Chapter Text
well, i guess i should start writing in this thing, huh?
my name's lillian elise howard. it’s such an old lady name, but i was named after my granny, so it makes sense, i guess. i just go by lily. it’s not as serious, y’know?
i’ve decided to journal to keep myself a bit occupied (and sane).
i just moved to this new place—a little village called ebott. it’s cute. lots of mountains, nice weather, lots of rain.
basically, it’s everything i’ve ever wanted...
but that doesn’t mean i didn’t have to sacrifice stuff to come here. i had to leave all my family behind. they refused to come with me, even though it’s so horrible being back home. it’s all because my stupid dad died. got inheritance, a random pile of silver (my dad was a weird dude), and a bunch of gold trinkets, but i would rather have my dad alive than some stupid stuff. i carry his trinkets with me everywhere. for good luck, maybe. i don’t know, really.
...i miss him. sometimes i forget he’s dead. my mom still pays for his phone number, so i leave him a lot of voicemails. i really wish he would call back for once.
......
well, anyways, enough about that useless business. i bought a house and some acreage out in the boonies up here near ebott, and i only have to work when i want extra money. so, i kind of have it made.
but i need to distract myself. i can’t dwell on everything that’s happened recently because i don’t know how i’m going to react. will i break down? will i shave all my hair off? will i become a chronic alcoholic? will i kill myself...?
who knows? maybe the first three for funzies. the last one...eh, too much work.
really though, i just need to find some places to hike. if i knew anyone here, i would ask, but i haven’t met anyone yet except the lady that sold me my house. my property’s pretty big, but i would rather go to a more established place to hike. just in case i die or something. i always keep my location on my phone, but still. i get anxious about dying and nobody realizes. especially because of my cats.
oh right, my cats. they’re my reason for living, basically. i love them to bits and pieces. my voidwalker Tycho, my twins Jim and Blaine, and my old lady Raya. i’ve had Raya since i was 15, and i got the others by chance throughout the last few years, but jeez am i glad i have them. i had a massive fence installed around the perimeter of my house just so they can go outside, i only get them the best food, and, well, i clearly love them. they sleep in my bed with me. they...well, they keep me sane. especially with everything that’s happened. i don’t know what i would do without them.
but i still need to go out and meet people sometimes. i actually do have a friend here, but she lives in the city a few hours away. we’ve been texting, but i have to go see her at some point. for now, i’m headed out to the one store in the village. maybe they’ll know something i can do.
...
as i’m driving down the county road toward town, i pass a cop’s SUV parked on the side of the road and their lights come on. great. i’m not sure what i did wrong, but of course i get pulled over by the first cop i ever see here.
i pull off into the ditch and wait for him to finish his slow walk up to my window. cops make me nervous.
“Hey there. Haven’t seen you around here before. Where you headed?” he’s talking casually, but i’m still on-edge.
“hi! i actually just moved here. i bought the property a few miles back. i'm going to the store...” i shift slightly, uncomfortable.
“Oh, you bought up old Davidson’s land? Glad a real person got it instead of some big company. We were all hoping it’d be, anyways. What’s your name, little lady?” the officer’s demeanor changed from ‘friendly’ confrontational to a semblance of real friendliness, thank god...
“i’m lily! and yeah, it’s such a beautiful place. it would’ve been a real shame if it’d been bought up by some megacorp.” i try to turn my southern girly-ness up a little to seem like i’m extremely non-threatening, which seems to work, because the officer actually smiles this time.
“Well, Officer Bill Williams at your service, Miss Lily. Glad to have a new face in town. I only stopped you to see who was driving our roads with the out-of-state license plates. Better get those changed over, or you might get stopped until you meet everyone on the force.” he says this in a light tone, but his implications are clear to me: outsiders are treated differently.
“oh yes, definitely! thank you, officer Williams. i’ll go this week and get it all put in place. thank you for your advice!” i really, really am ready to go. he seems nice enough, but the vibes are off.
“Alright, well, drive safe. There’re a few blind spots on these roads because of the trees, so watch out. See you around, Miss Howard.” he saunters back to his SUV and pulls off, presumably back to his hiding spot.
i breathe a sigh of relief, only to freeze and feel my blood run cold.
i didn’t tell him my last name.
...maybe he pulled my plate information.
...yeah, that has to be it. i convince myself the entire rest of the drive that was how he knew, but i never fully believe it.
i park on the street and head into the store. it’s definitely older...but the staff seems nice, and they have a decent selection of goods, so i can’t complain. i fill up the little shopping cart with everything i need (and some stuff i definitely don’t need) and head up front to check out.
the clerk is a stone-faced teenager with brown hair covering their eyes. probably out for summer break. maybe they’d know about places to go hike...? i ask them, and they mumble an exhaustive list...of the two places around here that people go. i guess if you want fun, you have to make it yourself. but i’m used to that, so it’ll be fine.
they finish checking out my items, i thank them for their help, and i head out to load up my stuff into my little truck.
...
as i head home, i pass by officer Williams again. i guess he either gets a lot of people speeding out here, or he likes to take naps. he looks like he’s asleep as i pass, so i guess that’s my answer.
i get home and unload everything, dodging around my kitties. we’ve been moved in here for a couple weeks now, so they’re all out of hiding. all i have left to unpack is my memento box, but...i don’t know if i really have the fortitude to. besides, my family is coming up here on the amtrak and they’ll be here soon, so it can wait.
i’d just sat down to relax a little when my phone starts blasting. i pick it up and see that it’s my mom calling.
“hello?” i brace for impact...
“Where the hell is your house! We can’t see your location!” my mom’s voice is so loud, it sounds like i have her on speakerphone.
“i already sent the address, is it not pulling up?” i suppress a sigh and start unconsciously rubbing my head from stress.
“No, Lily, it’s not. Can you just come and lead us there, please?” my mom likes to say please, but she isn’t requesting it. she’s demanding it.
“uh, yeah, i’ll uhh... i’ll be there as quick as possible. it’ll be bout an hour before i get there, though, so maybe y’all can get some food or somethin while y’all wait?” i can already feel a headache forming.
“Yeah, guess we can. What’s round here Lils?”
“momma, i don’t know. i never been there. see if you can look it up while i’m leavin, okay?” i notice i slip into my drawl much heavier when i’m talking to someone that has it too.
“OK, fine. See ya. Love ya.”
“okay, bye.”
i hang up, sigh heavily, and haul up to get everyone over here. this is gonna be a long couple of days.