Lily hated the mayor's men. They came into the brothel, drunk as skunks and knew, on the mayor's orders, they could have whatever girl they chose. So many of the girls could be heard crying in their rooms, begging as the men took what they wanted, did what they wanted. This was not the life Lily wanted, she hated to see the girls come out, often with bruises and swollen faces. She had made one mistake when she was desperate, and yet she was condemned to live like this? She sometimes regretted the Mayor's decision to stave off the death penalty for her. Or maybe he knew this would be worse than being sent to the gallows for her. He was a bastard either way.

Usually the girls weren't allowed to leave the brothel during opening hours, but Samantha had all but sent Lily away today. One of the men had come to the brothel, picked out his girl and dragged her, kicking and screaming, to her room... and Lily had snapped. She had gone to follow him upstairs, drag him off her, kick him, punch him... just make him realise they were women, they weren't to be treated like that. Samantha had grabbed her though, stopped her. Samantha was like a mother to Lily, she was like a mother to all the girls, she was just as powerless as they were to save themselves from the men, she could save them from themselves though. She had reminded Lily that they would beat her, torture her and make her life hell before even considering killing her. So she had ushered her from the doors, pushed her out and told her to calm down, she would send one of the girls when it was over.

So Lily had stormed off towards the lake, somewhere calm, her feet kicking up the dust from the road, just hoping it would rise up, envelope her until she could no longer hear the cries that had started to eminate from the brothel. It made her feel sick, violently and physically sick but, the further she walked, the quieter they got. By the time Lily got to the lake, she could still here crying, but it took a moment until she realised it was her. The tears streaming down her face. Settling down by the lake, she pulled her knees up to her chest, dressed in her undergarments, as all the girls tended to be clothed in when at work. How easy it would be, to just get in and swim out until she drowned. This wasn't life... this wasn't even surviving... this was hell.

Lily had been in her own little world, her thoughts conquered by the thoughts of that man, that beast of a man in personality and stature, hurting that girl, her friend. Knowing she would have to go back and face them, watch Samantha soothe her, stroke her hair, knowing it would all happen again... Lily couldn't. Every time she feared it would be her, sometimes it was... so she knew all too well what it felt like, how hard they could hit, what their alcohol laced breath felt like. She had been so lost, drowning in those thoughts, that she hadn't noticed the young man lying peacefully on the bank of the water, just minding his own business.

She didn't even know he was approaching her, trying so hard to control her emotions, stop the floods of tears falling but failing dismally. His voice, so calm and soft, breaking through the sound of her harsh sobs, made her jump, jolting her shuddering shoulders as her head whipped round to see who was speaking, half expecting it to be yet another of the mayor's men, leading her into a false sense of security. So she was happily relieved to see the chiselled features that belonged to the outlaw. "Oh... I..." She wiped her hands across her eyes before pushing her wild curls away from her face only to see the flower he was holding out for her. A solomn smile covered her lips as she reached up to take the flower from him, looking down at the petals, "Thank you... it's beautiful." Ironically, it was being a flower that was the cause of her problems, being a Lakeside Rose apparently branded her free meat. "And... please, don't mind me... I'm just... being a girl" She sighed out, raspy and hoarse from the sobbing, it was all part of the lessons Samantha had taught her, always be happy, no one wants to see a miserable hooker, she was meant to be every man's dream.

Watching him fold his arms, Lily didn’t feel intimidated by him, even if he did tower over her, stretching for what seemed like miles. She’d never seen a man so tall as he was! There was a softness to his face though, one that made her feel safe, like he wouldn’t hurt her. She knew all to well that appearances could be deceiving, even some of the mayor’s men could be mistaken for upstanding gentlemen, but still, they did the mayor’s work and that was enough to condemn them in her eyes. As he sat down in front of her, Lily tucked her feet closer to her body, giving him space his long limbs would need, but also guarding herself slightly, just as he had done with his arms. He shook his head at her, obviously not buying her story, that was a damn shame because Lily prided herself on being believable, of course she wasn’t usually wailing like a banshee.

The first thing that struck Lily from his words was that he wasn’t from around here. No one really showed much compassion to the Roses from the Lakeside brothel, they were the soiled doves of the town. Men came to them when they needed a night of unattached passion, but they rarely made eye contact at any other time, the women tended to see them as could-be mistresses, disgraces to the town’s name. Lily had lost count of the times they had been verbally abused by certain women of the town, women who didn’t care that some of the girls had no other choice, that sometimes they had been forced into the brothel, like she had. Samantha had always told them not to pay attention to the women, that they were jealous of them, saw them as competition, but Lily could never understand why that would be true, who would be jealous of a whore?

Looking into his eyes, Lily noticed how they reminded her of the puppies that belonged to the owner of the saloon, so big and dark but soft and innocent. Listening to his words, Lily managed a small, sombre smile, nodding her head gently. If only her lot in life was just to be a girl, to just live life by society’s standards, marry, have the children and care for the home, she could do that. Unfortunately, her real lot in life was far more complicated. Still, he pushed for more information and, though Lily didn’t want to ruin the moment by opening up about what she really was, why she could feel her heart breaking apart in her chest, she felt compelled, purely from the fact someone had taken the time to check on her, shown her some sort of kindness that wasn’t the prequel to a romp between the sheets. Taking a deep breath, Lily looked away and fiddled with the flower blindly, just feeling the velvety soft petals against her fingers. She took a moment, staring over the tranquil lake, wishing the whole town could be that way before she let her eyes meet his again, “You ever felt like… like you can’t do something anymore? Like you’re just sick of it and want to get away… but you can’t?” She let the hand holding the flower droop slightly, her other hand moving to ruffle her hair again, her finger tangling in, twisting a few strands, “I can’t… I need to get out of this place. They talk of Hell in the Bible…” She laughed slightly, but it wasn’t a happy sound, it was cold and hard, filled with resentment and anger, “The preacher says that’s where I’m headed… but you know what? I think I’m already there.” That was what Lakeside was for her, Hell on Earth. Maybe she had been hung after all, and this was her punishment.