December 8, 1779 - Continued
The darkness made it difficult to tell where she was, until Lillian opened her eyes and saw the familiar faces of four men surrounding her. Mr. Mortner was standing on her left, while Dr. Lancaster and Magistrate Philipse were on her right. Still coming out of her unconscious state, Lillian closed her eyes for a moment and rubbed her temple. When she opened her eyes again, she saw Reverend Steenwyck approach her and stand next to Mr. Mortner. Remembering what she saw him do in her previous vision, Lillian screamed in horror, raising her fist to punch him in the nose. Her blow struck the reverend, who stumbled backwards, holding a hand to his nose as it started bleeding. Lillian sat up at once, feeling good about hitting Reverend Steenwyck as though he deserved it, even though he hadn't done anything yet.
Dr. Lancaster and Magistrate Philipse each grabbed one of Lillian's arms, holding her back in order to prevent her from trying to get off the operating table she was lying on. Looking around the room, Lillian realized she was in the residence of Dr. Lancaster, having been here once before when she came down with a mild cold during her childhood.
"Are you all right, Lillian?" Mr. Mortner asked, who came forward and attempted to cup a hand to her face, but Lillian pulled away from his grasp, not trusting him. She knew he was feigning concern for her.
Looking around at the other three men in the room, Lillian's eyes widened with terror at seeing them very much alive. "No", she said quietly, then spoke up louder, "No, no, no, I saw you! All of you, you...You were all dead!"
"Calm yourself, Miss Waise", said Dr. Lancaster, placing a comforting hand on her right shoulder with one hand, holding up a beaker filled with medicine in his free hand. "Drink this, my dear. It will help soothe your nerves."
Lillian looked at the beaker, then turned her head to look back over at Mr. Mortner, who was trying to help Reverend Steenwyck stop his bleeding nose. The old man glared at her as he handed the priest a handkerchief.
"Wait a minute! Where's Mr. Hardenbrook and Mr. Van Garrett?" Lillian asked.
"What about them?" Magistrate Philipse asked her.
"Miss Waise, I think you better take this and rest for-"
Before Dr. Lancaster could finish his sentence, Lillian glared at him and knocked the beaker out of his hand, pulling herself from the two men holding her back and jumping down off the operating table. She stood in the middle of the room, shifting her gaze from one man to the other, replaying the fates of those present and unaccounted for inside her mind, all except for Mr. Mortner, whose fate remained undecided for the time being.
"Liars", Lillian whispered to herself, then she said out loud to the four men, "Scoundrels! Deceivers! None of you are worthy to draw breath! You are all damned to suffer in Hell!"
Reverend Steenwyck marched forward and grabbed Lillian by her shoulders as he brought her face close to his, looking outraged. "I ought to drown you in the river for what you just said, you bitch!"
"I'd rather drown than become a minion of Satan's whore, much like you will become, you animal!" Lillian shouted, kneeing Reverend Steenwyck in his groin, giving herself the advantage of making an escape as she lifted her skirt and headed for the door. The moment she set foot outside of the Lancaster residence, Lillian bumped into none other than Notary Hardenbrook himself, half-blind in one of his pale blue eyes.
"Are you all right, my dear?" Notary Hardenbrook asked, looking concerned for the young woman.
"After her!" The voice of Reverend Steenwyck called from inside the doctor's house. Hearing this, Lillian wasted no time in running past the notary and started running towards the Western Woods, knowing that it was the only sanctuary she had left to turn to, feeling that she could never return to Sleepy Hollow. Lillian heard the reverend calling out that he would find her and kill her if she ever returned, and even though she believed him, she didn't bother to look back and see if he was following her. Lillian felt herself a fugitive, as though her once-happy and peaceful life were over. At this point, she didn't care if she never returned to Sleepy Hollow. What was important was that she was finally taking her father's advice to heart and leaving town before it was too late and something terrible happened to her, just as he forewarned her three weeks ago. All of the premonitions were coming true.
Lillian stopped running after about fives minutes, breathing heavily as she came to a clearing, feeling the adrenaline wearing off as she turned to look back and see if she was being followed. Thankfully, nobody was around, until she heard the sound of wings flapping and spun around to look at Simara, who was perched on top of the highest branch in the dead tree, while the Hessian's sword was shown sticking out of the trunk.
