They'd been given a tip off by a few other Saviors that someone had been walking through Negan's territory. When they'd told Negan, he'd waved it off and told them got investigate it. Well more like he threatened them to leave and "take care of that shit".
Simon and Fat Joseph walked through the road, looking in all the cars, taking their time to try and spot anything that looked out of the ordinary. The people that had died inside their cars were still stuck inside, now having turned and scratching at the window, growling and spitting grey saliva. They'd made sure that there was no dead actually roaming around, they couldn't risk more people getting turned. As they walked, his eyes caught a glittering object under one of the cars. He sauntered toward the old grey mustang, right hand on the gun, ready to defend himself if anyone jumped out. He bent down and picked up, what appeared to be, a silver locket. He held it in his hand and saw the inscription on the back, L.R.
He looked around and still saw nothing. He grumbled and shoved the locket in his pants pocket. " There ain't shit out here let's get-"
A scream interrupted Simon's voice. A very high-pitched scream. Simon immediately ran toward the direction of the scream and saw an interesting sight. A girl in a flowery short white dress was hitting a walker, which had presumably climbed out of a car, with a stick. She had no weapons and was about to become walker chow. But Simon did the right thing, and shot the waker in the brain, allowing the girl to scramble away from the now deceased walker. Simon took a second to look at the girl.
Her white dress was speckled with dirt and mud, her hair was in deep curls and she looked dead on her feet. Beside her were a few books, looking better than she did. Simon stepped over to here and extended his hand, in which she took. He pulled her up and she fell into his chest, barely able to hold herself up. Simon grabbed her shoulders and held her in front of him, getting her attention. A deep blush overtook her face, "I'm so sorry you had to waste a bullet but it just came out of nowhere I'm so sorry really-"
"You clearly needed the help. Though now that I did help you, tell me your name."
She gave him a bright look and spoke, "Lilliana Rodgers. And you?"
"Simon. And Fat Joey is around here somewhere. What are you doing here by yourself? Do you have a group or are you a lone ranger?"
She looked down, a sad look crossing her face. "I don't have a group, I've been by myself for a long time."
"Do you have anything? Any supplies? Food?"
Lilliana shook her head. "All I have are a couple of books. I was looking in the cars to see if they had any granola bars or something but I didn't find much. Just some gum."
Simon nodded his head, thinking over this situation. He'd found a girl with books and gum. How in the fuck was he gonna work with that? He wished Negan were here to handle this.
"Well lucky for you, I'm from Sanctuary. It's just a little ways from here. If you come with us, you'll have to work for points, and with points you get food and any other shit we have. How does that sound girly?" Lilliana gave him a beaming smile. " But, you gotta give us half your shit. And when we get back you gotta meet our leader Negan. He's a real motherfucker but he's a good leader. Just don't break any of his rules or he'll fuck up that pretty face of yours. And we would't want that would we girly?" Lilliana furiously shook her head.
She immediately bent down and picked up the four books she had and gave two of them to Simon. She then opened her gum pack and gave him four of the eight pieces. Simon looked at her like she had two heads but still kept the items she'd given him. He turned away from her and made his way back to the truck, not looking back to see if she was following or not.
Once he reached the truck, with her luckily behind him, he walkied Fat Joey to "run his fat ass back to truck before he left him to be walker grub."
Simon opened the door and waved his hand in, letting Lilliana take the middle seat. He got in after her, sitting a bit in her space. They waited a few minutes before Fat Joey arrived and took the drivers seat. Joey gave Lilliana a questioning look and looked at Simon for answers. Simon gave him a pointed look, effectively cutting off any questions.
The ride to Sanctuary took an awkward thirty minutes that consisted of only breathing and the tapping of Lilliana's fingers on her leg. When they rolled through the opening, past the caged area of walkers, and to the opening of the large fortress, Lilliana looked up in wonder and fear, hoping this Negan wasn't as menacing as this building seemed. They all stepped out of the car and made their way inside, Lilliana shying away from the various snarling walkers.
Simon spoke without stopping, "Get lost Joey, I'm taking her to Negan." Fat Joey immediately went in the other direction, leaving just Lilliana and Simon. For some reason, the walk to Negan's room felt like a death row march.
Lilliana asked in a small voice, "…is he mean?"
Simon almost laughed out loud, instead he snickered. "He's Negan. However you define that is on you. But cause I like you, I'll tell ya, He's only nice to the people he likes. And something tells me he'll sure as hell like you."
Lilliana nodded her head and silently followed Simon.
Lilliana looked around, taking in everything she saw. The dull grey walls, the few and depressed people she passed in the hall and the silence. There was no sound in the halls, and frankly, it freaked out Lilliana. She was so used to music or people talking and this silence was a little spooky. It seemed she was lost in her own thoughts for she ran straight into Simon's back, lightly bumping her nose into him. He grunted and held his hand out, revealing a red door.
