" Is there anyway to remove her? I want her as pure as possible before...." Everything was blurry like I was deep in a merky fog. Words started to blend together and my hearing was interrupted by a sharp ringing that was stubborn and refused to leave me be. As I tried to lift my head, soft leather restricted my movements. They were bound on my wrists and legs and three around my waist while one firmly held down my head. I started to furiously thrash about but to no avail, the old worn leather would not snap and free me. My eyes darted around the room to discover it was a heavily white padded room with strange medical equipment by the old rusty metal bed that I was placed on. The equipment had many thin tubes containing strange liquid that ran into my arms and head.
" Get the Doctor! She is waking up and is unstable!" A familiar male voice yelled out but other than that my vision was to blurred to see the face of the voice. Moments latter a woman with long blond almost brown hair came rushing into my room in a panic. Her arms began to thrash about wildly as she pulled a needle from her white apron that contained a type of golden liquid and she drove it deeply in my leg causing massive pain to shoot through every cell. Things started to go blurry again as a woman with short vibrant red hair came into the room dressed identical to the other lady followed by a man in some type of lab coat.
Time slipped by as my body accepted the pain and slowly slipped into a dark abyss. Faces, so many faces flew by ones that were screaming at me to remember flew by in a flash as my mind sank deeper and deeper. No matter how hard I tried to remember...it was like there was a large door placed to keep those memories safe and away from me and on the door was a large lock with a mocking key hole. A boys face appeared and he was abnormally attractive with beautiful hazel eyes and earthy brown hair that had a golden tint to it. A part of me reached out to touch this familiar face but just as my fingers brushed the image he faded away like sand in the wind and the door was dropped from someplace unseen.
Panicked I flew back in surprise and notice that I was in some type of old maybe 18th century hospital gown. As I was trying to focus on my strange attire the door had the sound of a hard fist hitting the door from...the other side. Carefully I looked around the side but there was no one, not even a hair out of place just empty space beyond the maybe two inch thick door. When I made my way back around to the front of the door the pounding became louder and louder and the door shook with each force of the fist crashing on it.
A part of me was screaming to run and never look back, but then again I was a curious creature and decided to move closer. Bad. A little voice whispered into my mind but I pushed it back and continued to move on. Run. Bad. Very Bad. Don't go. With each step the little voice grew louder then silence when my feet were firmly planted in front of the door. A faint scream erupted from beyond the strange door. "Coward!" It hissed out in anger. " I should be free not you!" The voice rose higher and higher as a dwelling pain began to spread through my head.
Somewhere within the every growing darkness, a light appeared. Faint and small at first, so much so that I could hardly tell the break in the darkness. However, that one little flame like light grew larger and larger until it became a growing orb and then it continued to grow in size. Now the light resembled a door. In fact it was almost the exact identical door to the other that gave me the feeling of something...evil and wicked lurking behind it. This new door was bright and resembled the sun, the sheer light slipping through ever crack and groove of the carved wood, and the overall warmth.
This door gave me the feeling of something that I thought had died the day he betrayed me, the once familiar feeling was...love. Out of nowhere the painful memories of Eli came back full force.
This dress is incredibly annoying! I thought to myself as I strolled through the vast land of Salem. Many around me knew me well and because my story was that my parents had fallen ill to a plague and because I was of age, I set sail on a boat with the money they left for me and wound up here. Jeremiah, a small school boy around the age of six, came running straight towards me at full speed. As I braced for impact he suddenly stopped before me with an eager look upon his mud caked face.
"May I 'ave a treat Miss. Lily? I've been good for almost a week." The small children came to me on days like today and since I owned a nice little bake shop, extra treats were always a plenty. I knelled down to almost eye level with the youth trying not to dirty this horrid piece of cloth. My hand messed his dark and filthy hair all the while beaming ear to ear. Jeremiah franticly tried to fix his hair with an annoyed look on his normally smiling face.