Realizing that a vision was taking place, Lillian felt the world grow darker around her, as though the day had suddenly turned into night. Walking towards the dead tree, Lillian continued staring up onto the canopy of leafless branches, hearing a crying noise that made her circle around the trunk, finding a dark-haired woman was sitting on the ground. It was the noblewoman from one of her previous visions, but she did look quite the same as the last time Lillian saw her. Rather than her blue velvet dress and white cape, the noblewoman was wearing a simple nightgown, keeping her head lowered while she cried, holding a bundle in her lap.
Lillian knelt in front of her, noticing there was blood on the woman's legs, as well as on the bundle in her arms. "Madame, why are you crying?" Lillian asked the weeping woman. "Are you hurt?"
"He won't be coming back", said the noblewoman, shaking her head. "He couldn't save us. He won't be able to save himself." Lifting her head, the noblewoman looked at Lillian, tears falling from her ebony eyes, leaving behind a shining streak on each of her cheeks, which were drained of all color. "They will hunt him down and kill him", The noblewoman forewarned Lillian. "You know whom I speak of."
Suddenly, a flash of lightning raced across the foggy sky, followed by a crash of thunder. Lillian felt the earth trembling beneath her feet and went back around the tree, seeing roots were lifting up out of the ground as though opening a portal to some dark dimension. Before she could ask what was happening, a black-cloaked figure came jumping out from the mouth of the tree, riding high atop a midnight black horse. Lillian fell over and landed on her back, staring up at the rider who came towards her, unsheathing his sword. Lillian hoped to see the face of the phantom from Hell, only to discover he was in no possession of a head. The rider's black horse reared, neighing ferociously before the rider brought his sword down to claim his female victim's head. Lillian didn't even have time to let out a scream.
Gasping, Lillian fell to the ground, breathing heavily as she placed a hand around her neck, feeling no traces of pain. No dampness of blood. No warm inner flesh. The visions were getting worse.
"What are you doing here?" The voice of the Hessian announced itself.
Raising her head up, Lillian saw the towering man in black armor standing over her, looking down at her with an expression of concern on his face, his piercing blue eyes staring into her lighter blue ones.
"My love", Lillian said out loud, standing up to her full height to match her eye level with the Hessian, even though she was a foot shorter than him. "Is it really you?"
"Lillian, where is your cape?" The Hessian asked, ignoring her question. "You look on the verge of death."
"Death?" Lillian questioned. "You don't even know the half of it. Earlier today, I was sent a vision from the future."
The Hessian rolled his eyes, trying to maintain his composure, as well as his patience, which was wearing very thin with her. Up until this point, he had humored Lillian into believing she was telling the truth, but now he thought of her as nothing but paranoid and delusional.
"The town elders, they were slain", Lillian exclaimed. "Murdered! It all started when the reverend held my hand, and then young Abraham-"
The Hessian raised a gloved hand to her lips, silencing the rambling woman. "Before you say anything else, I would like to remind you that you shouldn't have intervened when I tried to strike down that soldier last week."
Lillian grabbed hold of his wrist, bringing his hand back down to his side. "I had to stop you", she said. "Richard might have been a nuisance, but I was not about to let you kill him."
"If you were a man yourself right now, I would kill you."
"Why don't you, then? You've killed everyone else who has laid eyes on you. Why do you spare me?"
The Hessian straightened himself before answering, speaking to her in a soft voice, "You're just a young girl, an innocent civilian. Maybe not quite so innocent, for you know too much about me. When you stopped me from trying to kill that young man last week-"
"His name was Richard Vallingby, and you need not worry about him anymore. He's dead. He died yesterday. I watched him die right in front of me. Just before he died, Richard confessed that he loved me, but I did not tell him I felt the same."
"Why? If you cared so much about him-"
"I didn't love him! I tolerated Richard Vallingby, but I didn't love him. I love you, Hessian. I love you and would do anything for you, if only you would say you feel the same way I do about you."
The Hessian was speechless, staring at her like she was crazy. "I think there's been some sort of mistake", he said, flatly.
"I beg your pardon?" Lillian questioned.
"What indication did I ever give to you that led you to believe-"
"You spared me that night you rescued me, didn't you?"
"Yes, but I never-"
"Then you can understand why I have chosen to devote myself to you."
"The only thing you should devote yourself to is God", said the Hessian, hoping to dissuade Lillian from trying to follow him, but his efforts proved him wrong.