Negan's room, she could only assume.
She lightly knocked on the door, silently hoping no one would answer. But it seemed fate wasn't on her side today. The door was harshly pulled open to reveal a man that was different than any other Lilly had ever seen. He had a salt and pepper beard, slicked back black hair and deep cocoa brown eyes. He had on a fitting leather jacket, a belt holding up slim baggy pants and black boots. The strangest though, was the wooden baseball bat he was gripping in his one black-gloved hand. The bat was covered in barbed wire and was the most lethal bat she had ever seen. This was Negan.
"Well hello there gorgeous. You are just fucking delectable. I'm Negan. Tell daddy what your name is." It wasn't a question, but a demand. Lilliana gulped but responded, " Lilliana Rodgers." She held out a quivering hand for him to shake but he did entirely the opposite. His hand shot out and he grabbed her wrist, dragging her into his chest, his other arm shooting around her waist, holding her to him. She gulped and shivered against him, not knowing what to do.
He leaned into her neck and breathed in her scent, Negan practically creaming himself at her smell. She smelt like the sun, and like flowers but with a hint of something he couldn't place. He leaned back, still holding onto her, and looked into her eyes. Her eyes were a bright green; they looked like fucking apples, ripe for the taking.
Negan shot her a bright smile and let her go, still holding her wrist though, leading her into his bedroom. He looked over her head and shot Simon a look, effectively voicing a "don't fucking come in here unless you wanna die." Simon nodded his head and closed the door. Which left just him and Lilliana.
Lilliana stood in front of his desk, while Negan went around her in circles. Her mind was going in circles between want and fear. And something inside her felt that Negan knew that. The smile on his face and sinister look in his eyes told her that he was thinking up something wicked in her head.
"Lilliana. A lovely fucking name I must say. I'd like to personally welcome you to Sanctuary. I'm pleased as goddam punch that Simon brought you here. I have a feeling were gonna get along real fucking well. But, I do have rules. And I am a man who follows the rules. Now I'm gonna give you two options doll. One, you work for points. You will be given something you're good at and you get points. In return, you get food and anything else you can afford. No work, No points. Very fair and most people would take that option. And option two is very special for you." Negan gave her a wink got up real close to her.
"Be my wife."
Lilliana almost fell over. Be his wife? That came out of nowhere. They didn't even know each other. She was still a virgin, she couldn't even think of the last time she'd been kissed. And this man wanted to marry her.
"Now Now, I can see those clogs working in your head. If you became one of my wives, you wouldn't have to work. Everything would be given to you, for free. You wouldn't ever have to work for points and everything you can think of in that pretty little head of yours. And in exchange, you would be mine. And I cannot stress enough the punishment on you if you sleep with anyone who is not me, or myself."
Wait, one of his wives? Liked more than one?
"Wives? How many do you have?"
"Five. And you'd be lucky number six. What do you say?"
Lillian refused to be his whore, because that's what this sounded like. She, and five other women, would do nothing but please Negan, while everyone else had to work.
"It's a nice offer, it really is, but I'm going to have to decline."
The smile left Negan's face. Now he looked pissed. "Why is that doll?"
She shot him a sweet smile, "I like monogamy. And working."
He looked at her face, looked at her smile. And he found himself smiling right back at her. They held each other's eyes for a moment longer till Negan broke it, walking to the black couch and sitting down with a plop. "So what exactly can you do? Laundry? Cook?..."
She thought to herself before realizing the obvious, "Before all of this, I was a librarian."
Negan looked at her like she had two heads and she regretted saying it. But his response was unexpected, "Well, guess you'll be our first." Negan stood up, adjusting his jacket, and walked over to his small bookshelf. He scanned the few books he had, "What kind of books do you like? Or are you some type of nerd ass who reads everything?"
Negan shot her a questioning look and she blushed under his scrutinizing look. "I enjoy fiction and sometimes poetry and before the end of the word I enjoyed Edgar Allen Poe." As she spoke, Negan noticed she seemed to look anywhere but the person she was speaking to. Her fingers also twitched when she spoke, her index and middle on her right hand. So she was a twitchy like thing. Negan found he liked that.
When she stopped talking she noticed Negan's stare. She immediately shut her mouth as her face became a peachy red color. Negan found he liked her blush.
"Well then, let's get you a room and I'll give you a grand tour."
Negan shot her a huge smile, and Lilliana found she liked his smile.
Lilliana had been in Sanctuary for almost a year, but to her it felt like longer. Time went by so fast when you weren't spending every minute of every day fending for your life. Lilliana had actually made a life for herself here, she had a job and had points and even a few friends. It had been hard at first, and she even remembered crying in bed her first few weeks at Sanctuary. But now, she was truly content. But unfortunately, it wasn't going to last long.
