This is more of a relaxed chapter, since I imagine ya'll are pretty overwhelmed by the drama in the last chapter. I wanted to give ya'll more of a breather this time around. I won't drop drama bombs in every chapter. :3 I'm working hard to write more pages to the story with each submission, since also being a reader, I want more than just one page. Plus I feel ya'll deserve more than one page too. Leave a comment and leave me feedback at my email, I read all of them. Enjoy the update.
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Drips of water rolled down the windows slowly. Trickling against the glass surface till it finally reached the edge of the window and disappeared into a puddle amongst other drops of water. Then the process repeated again with the next drop of rain. Lily had stared at this recurring process for awhile. Staring was all she could do because everything else seemed to hurt. Even blinking was too much of an effort.
She continued to stare out as she thought of the rain. Why was it so fascinating? Out of all the moments, it was now that she was finally noticing. The rain seemed to voice a need to reach out to her. It spoke to her without even using words. The droplets of water reflected her image upside down when she looked hard enough. And that was Lily's world. It was her reality. It was upside down and utterly crazy.
The rain called out to her. It invited her to get out and go live in her reality. There were no predators here. There were no disapproving eyes. There was nothing but a promise of starting her new life.
Lily turned her head towards the car door and looked at the handle. It was the only barrier that kept her from that life. And all she had to do was push down on the handle and open it. What was she waiting for? This is what she wanted from the beginning. She wanted freedom from suburban hell. Now she had it. She just never thought it would be like this. To be kicked out of her own house by her own mom and treated as if she herself belonged in an oversized black trash bag to be thrown out with the rest. She would have rather had that instead of being publicly humiliated by being knocked down, talked down to, and spat on in front of everyone. Even the thought made the pain resurface and her blood boil.
But she looked back at the rain. The soft pattering of the rain invited her. The sound alone was like a soft whisper. The voice told her to move.
'Fuck it that it didn't go the way I planned...I have to move on.'
Lily firmly pushed open the door. She stepped out of the car and closed the door back. She stood there taking in the coolness of the water. It easily went through the barrier of her clothes and seeped into the pores of her skin. It felt like a physical form of utter relief washing over her body and cooling the burning scars of her soul. There were no burning gazes here. Only relief.
Lily let out a relieved sigh and relaxed her shoulders. Once she was fully relaxed, she reached inside her car for her purse and then proceeded to make her way towards the townhouse that she had to call sanctuary for now.
Lily trudged up the steps rung the cheery doorbell once again. She stepped back and waited patiently. She made note of her surroundings for awhile before hearing the clinking of metal locks.
"What the bloody hell do you wa-" the old woman was in mid fury before realizing it was Lily. Her face toned down to a neutral stern look. Lily took note that they were the same exact lazy eyes Nicholas gave her. In a more tired voice that gave way to a British accent, the old woman asked, "What the bloody hell do you want?"
"I'm here to sign the lease and move in," Lily answered in a serious tone. The old woman was taken aback a little. Her eyes widening for a brief moment. The old woman took in Lily's state at that time. Lily imagined herself with her hair matted down to skull and clothes that clung to her form.
"Do you happen to know what time it is?" the old woman said sternly. Lily's own eyes widened as she finally took notice of the sky. So much had happened to her today that she didn't much take note of it. It was already dark, so it had to be after six. Lily had thought because of the downpour of rain that it had been perhaps four or five in the afternoon. Before Lily could answer, the old woman answered for her. "It's eight o' clock."
Silence had taken place again between the two. Only the sound of rain hitting the cement could be heard. The woman looked down at the ground before looking at Lily straight in the eye sternly. "Are you just going to stand there like a lump on a log for the rest of the day? Stand on the carpet here while, I go fetch you some dry clothes." She moved away from the door and walked upstairs, leaving Lily to herself. Lily stepped into the warm house and closed the door behind her. She hadn't realized how cold she was until she realized that she was shivering right down to her toes.
Now that she had the time to take note of her surrounding, she mapped out the entrance of the modest townhouse. To her left was the kitchen that consisted of mere necessities of cabinets, cupboards and what not. The table, that she was now getting used to seeing, was opposite of the kitchen area. There was a main room, near the middle of the entrance that she had yet to see. What she could see were nice posh furniture with a few modern technology. Then, of course, to the right was the staircase. Overall, the house had a nice Victorian theme to it. Everything was very clean and put together. Everything fit together.
All except the room. It was like it had a whole different life of its own
'Well, Lily, it does',
she reminded herself. But the room wasn't like that all the time. It was once a part of the rest of the house. It was once also warm and welcoming. Now it was desolate and chilling. It was full of life. What had happened in that room?
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Lily sat comfortably at the kitchen table wearing a pair of Nicholas's boxers and his extra large My Chemical Romance T-Shirt. The old woman said it was all she could find-that was clean that is. Lily didn't mind though. It was warm and dry. That was all that mattered.
Now that she thought about it, Lily wondered where Nicholas was. It was then going about nine, and she had seen no sight of him. There was no way possible he could be in bed now. It was too early for someone his age to go to bed. Maybe he was the kind of guy that partied. His perverted personality made him seem like the type of guy who spent the whole party trying to get a girl to go home with him.
'Trying? More like succeeding. With those looks, any girl would willingly go home with him and maybe even leave happy.'
Lily looked up from the table and watched the old woman at the stove preparing tea for the both of them. She said Lily needed something to warm her bones. Before Lily could object, the old woman had already put the kettle on and brought out two glass mugs. Once the kettle had started to steam, the old woman poured the water into the mugs and placed a teabag in each. She put the mugs down on a coaster on the opposite ends of the table, but before sitting down, she went to a drawer and pulled out a sheet of paper and a pen.