Hi again! Really aiming to get another chapter out tomorrow as well. Gotta make up for lost time! Cheers.


Lily had said a quick goodbye to Tulip before she made her way downstairs. Thankfully Jesse was waiting, ensuring she wouldn't be alone with anyone she may run into. "Ready?" Jesse asked from the front doorway. Pressing her lips into the most convincing smile she could, she nodded at her brother, "Yea."

When Jesse opened the front door for her, she felt a sense of relief. Seeing the beam of light come into the dark and cold environment of the house was like a gasp of air into her lungs. She felt like she might be a vampire herself, the way the sun blinded her as she got near the trail of sunlight beaming in was almost painful, yet the sun felt so good on her skin. Suddenly, a voice pulled them back, startling Lily in her short moment of relief. It was no other blood curdling voice than their grandmothers, "Jody's going with you." Madame L'Angelle ordered as she creeped toward them slowly in her wheelchair.

On cue, Jody walked out from behind Madame L'Angelle and Lily took a moment to study the large stranger who towered over her. It was safe to say that Jody was very intimidating. Knowing the fact he'd shot and killed her father gave Lily the feeling of terrifying chills and heated her up with rage all at once. Feeling her stomach turn, Lily did her best to change her focus on her brother, who nodded, not arguing, "Alright."

The three of them crammed into the cab of the pickup truck, Lily sitting in the middle as she found herself squeezing close to her brothers side and avoiding Jody's massive arm that navigated the stick gear at her leg area the whole time they drove. The main priority for the Custers in the moment seemed to be advertising. They needed to find ways to get customers back to Angelville, to try and make the family business thrive once again. In their grandmother's eyes, it was Jesse's 'abandonment' that lead to the fall of Angelville, and it was up to him to fix that.

They spent hours going to all sorts of places, and Lily simply followed her brothers lead. After the first few hours of the day, she caught onto the ways of selling something she knew nothing about. She didn't have the energy for this, but somehow, she found it.

Lily was grateful she was never left alone with Jody, her brother staying close to her and if they were separated they were at least in the same room and there were plenty of people. Lily never wanted to be left for a one on one with Jody. There was something she hadn't noticed about being around Cassidy so much and it was the sense of constant security. Although he didn't show it often, Cassidy was strong and as long as he was around there wasn't much for Lily to worry about, but right now she was without him and she felt almost naked and vulnerable. She wasn't as mentally and physically there as she could be, making it harder to be away from the security of Cassidy in the moment.

Towards the end of their day, Lily caught a moment with Jesse on his own, "I've never been both told to fuck off and been hit on so much in one day." She stated. With a halfhearted chuckle, Jesse handed out an Angellville pamphlet full of phoney bullshit to entice people to a couple he was talking to as they walked away, seemingly sold on the load of shit he'd delivered to them. "At least you're getting some confidence booster. I just get the 'fuck off' side."

"Not sure if it's considered a confidence booster if they're 350 pounds and an obvious sexual predator." Lily scoffed. Jesse grinned and let out a laugh, to which Lily couldn't help but laugh back at. "Hey." She said, changing the tone and talking to her brother alone while she had the chance, "You need to talk to Cassidy before he pouts himself to death. I'm sick of seeing him cringe every time you're around."

With a heavy sigh, Jesse nodded, "I know." He admitted, "I haven't had the right time yet but I promise I'll try and smooth things over with him tonight." Nodding Lily scanned the room of the community church they were in, "I think I talked to everyone in this room already. What's next?" Jesse huffed, "I think we'll take it back after this, unless Jody had something else in mind, which he very well might." Unsure and feeling uneasy as to what that meant, Lily nodded.

As usual, Jesse was right. Jody had several errands that were needed to run. When they were finally done it was late in the night. Lily grabbed her phone and touched base with Cassidy, something they'd been doing back and forth all day. He'd texted her

Hows it luv

She responded,

Think we're finally on the way back now.

