They had never heard her name. No one spoke of her. She is but a myth unknown, bent and broken. Her past changed her, made her into a monster. And now she's in Mystic Falls.
(Book One in The Demons Within series)
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
Scotland, Summer of 1020
Lillian wandered blindly along the lakeside, watching as the water rippled gently up her feet. She relished in the cold of the water, a relief from the scorching summer sun.
It was one of the hottest days of the year. The sun had reached its highest peak in the cloudless sky. It reflected off of the lake, casting rays of light across the shoreline. Farther along was the large village in which Lillian lived.
Looking at the cottage where her family took residence, Lillian saw a young boy step out of the door. The boy had the same dark blonde hair as she, and his hazel eyes sparkled with mischief. At the age of nine, he only reached as high as Lillian's chest. He held in his hand an arrow.
Lillian smiled at the sight of her younger brother. Picking up the bottom of her dress, she raced barefoot to the cottage.
Samuel grinned. "Look what I found!" the child boasted, showing his sister the arrow. He spoke with the Gaelic tongue, as most in Scotland did. Lillian recognized the craftsmanship of the weapon; it belonged to her father. "I'm going to go hunting!"
"Is that so?" Lillian teased. "What are you hunting?"
Sammy thought for a moment, unsure. Then his face lightened up. "Deer!" he exclaimed. "I'm going to hunt deer." As if to prove it, he threw the arrow through the air like a spear.
Lillian's smile wavered slightly. Sammy had the innocence and naiveté of a child. His hunting and fighting games were just that--games--and he still had much to learn about the cruelty of the real world. Soon, Lillian would be forced into marriage and would be away with her own duties to attend to. He'd have no one else to play his childish games with, and soon enough, he'd lose the innocence that Lillian so loved. She dreaded that coming day.
"Would you take me?" Lillian asked.
Sammy screwed up his face, picking up his arrow. "Don't be stupid," he said. "Hunting is a man's job. Girls can't do it!"
Lillian raised her eyebrow. "Oh, really?" She ran over to him, picking him up by the waist and spinning him around. "I suppose that means you can't do it either, since you aren't a man."
Sammy hit his older sister on the shoulder in a gesture to put him down. When she did, he picked at his clothing and stood up straighter. "I am so!" He smiled and took off at a run to the lake.
Lillian watched him for a few moments as her brother continuously stabbed the water with his newfound arrow, probably in his attempts to catch a fish. He looked so much like their father at that moment, standing in a younger body, as he brought his arm back and down, over and over.
Lillian thought about Andrew. Their father had died just over a year ago during a raid. Although the people of her village had successfully wiped the raiders out, about a quarter of the village's residence had been killed.
