December 8, 1779 - Morning
Lillian didn't remember falling asleep on the floor, all memories of the previous night erased from her mind completely. Darkness was all around her, yet she could hear voices from people she did not recognize. Her dream, or perhaps nightmare, swam between visions of blurred colors and unfamiliar faces from the past and present alike, giving her glimpses from times come and gone, or maybe a vision from the distant future. Either way, she could not tell the difference, until she opened her eyes the next morning and saw her bedroom was sideways.
Simara cawed as she flapped her wings, signaling for her mistress to awaken, tugging on a strand of her hair to rouse her from her slumber. Lillian found herself lying on the wooden floor and sat up slowly, looking around her room before glancing down at the floor, seeing the dagger pointed in her direction. A small amount of blood stained the blade. That was when a flood of memories came rushing back to her, for she remembered it was Cassandra's blood! Lillian gasped as she put a hand over her mouth, her eyes wide with realization. Not only had she hurt her friend, but Cassandra had seen the knife last night and most likely had told her father about it.
Thinking quickly, Lillian grabbed the knife and rose to her feet at once and went to hide the weapon under her pillow, then ran to the door and opened it, rushing downstairs to the tavern. Upon entering the establishment, she found Mr. Mortner was not there yet, but Cassandra still was, only she wasn't awake. After Lillian left her there last night, Cassandra sunk down to the floor and curled up into a fetal position before bursting into sobs, falling asleep after her crying ceased. An empty bottle was cradled underneath her right arm. Lillian sighed sadly, pitying the red-headed woman. She was thankful nobody was around to see this, especially Mr. Mortner.
Stepping closer, Lillian frowned when she noticed a small puddle of blood had formed around Cassandra's left hand, her fingers dipped in the red liquid. Fearing the worse, Lillian dropped down on her knees and turned Cassandra over to make sure she was still alive. Upon closer inspection, she discovered the blood did not come from Cassandra's wrists, but the cuts on her upper left arm where she cut her. Lillian breathed out a sigh of relief, thankful that Cassandra was not dead, but just to make sure, she lowered her head down to the redhead woman's chest, hearing the steady rhythm of a beating heart. A welcoming sound, indeed.
Hearing a moan from Cassandra, who started waking up at last, Lillian looked at her and sat up to give the hungover woman some breathing space, allowing her a moment to recollect her thoughts. Opening her eyes, Cassandra blinked a few times before rubbing her dried-out, puffy eyes, moaning discomfortingly. Her head hurt and her throat was as dry as a bone, no doubt a side effect from drinking too much the night before.
"Welcome back to the land of the living", Lillian said to Cassandra, who turned over and made a gagging noise before spewing out vomit from her mouth, the contents of her stomach being rejected from her body.
Lillian closed her eyes, making a pained expression as Cassandra coughed and threw up again a second. Hearing her gasping for breath, Lillian reopened her eyes to look at Cassandra again, then rose up and went over to the counter to pick up a dirty rag, walking back over to where Cassandra was. She sat down beside her, wiping away the disgusting, foul-smelling bile from the shaking woman's mouth.
"I'm such a fool", Cassandra whimpered out, tears falling from her reddened eyes, remembering everything from the previous night.
"It's okay, Cassandra", said Lillian, tearing off two stripes of fabric from the hem of her dress, tying one around each cut she left on Cassandra's arms. The wounds were not bleeding, but it was the least she could do.
"Forgive me, Lillian", Cassandra begged. "All those things I said last night-"
Lillian put a comforting hand on the woman's shoulder, calming her. "You must forget about that", she said. "I forgive you for what you did, for you were drunk and did not know what you were saying, but next time-"
Suddenly, the door slammed opened. Cassandra gasped, looking horrified. Lillian whipped her head around in time to see Mr. Mortner standing in the doorway before shutting it.
"Where were you last night, young lady?" Mr. Mortner asked, looking at his daughter. "I came in here last night and found you passed out on the floor, drunk. Explain yourself this instant!"
