Chapter 40: The Ascension

Lilly's eyes fluttered open and she groaned. There was something wrapped tightly around her neck. Her blurry vision focused on the wooden platform she was standing on, but her feet were bound by rope. Lilly strained against her bounds but found her wrists were tied behind her. How come she couldn't get free? What happened to her super strength? When she saw the logs beneath her feet, she realized the harsh reality of her vision. She was about to be burned at the stake. "Shit," she muttered. She was still in Rhodes, though. Wait, where were her wolves. Where were her men?

"Well, look who's up," an all too familiar British accent sounded behind her.

"...Mr. Pierce?!" she gasped. "But you were in prison!"

"I got out," he said, walking around to face her. "And now we've got you right where we want you."

"We?" she asked in confusion. She looked around at a large amount of men on horses, including Uncle Levi. What the hell was going on? "Uncle Levi? What's happenin'?!"

Levi dismounted and made his way over to her. "I see the artifact you obtained is working well, Joseph. Good work."

Lilly looked at both the men. "Uncle Levi. You're working with him?!"

"Yes, my dear."

"But why?"

"To finish what your father failed to do."

Lilly was so confused. "My father?"

"Yes. You see, my dear, he was a Freemason. As am I, Mr. Pierce, and the men you see around you. Your father killed the goddess Adair, but she unfortunately didn't stay dead. And, well, your father kept her hidden."

Lilly blinked. "I don't understand. What does this got to do with me?"

"Mr. Cornwall, we're ready," a random man came up from behind.

"Wait, where's Arthur?"

Levi sighed. "Unfortunately, I'm afraid he wouldn't want to see this particular moment. You need to be burned alive, I'm afraid."

"But Uncle Levi, you can't! I'm pregnant, for chrissakes!"

Mr. Pierce looked at her. "What? That's impossible. You said you were barren!"

"I was! Until The Morrigan brought me back from the god damn dead after you tortured and poisoned me! I do believe she-nevermind, just check my stomach! I'm twelve weeks along!"

Mr. Pierce lifted her shirts and gasped. "Sir, we can't go through with this now! We can't kill an innocent!"

"I'm afraid we have to, Joseph," Levi said sadly. "As tragic as it is, we can't let Lilly live. We can't let her ascend."

Mr. Pierce lowered his head. "...Yessir."

Levi frowned. "For what it's worth, I am sorry, my dear."

Lilly continued to struggle. "Ascend? What the fuck do you mean ascend?!"

Levi walked away and Mr. Pierce frowned. "I am sorry," he said regretfully.

Lilly spit in his face. "Fuck you!"

Mr. Pierce grabbed a hanky and wiped his face. "Brutus, light the logs."

Arthur shook his head and paced back and forth in his cell with Micah, Bill, and Sean. Sheriff Gray was in his chair, drinking moonshine with Deputy McGregor. The wolves were bound tightly in the other cell. They'd been heavily sedated.

"Where is my wife?" Arthur growled.

"Oh shut up," Gray said. "It'll all be over soon."

"What will be all over soon?"

Sheriff Gray sighed. "See, Leviticus Cornwall informed us that your wife is a witch and needs to be burned at the stake."

Arthur stopped pacing. "What?!" He banged on the bars. "Leviticus Cornwall is going to burn my wife?!"

"Yes."

Arthur started to panic and look around for something, anything to try and break himself out of there. He started kicking the bars. Sean, Micah, and Bill started kicking too. "You can't do this! She's pregnant!"

"Yes, we know. All the more reason to burn her. Witches tend to have the devil's offspring."

"That's not the devil! She'a not a witch! That's my child!!!" Arthur sobbed. "You!" Arthur kicked. "Can't!" He kicked again. "Kill!" Another kick. "Them!"

"Oh, but we can," McGregor said. "You see, we-" Suddenly there was a long, loud scream outside. "Ah, there she goes. Let's go see."

The two lawmen got up and opened the door. Arthur could see in the distance a burning blaze and his wife screaming loudly, though her shout was subdued for some reason. But watching her for that split moment broke his heart into pieces and he collapsed to his knees as the door shut. "Oh my God..." Arthur broke into tears and started bashing the ground with his fists. "No! NO NO NO!"

