Solve Me

(13), In Which Plans Are Executed

Lily was standing in the doorway of her old therapist's office, looking at the man sitting in his chair like he always was. Sure enough, sitting on his desk was the same locket he always had. The sun reflected off the metal, causing it to glint brightly. Lily took a deep breath, before entering with a small smile. Dr. Goldstein looked up, smiling as well as Lily sat down, folding her legs neatly. She had left early, having booked an earlier appointment as to avoid getting blocked off by Tad who seemed to be having second thoughts. It was the first day of her first week of the experiment. She had booked an appointment with Dr. Goldstein every day, much to the surprise and slight concern of the lady at the front desk.

"Lily! How wonderful to see you again. I'm so glad you decided to come back." His smile was almost too pleasant, so wide that it seemed fake. Lily's smile faltered, but she covered it up by replying.

"I am too. I've been wanting to for a while now, actually.I really started thinking about what an impact you had on my life and decided it would probably be a good idea to come back and refresh, talk about everything over again. I feel like I can share anything with you, and that I don't have to worry about anybody else knowing how I really feel." She tried to make it as convincing as possible, and sound as much like a confession as she felt it had to. As Lily looked into his eyes, she noticed that they were a light hazel color. She could've sworn they used to be grey, but the color they were now was so close that she honestly wasn't prepared to jump to any conclusions.

"I'm glad. If you want, we can start from the beginning again," he offered. Lily nodded slowly, preparing to pour her heart out to this possible monster and almost definite threat.

"Well, I suppose I'll just tell you everything. My name is Lillian Valdez. I am 22 years old. As you can probably tell from my accent, I am from England. London, specifically. I come from a rather wealthy family. When I was a kid, and still to this day, women and girls were looked down upon by men. We weren't strong enough for certain jobs, we weren't smart enough to have others. For example, my father was with the government. That's why he had such high pay. My mother, on the other hand, was the one who stayed home and taught me what it was to be a 'proper lady', as she called it." Lily paused, sighing heavily.

"How did this separation make you feel?" Dr. Goldstein asked. Lily frowned, thinking back to when she was younger.

"Well, naturally it made me feel angry. Why shouldn't I be equal to my father? To my possible friends? You know, I wanted nothing more than to become a police officer. I wanted to be able to run the streets and capture criminals. I knew it was dangerous, but I wanted it more than anything. I learned to read and write, I learned to sew, and all of that womanly stuff. How to take care of a husband. By the time I reached about 20 years of age I found out my parents were looking for a powerful man to marry me to." Lily scoffed, a small smirk working its way upon her face.

"I didn't want to be married to some rich man I hardly knew. I wanted to be in control of at least one aspect of my life. So, about a month ago, when I found out that they had promised my hand to a lad who was descended from the owner of a very successful company, I decided to leave. I had heard of this great land of opportunity, the place everyone called 'The land of the free'. My parents loved me, I know they did. I mean, I always had felt that they wished I had been more perfect. They wished that I had been normal, done what I was told, and lived on by their rules. But, they loved me still. Which is why they gave me a considerate amount of money and had me shipped off to America. They never saw me off at the docks, which was a little bit of a let down.." Lily sighed, looking down at her hands.

"But they've written, quite a few times now. I'm always sure to write back. Ever since I've been here, as you know, I've been lodging with one Mr. Kennett," Lily stated carefully, watching her therapist's immediate look of disgust. "However, it seems that our place of residence has recently been somewhat demolished. Therefore, we have been staying with Mr. Kennett's twin brother, Robert. Since then, we've been quite happy. I do believe..." Lily hesitated, unsure of whether or not she should go on. "I do believe I've taken quite a liking to him. He's a charming young man. I do adore him very much." She felt her cheeks warming up slightly, and looked away, a bit flustered.