On my left arm was a wicker basket filled with a few treats here and there. I pulled out a small pie and handed it to the child. The look on his face was all he could say and then he darted off. As I stood back up and brushed off the dirt from my apron, a tinge of pain raced through my heart at the thought of the lack of a true family. Everyone from my world keeps a tight hold on what happened to my parents but I wish I knew, even a hint might help to ease the pain.
A teen aged male came up to me carrying a single blue rose. Many a men have asked for my hand in every shape and form, however, there was something...different about him. The way he carried himself, the very sight of his light brown hair with a few pale brown sun streaks and his captivating light brown eyes, the way my heart skipped a beat with every nearing footstep. What was I thinking? I may be a monster but I am still a lady and should act like one.
"So you must be the baking beauty everyone here talks about? The name is Eli, and I just moved here with my parents from England." England, odd I would have stayed there than here any day, but if that was his parents wishes then I for one know that it is hard to escape their path. " Baking beauty? Maybe the baking part sure, however, beauty...that I am afraid I lack in." My head turned to the side and my eyes were cast to the ground.
"Surly you jest! Why you Miss are lovelier than this rose which I hold. Outer beauty means not, but inner beauty is what is see." His attempts were sweet but my inner beauty was black and crumbling like piece of bread. " Well, Eli, you may call me Lily. My parents passed away when I was a youth and so I can here by boat in hopes to find a better life." The young man named Eli looked at me and in his eyes there was a flicker of sadness but for some strange reason it was soon replaced and the bright smile returned.
"Well, Lily, I hope to see thee around once more, for the sight of you can not be compared by any. I can tell that for a women you have much strength for venturing on your own path." Eli placed the rose in my hand gently and started to walk back down the path he came from. What a foolish child he must be. A light frustrated sigh slipped past my lips as my feet began their stroll once more.
By the time I found my way back home the sun had begun to set creating an explosion of vibrant colors. Work was never to be done, not for me at least. After I boiled enough water in the cauldron and soaked in a relaxing bath, there came a light tap on my door. Even though it was at an ungodly hour, my body arose from my bed and my heavy legs made there way towards the wooden door.
I lit the small candle in its silver holder and opened the door, allowing the nightly chill invade my home. The owner of the knock was nowhere to be seen, however, there was a piece of parchment held down by a small stone on the ground. Carefully I picked up the parchment and searched the dark for any stranger hiding in the trees. Finding no one I went back inside and read the abandoned note.
Miss Lily
Please meet me in the meadow tomorrow evening. I would appreciate if you would allow me to call for you sometime in the near future. The very sight of your beauty can even blind the sun, until tomorrow.
~E
Odd, he was an odd one. I thought to myself as I crumbled the small note and placed it in the waste basket. My thoughts returned to that strange human and a light smile hit my face. On second thought this human may be a lovely change of pace for me after all that...Leo had done to me. I thought before my head tried to shake my troubles away. If only one could shake away their past as easily as shaking ones head.
The next morning I paced back and forth biting on my nails, a filthy habit but one that helped with nerves at times. " Maybe he will be a good thing? No do not be so rash Lily! You are a...monster after all and he is a human, our worlds were not meant to connect!" Time ticked away slowly as very little people stopped by my bakery thus meaning I had little to occupy my mind with. As the sun began to set creating a beautiful Autumn sky, Eli crossed my mind.
"Curse my curiosity." I silently muttered under my breath and headed out the door and down the familiar path. A small candle was clutched between both of my hands as my feet guided themselves to the meadow. The sun was almost completely gone all that remained of this beautiful day was the orange and red streaks left behind on the light purple sky. A deep see of pitch blackness enveloped my feet as the world began to lose its glow, making the normally vibrant colors deeper than ebony.
There in the shadows was a vertical shadowy figure then a small red glow revealed Eli as he began to wave to me. At the very sight of him something tightened where my heart should have been and my breath began to hitch. What was it about this human that makes me feel this way? A monster is not supposed to love their prey, yet even if I try to deny my feelings they are real. A heavy sigh escaped my lips almost blowing out the flickering flame I held tightly in my hands.