Sean started hitting the bars again. "They can't do this!"

"This is horseshit!" Micah. "Burnin' a pregnant woman at the stake? That ain't right."

The door opened and Gray amd McGregor came running in. They slammed the door shut and pulled out their guns. "Did you see that?!" Gray snapped fearfully.

"I did! What the hell kind of witch can withstand fire and change clothes like that?!" McGregor responded with a shaky voice.

Arthur looked up. "What?" Was his wife alive?

There were blood curdling screams outside of men dying and the lawmen backed up in the building. There were sounds of crashes and gunshots raining down outside and it didn't subside for at least a few minutes, but then there was silence. Suddenly the door came flying off the hinges and Lilly walked in, only it wasn't Lilly. It was someone who looked like her, but Arthur could tell from the bloodthirsty fire in her eyes that this was not his wife. She wore her auburn hair in variously sized Celtic knot braids. Her feet were bare and she wore a fire red skirt designed with black celtic knots on the edges, the skirt being slit at the right thigh. A black trinity knotted belt was wrapped around her hips. She wore a red and black type of strapless corset that was laced with black string in the middle, and her midriff was exposed, but it showed Lilly's obvious pregnancy. Black leather straps were wrapped around her forearms all the way down to her wrists. She had brass trinity knot clasps on her biceps. And the woman had a sword in her hand, and she was covered in blood along with black and red face paint. No, this woman was definitely not his wife.

She pointed a finger at the two lawmen. "You," she said in double toned voices, though clearly one was Lilly's voice. "Let them out," she said, motioning to Arthur and the rest of the prisoners.

"W-What?" Gray stuttered with wide eyes.

The woman growled, walked over to the cell door and ripped it right off with one hand. Arthur and the rest backed up from the action. The strangely attired woman was then shot at by the officers but the bullets only bounced off her. She laughed maniacally. "I am immortal, you fools! Your weapons do not work on me!"

Lilly, or the one who looked like Lilly, took her blood stained sword and with one quick step and a stroke, decapitated both the men. She sheathed it and took the door off the other cell and smiled. "Tá mo shoitheach, do dheartháireacha ina gcóna. [My vessel, your brothers are alive.]

"Vessel? Brothers? What?" Arthur marched out of the cage and grunted. "Who are you?! And where the fuck is my wife?!"

The immortal being looked at Arthur with amusement. "Ah, husband of my vessel. It is a pleasure to finally meet you."

Arthur said. "Cé hé tusa? Cá bhfuil mo bhean chéile?" Arthur asked. [Who are you? Where is my wife?]

"Is é mo ainm Adair. Do bean chéile mo shoitheach." [My name is Adair. Your wife is my vessel.]

"What did she say?" Micah asked.

"Her name is Adair and my wife is her vessel," Arthur translated. "The baby?" Arthur motioned to her stomach.

Adair looked down, chuckled, and nodded at Arthur. "Sábháilte," she said. [Safe.]

Arthur blew a sigh of relief. "An féidir liom labhairt le mo bhean chéile? Le do thoil?" [Can I talk to my wife? Please?]

Adair smiled and a light enveloped the woman. When it disappeared, Lilly appeared in her regular gunslinger outfit. She looked down at herself. "What in the ever lovin' feck just happened?!"

Arthur smiled, grabbed Lilly, and held her close. "I thought you died again. I saw you burnin', Lilly."

Lilly hugged Arthur and sobbed. "I thought I was dead too, but The Morrigan came. She saved me again! But oh, it hurt so much, Arthur! It hurt so fuckin' much!"

Arthur shut his eyes. "Ó, mo ghrá álainn. Tá tú sábháilte. Tá tú beo." [Oh, my beautiful love. You are safe. You are alive.]

Lilly looked at the wolves. "What happened to them?"

"God damn assholes put them to sleep," Bill snarled.

Lilly went and knelt down to them. "Oh, my poor boys. Um...oh." Lilly started biting a fingernail in frustration. "WAKE UP!"

The boys whined as the opened their eyes. Lilly sighed with relief. "Lilly, honey, what the hell happened out there?"

