Later on that day Kate left after winding Carla up. Michelle and Carla then waited for a while longer waiting before going to Liam's grave. They had a bite to eat before they headed off in search for answers over the flowers.
"Let's go and see if anymore mysterious flowers have ended up on this grave" Carla sighs getting out the car
"Every time I come here I literally can't remember where I'm going" Michelle jokes
"I must admit it is in a rather odd place" Carla says as they approach the grave
"Oh god the same flowers Car" Michelle sighs
"There's a card" Carla says grabbing it
Am I really dead?
"Car? You ok?" Michelle says rubbing her friends back
"Read it" Carla looks up with her eyes full of tears
"Oh god this is just getting weirder" Michelle says
"This is so sick" Carla states "Lilah! Lilah!"
"Carla what are you doing?" Michelle asks
"That little bitch has got to be here" Carla says becoming very angry
"Carla, Carla, Carla"
Michelle and Carla turn around to be greeted by a very beautiful looking Lilah. She was dressed in a red flowing dress and red knee length high heeled boots, her makeup consisted of bright red lipstick, black eyeshadow and a perfect contoured face. She looked like she was out of a movie she looked perfect.
"You bitch!" Carla shouts in Lilah's face
"Very hurtful Carla, Very hurtful" Lilah replies
"This is sick you know utterly unforgivable" Carla says angrily
"Is it? Or have I done you a favour?" Lilah questions deviously
"And what's that supposed to mean?" Carla asks sceptically
"Carla, you just don't learn do you?" Lilah persists
"The flowers where are they from?" Carla asks
"Ah, I knew I should've chosen a different bouquet, it was pretty obvious" Lilah states
"Where are they from? Carla interrogates
"Think about it, first love always has a lasting impact" Lilah replies bluntly
"No…No you are so wrong!" Carla screams as a sudden realisation hits her
"The question is, how could you forget your own wedding?" Lilah asks
"You're evil you are" Carla says hurting at the revelation
"Paul and Carla's wedding, biggest love story of last century" Lilah states smugly
"How do you know about the flowers?" Carla asks
"Four words Carla" Lilah smiles evilly gesturing towards the piece of card in Carla's hand
"He's dead Lilah" Carla states bluntly
"Is he though?" Lilah says hell bent on playing games
"What's that supposed to mean?" Carla replies
"America was really fun thanks for asking" Lilah rolls her eyes
"What?" Carla says confused by the change of subject
"Met up with some interesting people out there" Lilah smiles at the thought
"Like who? Lady Gaga?" Carla scoffs
"Oh come on Carla you can't be that thick" Lilah replies before her phone goes off "Sorry guys I have to dash off now, I will leave you with the thought"
"Oh no you don't!" Carla says grabbing her arm before Lilah turns around and slaps her
"Don't you dare touch me again" Lilah shouts
"Or what? You'll bring Liam back from the dead?" Carla states bluntly
"Well is he really dead? Lilah persists
"Stop being cryptic because it isn't getting you anywhere" Carla retorts
"Well you see that's where I beg to differ, because you are getting quite angry" Lilah smiles
"Why are you doing this?" Carla replies
"For the money, remember" Lilah says
"You're making no sense" Carla shrieks
"No hang on, she is" Michelle chimes in after witnessing the confrontation
"How? How does any of this make any sense?" Carla questions
"Well, she's doing for the money isn't she? The money in America. Who's paying you Lilah?" Michelle replies smartly
"Oh god, one of Tony's cronies?" Carla sighs
"You think it's Tony? you're funny" Lilah laughs
"Then who?" Michelle asks
"Is he really dead or are the flower's a symbol of love you always have?" Lilah persists
"Stop saying that!" Carla shouts
"No, but duty calls, Ciao!" Lilah says strutting off "Also, how do you think I knew about your bridal bouquet, I'll leave you to mull over it"
Carla and Michelle watch Lilah drive away shocked by her attitude towards them both, especially after everything that happened in the past few months. They then headed home, Carla was upset with Lilah's attitude and it made her question everything and over analyse the conversation she had with Lilah.
"Carla we need to talk about this" Michelle persists
"No, I'm not talking about it!" Carla replies
"What's going on?" Peter appears from the bedroom
"Stop asking questions!" Carla shouts
"Calm down" Peter says
"I will not calm down!" Carla screams before bursting into uncontrollable tears
"Come here, Carla" Peter says gesturing for her to hug him which she accepts
"I'm sorry for shouting at you" she replies apologetically
"If you need to let it out you need to let it out" he replies sympathetically "What happened, love?" he asks gently hating seeing Carla so distraught
"Lilah was there" Carla said breathlessly
"What?" Peter asks confused
"Peter, Lilah was at the grave, she left a card with the same bouquet of flowers as yesterday" Michelle explains, taking over from Carla
"Oh sweetheart, what did it say?" he asks Carla while she sits on his lap on the armchair
"It said 'Am I really dead?'" Carla says quietly
"Placed on Liam's grave?" Peter asks making sure he knows the right information
"Yes on Liam's grave" Carla angrily replies
"Carla you need to calm down" Peter persists knowing that if she were to carry on being angry she would end up bottling it up
"Yes, I know, sorry" she replies apologetically
"Start from the beginning" he says
Carla and Michelle explain all about Lilah's mysterious visit to the grave. There were so many questions that needed to be answered. Peter knew all well that Lilah wouldn't elaborate for him or Michelle and that she wanted Carla to suffer the full force of her manipulation to get the entertainment out of it. All three of them knew that they would have to play Lilah at her own game but it wouldn't be easy.
