Red Water Lily

Chapter 6

Ryan was sitting in the dining room, reading and old, dusty book when he heard a noise outside. He looked out the window and saw Lily running towards the river. Curious about what she was up to he decided to follow her. He carefully opened the door and stepped outside, making sure he wasn't making too much noise while he walked behind her down to the river. He snuck down underneath the bridge and crouched down in the shadows, hoping that Lily would not see him. The light from the full moon gave him a perfect view as he noticed that Lily had started to take off her scarf and shoes. He kept watching and was stunned when she took off her beanie and long, wavy hair fell out, flowing in the air. When he saw Lily taking off her pants he quickly looked down and shook his head.

I do NOT want to see THAT! Ryan thought to himself. But before he turned around, he noticed something that made him walk a little closer and stare in shock. Where there used to stand a young man were now a beautiful woman, no- a goddess!

The person he thought was a man named Jason was in fact a woman, a

As he was on his way to step out from his hiding spot to confront her, he decided not to do it yet. He wanted to give her a chance to tell him the truth herself without forcing her to do so. She surely had a good reason to lie about her identity. He snuck back to the house and sat down next to the dining room window, waiting to see if she would return. If she wouldn't he would chase after her. He knew he had no right to force her to stay, but she was still scared and wounded and to him it didn't feel right to let her try to survive alone. Especially not now that he knew she was a woman and knowing what kind of men there was out there, roaming in the woods. After a while he heard footsteps and looked up. There she was, looking like a boy again.

Lily felt like a whole new human after her bath. Walking back to the house she realized she hadn't thought about how she would get back in her room without being noticed. She couldn't climb back up to the window like she thought, and all the other windows were locked. The only way in was through the front door. She cursed under her breath and hoped for luck to be on her side as she grabbed the doorknob and walked in.

She stumbled back when her eyes met with Ryan's, who looked back at her with disappointment. She wanted to ask if he had followed her, if he had seen...Her. But she just stood there, too scared to do anything.

"Trying to run away but changed your mind?" Ryan's voice was calm, which Lily did not expect. She slowly nodded and hid her hands behind her back, as if she was trying to hide her lie.

"Well, I'm glad you didn't run away. Anyway, the sun will come up in a few hours, you should try to get some sleep."

He never said anything about her bathing, so Lily assumed that he had stayed in the house. She felt relieved and finally dared to breathe out the anxiety loaded air she held in her lungs. Ryan stood up and walked up the stairs, closely followed by Lily, who as soon as she got up, ran to her room. Ryan laid down on one of the mattresses quietly, hoping that no one would wake up. As he laid there, he could not help thinking about her. Who was she and why was she not telling the truth? He had so many questions he wanted to ask her. Ryan could feel his eyes getting more and more heavy, but since he had to stay awake, he laid there thinking about the beautiful woman in his room and how his need to protect her grew stronger.

One morning Lily woke up by loud voices coming from downstairs, it sounded like people were arguing. She yawned and stretched before she got up, put on her scarf and walked downstairs. This was the first time she left the bedroom willingly, she wouldn't normally have done it, but she felt like she needed to know what was happening. When she got downstairs, she could hear what the men were arguing about.

"But we need to take the first step and trust him! He can help us!"

"I don't trust him and I will not pretend that I do, so he will definitely not get a weapon!"