Lilly stood up as the boys got to their feet. "God damn Uncle Levi and Mr. Pierce wanted to burn me alive! To prevent my "ascension", whatever the fuck that means! One minute I'm bein' burned alive, next thing I know, I have no control over my mother fuckin' body and I'm killin' the fuck out of everybody, bullets were just not hurtin' me at all...ugh! I got real dizzy! In fact, I'm still dizzy!" Lilly held her forehead and wobbled.

Arthur held onto her and cradled her in his arms. "Easy, I got you. But this was your Uncle Levi's doin'?!"

"Yep."

"Well, did you get him!?"

"No. He got away, along with Mr. Pierce and Brutus."

"Dammit! I take it Mr. Pierce was in league with this asshole all along. God dammit!"

Lilly kissed her husband on the cheek then rested her head on his shoulder. "I'm tired. Can we go home now? I really need...my...beauty sleep..." Lilly yawned and shut her eyes.

"Lillian?" When she didn't answer, Arthur sighed. "Alright boys, let's go home."

The wolves went bounding out as the rest of the men looked around outside. There was blood everywhere, and dead bodies. Some were even cut into several different pieces. Sean stared out at the dirt roads, flabbergasted. "Just what the fuck did Lilly do?"

"Not Lilly. Adair," Arthur laughed. He didn't care who did what. He didn't even care that his wife became another person...again. He was just glad she was alive. He kissed his sleeping spouse on the head. "You are one lucky woman."

Lilly woke up on the way back to camp in Arthur's arms on Rose and she frowned, nuzzling into him. "I was scared, Arthur. I was so scared for our baby."

"Well, that Adair said the baby was safe. You mind tellin' me what...the..."

Lilly turned around in the saddle to see people gathered around Dutch's tent. "Meeting?"

"I guess." Arthur dismounted along with the rest of the group and helped Lilly down. "C'mon, let's go see."

Lilly took his hand and hobbled down. "Oof. Arthur, I might need help walking."

Arthur put an arm around her and they walked. Lilly eyed Sean, Micah and Bill, who were looking at her in awe. "What?"

"Nothin'," Micah said with a smile. "You're just...you're a badass, Lilly."

Lilly laughed. "Thanks."

Arthur stopped. "Hey. For now, what happened with Lilly stays with us, alright?"

"I agree," Sean said. The other two men agreed as well and they continued their slow gait.

"We are doin' all we can," Dutch said to folks. He spotted Arthur and the rest of the Rhodes Massacre entourage. "Have you seen the boy Jack?" he asked as he approached. He looked at Lilly. "What happened to you?"

"It's a long story," Lilly said. "But what's this about Jack?"

"Where's my god damn son?" Abigail shouted at Dutch as she marched over. "Where is he? Where's my son?! They took him, didn't they? They took my son!"

"Who took him?" Arthur asked.

"We think the Braithwaite woman took him," Hosea said as he came over. "That Kieran saw a couple of fellers soundin' like Braithwaite boys."

"Where's my son? If anythin'...I...where is my son, Dutch van der Linde?!" Abigail demanded.

"We will find him, we will bring him back to you, and we will kill any fool who had the temerity to touch one hair on that boy's head," Dutch claimed. "Abigail, you have my word," he said with a clenched fist.

Lilly rubbed her face. The Braithwaites took her nephew, but why? "Just get back my son!" Abigail commanded.

Dutch started walking toward The Count along with Arthur, Lilly, John, and Sean. "I will get that boy back, so help me God! Right now!"

"Dutch, we just heard about Jack!" Bill said, holding a gun. "You need some extra guns?"

"Yeah, why not? Micah, Kieran, anyone strange turns up, you kill 'em! Rest of you, let's ride!"

Lilly mounted up with narrowed eyes. "I am goin' tah kill that woman," she growled.

Arthur smiled. "That's my girl."

The armed group made their way towards the avenue of Braithwaite Manor. Lilly was mad, but she also felt guilty. If she had left Brian and James back at camp, this would not have happened. And she knew something bad was going to happen to Jack...maybe. Lilly wasn't sure what, but she...Lilly shook her head. She had to focus, like the rest of them, on getting her nephew back.

