Solve Me

(18), In Which She Arrives In Her Old-Found Home

When Lily awoke, Tad wasn't in bed. She sat up, blinking the sleep out of her eyes as she looked around the room for any signs of his presence. There was nothing. She noticed the door was standing open slightly, and decided to try looking for him throughout the rest of the house. Her entire body ached as she swung her legs over the side of the bed, gritting her teeth as she got to her feet. She swayed at first, unsteady, grabbing the headboard. Grimacing, she took a slow step forward, trying to ignore the pain generating as her skin stretched across her leg, moving the still unhealed wound with it.

She was lucky, Lily decided, that Tad had rescued her as early as he had. It could have felt like years rather than months, and the injuries could have been a lot deeper. With that thought in her head, she was determined to keep herself going. If she really tried, she could keep herself set on what she wanted to do. She wasn't going to let some silly cuts get in her way.

Taking a deep breath, she let go of the headboard and stumbled awkwardly out the door, trying her best not to think about how much it was hurting. She hobbled down the halls, checking rooms at random, hoping against hope that he wasn't where he always seemed to be. But, after checking the entirety of the first floor, he was nowhere to be found. She sighed, heading back and retracing her steps to across the hall from their room. She stared at the small tunnel which she would have to crawl through, and made a face, before crouching down slowly and loosely, and shimmying her way down the tunnel. The door was opened, but she knocked anyway, before poking her head out into the room.

Tad was sitting on the floor in the spot where Robert had disappeared with Jokim only a few hours before. His back was facing her, so she couldn't see his face, but judging by the way his shoulders were shaking, he was crying. When he heard the knock, however, she could see him hurriedly rubbing at his face, trying to hide the fact that there had been tears only moments before. But when he turned around, the brunette's heart shattered.

Tad looked absolutely horrid. His eyes were red and puffy, still filled with tears that left tracks running down his now stubbly face. His hair was a mess, but not the usual controlled mess. This time it was really in disarray. His entire appearance screamed, 'Help me. I'm broken'. Lily crawled towards him, settling herself down on his left and wrapping her arms around him in a fierce hug.

"He's gone. I never appreciated him as my brother because he always seemed like he was trying to be better than me. I never stopped to look and see how much he actually cared. How much I actually cared," Tad's voice broke on the 'I', and Lily just tightened her grip around him. There had been so much death, so much sadness since she came to America. To think that this one man was the only thing keeping her from just sailing back to England, was insanity.

"What happened to him?" She asked, unsure if she even wanted to know. Tad was silent for a moment, and she thought that perhaps it was insensitive of her to ask. Before she could voice her concerns, however, he was replying.

"Robert used a spell that our Uncle taught us near the very end of his time here in America. It was extremely advanced magic, he said, only to be used in emergencies. What Robert did, was that he transported himself and that.. that thing, into a place where nobody else can ever get to them. Every time that spell is used, it traps the user and it's victim into an unbreakable prison somewhere in space and time. It isn't here, but at the same time, it isn't not here. Those two were frozen in that exact point of time. It's the most high-security prison in the world, and it doesn't even need any guards. Nobody had ever escaped, and nobody ever will. It's an unbreakable spell, or so my Uncle told us. So, in all, while my brother may not be dead, I will never see him again. Ever." Lily shifted, pulling him around so that he faced her.

"You are the bravest man I have ever met in my life," she began, cheeks wet with fresh tears. The tears never ended lately. "I'll help you through this. I may not have known Robert long, but I know that a brother always means the world to someone. How I know that is for another day, but for now, it's all you. I'll be there every step of the way, Mister, and if you think you can get rid of me, then you're crazy. I'm not going anywhere." Tad smiled weakly up at Lily, who had set her jaw, a determined look in her eyes. He chuckled softly.