___________________________________

"You.
I've spent my life waiting for you."

___________________________________

•••
Oh how unaware,

Unaware she was his greatest gift to him.
•••

No one questioned her absence from school the following day. Mainly due to the fact that it wasn't strange for Lilith to miss school unannounced. Her mother would often harm herself during her 'episodes' and her fathers duty to work was greater then that of being present.

She couldn't blame him, he was 'doing the best he could in not the best situations' he called it. There was always food on the table and a roof over their heads, she was never one to complain to begin with.

She understood her family wasn't the wealthiest but they had a lot of love to share. Her father, who always came home to his family after a long day of work with a genuine smile and a mother who although not always present, never forgot to cook a meal.

This morning on her way to schooling, she didn't cross the young boy again. And if she hadn't the bracelet to prove it, she'd believe she'd gone mad.

The young girl stayed up at night, staring at the bracelet on her wrist with such wonder. And when she'd try to remove it to bathe, it proved stubborn. She wondered how the young boy removed it from his so easily and noted to ask him when and if she'd cross him again.

She had searched her small room, a closet in its former life, transformed into a bedroom by simply laying a mattress on the floor. No door was present for privacy, but she had a perfect view of the joint kitchen and living room.

Her parents shared a room, the only room, and as an infant she too shared the room. As she grew older she insisted on bedding separate and her father came up with the closet concept. It was small, not much but it was HER room, something she owned and was proud of.

She pulled a dainty wooden box from the corner of her bed. Her box of 'found items' she called them. There was something special about each of those items that called out to her but one called her attention the most.

It was a smooth black stone with a strange carving etched on the surface. She thought it'd match the gift Elijah gave her. She remembered the stone once triggered an episode from her mother after she'd shown it to her. She went frantic, shaking the young girls body and repeating the word 'Protection' till her father came in and intervened.

If what her mother had said claimed to be true, then she'd want Elijah to have it. It'd be best if it wasn't anywhere near her household to begin with.

And so this morning, she remembered to slip it in her pocket in case she'd encounter the strange boy again.

•••

To her disappointment, she didn't counter Elijah on her way to school again. Somehow that made her uncomfortable and by luncheon she sat away from the rest of the students, chewing her salt crackers slowly while gazing at the symbols on her bracelet.

That was, until she was approached by the one and only Hatcher Murdock. The sole child to the mayor of Aberdeen. The perfect star child to all but Lilith.

He came from the wealthy castes in town, being the mayor's son and inheritor to the Murdock family wealth. No one but a few knew exactly where the money came from but rumors of deals with the creatures had something to do with it.

Lilith only knew through the gossip of folks back at the food market and her parents discussions when they thought she couldn't hear them.

Wealthy or not, Hatcher was a dark soul and a rain cloud on a sunny day to Lilith. So when she saw him approach a few feet away determined towards her, the young girl calmly stood and packed her lunch safely in her book bag.

Hatcher wasn't having it and jogged a few steps to reach her in time.

" Where you off to loser lily?" The snooty boy asked in feigned concern.

Lilith also wasn't having it today, not seeing the strange boy today had that affect on her. Nevertheless she always kept her calm and avoided provoking Hatcher any further.

" It's rude to not answer when someone asks you a question loser lily." Hatcher said, scolding Lilith like a child.

He was only a few years older then Lilith, three to be exact, yet the boy treated Lilith like an infant. Not like Lilith ever claimed otherwise, she couldn't risk causing her family any scandals. The Hawthorne's were no match to the Murdock's social status. The Hawthorne's already had the reputation of insanity.

It wasn't until Hatcher reached for her wrist, that the bracelet glowed its bright gold. A gold that had Hatcher flinching when he came in contact with it.

" What the.." the boy questioned, staring at his hand in shock and disbelief.

" Your a freak of nature Hawthorne" the boy gave her a last shove before running off to the rest of the kids. Most likely to give them another reason to shun her.

Lilith was past that and didn't mind her lack of friends at Aberdeen Elementary. Her daddy had warned her that kids were mean and just needed time to grow like flowers.

She thought Hatcher was a weed for sure. She laughed to herself at the thought on her way back home. That's when she heard his voice through the trees.

" What's so funny pretty lily?"

There he stood, a proud boy, chin straight and arms behind his back and feet in a weird stance. Lilith let out a giggle at the funny way he stood. Too serious for a boy like him she thought.

Her giggles continued and seeing the confusion of the boy in front of her had her in an uncontrollable fit of even more giggles.

The boy now stood in front of her, her giggles proved contagious when the boy, once in a rigid stance now slumped and laughed along with her.

His father back home would be disappointed and scold him in return but being here with his lily loosened his worries. So when she finally calmed down from her fit of giggles, the young boy reached for her hand yet again ignoring the effect the shield had on him. This time it didn't go unnoticed by Lilith.

" Why does it hurt when you touch me Eli?" Lilith questioned in worry.

Elijah didn't miss the new nickname his flower had given him as well as her curiosity and pure oblivion to the situation.

Lilith hadn't caught on that he was one of them. A creature feared by her people, given that the path as well as the whole town was surrounded by an enchanted shield. A shield that could only be crossed through by humans, such as Lily.

" It doesn't hurt when you're on this side with me." Elijah innocently suggested.

Lilith contemplated crossing over, she had always been warned not to. So why was this boy any reason for her to do just so?

She looked him over and didn't notice anything creature like on the boy. He was surely just a daring boy who liked the danger of breaking the rules. Lilith on the other hand was always a safe player, never doing what she wasn't supposed to do and never questioned otherwise.

So what was so different about this time?

The boy took a step back and extended his hand outwards, daring her to cross past the rugged grey stones and into the wild.

Somehow that excited Lilith and before she knew it she place her hand in his and took two daring steps forward.

•••

Fuck Hatcher Murdock and his snooty self right?

-A