"Jody-" Jesse said, close to Lily's side as the three of them were crammed in the cab of the truck, "Mind if we stop at the general store."

The giant man at the other side of Lily grunted, "Madame Marie's expecting us back." Lighting a cigarette, Jesse swallowed the things he wanted to say and took a few deep inhales. To their surprise, Jody pulled into a small rundown general store a few miles down the road. The truck came to a quick skid of a stop.

"Be quick. And get another couple cartons of pilgrims." Jody demanded. Jesse opened the door and Lily was quick to follow but she was pulled back as Jody's giant hand grabbed her arm. In shock, Lily looked down, Jody's massive hand looking like it could snap Lily's arm if he squeezed any harder.

"Na, na, na." Jody bellowed, a cigarette hanging out his mouth, "You stay here." Lily's eyes were wide, regardless of her trying not to seem as intimidated as she was. Her desperate glance moved to her brother, standing outside the truck with the door still open.

"I'll only be a minute." Jesse assured softly, "Need anything?" Lily needed a lot of things, but her brain couldn't function with Jody's grasp on her the way it was, and she didn't want Jesse taking longer than he needed to getting her anything anyways, so she shook her head. Jesse nodded softly, his glance shifting to Jody before closing the door. It was a lot longer than she'd liked for Jody to finally let go of her arm. It was still and quiet in the cab at first, the radio was low and there was more static coming out of it than there was clear sound. Lily stared at the door of the general store, feeling like it'd been an hour since her brother left her alone with Jody when it had been less than thirty seconds.

It was clear Jody liked to make things complicated. The simple task of stopping at a store he made into a painful ordeal. Lily felt her heart throbbing that much harder, and missing Cassidy's presence that much more. She felt Jodys eyes on her and she found it more uncomfortable ignoring it than to finally stare back at him. His head was touching the roof of the truck. He puffed on his smoke as he pulled it from his mouth, "You look just like her, you know that?" Jody stated.

Lily's mouth was dry as she used everything in her to make a sound, "Who?"

"Christina." Jody hummed, "Your mother."

Lily stared at Jody, shaking her head slightly, "I've been told that." She stated awkwardly. There was more uncomfortable silence before Jody finally puffed on his cigarette a few more times and broke the quiet again, "I liked her." Jody stated, giving Lily a cold chill. She wished she had something to say to take up the terrifying silence but she couldn't muster up anything.

Luckily, Lily hadn't even noticed Jesse was out of the store. She heard a clunk in the box of the truck. As her brother got into the truck beside her, Lily's eyes moved behind her as she stared out the back window her back was against to the box of the truck, noticing a cardboard box Jesse threw in the back. Her heart skipped a beat of happiness and a wave of relief passed through her as she saw a couple bottles of alcohol including Cassidy's favorite whiskey.


When Lily got back to Angelville she B-lined it upstairs towards her room, eager to miss any interaction with anyone she didn't need to talk to. Jesse followed closely, carrying a variety of things he'd picked up.

"Did I see some wine in there?" Lily asked rhetorically, knowing damn well she saw some wine in there. Jesse smiled, "You did. Let me give some stuff to Tulip then I'll give you your reward for being such a good marketing partner today." Lily smiled, "I think I deserve a pallet of wine for my efforts." Her brother laughed, "Me too." They parted ways as Lily opened the doors into the bedroom her and Cassidy were staying in.

Cassidy was standing in the middle of the room, clearly just out of a shower as he had a towel wrapped around his waist as his hair and body were dripping wet. He obviously heard them coming as he was already facing towards the door, his one hand holding his towel up and his other adjusting the sunglasses on his face. With too much anticipation, Lily dropped her stuff she had and closed the door, making her way towards him as she kissed him.

She didn't even mind how uncomfortably wet he still was as he wrapped his arms around her and she pressed her lips as hard as she could against his. Finally, she her mouth away from his, keeping their embrace tight.