"Okay, get your heads right," Dutch ordered. "Nobody makes a move until I say so."

Lilly looked down at her wolves. Thank God they weren't in bad shape after their ordeal. In fact, they seemed invigorated as if they knew exactly what was going on. Arthur addressed Lilly. "You sure you're alright to do this, Lilly?"

"I'm more than alright," she said. "I'm fuckin' motivated!"

"Ha! That's my girl!"

"Alright everyone, dismount and come to me!" Dutch shouted. "We'll go in on foot from here."

They all slowed their horses and trotted over by the arch of the property. Lilly dismounted, grabbed her repeater, slung it to her back, and spoke to the wolves. "Get your game faces on, boys."

The pair bared their teeth and growled, their hackles raised. "First Lilly, now Jack. We shoulda stayed outta all of this," Lenny commented.

"And yet here I am," Lilly replied, pulling out her revolvers and checking they were fully loaded. "Jack will be fine too."

"Quiet, we're goin' to fix this right now," Dutch said. "C'mon, let's get this done. John, you sure you're okay?" Dutch asked, stopping John from walking.

"Like I said, I'm fine," John replied.

Dutch pulled out his guns. "Follow my lead." They all trailed after Dutch down the gravel path. "Both these redneck families think they can ruin us? I don't think so."

As they got closer to the house, some men started coming out of the house. "There they are," Hosea said.

"Who steals a god damn boy?"

"I'm gonna let fly at those sons of bitches!" John snapped.

Lilly was impressed. She had no idea how much feeling John actually had for the boy, especially when he always denied Jack being his son.

"John, I need you to stay calm."

The group ambled closer to the manor. Lilly tightened her brow, giving a look of intense anger. The boys still snarled while showing their sharp fangs. They were even drooling. Lilly chuckled at them. "Patience, my boys. You'll get your fill soon enough."

"Get down here now! You inbred trash!" Dutch shouted.

"What the hell do you want?" one of the Braithwaite men asked.

The Van der Linde group kept walking with their guns out. John was impatient and started walking faster but Hosea held him back a bit. "Easy, John."

Everyone except Dutch stopped walking. "We've come for the boy. You must've known we would."

"You shouldn't have messed with our business now, should you?" another man said.

More men ambled out to meet them, and Lilly looked over at her husband. "Are you alright for this, Mr. Morgan?" she whispered.

Arthur chuckled and looked at her. "I'm fuckin' motivated."

"Whatever complaint you have with us, alleged or otherwise," Dutch belted smoothly, "that is a young boy. That is not the way you do things. Hand him over."

"Get the hell off our land!" a man shouted.

The veranda doors opened up as well as the front doors. More men came walking out.

"If you ain't gonna be civilized about this..." Dutch started. He and everyone else began the battle.

"Go get 'em!" Lilly shouted to her wolves.

Brian and James went running about, avoiding gunfire and already tackling down prey. They were smart and quick not to linger in one place, as per usual. The fight didn't last long. They had been outnumbered, but their tenacity and skill was stronger; better. All the enemies outside were shot down or had their throats ripped open.

"Arthur, John, Hosea, with me!" Dutch said. "The rest of you, watch out here for any other arrivals."

Lilly stayed out with the rest as her Da, Athair, John, and her husband invaded the home. She walked over to Sean with Brian and James. "You okay, deartháir? Things got a little, uh," Lilly scratched her temple," a little heated back there in Rhodes."

Sean let out a deep giggle. "I can't believe you're already makin' jokes about that."

"Of course I am. Would you expect anythin' different from me?"

"No, I suppose not. But..." he leaned over to her. "Thank you...for savin' me life, Lilly."

Lilly slapped his shoulder lightly. "You're welcome, Sean."

Charles pointed towards the darkness. "We got more comin' in!"

The men and Lilly bunkered down behind cover. Lilly whistled to her boys. "Stalk and kill."

Brian and James went out into the darkness to do their jobs. Lilly and the rest shot down enemies quickly as the wolves scared the cripes out of the cart horses and made the wagons tip over. Brian and James went to town on any poor sap too slow to get up. Lilly grabbed the repeater off her back and took aim at some men running in from the right. Lilly whistled for her boys again. They came running back to her and she pointed to the orchard. "Go get 'em!"