"I blame myself, Mr. Mortner", said Lillian, standing up to face the old man, showing no fear as she approached him. "I blame myself. I'm afraid I may have caused your daughter distress by bearing some rather unfortunate news to her last night, something that's been on my mind for years. This drove Cassandra to turn herself over to drinking, so that it may help her forget about her sorrows."
"What blasphemy is this?" Mr. Mortner demanded. "What did you say to her?"
"Only what I needed to tell her, before she made the mistake about marrying someone who may or may not be the man he says he is. Something you would know very much about."
Mr. Mortner shook his head, looking confused. "I don't know what you're talking about."
"Lillian, what are you doing?" Cassandra asked.
Turning her head to look back at the redhead woman, Lillian ordered her, "You be silent!" With that said, she then looked back at Mr. Mortner. "I saw you the night you fornicated with that witch", she mentioned to him, fabricating the truth to save Cassandra's image. "When I was a child, I remember waking up from a bad dream. I thought I saw something passing by my window and went to see what it was and I saw you were leaving town. I was curious to know where you were going, so I followed you. I hid behind a tree as you came to a clearing, where I saw Mrs. Archer was waiting for you. I watched silently as she disrobed herself in front of you, revealing her naked body to you."
"That's enough, Lillian", Mr. Mortner whispered under his breath, not wanting to hear this.
"Then I saw you remove your trousers before you chose to climb on top of that whore."
"Silence, wench!"
"I was too young to understand what was happening then, but now that I am a woman, I finally understand that you are a failure as both a husband and a father!"
Mr. Mortner slapped Lillian hard in the face, silencing her for good. Cassandra stared in horror, her eyes widening in shock at what she had just seen her father do to Lillian, who turned her head forward to look at the old man who laid his strong, but withered hand on her. She did not scream or cry, for she had no tears to shed. Her face hurt, but she ignored it, having had worse than this.
"Do you even love your daughter, Herbert?" Lillian asked.
"What did you say?"
"Don't feign ignorance with me, old man! I said do you love your daughter."
Mr. Mortner looked over at Cassandra, who slowly rose up off the floor, staring at him with fear. Looking back at Lillian, Mr. Mortner said calmly, "When I look at her, I don't see a daughter. When I look at Cassandra, I see nothing more than the ghost of the woman I married and had a child with. Am I haunted by the memory of what I did to my late wife? Yes, but unless my daughter renounces her unholy ways and sinful thoughts-"
"Answer me, damn you!" Lillian yelled at him. "Do you want redemption or do you want to go to Hell?"
Pointing to Lillian, Mr. Mortner showed struggle to keep his temper intact and said to her with quiet fury, "I want you out of here. You hear me?" He raised his voice and shouted, "I want you out of my life! I don't care what promises I made to your mother. You're a nuisance, and I want you gone and out of town before the week is out!" Mr. Mortner then pointed to Cassandra and said to her in a calmer tone, "As for you, young lady, you will not bring shame upon my house by not taking a husband. You and Albert will proceed forth with the wedding, and if you do not produce a child by next Christmas, I will disown you, permanently. That is my final word."
Lillian said nothing, glaring at the old man with hatred and disdain as he turned around and headed for the door, opening it and slamming it behind him.
Once he was out of sight, Cassandra looked over at Lillian. "You lied to him", she said, stepping forward. "You said you were the one who saw him in the woods that night instead of me. Why?"
"Would you rather I tell him the truth?" Lillian questioned. "It's better for a woman like me to suffer the casting of stones than someone like you."
"You lied to my father to protect me?" Cassandra asked.
Rather than answer her, Lillian looked away from Cassandra, who showed a rare smile on her face. "Truly, you are a kind and forgiving soul, Lily, my love", she praised, reaching a hand out to cup the face of the woman she held feelings for, despite their unpleasant encounter last night.
Lillian looked back at Cassandra, grabbing hold of her wrist. "Don't talk to me", said Lillian. "And stop calling me Lily. Refer to me by the Christian name my parents gave me or I shall be forced to cut out your tongue."
Cassandra pulled her arm out of Lillian's grip, looking hurt at being rejected once again. She thought they were past all that, but it was apparent to her that it was the exact opposite.