"Jaysis." Cassidy was a bit breathless as he laughed, surprised at her eagerness.

"I missed you." She admitted easily.

"Wot happened t'you out there?" Cassidy groaned teasingly.

With a roll of her eyes, Lily's shoulders dropped, "Oh, come on. I know I'm miserable but don't make me out to be a heartless wench."

Cassidy squeezed Lily into his chest immobilizing her, wiggling his hips as his towel dropped, "Look, y'got me all naked." Squirming to try and get out of his embrace, Lily let out a squeal as Cassidy pulled them back both onto the bed that was directly behind him, the both of them cackling in the lighthearted moment. It wasn't until Lily felt a jab in her back that she stopped laughing and winced in minor pain, "Ow, what the fuck?" She reached behind her to see what jabbed her in the back.

"Oh." Cassidy huffed from on top of her, loosening his grip and pulling her back off the bed, "Right. Forgot 'bout all that." He helped her back onto her feet, standing completely naked and unbothered. Lily's eyes glanced at the bed, covered in miscellaneous items. "This is all the shite I pulled out of that dresser like ye asked." Cassidy explained. Lily almost forgotten she'd asked him to do that, her eyes studied all the things Cassidy had laid out on the bed. There were pieces of clothing, some assorted papers, a jewelry box, some accessories - nothing that looked out of the normal. Lily found her hands grabbing a few things and studying them as she hummed, "Anything stand out to you?"

Shaking his head at her side, Cassidy hummed back at her, "No. Not really." He reported, "Jus a bunch of borin' shite." With her eyes glancing over everything, Lily nodded before looking back to Cassidy, "Thanks for doing that." She began grabbing everything and placing it back in the drawers of the dresser, while Cassidy found himself some clothing and picked up his towel. "How was Tulip today?" Lily asked. "Fine." Cassidy said, "She's feelin' more like 'er usual self every minute. She's doin' good." With a nod, Lily let out a deep breath, "Good. I'm going to go see her."


When Lily went across the hallway to her brother and Tulip's room, Jesse was nowhere to be seen. As she said hello to Tulip, she noticed how much better she looked even today. "You're looking really good." Lily stated. With her lips pursing out, Tulip rubbed her arms and glanced down at herself, "Ya think?" She asked, "I'm starting to feel back to my normal self." Tulip said, "At first when I came to all I wanted to do was sleep, but that's not the case anymore." With her eyes fluttering Tulip huffed, "I told Cass I wanted to get out of here and go for a walk today but he insisted on bedrest. I mean, I feel like I could run a marathon by now." With a smile, Lily nodded, happy to hear the news, "I'll try and convince Jesse to let us to get you out of this room and we can both go run a marathon together tomorrow." Tulip studied Lily a moment, realizing she was still most definitely not back to her normal self yet. She tried to change the subject of their self checkups, "How was it?" Tulip asked right away, "Today, doing your first work shift for the family business and all that?" With a huff, Lily raised her brows and her mouth was crooked, "It was whatever." She sighed, shifting her weight on spot as she stuck her hands on her hips, "Did Jess leave any wine in here?" Tulip pressed her lips together and stuck them out as she shook her head, "I saw no wine." She stated, her eyes glancing around just in case she missed it.

"Hm." Lily hummed, her eyes scanning around the room quick to look for a bottle just in case before she gave up. Lily arched her brow and looked behind her, as if someone could be watching the two of them, before she sat at Tulip's side in the bed, "Did Jesse talk to you about anything to do with this place? Or our family?" Nodding softly, Tulip swallowed nervously, "How are you feeling?" Raising her eyebrows Lily found herself sitting next to Tulip on the bed. She lifted her shoulders with a crooked smile, "Overwhelmed. Good. Sick to my stomach. Kind of happy. Kind of miserable. I mean it's everything we always wanted to know about, right? I was telling Cass this morning now I'm finding myself wishing I never asked about it." Lily laughed nervously. She was happy when Tulip followed suit, chuckling softly back, "Yea, me too." Tulip agreed.