" Lily, you simply know not how pleased your arrival has made me. If I may, may I call upon you on the 'morrow?" Shock invaded my mind and clouded my judgement. Slowly I nodded despite every impulse willing me to say no to this strange youth who seemed to try to hard for my attention. With a flash of a devilish smile he blew out our candles and fled. There was something about him that made the hole where a beating heart should be ache with every mere thought of those eyes. This one had a type of charm and appearance of an Angel yet he had the actions of a...something else other than human, something from my realm.
The hours that passed were cruel to my body as I worried my lip, tore away at my once beautiful fingernails, and stayed wide awake until the light of dawn spilled into my room. Normally I have no need for sleep and non of the effects are present, however, thinking about this human I could feel heavy dark marks form under my eyes. What was it about him that intrigues me so? Was it his devilish charm? Maybe it was his angelic personality? The troubling thoughts racked my brain as my feet once again began to mat down the soft wool of my rug.
The hour of our planned arrangement had come and by then I had worn a fair size hole into my once soft rug. "I have to blend sometime with the humans, otherwise they my start to question my and accuse me of witchcraft." I muttered under my breath as a soft rapture on my door echoed throughout my small home. " My dear Lily, I have come to call on you, will you invite me in?" With a frantic heartbeat hammering in my chest I called out to him. " O-Oh my, please pardon me but just a moment sir!" Using my magic I changed my outfit from yesterday to one that was agreeing with the weather yet showed my status.
Frantic and unsteady hands unlocked the large door to find a startled Eli preparing to knock once more. He held out his hand with a charming smile that hinted at a devilish charm lurking on the surface. My heart still pounded yet I masked my haste as best I could and gently placed my hand in his. Eli decided to take a long stroll to a wonderfully hidden meadow with a large mass of stone with a small yet beautiful waterfall streaming down. There were small saplings emerging from the earth, one day they would grow into large thick trees and I would be around to see it happen. A simple thought hit me as frail hands raised a beautiful fan to cover my forlorn face.
Eli quickly tried to cheer my up and started to tell me the wonders of his world, not that I had already been to many of the places he described but it was nice to just listen to him talk. Many moons passed until two years of being courted by Eli convinced me that I could trust this human. I was going to show him my world.
"That night I took him there, on top of the large mass of stone that he first took me to on that fateful night." My voice echoed in the emptiness laced with wrath and pain. The haunting memory started back up again and it was like relieving a nightmare.
"Lily, where are we ?" Eli asked as he tried to remove the strap of cloth covering his eyes. " Just...Trust me as I have learned to trust you my love." I sat him down on the cool stone and took off the blind fold. Unsteady legs walked me to the edge of the massive rock until my toes peered over. " Lily! Don't leap!! I beg you my life would mean nothing without you!" I heard him spring up and charge toward me, however, my magic was much stronger and I forcefully held him still.
"Eli, my love, you have told me much of a world that I have already explored on my own and now, let me show you mine." The bewildered look on his face hurt but I brushed it aside and gracefully picked up a large sharp shard of stone and slit two long gashes through my dress. Confusion and panic raced over his face as I neared him sharing one last kiss before leaping over the edge. I could hear a hellish scream but it was hushed by the overbearing sound of air rushing toward my face.
Before I hit the bottom two large snow white wings unfolded and slid through the slits. The sudden movement caused my body to raise higher into the sky until I used my wings to shoot my body upward through the air.
"I let him go- something I regret. He still told me that I was beautiful and how he adored me, he said I was an angel sent down from Heaven just for him." I gave a bitter laugh at that memory as my hands clinched into tight fists. " I went to bed with a warmed heart and a bright smile on my face, I was so naive to think that maybe I had found something good in this world. Next thing I knew I awoke to the sight of an angry mob hauling me from my home then setting it ablaze."
"I was tied to a wooden pole and forced to watch my home turn to ashes. They accused me of witchcraft and tried to burn me to Hell, the most heart-shattering sight was that Eli was not only the leader of that mob, he lit a fire at my feet."