Lillian turned and stormed out of the tavern, not caring where she was going until she bumped into a large shadow. He was tall enough for her to see him coming towards her out of the corner of her eye, but she too angry to care and wasn't paying attention. It wasn't until Lillian lifted her head to tell the person off that she realized she had ran into Reverend Steenwyck. Gasping in surprise, Lillian jumped back in fright and stared up at him.
"Miss Waise", said Reverend Steenwyck. "Is everything all right? You seem upset."
"What?" Lillian questioned, then she cleared her throat and said to him, "No, I'm not upset. I just wasn't looking where I was going. Please forgive me."
"By all means", said Reverend Steenwyck, holding his hand out for her to shake it.
The minute she took hold of his hand, Lillian flinched, seeing predictions of not one person, but five. It started with Reverend Steenwyck, who was shown engaged in an act of lust in the Western Woods with a mysterious blonde woman who greatly resembled Miranda Archer. It was possible the woman was her oldest daughter, Mary. The scene changed to the inside of the Sleepy Hollow Church, where the whole town had assembled, protecting themselves against an unseen attacker. Lillian flinched again, hearing gunshots and screaming from the frightened civilians, while Reverend Steenwyck picked up a large wooden cross and used it as a weapon to strike Dr. Lancaster on the head, killing him instantly. The reason for why he did this, Lillian did not know, but for this act of murder, the ungodly reverend was shot and killed by Baltus Van Tassel, who then climbed up some stairs and stood in front of a large window, where a wooden fence post impaled him through his chest. Lillian flinched once more, seeing the other three deaths unfold at a rapid pace. Magistrate Philipse was shown standing out in a field, holding a tailsman in front of him for protection, but this proved to be useless, as an unknown rider came at him with a sword and chopped his head off. The scenario changed to a cornfield, where Peter Van Garrett meet the same fate, having his head chopped off, though this was done by an invisible force. The last and final prediction showed Notary Hardenbook, who put a rope around his neck before he stepped off a chair, taking his own life by hanging himself.
Lillian pulled her hand away immediately, staring wide-eyed at the man who dared to call himself a priest. It was all a facade, an illusion to fool people into believing he was a man of God.
"Miss Waise?" Reverend Steenwyck asked her.
"Don't come near me", Lillian told him, walking around the so-called preacher. She wrapped her arms around herself, shaking violently as a result of seeing one of her most shocking visions.
"Are you cold?" A child's voice questioned.
"Huh?" Lillian asked, turning around and seeing it was little Abraham who spoke to her.
"If you're cold, you should be wearing a cape", said Abraham.
"Mind your business, Abraham", said Lillian.
"Guess what? My mother received a letter from my father", Abraham answered. "She cried when she read it aloud to me. She misses him so much. I miss him, too, but I don't cry about it."
Lillian knelt down to the boy's level and put her hands on his shoulders, looking over every detail of his face as though she were trying to remember him as he was, capturing his innocence nature.
"You're a strong-minded lad, Abraham", said Lillian. "I'll bet you'll grow up to be as strong and brave as your father someday. Maybe you'll find a girl and get married one day."
"You think so?" The boy asked.
"Oh, yes", Lillian assured him. "I believe you'll do great things when you're older and become a hero. Just you wait and see."
Abraham smiled at Lillian, who slowly lost her own as her body froze in place, her eyes turning blank. She found herself caught in a trance as a vision came to her, showing two grown men standing at the end of the covered bridge. One of them looked like a grownup version of Abraham, who would later be called Brom in the future. A dark-haired man with a handsome face stood next to Abraham on his right, but his name was unknown to Lillian. The two men were standing at the end of the covered bridge, looking upwards as they heard footsteps approaching from above. Suddenly, a headless ghost appeared behind them and stabbed the dark-haired man in the chest, casting him aside while Abraham fought off the ghoul, who caught him off guard and sliced his sword through his waist, killing him.
Gasping, Lillian stood up and backed away from the currently-present, much younger Abraham, who looked confused by her horrified face, not knowing that she had just seen his future demise. Lillian's eyes rolled in the back of her head, but not before she fell to the ground, fainting.