"Given everything I learned I feel all sorts of misery and hatred, but talking to Jesse this morning-" Her eyes flickered up to Tulip, "That was the most I've really felt the Jesse I've always known and loved. You know? I really recognized him." "Me too." Tulip agreed, noticing Lily's thoughtful eyes lock into hers. "I won't be mad, Tulip, but did you know any of that-" "No." Tulip said quickly, "I promise, Lily, I had no idea about any of it until he talked to me last night. I never knew the Hell your brother went through. The Hell you all went through as a family." Tulip shook her head and exhaled deeply, "I mean, shit, we all have our sob stories and that, and no one's the perfect parent but damn it, your family shit is heavy." Tulip stated.

Judging by the mortified tone in her voice and look on her face, she was as shocked as Lily was about the discoveries they'd been told by Jesse. Not that Lily would've been upset had Tulip known more than what Lily did, but it was a relief in a way that they were both in the state of discovery and shock together.

Lily mirrored Tulips nod, before taking a quick sharp breath, "You know, I wanted to stay with you today, but... I was afraid of being here with my grandmother without Jesse around." Lily admitted. Raising her eyebrows and pursing her lips Tulip scoffed, "I can't say I blame you." There was a dark streak in Lily's eyes as she lowered her voice while she spoke to Tulip, "Something happened. I think she did something to me. I blacked out, but first I saw all these things and I can't remember what they were."

Suddenly, Tulip's brow lowered, her eyes glaring into Lilys, "What?" Lily shook her head, "It's hard to explain. All I'm saying is regardless of her fragile, weak appearance I know for a fact she's a lot stronger and more dangerous than she seems and I just want you to know that." Lily warned. Nodding slowly, Tulip tried to understand. With a dry throat, Lily leaned towards Tulip, "This place is fucked. It's playing all sorts of tricks on me and shit. I've noticed things."

As she shook her head, Tulip's brow scrunched slightly, "Whatd'ya mean?" She asked. "Things just aren't right. Like eyes on you not right, and and..." Lily stuttered as she tried to explain all the instances of disturbance she'd felt, "Things just not making sense." Lily could see Tulip wasn't understanding her. With a bit of frustration, Lily's face hardened, "It's hard to explain. I just-" She held on her words for a moment, staring into Tulip's curious eyes, "Just be careful. Ok?" There was a moment of Tulip staring into Lily's eyes before she nodded once slowly, "Alright." Tulip said simply.

Lily turned her head, changing the subject before she sounded more insane than she already did, "Where is Jess?" Tulip shrugged, "He was just in here, dunno where he ran off to."

With a heavy sigh, Lily leaned back a bit as she raised her brows at Tulip, "He told me he was gonna talk to Cassidy." Tulip raised her eyebrows back at Lily, "Jesus." Tulip sighed, pursing her lips, "I'd love to be a fly on the wall for that conversation." Shaking her head, Lily stood up, her eyes scanning the room, "Not me." She cringed a bit before she exhaled, turning back to Tulip, "I just hope they don't kill each other." Tulip hummed in agreement, adjusting herself on the bed a bit as she moved off some of the covers, "It's like we were saying just now, Jess seems like he has his head on more like himself. I feel like he'll fix the shit storm." Tulip stated positively. Lily thought for a moment, "I hope so."


From the bedroom across the hallway, Cassidy finished getting dressed again as he stared out the small, broken window in the corner of the room. It was pitch black outside already, and his mind wandered about how long they'd be stuck in Angelville for. He heard footsteps approaching from the stairs down the hallway. Turning his head, he listened carefully until he recognized Jesse's steps and breathing. Rolling his eyes to himself he flopped on the bed, grabbing at a comic book he had at the bottom of one of his bags and stuck his nose in it.