They did as they were told. They tore through the Braithwaite men like a hot knife through butter and Lilly smiled with pride.

"They're runnin'!" Lilly heard Arthur yell from the balcony. "Ooh, boy," he looked down at her with a smirk. "I don't know if they're runnin' from the boys or you!"

Lilly laughed. "Just...just go get wee Jack, please, so he can ride one of the boys back to camp."

She whistled and the giant white wolves came back to her side. Lilly regrouped with the rest of the cavalry. It wasn't long until she heard a wailing, screaming woman inside the house. Lilly chuckled and looked at Sean. All the other men vacated the house, Dutch having Catherine over his shoulder. She was still wailing and crying about. "Put me down!" she growled at Dutch. "You damn Yankee!"

Dutch dropped her by everyone else. "There you go."

"I never liked you," Catherine said to Hosea."

"Why'd ya take the boy, Mrs. Braithwaite?" Hosea questioned.

"You stole my liquor!"

"Boys are off limits!"

"You stole my horses! Ain't no rules in war, Mr..."

"Matthews."

"Yes...yes, that's it," she sobbed as Dutch aimed a gun at her. She looked up at him.

"Where's the boy?" Hosea asked.

The old woman shifted around to sit up. "My sons gave him to Angelo Bronte," she warbled.

Lilly's heart jumped into her throat at that name, then her eyes narrowed. Her hands balled into fists, her respiration went through the roof, and Lilly felt the whole world slip away, only seeing the Braithwaite woman. The boys snarled at the mention of the man's name. She approached the woman angrily. "Ya did what?" she asked incredulously.

"He's either in Saint Denis or on a boat to Italy, Wolf Witch!"

Lilly bent down and grabbed the woman's shirt collar and yanked her up. "Ya gave me nephew tah Angelo fuckin' Bronte?!"

Lilly was seeing red, and her fists clenched hard. She was in a horrible, powerful rage. Angelo Bronte. He had Jack. Who knows what that god damn man would do to her nephew. "Do you know this man, Lilly?" Dutch asked.

Lilly was not going to get into a discussion. Not about this. "Only by reputation!" she said. She turned her face to Sean. The look she gave Sean was all he needed to catch her drift. Brian and James snarled up to Lilly's side, wanting to kill, to pounce. "Boys! Enough!" they relaxed, but Lilly did not relax herself. "This bitch is mine!" Lilly said with a fierce snarl.

Lilly let go of the old woman and stood. Lilly took out her revolver and shot both of Mrs. Braithwaite's knees caps. Catherine screamed out in agony. Lilly holstered her gun, stalked to the woman's side, and smashed her boot down on one knee. Lilly heard bones fracture and crunch, even when Catherine Braithwaite's screams got louder and more high pitched. Lilly shifted a bit and repeated the cruel and heart-stopping action to the lady's other knee. Both legs were twisted and maimed at the knees, bending at awkward angles.

"Lilly!" Dutch shouted. "What are you doing?!"

Lilly reached into her satchel, pulled out a bottle of whiskey, lifted Mrs. Braithwaite by her shift, took the cork out with her own teeth, and poured it all over the hag. Lilly was furious. She was going to burn this crying, wicked bitch alive. The old lady struggled and sputtered as the liquid flowed down her face. Lilly spit out the cork and tossed the bottle when it was empty, then started dragging Catherine when Dutch clutched her arm. "Lillian!"

Lilly dropped Catherine, yanked out her gun once more, pivoted to face her adoptive father, and aimed the gun at Dutch's head. He flinched back a step. Lilly glared at him intensely. "Dunna ya do it, Van der Linde!" Lilly belted out through her teeth. "Dunna try tah stop me, or I'll shoot ya! Ya hear me?! BACK THE FUCK UP!!! NOW!!!" her booming voice was a mixture of a screech and a growl.

"Jesus Christ," she heard Arthur say. The rest of the men couldn't even speak, they were so petrified. The night was filled with Catherine's agonizing screams of pain, and Lilly took her foot and twisted it into one of the old woman's knee caps, keeping her deranged eyes on Dutch. Arthur took a step towards his wife. "Lilly, put-"

"Dunna test me, Morgan. I damn well bloody mean it!"