"Burn the witch!"
"Burn the evil!"
"We must save our children!"
"They all chanted as the flames licked at my feet then my legs. Of course I screamed and kicked, my home was being burned down and the one I fell for was the first to try and kill me. My fits turned into rage and the flames grew higher and hotter until they were a deep blue and burned the wood and rope to ashes."
"How dare you! All of the others you burned were plain girls, but I was the one you should never have angered! You will all pay for your sins!"
What I did next was awful and marked me as a pure creation of destruction. Using the flames I set all nearby homes on fire, some had small children or pets in them and they screamed out in pain. Some made it out of the house, but they were covered in flames and died quickly. The people who I had come to know looked at me in horror and rage, some of the men charged at me with pitch forks but they suffered worse than the children.
"She is a witch!"
"My baby! How could you!?"
"Monster!"
"God help us all!"
They cried out to me but I just laughed at their pathetic attempts to call on their God to save them. I clinched my fists tighter as tears ran down my face. Most of the people had run in fear of the monster before them and I saw my fellow comrades collecting the souls and moving to the next- all of them were in awe of my powers and gave me smiles and cheered my name as I summoned fire to rain down from the sky lighting up the night.
The last person still there was Eli to fear-stricken to move. I looked away as if to hide from the upcoming memory. I licked my lips like a hungry animal playing with its meal and advanced towards Eli. "Now look what you have made me do my love." I said as I sat near him as he tried to crawl away but kept falling over and over again. My body leaned in and my hands gripped his pale white face as I whispered one last thing to him. "I could have been your angel, but now you can see what an angel looks like when they fall."
With that I kissed him hard as fire ran into his mouth and consumed him slowly from the inside. I pushed him down and stood up, unleashing my wings that were raven colored and smiling down at his pained face. His body burst into flames while he was still alive and he watched me as my weapon appeared in my hands as I took his life.
" Now do you see that we are the same thing? Why you have no choice but to let me out ?" The voice behind the door called out as I shook my head franticly. "No! I am better than that!" I screamed with a hoarse voice. The pounding on the door grew louder and louder as the door got larger and closer to me dwarfing me in size. "I am the one with the real power! You are nothing without me!" She screamed at me as tears ran down my face in a constant river.
In my weakness I felt a light surround me and it formed into armor as two large white wings formed on my back and a large biblical weapon formed in my hands. The door gave a soft click as she stepped out now the same size as me. She had on armor as well and a large and powerful weapon in her hands. "Not anymore!"I screamed as the war broke out between the control of my body began.
My weapon and hers were equally matched as well as our strength, however, she got off balance and I took my chance to drive my weapon deep into her armor, piercing her dark heart. She screamed and darkness flooded out of her as her body dissolved into nothing. The battle was over and I was the victor, my body then gave way as I fell to my knees . The angelic armor pealed off my body and dissolved away.
"Lily!? Lily wake up!" A male voice called from the blackness. I knew that voice from somewhere but it was had to place in my current state. Slowly light broke apart the darkness and the blurry image of a boy in a lighted room was all that I could see.
Feeling in my body came back and I felt strong and warm arms wrapped tenderly around me. My eyes fluttered open, but the effort took its toll on my fragile body. It felt like forever before my vision returned to me, but when it did I saw that I was in his arms. He was protecting me, he was holding me tightly in a safe embrace, he loved me. Tenderly my hand reached up and cupped his handsome face. His name was on the tip of my tongue but despite my best efforts my memory was still blurred. Three names came to me, Max, James, and Leo.
Max, the boy who remained me strongly of Eli, James, a childhood friend with a heart of gold, and Leo...the boy who hurt me to prepare and protect me. Still, the name of this boy escaped me. I took one long look into those beautiful eyes and I knew him, like remembering a song from your past. My mouth opened to say his name as I took a breath ready to scream his name if needed. "-" Before I could even use my voice the roaring explosion of a bomb went off, sending the old bed that I was still slightly strapped to flying against the white padded walls.
»»»» END OF BOOK ONE«««««««