He noticed Jesse's steps stop outside the bedroom door and there was a knock, "Lil?" He asked from the hallway. With a huff, Cassidy kept the comic book in his line of vision, "She's in yer room." He yelled shortly. He knew that for a fact, he could hear both Lily and Tulip talking - including Lily mentioning Jesse wanting to talk to Cassidy, something Cassidy had little energy for. He didn't care what Jesse had to say. He was hurt and he just wanted to do what he had to and behave himself long enough to get them out of Angelville and hopefully convince Lily to part ways. Cassidy had been brainstorming many ways to convince Lily of that, and he was pretty sure he'd have a good chance at doing so.

To Cassidy's non-surprise, Jesse didn't leave. "Can I come in?" Jesse asked, his voice hitting straight against the door in his face.

From the hallway, Jesse waited, hearing no response. He took a deep breath and shifted his weight, his hands on his hips.

Finally, Jesse looked up to the door, "Cass." He said sharply. When there was no response again, he cut the polite act and opened the door anyway. From the other side of the room, Cassidy laid on the bed, a comic book in his face as he didn't flinch at Jesse's entrance. Carefully, Jesse closed the door behind him, a bag in his one hand as he stood at the foot of the bed.

It was silent as Jesse stared directly at the comic book cover Cassidy held up, all while Cassidy purposely ignored Jesse, going on about the comic book in his hands.

"Look," Jesse said, stopping on his words as his mind raced about everything he wanted to say and making sure it all came out the way he wanted it to. He exhaled, "I've been meaning to talk to you for a while now but I had to fix things with Tulip and my sister first." There was more silence until Cassidy flipped a page in the comic, still holding it in his line of vision. Jesse maneuvered to the side of the bed so he could at least see Cassidy's face, but he still didn't look towards Jesse.

"What?" Jesse asked, shrugging his shoulders, "Suddenly you'd rather read than have a drink with your best pal?" Lowering his brow, and passing Jesse a brief glare over the top of his sunglasses on his face, Cassidy flipped the page in front of him, "Yer best pal." Cassidy mocked bitterly.

With another heavy huff, Jesse stood right at Cassidy's side, "Look..." Jesse said, "Enough of this sitting around in misery shit, grab this bottle of whiskey I went out of my way to get for you and let's just figure this all out." Cassidy's eyes finally shot away from the comic book in his grasp and towards the tall, dark green bottle in Jesse's hand at Cassidy's direct side. It had been a hot minute since Cassidy indulged in whiskey and his mouth salivated immediately. Finally, Cassidy's eyes moved up to Jesse's. They weren't the lively eyes Jesse was used to, but it was a start.


Lily had been rifling through one of Jesse's bags in his room, Tulip talking to her from the comfort of the bed as she did. "What are you looking for, anyway?" Tulip asked. With a groan, Lily moved her hands around Jesse's small bag, "Was hoping for a flask. Maybe mouth wash? Shit, anything to give me a buzz." Lily sighed. With a laugh, Tulip sat herself up a bit more, "Jesus, Lil. You sound like Cass."

Raising her brows towards the bag she was searching in, Lily let out a scoff, "Pff!" She laughed, "I was joking about the mouthwash. Hey-" Lily stayed crouched over the bag as she looked at Tulip, "You have cigarettes at least?" With her head shaking, Tulip's eyes moved thoughtfully, "Haven't had a smoke since before I died." She said nonchalantly. With another scoff, Lily smiled, turning back towards the bag, "We change that. Tonight. Hell, within the next hour we change that. Celebratory smokes as soon as I find them." Lily declared. From the bed, Tulip's smile was wide as she laughed at the sight of watching Lily. She looked like a fiend as she rustled through Jesse's stuff.

"How is it Cassidy has nothing?" Tulip asked, "Of all people."

"I don't want to ask and him. He's been trapped here just as much as we have. What if he doesn't have anything and just remind him how we're both fucked?!" Lily explained.