"I'm not talking about God, I'm talking about you!" Lillian argued. "I love you because I thought you loved me back. If the war ended tomorrow, I would go back to Germany with you in a heartbeat."
"What makes you think I would take you back to Germany in the first place?" The Hessian scoffed.
"What will you do when the war is over? Will you go back to Dresden?" Lillian questioned.
"It was never my intention to return home" the Hessian answered. "In fact, I was certain I would meet my death here and not have the chance to return home."
Lillian was shocked to hear this from him, her eyes widening in fear. "You mean you wish to depart from this world? Why?"
"It's better that you don't know, Lillian. I've told you too much about me already, but there are certain things about me you don't know about. Things you wouldn't understand."
"Then help me to understand. You can start by explaining why you lied to me."
"I haven't lied to you about anything."
"You told me you weren't married", Lillian reminded him. "Weeks ago, I asked if you were married and you said you weren't. If what you say is true, then why have I been having dreams and visions of seeing you with a dark-haired temptress? What are you hiding from me, Hessian?"
"I will not be hearing this from you", the Hessian growled, attempting to walk around her to head back over to Daredevil, but Lillian placed her hands on his chest, pushing him back.
"No!" Lillian shouted, defiantly. "Who is she? Why didn't you ever tell me about her?"
"That is none of your concern", said the Hessian. "I don't know what those men did to you that night, nor do I wish to hear about it, but whatever they did, it must have damaged your mind severely, because you are crazy! When I saved your life, I expected you to be a simple peasant woman, not a fortune teller."
Lillian was silent, looking hurt by his words. "I am not crazy", she said, her voice barely above a whisper. "If only you could see the things I've seen, you would understand my plight. Everything I've told you so far has come true. It's all coming true. You know that, don't you? You know I'm right about this."
"Be that as it may, evil enchantress, seek elsewhere for a husband, for I shall never be yours." Just as he turned and started to walk away, Lillian stepped right in front of the Hessian, stopping him.
"Soon as this war is over, I'm going back with you to Germany", Lillian proclaimed.
"I do not think so", the Hessian objected.
"Yes, I insist on going back with you."
"Lillian, you can't."
"Why not?!"
"Because you can't!"
Grabbing her by her shoulders, the Hessian threw Lillian to the ground. Thankfully, the snow cushioned her fall, but Lillian wasn't ready to give up the fight. Standing up, she looked over as the Hessian mounted his horse, turning Daredevil around to start riding down the path, but Lillian was quick to run out in front of him, blocking his escape.
"Get out of my way, woman!" The Hessian demanded.
"No! Tell me what happened between you and the dark-haired woman, the one who was expecting a child! Did you kill her or did you have some secret affair with her? Tell me the truth, you hedonist!"
The Hessian took offense to this, showing immense anger while reaching for his sword, withdrawing it from the scabbard to wield the weapon in his hand as he reared his horse, snarling at her as though she had insulted the woman he loved, which Lillian knew she had done. The look of fear that showed on her face was not enough for the Hessian to shield his sword away, for he was outraged and decided to take his wrath out on Lillian by swinging his sword in her direction, not to kill her, but to scare her off as a warning. Lillian threw her arms over her head and ducked out of the way in time, unaware the Hessian had chopped off a lock of her hair.
Roaring, the Hessian spurred his horse, riding away fast on Daredevil. Lillian felt a chill as he rode past her, lowering her arms and looking up in time to see him disappear into the forest.
"Bastard!" Lillian called out to him, standing up straight again and wrapping her arms around herself to keep warm. The cold was not nearly as bothersome to her at the moment as much as the Hessian was.
Having witnessed the encounter from afar, Simara flew into the clearing and perched on a branch in the tree nearest to Lillian, who turned her head and looked up at the tree on her right. Simara fluttered her wings, making a soft cawing noise as though trying to coax her mistress to speak her mind.
"Whatever thoughts are on my mind are not meant for you to hear out loud", Lillian said to the bird, looking away from her. She started to turn, but then Simara cawed loudly, regaining the attention of her mistress, who glared at her. Simara flapped her wings and continued cawing louder, which meant she was trying to talk her mistress out of doing something dangerous. This irritated Lillian, who turned back and stepped closer to the tree.
"What would you have me do, Simara?" Lillian asked. "I can't just stand here and do nothing anymore. Something must be done about this tonight, and it will start with the death of the daughter of Herbert Mortner!"