Subtle Invitation [Thomas Shelby]

Darkness Inside Intro

I'm haunted by a ghost. You see, she is with me all the time that I'm becoming disillusioned with what's real and what isn't. Is she real? Is she me? I hear her small giggles sometimes and I wonder if they're at my expense.

The night I lost my mother I remember clutching to her hand and begging for her to stay. I needed her to stay. All I had known was this strong lady who would take me into her arms whenever I needed comfort.

Now I was all alone with a ghost of myself. I had lost everyone. My father had died at war. My mother died of the flu and I had no other siblings.

I was left in a big old empty house in Warwickshire with only the sound of my cries to keep my company.

I had, well I have a sheltered life. I was fragile glass to my parents so I was never allowed to live a normal life.

I was to be seen and to be admired but never to be given the experiences of a life worth living.

Now, I don't need you to feel sorry for me. I have a good life and I've never wanted for anything but there's a secret that has followed me and I want you to understand it.

After my mother's funeral I had been distraught and lonely, I had gone to her room in hopes of finding comfort but I got more than I bargained for. I had found letters, paperwork and a receipt.

A receipt for my life.

Now this is my real story. My name is Lily Adler and I was stolen in the middle of the night from my real family in Birmingham. I was taken by a vicar and passed to a nun before the sun had even risen.

I was bundled into a black car with only a pink teddy to link me to my birth mother. Could you imagine the terror in my eyes as I watched my birth mother scream for me?

Me either. I was only four years old.

Now as my story goes on I want you to understand that my need for answers always outweighed my need for revenge.

Revenge would be bad but I was not bloody thirsty for it. All I wanted was to know where I came from and to begin to piece my life together.

We all know it's not going to be that easy, don't we?