"Lilly, darlin', think about what you're doing here. This is...we don't torture people, remember?" he said, trying to reason with her. "She don't deserve this."

Lilly turned the gun on Arthur. "Dunna tell me what she deserves! Ya dun know what kinda man Bronte is! This is not a feckin' negotiation, Morgan. BACK THE FUCK OFF! BOTH OF YA!" Lilly took out her other gun and aimed at Dutch and Arthur separately, clicking the hammers back on her guns. "I wilna say it again," she warned. "Back. Off."

Dutch put his hands up and backed away. He looked horrified. "Okay, okay..." Arthur took a few steps backwards.

Lilly growled, put the hammers back in place, holstered the guns, and looked down at the alcohol soaked, still wailing about old hag. Lilly resumed dragging her across the ground. Lilly proceeded to curse the woman, snarling and growling like a wild animal as she walked.

"May the Devil take yer feckin' last shillin'! May the gates of fuckin' Paradise never open tah ya! May the god damn Devil cut off yer head and make a jolly fuckin' day's work of yer god damn neck!"

She dragged the old lady up the steps with a 'clunk, clunk, clunk'. Mrs. Braithwaite was still howling in pain, her knee caps broken and bleeding. When they reached the door, Lilly wrapped her hand around the woman's throat and picked her up with just the one arm. Catherine was surprisingly light, but then again, Mrs. Braithwaite was an old woman, thin, frail, and tiny. Lilly stared into her face, fire reflecting in the Irish woman's eyes. Lilly breathed hard, bringing the lady's face close to hers.

"Ya gave me nephew tah a monster, Mrs. Braithwaite," Lilly growled. When the woman, still crying, didn't respond, Lilly took one step inside the door frame. "BURN, YA FUCKIN' CUNT!!!" Lilly threw the old lady into the raging blaze.

Lilly took a step back and watched as Catherine caught on fire, burning and screaming. Lilly was so fucking enraged that she watched with pleasure. She was going to make sure this old hag burned. Catherine Braithwaite jostled around, screeching and wailing for her sons. If Angelo even thought of touching Jack, Lilly was going to feed him alive to her wolves. Very, very slowly. Catherine stopped moving and screaming. Lilly turned around and tilted her head, cracking her neck. She stormed down the steps. Her face was still twisted in a look of rage. Eyes narrowed, nostrils flaring as she breathed, lips tightened close. Lilly's hands were surprisingly relaxed.

All the men were either staring at her in horror or shock from the barbarity of her actions. Lilly was certain none could look at her the same ever again, but she didn't care. This was much bigger than them, and it had nothing to do with them. This was a long time coming and she was done waiting. She walked quickly past them all, not glancing at any one of them. "Where are you goin'?" Javier asked.

"To Saint fuckin' Denis!" she shouted.

Lilly felt an arm grab her. "Lillian!" Sean exclaimed. "We need a plan first. You can't just go walkin' in there, even with your...you know."

"I dunna care! Jack needs tah be rescued!"

Sean put his hands on Lilly's shoulders. "Lillian, we will get him back but you have to think of the baby, okay?"

Lilly looked over at Arthur. He looked severely pissed. "Alright, but we need tah hurry. You know what kind of man he is."

Sean nodded. "We will get Jack back before he does anythin'. But remember, he has a price on yer head," Sean whispered. "Ya need to be careful, love."

7-year-old Lilly, in her tattered yellow and white dress, was in the back of the carriage with her brother Brian. It was raining and storming out. They both had their hands bound with rope. Lilly was crying. Brian tried to get something through to her.

"Deirfiúr beag, is gá dom rud éigin a dhéanamh an-tábhachtach. Ceart go leor?" he whispered. [Little sister, I need you to do something very important. Okay?]

"Okay," she sniffled. Lightning flashed.

