Consciousness returned slowly and Lilian's eyes fluttered open.
But as she expected, she didn't feel any pain.
Instead, there was weight on top of her. Warm skin pressed against hers. The scent of expensive perfume and something else- something she couldn't name.
Her eyes fluttered wider as she realized it was a woman on top of her.
Before she could move or react, the woman stirred awake.
"Mmm." The sound from the woman was sleepy, satisfied. Then without warning, her lips found Lilian's.
The kiss was soft and gentle. Full of tenderness that made Lilian's mind go blank with confusion.
The woman pulled back slightly, her eyes still half-closed. A lazy smile curved her lips as she murmured;
"God, last night was incredible... I've never experienced anything like that. You were perfect."
Lilian's brain stuttered.
That voice, she knew that voice.
Her eyes focused properly now. The woman's face came into clear view.
Sharp jawline. High cheekbones. Dark hair falling in messy waves. Gray eyes that looked at her with something that bordered on worship.
"*No.*.. This can't be..." Lilian's brain refused to accept it what her eyes were seeing.
The woman was indeed Cassandra Drayke.
Without thinking, Lilian shoved her hard and Cassandra toppled sideways with a surprised sound. The sheets tangled around her as she fell.
Lilian scrambled out of the bed. Her legs didn't work right. She hit the floor, her knees slamming into cold tile. She crawled backward until her back hit the wall.
Her chest heaved. Her heart pounded so hard she thought it might break through her ribs.
"*What is this? What's happening? How did I... why is she..."* Her frantic thoughts were incoherent.
"Hey, hey. Are you okay? What's wrong?" Cassandra sat up, pushing hair out of her face. Her expression shifted from sleepy contentment to concern.
"What's wrong?" Lilian repeated in incredulity, as she mumbled under her breath, staring at the woman.
This was the woman who had destroyed her. The wicked heiress who had given the order for her death.
And she was naked. They were both naked in a bed together. What was happening?
"Talk to me. Did I do something?" Cassandra stood up, wanting to move closer.
"Don't! Don't come near me!" The word ripped from Lilian's throat, coming out wrong, lower pitched than it should be.
Cassandra froze, confusion crossed her face, followed by something that looked like hurt.
"What's going on? I thought- last night you seemed..."
"Stay away from me!" Lilian cut her short then she pushed herself up. Her legs felt strange and different. The balance was all wrong, like she was walking on stilts.
Cassandra moved anyway, reaching out to grab a white robe from a nearby chair and wrapped it around herself. Then she took a step forward.
"Look, if I did something you didn't like, just tell me. We can talk about this. Whatever it is, we can..."
Something inside Lilian snapped and her fist moved before she could think. It connected with Cassandra's face.
The impact shocked them both.
Cassandra stumbled backward, her hand flew to her cheek, her eyes going wide with disbelief.
Lilian stared at her own hand- at her knuckles that should be broken but weren't, at the fist that had just struck the almighty Cassandra Drayke and lived to tell about it.
When had she become strong enough to make this woman stumble?
When had she become brave enough to even try?
"You... you hit me." Cassandra muttered as she touched her face but she didn't sound angry. She only sounded stunned.
Lilian didn't wait to see what would happen next. Her legs broke into a run.
She sprinted for the door, her bare feet slapping against cold tile. Her hands fumbled with the handle before it finally turned at the third attempt.
"Wait! Your clothes..." Cassandra yelled behind her but Lilian didn't hear the rest as she bolted out of the room.
She ran past the long, expensive looking hallway with marble floors, crystal light fixtures and artwork that Lilian had never seen before in her life.
And she still wasn't seeing them now as all she could think about was if she had *really just hit Cassandra Drayke.*
When she found the stairs, she took them two at a time. Her legs moved with strength she didn't recognize. Power she'd never had before.
Everything felt wrong yet she couldn't bring herself to stop to figure that out.
She burst through a door at the bottom and stumbled into a hotel lobby then through the glass doors and finally out onto the street.
The cold morning air hit her skin and that was when she realized she was barely dressed. Just her underwear; pink lace that she didn't remember putting on.
Even though she shivered slightly, she still kept running until her lungs burned. Until her legs finally slowed despite their strange new strength. Until she had to stop and bend over, gasping for air.
When she straightened up, she saw the city.
Tall buildings made of glass and steel stretching up into a pale morning sky. But that wasn't what made her freeze.
There were movements in the air. Actual flying cars moving between the buildings like something from a movie.
Holographic advertisements floated in mid-air. A woman's face, twenty feet tall, smiled and pointed at text written in glowing letters.
Lilian turned in a slow circle, nothing seeming familiar. Not the buildings, not the technology.
"Is this..."Is this how heaven looks like?" Her brows furrowed as she wondered. She was certain she had died.
Then the memory of that fateful night she had lost her life crashed over her like a wave.
FLASHBACK
*Lilian sprawled on the cold floor, blood in her mouth.*
*"Please. Please, I didn't steal anything. I swear I didn't."* She had whispered.
*The whip came down across her back* *and* *she* *could only w*ince in pain.
"We don't care what you're saying." One of the bodyguards standing over her, finally spoke in a flat voice.
"You know we have no business with what you're saying. Our mistress gave us orders. Flog you until you're out of life!" He added and struck her again.
"But I didn't...*I didn't take her necklace. I would never..."* Lilian stuttered as she tried to curl into a ball, to protect herself but th*e whip found her anyway.*
*"Mistress Cassandra says you did. That's all that matters."* The other guy said.
*Cassandra Drayke...*
*Her mistress, the eighteen-year-old heiress she had served for two years, the girl who smiled sweetly in front of guests and turned into ice the moment they left.*
*Lilian had never stolen anything in her life. But Cassandra had decided she was guilty.*
*"Please...* please..." Lilian whispered, she could begin to feel her life crawling out of her. Blood bubbled on her lips as her vision began to go dark at the edges.
*The whip came down again.*
*Again* nd again until everything went black and she could no longer feel anything. Not even pain.
END OF FLASHBACK
Lilian blinked back tears as she shook out of the memory.
"I died... Cassandra caused my death." Her chest felt tight and her hands began to shake as she fully processed her situation.
She knew she had died but why did she feel so alive, now... breathing well?
Why had she woken up in bed with the woman who had killed her?
As her thoughts spiraled, her eyes caught movement of her reflection in a car window parked nearby and she turned slowly to the black car.
What she saw made her take a step closer in panic, her eyes widening.
The woman in the reflection was not Lilian Mikaelson, the plain maid who had died as she had worked- pathetically.
This strange person was taller. Her frame was different- curved where Lilian had been thin, strong where she had been weak. Her hair was long and dark, falling past her shoulders. Her face was different too. Heart-shaped, high cheekbones and full lips.
She was beautiful.
Lilian lifted her hand and the reflection lifted hers. She touched her face. The stranger did the same, clearing her doubt, that what she was seeing was real.
Her lips parted in shock
"No, this is not me." The word came out strangled.
"What the hell is going on?"