Negan had had five wives, three of which she knew and had spoken too. Amber, Sherry and Karen. Everyone at Sanctuary knew about them. Sherry was originally with Dwight, and the end result of that was Sherry with Negan and a part of Dwight's face burned with a hot iron. Amber had become his wife to protect the man she loved Mark, but later, even he received the iron. And Karen, as said by others, was just a delusional whore who thought that her and Negan were actually in love. Lilliana just felt bad for her.
The first time she met Amber and Sherry, they had both sat down at her table during lunch and questioned her about everything. And Lilliana had kindly responded to each question. Lilliana had found she didn't really like Amber, for she had called her an idiot for being here and not running. Sherry understood Lilliana, but a part of Lilliana didn't trust her.
Then there was Karen. She had come to the small room, designated Library, and had walked to the front desk like she was the cock of the walk.
"Are you Lilian?" She had said with a sneer in her voice.
"Lilliana. And you are...?"
Karen had shot her a sinister smirk, "Karen. Negan's favorite wife. And I think you and I need to have a little talk." She had slammed her hand on the desk, startling Lilliana.
"You need to stay the fuck away from Negan. I'm his wife, not you. Since you came here he won't even fucking touch me and I'M HIS WIFE. Now, all he does is talk about you, like you have some kind of importance in his life. You are nothing more than an insignificant bug and I'm just about ready to squash you. Negan is mine and if you didn't already know, he doesn't want or need you. You are a means to an end, and I will end you. Are we clear, Lilian?"
By the end of her speech, Karen's hand had made its way to Lilliana's throat, slowly squeezing off her air supply. Lilliana nodded her head; tears pouring like rivers down her cheeks. Karen nodded happily and released Lilliana's throat. Karen looked around the room and stalked toward a cart of books. She raised her hand with long boney fingers and sharpened nails, and pushed the cart over, knocking everything to the cold hard ground.
Karen faked shock and smirked evilly at Lilliana, "May wanna clean that up. Wouldn't want to upset Negan."
Karen waved and left Lilliana to pick up the mess of books off the floor and think about what Karen had said. Had Negan really been talking about her? She wanted to confront him but Karen would clearly destroy her if she did that. So she did the next best thing.
"Simon, can I ask you a question? And I need an honest answer."
Simon saw Lilliana like the daughter he never had. She was sweet, kind and just everything good. And sometimes, Simon just needed a little happiness in his life.
"What can I do for you girly?"
Simon was currently patrolling the fence that held all the walkers, making sure none of them got loose or ate each other. And unbeknownst to Lilliana, Simon was also making sure she didn't get herself in ant trouble, Negan's orders.
"Does Negan like me? Like like me like me?"
Simon's head whipped around so fast he almost got whiplash. Had she finally figured out that Negan had been pining over her innocent ass since the day she got there? Simon had to play it cool, try and see if she would say how she knew.
"What makes you say that? Did you hear something or is that just your womanly intuition acting up again?" Simon hoped it was the latter.
"Well, it was Karen. She came into the library a little while ago, and insinuated that Negan had a liking for me. Well she wasn't very happy too tell me this and I just wanted to see if it was true."
Simon was taken aback. Fucking Karen had told her? And from the way Lilliana had described this, it sounded like Karen had been a bitch about it.
"But please please don't tell Negan about this! He'll hurt his wife and, and he'll do something reckless and-"
Simon stopped her before she freaked herself out, "This stay between me and you. Okay?"
She nodded her head with a smile and walked off, just missing the snarl that took over Simon's face.
Days later it was announced at lunch that someone would be getting the iron and everyone was to report to the site after lunch. Lilliana hated the ironing. Negan did it to anyone who broke the rules, mainly stealing or sleeping with one of his wives. She vividly in her mind remembered what happened to Dwight when he, Sherry and her sister Tina ran. Tina died running, Sherry became a wife to protect Dwight, and Dwight received the iron. She hated the iron. And a sense of dread filled her belly whenever she would be told of an ironing.
After lunch, everyone made their way to watch the ironing. Lilliana always stood by Simon, often hiding her face in his shoulder when the scene became too gruesome.
Everyone stood waiting for Negan to arrive, most eager to see who would be receiving the punishment.
CLANG!
CLANG!
CLANG!
The banging of Lucille on the metal bars alerted everyone to bow, aside from the wives and Simon. When he raised Lucille, everyone stood all eyes on Negan and the victim of the night.
Lilliana's eyes found the sight of Negan and she almost vomited when she saw whom he was holding.
It was Karen.
She had on a black dress and her hair was delicately pinned up, showing off her long skinny neck. She had on her black pumps and wasn't wearing much else. Lilliana already wanted to hide her face in Simon's shoulder. Her eyes found Negan and she saw an evil glint in his eyes and she found she could barely breath. They walked down the metal stair hand in hand, until they made it to the area by the burning fire.
