The garden was overgrown now.

The thick green vines wrestled with the boy’s persistent arms. His screams of struggle were not heard. Poisonous plants and prickly greenery surrounded the panicked boy, enraged by his presence.

It was an entity. Alive, sentient, and unmerciful.

Charles didn’t mean to. He was only fleeing from his father. He would do anything to escape from that man.

James shouted apologies at the terrifying monster that was creeping onto him. It pulled his limbs so hard the boy might’ve been ripped apart by the sheer brute force.

Charles was no thief. He knew the girl down Baker Street liked lilies.

And the garden was only just over the gate. 

Now as his thoughts raced across his mind he wondered, what was it he’d hoped to gain?

It was an indescribable kind of pull, the unparalleled attraction he felt when she talked to him at Sunday church. When she smiled kindly and laughed at his miserable jokes. It was a desire he’d never had in his life.

Affection. 

And now the furious guardian of the garden was tearing him apart at the expense of his desire. The vines grew sharper as thorns poked him and his cries grew louder.

His battle with the plant-like monster began to turn one-sided. His limbs felt numb and weak in his desperate resistance and the creature never gave up. Its’ stem dug into his skin till it suddenly poured inside.

He only cried out in agony more.

His veins were throbbing and his organs felt like they were going to burst. He could see the vines moving in and out of his skin morbidly clear, bile growing in his throat.

Fleshy meat and dark blood spilled over everything, making his nose burn from the gore.

Charles clawed against the bristling leaves trying to pull them all out. It made no difference. The vines reached further and further up until they were in his throat.

He retched and choked trying to cough, but lacking the space in his throat to do so he only ended up making it worse. His face was a pasty shade of white and and an expression of pained craze displayed on his face.

He whimpered then, realizing his pathetic life was really coming to an end. There was nothing to look back on. His father’s beatings. Mother’s betrayal. His isolation.

And in that moment, he felt himself truly give up.

The vines pushed into his head, spilling out of his nose, mouth, and right through the pupil of his eye. 

But right before it blinded him, he passed a flash of vibrancy. Just a second of scarlet-pink. 

Lily pink.

And despite the darkness, his lack of vision; he saw light. 

A burning passionate light that warmed his heart encased with dark vines. 

These were not his last moments. He still had someone, someone worth living for.

Elizabeth.

The dainty girl in the rich merchant’s neighborhood. The one that pulled him up onto his feet. 

He would live. He should. For his purpose now held a light with a determination like fire. 

And so in the pit of nothingness his heart set aglow, fiery heat blazing against the vines that were squeezing his heart. 

The plant flinched back, getting burnt by Charles’ heart. Its leaves withdrew, uncurling themselves from his arms and legs, halting their attacks on his insides, gently letting him go.

He swayed from the sudden release and collapsed onto the ground. Charles grunted in confusion, but passed out finally, out of exhaustion.

The creature hovered over him once again. It formed a dome over his body, observing him- curious after being stung by him.

It was a monster born of sorcery— created to protect the rewards of the garden from those whose greed surpassed their limit. It recognized Charles as another enemy, treating him like any other thief with bad intentions.

But Charles’ soul had burnt it, warding off its defense. For Charles’ greed was a different kind, one born from the love for another.

 And so the plant plucked the lily from its undergrowth, placing it in his hands tenderly.

Retreating back into the wilderness, the creature spared Charles not another look, hoping that the lily would be a gift well used.