"Come on. This is Cassidy we're talkin' about. He has something for everyone, I'm sure." She laughed, "Plenty to go around I bet."

"Yea," Lily said with a clenched voice as her fingers thought they found a pack of smokes at the bottom of the bag as she pulled it out, "I said I want a buzz, not a trip that makes me lick these walls and get splinters in my tongue." Lily's eyes looked at the cigarette pack she found as she smiled wide and waved it up in the air at Tulip. "Nice." Tulip said with a grin. Lily opened the pack and saw it was empty, her face first dropping flat before it scrunched up. Sticking her fingers in the pack and shoving them around as if a magic cigarette would show up, she only felt loose tobacco as she dumped it upside down just to be sure, "Fuck!" She spat, throwing the empty pack across the room. Unable to contain herself, Tulip cackled.

With a huff of defeat, Lily stood up and looked around the room, "The guys bought a bunch of cigarettes and booze to put around you to entice your spirit back or some shit. All that stuff has to be around here somewhere." Her eyes moved around the bed as if the shrine of things would still be set up around Tulip.

"Maybe it's still downstairs?" Tulip suggested.

Lily's eyes moved thoughtfully before her shoulders dropped. There was no way she was about to go downstairs on her own and start snooping around this place. No matter how desperate she was. Stubbornly, she dropped back to the floor and opened Jesse's bag back up again, "Maybe I missed something." Lily insisted. With another cackle, Tulip continued to watch Lily in her efforts. Suddenly, the door opened. It was Jesse.

His eyes caught his sisters right away as she crouched over his bag, elbow deep as she kept moving things around inside of it. "Hey." She said simply, looking up at him.

Jesse's eyes lifted up to Tulip, a big sneer on her face as Jesse looked back at his sister, "We're gonna sit outside for a drink." Jesse said, titling his head back towards Lily's bedroom. Both Lily and Tulip knew Jesse meant "we" as him and Cassidy. "Oh." Lily said, a little out of breath as she continued to feel around in Jesse's bag on the ground, "Great." Jesse watched her a moment before finally asking, "Need something?" He asked. His sister stopped her search, pulling her arm out and turning to him.

"Forgetting something?" Lily mocked back impatiently. She watched as her brother, towering over her scrunched his face as her. In retaliation, she scrunched her face back and leaned towards him.

Jesse opened the door a bit more, looking to a dresser beside the door as she tilted his head towards it, "Your wine's right there." He stated with a smirk. Lily's eyes shot up just a few feet away from her before they moved to Tulip's eyes, glued to the wine that was miraculously sitting there. "No." Lily stated, standing up quickly as she held her arm out and pointed towards the wine, "That was not there."'

Lily's eyes stayed glued to the two bottles of wine and a few packs of cigarettes that sat there. Tulip watched as Jesse's lips moved into a grin, shaking his head, "Anyways. If you girls need anything we're just outside." He stated, smiling at Tulip before he looked at his sister, standing there in astonishment. "Alright?" Jesse asked.

With her glance not moving, Lily nodded once, "Yea." Lily said dismissively, moving slowly towards the dresser as she felt herself get a bit lightheaded - was she losing her mind? The wine and smokes sat there on the dresser and it felt like they were taunting her. "Alright." Jesse said before he looked back at Tulip with a smile quick. He closed the door behind him and left.

"This is the shit I'm talking about." Lily said, grabbing one of the bottles and cracking it open. "I mean-" Tulip started from the bed on the other side of the room, "It was pretty distracting watching you all scattered, clawing at anything like a crack head." She said with a playful smile, "You're exhausted. It was an easy oversight."

"No." Lily insisted, shaking her head, "It wasn't." She put the other still closed bottle of wine in her arm as she drank straight from the first one she opened. She almost took her eyes off the dresser before they flickered back to the cigarettes. Snagging the pack, she pulled a smoke out and lit it before it could disappear on her.