"Welcome my fellow Saviors. You've all been informed that some sorry shit is going to have half their goddam face burned off today. And I bet you're all wondering just who it is. Am I right or am I right?"
Everyone nodded his or her head at Negan's words. And Negan smiled at this. He stepped over to Dwight and took the burning hot iron from him with his gloved hand. He waved it in the air as he spoke.
"Today, Today is a special day. A day where the wrong are punished for all to see, so that you all can get the fucking lesson in your head. Don't betray my trust. I trust all of you, and I wold hope that you all would trust me. But one of you, just one, has threatened someone dear to me. One of you sorry sacks of shit took it upon your selves to cause emotional harm to someone that I hold close to my heart. And for that, they must be punished."
Negan moved like a viper, striking the side of Karen's face with the burning hot iron, effectively boiling the skin on her face. Her terrified and painful scream rang through the room and echoed in Lilliana's ears. She tried to move away from the iron, but Negan had her face in his hand and the iron wasn't letting up. Finally, she gave up and slumped against him, her skin still sizzling. Only when a stream of yellow liquid ran between her legs did Negan finally pull away the iron, along with a good portion of her skin.
The rest of the wives in the crowd were crying, Amber even ran out. Negan was the only one who looked pleased as punch.
"You are all dismissed. And someone please clean this shit up."
Lilliana couldn't have run any faster out of the god-forsaken room. When she reached her room, she immediately emptied her stomach in the toilet, trying to purge her body of the slight pleasure she had felt at seeing the burnt face of Karen. Once her stomach was empty, she shed every tear in her body on the toilet seat.
Negan was a monster. And she was so deeply in love with him it scared her. Thinking of him right now brought a chill straight to her core. She had to get out of Sanctuary. She couldn't trust anyone anymore. This all happened because Simon must have told Negan about what she said. She couldn't trust the one person who she actually saw as a friend. And at the end of the day, this had happened because of her. This was her fault.
She scrambled from the bathroom; searching her room for anything she thought she would need in their real world. Clothes be damned, she didn't want to take anything had given her. So all she had was a knife and a book. She knew she wouldn't last long but anything was better than staying here.
A knock at her door knocked her from her grin of thought. She knew it was Negan.
"I know you're in there darlin. May as well just let me in."
She took a deep breath and opened the door, coming face to face with a smirking Negan.
For the first time in forever, she wanted to slap that smirk off his face. Negan wore his signature outfit and had Lucille hanging off his shoulder. His eyes were full of wickedness and mirth and goddamit, she still loved him. Nothing could make her hate Negan. She had just seen him disfigure one of his wives, and she wanted to grab him and kiss him. And a part of her felt that Negan knew it.
Negan looked her up and down and pushed past her into her room. He took in mangled bed and clothes strewn about, looking as if a tornado had come through.
"Where you looking for something or did you just like fucking shit up?"
She needed a lie. And fast.
"I couldn't find my necklace. The one that Simon returned to me the first day he found me. I can't find it."
Negan clicked his tongue and laughed a gut-wrenching laugh. Once he stopped to take a breath, he reached into his pocket, pulling out her long silver necklace, letting it dangle from his finger. She could see her initials glitter in the light. She reached out to take it but he beat her to it. He lifted it around her head and let it fall over her neck. He leaned into her space, against her neck and breathed.
She stiffened, not knowing what to do, what to feel. He leaned his cheek into hers, his stubble scratching her cheek.
"Why won't you be mine? What I did today I did for you. I need you; I need you so fucking much it hurts me. Please Lilliana. Be mine."
Lilliana knew what she had to do. She would hate herself for it, but she had to.
"Tomorrow."
Negan hmm'd and looked into her eyes.
"Tomorrow II'll be yours. Tomorrow I will be your wife. Not today. Tomorrow."
Negan smiled so big she thought his face was going to break. He whooped amid lifted her up, putting a wet kiss on her cheek. He let her down and practical danced out of the room, Lucille swinging by his side.
"Well then, I'll see you tomorrow. Wife." He winked and left the room, eagerly looking forward to tomorrow.
If only he knew she wouldn't be in his tomorrow.
When night fell, Lilliana was ready. She had all she could fit in her pockets and took one last look at her room. As she turned to to leave, the looked down at her chest, staring at the sparkling necklace. She lifted it off of her neck and held it in her hands, tears almost falling down her cheeks. She placed the necklace on her pillow and left the room. Making sure the door made no sound. She quietly ran down the hall, leaving behind he home she had grown to love. There was no turning back now she told herself.
Once she was officially out of the walls of Sanctuary, so bolted. She ran so fast she could feel the wind catching on her hair, making her feel like she was flying in the sky.
And she never stopped running.