked up I saw him crouched down in front of me. "Lilly are you okay." He asked caressing my cheek. I wanted to smack his hand away from me but I was too broken inside. I was lonely.
"Yes. Just something happened to one of my...friends. I don't want to talk about it."
"We should probably go inside now." He lifted out an arm and I grabbed on while he pulled me up. We both walked in silence. He would sneak quick glances at me every now and then as we wandered back through the maze. With every twist and turn of the maze I kept my head down.
Surprisingly Ethan really did know the maze. We came out of the maze and headed back into the same stone path lined with the roses. I was looking in the maze for any sigh of that woman, yet nothing appeared.
He didn't bother to say anything to me due to my state at that moment. My mind kept going back to Harry. The night we first met, waking up in his room after being unconscious, the day in the woods he kissed me yet almost killed me, and the last time I got to see him tied to a tree before he met his fate. I couldn't imagine what happened when those flames rolled in while he was stuck to that tree. What I imagined in my mind of how it played out brought tears to my eyes again.
But I kept the tears in my eyes and proceeded to walk down the path. The cold wispy Norwegian winter winds stung my face. Ethan mainly stared at the ground while walking. Neither of us wanting to know what had just happened.
As we made our way back into the castle the warm air engulfed me and brought forth calmness."Well I guess I should show you where you are going to be staying then." He said extending his hand out. I only looked down denying his gesture. He only sighed and proceeded up the long stair case I had seen him come down only an hour ago. As we reached the top of the staircase there was room after room. He lead me to the right hallway where all the rooms were scattered all along the dark hall. It amazed me that so many rooms could fit into that hall, yet alone in that castle. As we neared the end of the hall I saw two rooms across from each other which I assumed would be where his room was, across from mine. He then took out a key from his pocket and dangled it from his index finger before swiftly putting the key into the hole until it made a clicking sound indicating that it was unlocked. The thought scared me that he could possibly lock me in that room.
But all thoughts left me as he opened the door and gestured me inside. The room was a very light shade of soft pink, almost pastel like. All the furniture was white with gold embroiders. The bed was a huge king sized bed with a white duvet, and the same shade of pink pillows on the top of the bed. Also the bed was a canopy with white curtains pulled back showing the bed off. Beside the bed was a night stand, white with a golden knob on the drawer of it. On the opposite side was a vanity with a circular mirror with the same golden imprints on the time of the mirror. Even a matching stool, with the soft pink fabric on the top.
On the other side of the room was a huge closet closed by a remote controlled door. As went over to the closet I picked up the remote that was on a table next to the doors and pressed the open button. When I opened the closet loads upon loads of dresses filled my eyes. More than enough dresses to last me a for each day of the year. There were more dresses in that closet than in Peter's which amazed me. All the dresses were on either side of me as I walked into the room. They were all in color order, I felt like I was in a OCD persons closet instead of my new closet.
As I scanned the dresses I saw Ethan leaning against the entrance to the closet just looking at me. I just ignored him and kept walking till I found the end of the closet. Where I found the jewelry section. A whole wall full of all the jewelry I could have ever imagined. Necklaces on the right, followed by bracelets, on the left were earrings and rings. But the middle section stood out the most. Tiaras. All looked to be pure diamond and jewels. Each different with colored jewels imbedded into the tiara.
"Well do you like it?" He asked with a smile on his face.
"I absolutely love it." I said not even bothering to look at him.
"Okay well meet me down stairs for dinner at 6:00. Afterwards I want you to do me a ...favor."
I was thrown off guard by his last remark. What kind of a favor? Too many things had happened in an hour, none were all that great either.
Then the dreaded words came to mind bringing up the memory I had been trying to forget in that hour. "They are coming. Only the number 99 will be your clue. Run child run he's after you."
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OMG!!! This chapter was sooooooooooo fun to come up with. I was literally in the middle of class and came up with the idea and it stuck with me and I wrote it down.
ANYWAYS... did you like this chapter? because I really do.
Vote goal:40
Question: do you want Ethan to fall in love with Lilly?