"Glacann tú an scian seo. Cosnaíonn tú tú féin leis. Is cuma cad a dhéanann na fir seo liom, ritheann tú nuair a fhaigheann tú an deis. Mharaíonn tú iad más gá. Ach ní féidir leat ligean dóibh filleadh tusa go Bronte. Ceart go leor?" Brian whispered again and thunder boomed. He took a knife from his boot and stuffed it into Lilly's boot. [You take this knife. You defend yourself with it. No matter what these men do with me, you run when you get the chance. You kill them if necessary. But you cannot let them return you to Bronte. Okay?]

"Yes, big brother."

"Promise me, little one."

"I promise." Lightning struck again. The carriage stopped. Thunder clashed.

"Is breá liom tú, deirfiúr beag. Ach ritheann tú. Aimsigh Sean. Mura ndéanann tú, rithfidh tú chuig an Uasal agus Bean Bartleby, ceart go leor? [I love you, little sister. But you run. Find Sean. If you don't, you will run to Mr. and Mrs. Bartleby, all right?]

"Is féidir. Is breá liom tú freisin, deartháir mór. Ach cad a dhéanfaidh siad leat? Nó dom?" [I can. I also love you, big brother. But what will they do with you? Or me?]

The doors opened and both the O'Callaghan children were pulled out aggressively by Travis and Steven Hilltop. They were taken to an alley and dragged around various corners as the rain dropped down. Lightning flashed again and thunder shook Lilly on the inside. She was held by Travis as Steven put Brian against the brick wall. Steven punched Brian in the face.

"No!" Lilly screamed and wriggled. "Leave me brother alone!"

The beating went on for quite some time, but Lilly didn't know why Brian wouldn't fight back. She kept screaming and crying out his name, and the lightning and thunder blasted through the skies. The ground had blood droplets in the puddles of water. Blow after blow, Brian took them all without much more than a whimper. He never cried or screamed. But Lilly did. Everytime Steven Hilltop beat her brother, kicked him, punched him, she cried.

Brian laid on the ground, his face beyond recognition. He shivered and coughed up blood. Steven took a step back and cackled. "He's tough for a Mick, ain't he?" Steven cackled.

"I think his little brat of a sister is tougher," Travis commented. "Did ya see what she did to Bronte?"

"I did!" Steven laughed. "Sick man, but he pays well enough, don't he? Here, give me the girl. Shoot the boy."

Lilly kicked Steven in the leg. "Ya stop it now, ya bastards!" she shouted.

Steven slapped her and she cried out, falling to the ground. He went and yanked Lilly up by her hair. "Now now, Miss O'Callaghan, put those claws away. If you're nice, we won't hit ya again."

Lilly growled at him. "Do yer worst tah me, ya dumb shite bag!"

Travis laughed and yanked out his pistol. "What a fiesty kid. I kinda hope she grows up to be this way. If Bronte lets her live that long."

Lilly ignored what the men were saying. She only focused on her crumpled, broken brother on the ground. Brian reached a hand out to her and grabbed her boot. He looked up into his sister's blue eyes with his green ones.

"Rith, deirfiúr beag. Ná lig dóibh a ghlacadh tusa," Brian wheezed out. [Run, little sister. Do not let them take you.]

Lilly nodded at him, tears in her eyes. "Geallaim, deartháir mór." [I promise, big brother.]

Travis sighed and aimed his pistol. "Now be a good girl and watch." Travis pulled the trigger and the bullet hit Brian's skull. Lilly screamed and cried. Travis bent down and went through Brian's coat. "I'll be takin' this now, brother," Travis said, pulling out the O'Callaghan family pocketwatch.

Lilly glared at Travis as he took her family heirloom from the corpse of her brother. Lilly looked back at her dead brother and cried.

"Travis, let's go."

"Wait! I want tah say goodbye! Let me hold me brother fer a moment! Please!" Lilly cried.

Travis and Steven shrugged. "Fine, go."

Lilly dropped down to her knees and held Brian's body with one arm. She remembered her promise. Run. Do not let them take her back to that house. Lilly slowly pulled out Brian's knife from her boot and kept it hidden. Steven went around the corner and Travis picked her up. "Alright, back to Papa now."

Lilly stabbed Travis in the thigh and he yelled out. She yanked it out and ran away from the man in the opposite direction.

"Shit! Get after that little bitch! Now!"