"How did she know about the very specific flowers that were made up of your bridal bouquet?" Peter asks
"I don't know Peter" Carla sighs
"Who would know about them then?" Peter asks
"Liam, 'Chelle, Me, Helen maybe" Carla lists the names of possible candidates
"Well it wasn't me and I'm sure it wasn't my mam either as she's in Ireland" Michelle says "Do you remember telling her Carla?"
"No" Carla repeats bluntly "Oh god this can't be happening" she says remembering something from the past
"What, what is it?" Peter asks
"I remember on the wedding day, Liam he came to see me after he was told he needed to bring the flowers up to me ready for the ceremony, it was probably so he could inform to Paul what I look like and he said that the Jasmine flowers in the bouquet were a symbol of love that I always would have" Carla explains
"She said the same thing, but how did she know?" Michelle asks dumbfounded by the revelation
"No clue" Carla states, confused
"Did she know Liam?" Peter asks
"I don't think so, I know that Liam knew her dad and mum briefly before they died but I wouldn't call it enough time for a meaningful relationship where they would introduce their daughter to him" Carla recalls
"I know this is hard to think about, and you can tell me to stop but is there any chance that Liam could be alive?" Peter asks gently
"We saw the body, Peter" Michelle states
"I know you did but is there any chance that wasn't Liam?" Peter asks
"What, of course it was Liam! It were obvious Peter!" Carla exclaims
"Ok, ok I'm just saying, you know what Tony was like he would have conjured up some stunt double or something, probably would've payed hundreds of thousands to trick you all" Peter suggests
"Ugh, I just want to leave it ok, I'm fed up with talking about this. I've been here before when trying to decode Lilah's manipulation tactics, you'd think I would have it nailed by now but no, this girl is one true mastermind" Carla sighs
Lilah was at her house pondering her next move she was a bit obvious at the graveyard that day and needed to recover her true intentions to make certain individuals proud of her work. She needed to make sure she had all areas covered and that there were no flaws in her work so her boss could rely on her. Lilah felt as if her plan was failing as she went a little overboard today but she needed something to keep Carla interested so she got in the car and headed off to seek out her new found interest.
Lilah arrived at a dedicated safehouse for people who have been victim in serious crimes. Lilah worked here on a regular basis to gain understanding for how criminals minds worked she would speak to the victims of various crimes so she could use her intense knowledge to piece together the next move of criminals so she could help protect people. Most of these victims would have a vast range of mental health problems that Lilah would need to contend with. Some of these would be post-traumatic stress disorder, depressive thoughts and suicidal tendencies. Some of the worst effected victims of these crimes tend not to want to relive it and their minds have completely erased any memory of what happened in a way to protect them from harm. Lilah was there as a way to manipulate these memories from these people so that she can help reduce the paranoia that succumbed when recreating the memories and vivid images in their heads. Most of her 'case studies' went by new identities that they created in their minds as a way to forget the past, they only did this when they felt that there was a threat to themselves or at the possibility of reliving the past this helped them to erase the painful memories of what was left behind the day they came here. The only way people were usually admitted here was if there were moles in the criminal industry, bounty hunters if you believe in that, some of these bounty hunters or moles stage criminal activities with real criminals to catch them out, then the victims are automatically bought here to receive the help they need to get away from the pain of being caught up in an endless cycle of criminal activity.
Lilah works alongside the police and emergency services and helps stage criminal operations along with the moles in the background. These moles are usually disguised as hitmen and they earn a living attempting to 'kill' people so that they can seek out the worlds most hard to catch criminals for a price. However the criminals know this, these moles are capable of ruining their lives so they usually confess before being caught out due to the pressure and fear of being caught this means that they can be arrested for a confession.
Criminals use these 'hitmen' thinking they are legit when in reality they work alongside the police. Lilah learnt many things over the years she's been working here and that is that criminals are very gullible people as their tendencies to commit certain activities need to be filled therefore increasing their gullibility when presented with the prime opportunity to attempt to kill someone or endanger their life for their own pleasure. Lilah steps in when inside information is revealed about these criminals to protect the victims so she arranges the operations of 'killing' the victim to fill the criminals need, these usually costs hundreds and thousands of pounds but its worth it in the end to ensure that she can help the victim come to terms with what happened to them no matter how unethical it sounds.
A little far fetched but I wanted to make Lilah's background seem more of a support net for Carla and the rest of the Connor's.