doopeysoul
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He let his eyes skim over the neatly trimmed meadow of tall sunflowers and tulips. It was an odd combination of colours and flowers, especially for the southern countryside. He watched the grass and stems sway under the breeze with a subtle rhythm. The hum of silence eased his mind and lulled him to sleep. He stumbled on a few pebbles which he bent down to collect. He rolled them in his hand and watched them move at different paces but reach the same destination. Like man, he pushed the thought away, he didn't want to think about the complexity of manhood or the wounded twists of the mind.

He saw a figure approaching him, her wavy hair dancing in the breeze, must be Emma. He walked towards her and saw her holding a black hat. My hat. He smiled to himself, she had remembered to bring it. He strode forward and squeezed her in a quick hug whilst grabbing the hat from her grasp.

"You remembered," He exclaimed.

She pushed away a stay strand of hair and nodded. "It's yours after all."

"I know but you liked it and I said you can keep it because you lost the one you had."

Emma licked her lips, "I don't like replacing old things with new ones."

"Why?"

Why? Because it reminded her of the cherry-red blood that stained her room as well as her mind, it left her scarred for life, she couldn't look at her own blood without think of her.

"Umm...because I just think...we should be m-more responsible and... look after our t-things and... especially not replace them with new ones." Emma's stutter was coming back, Aneesa had helped her get rid of it but it was coming back, like all the darkness from the past.

Lincoln loved her, he truly did; she knew he did, yet she couldn't rid her mind of what he had done.

"Please, stop." Isaac pleaded.

"S-stop what? My s-stutter?" Emma bit the inside of her cheek to stop herself from stuttering, it used to help, it reminded her to concentrate, to focus on the sound and not the word.

"No." Isaac looked frustrated and Emma worried about what it was that made him angry. "Stop lying, I know everything."

"W-w-what do you m-mean?" Now she was shivering, what did he know? It was cold in the meadow, which made it harder for her to control her stutter.

"I know he killed her, I know you're not my Emma." Isaac articulated.

Isaac was Emma's best friend before she was killed by Lincoln. A day after Lincoln had brought the new and improved Emma, Isaac had come to visit. Lincoln had warned her to be the most vigilant around Isaac, he knew more of the real Emma than Lincoln ever could.

"W-w-what the hell?" Emma tried to sound angry or even annoyed, but it came out fearful like she had a secret to keep. I did. She thought.

"Lily, I know it's you, you might not remember but when we were children, the orphanage would bring some selected group of kids to play with us at school, I remember you. You just don't remember me." It was like lightning had struck her, one moment she knew Isaac as a stranger, the next moment she knew Isaac, the Isaac that knew the real her and not the Emma she pretended to be. "Please don't lie to me, tell me." He said.

Lily had taken Isaac to the red caves by the sea, she sat him down on a rock and asked, "Why do you think he killed her?"

Regardless of what Lincoln did to Emma, he had only treated Lily with love and respect, she was going to be his loyal sister for as long as she lived. She had explained to Isaac on the way how Lincoln had adopted her (more so using money as he was underage) and how he showed her around, as well as renamed her Emma. Lily, however, kept the truth about Emma's dead body disclosed.

"Well, why adopt you? Where's the real Emma? She must be gone permanently or why would he look for a new one? And if he hadn't killed her, why not tell us who you really are?" Isaac asked.

Lily put her 'thinking face' on, she needed to prove to Isaac that she was as innocent as white, that she hadn't been the one to wipe away the blood that still made her hands look red.

Lily gasped. Her sudden reaction scaring Isaac.

"What's wrong?" He asked.

"Does that mean I'm in danger?" Lily placed her sweaty hands on her heart. "What if he kills me?"

"You may possibly be in serious danger if he murdered her," Isaac replied. Lily could just see how much Emma meant to Isaac when he spoke of her. "But we need evidence, which you can get," Isaac added.

She frantically shook her head. "No, what if he kills me?"

"Oh yes, then that can't happen." Isaac scratched his head for a moment. "I know just what we can do!" His eyes glinted in delight. "Tonight, at midnight, meet me at the meadow, we can run away to these caves. When Lincoln wakes up and sees you're gone, he'll search for you, giving us plenty of time to search and gather evidence."

He waited for her approval, Lily hesitantly nodded. "See you tonight."

"Thank you, Lily. Emma would have loved you." Isaac smiled.

She smiled sadly in return.

—

Lily watched Lincoln stuff pasta in his mouth. She wasn't really hungry, she felt sick. "You must be starving," She said with a smile.

"Hmm." He was too busy eating to see Lily's nervous expression.

"Lincoln." She approached him steadily.

"Hmm."

"Can I speak to you?" She reached his right side.

He looked up and creased his brows. "What's wrong?"

She took a deep breath. "Isaac suspects you."

—

She spent the past hour explaining to Lincoln what Isaac thought and what he wanted to do. He listened attentively, with the calmest expression Lily had ever seen.

"Don't worry, Emma, it takes a lot more than that to catch me." He got up and strode towards the stairs. "And Emma, thank you. I knew the day I met you, you would be the best sister in the world."

She felt a grin tease her lips, she had felt guilty when betraying Isaac, but now she felt like she did the right thing.

You tried being my saviour, Isaac, but you can't save me when I'm already saved.

She poked her head through the window, it was a dark night, a moonless night. There was no light, no one would see the crimes the night sky hid. Lily knew Lincoln wouldn't kill Isaac, but she knew he'd do something, most likely give him a broken bone or two so he would forget about his fantasies.

Family before anyone. Always and forever.

—

Does it make Lily evil for betraying Isaac? She was only keeping a promise.

How do you justify if something is right or wrong? Or is there truly no right or wrong?