One Month One World One Year Challenge (Selena Lilly)
So, I started this off in the hopes that I could keep up with it, and immediately couldn't. I've decided to instead do it in this thread, but please check out the main thread with all its wonderful stories here if you're interested!
I'll be picking up from where I left off in the thread, which is here if you want to catch up.
Selena Lilly
Our protagonist! She's struggling to make her way through life after being kicked out of her house.
No chapter today! I'll be showing off Selena's new home, and a little upgrade, but her Moonwood Mill makeover is above. I went with a less classic look this time around, too.
As for her home, it's pretty similar to before, but this is the new place! It's spacier, which I love, and just seems overall a nicer place.
Selena looked around her house with satisfaction. She hadn’t ended up with much to unpack, in the end, and she’d been able to sell on some of the stuff she didn’t need anymore for a good price, given it was now second-hand. The new house wasn’t that much bigger than her old place, but it definitely felt bigger, and she already felt like painting some of the beautiful scenes she’d seen outside. Moonwood Mill was dusted in snow this winter, with a forecast that only spoke of thicker snow to come in time for the holiday.
She wasn’t sure how she felt about spending her first Winterfest alone, but she knew it would have been better than the alternative. She hadn’t really enjoyed Winterfest much ever since she’d started to notice things about her family she’d rather not have, but she also didn’t even know how she was supposed to go about getting everything together.
Well, plenty of time to worry about that later. Right now, she was a woman on a mission.
She had been lucky enough to speak with the librarian in Moonwood Mill before she moved, and been told to head down when she had time to have a look at things, as the library often sold paintings and other such stuff as a way to support the local community and the small businesses within it. Mr Wilder had been very enthusiastic when Selena had showed off her art via social media, and Mrs Fox had assured her that Mr Wilder was a good friend to her, too.
It had taken her some time to get settled in, though, and she'd finally contacted Mr Wilder yesterday, and been told to head in today to see how things went. He'd been a little hesitant, and she'd found herself growing nervous soon after.
As she walked in, however, she could see no sign of a librarian, and began to get worried. Maybe she’d gotten the wrong day? Or the wrong time? That would be embarrassing.
As she was about to head back out, a tall boy with curling dark hair looked up at her, and walked over, looking a little bored.
“Are you the artist? Wolfgang’s not here, but he said to show you around.” He looked her up and down. “Guess you’re new in town, huh?”
“Oh.” Selena blinked at him, a little flustered. “Well, hello. I mean, yes, I am. My name’s Selena.”
“Cyrus. I volunteer here. Anyway, Wolfgang’s all for local artists and small businesses, so he’s pretty thrilled you’re here.” He gave her a bland smile. “Want the tour?”
“You seem busy,” she said, immediately. “I can come back another time, so it’s really no trouble. I’ll bring the paintings with me tomorrow on my way back from school or something.”
“Huh? No, really, I’m supposed to give you the tour of everything.” He seemed a little flustered now, instead of her. “Wolf told me-- I mean…”
She couldn’t help but laugh then, trying to stop herself, before holding her hands up.
“Look, you seem really nice, but I don’t want you to have to give me a tour. I’d rather explore on my own another time, not bothering anyone. Just tell Mr Wilder I had somewhere to be, I’m sure he’ll understand.” She couldn’t help but smile. “Thanks, though.”
“That’d be cool,” Selena said, still unable to stop smiling. He was kind of funny, honestly, but she wouldn’t mind seeing a friendly face there.
“Yeah, I guess it kind of would.” He gave her a smile back, a genuine one this time rather than what had clearly been his customer service smile. "I'd be happy to show you around the library, seriously."
"I mean, if you insist," she said, a little mischievously. He laughed, and she almost did as well.
"Come on, give me a break." He grinned at her. "Can't blame me for putting my foot in my mouth, can you? I promise, I'll give you the best tour you've ever had of this library."
"Oh, yes. And the only one." She found herself smiling back. "Lead the way, then."
Meeting Cyrus had put a smile on her face, and seeing him again in school had been good too. They’d waved to each other, or said hi during the day when they bumped into her. Moonwood was a very small school, compared to Buckingham, and Selena was surprised to find she somewhat preferred it that way.
She was also surprised to find that people wanted to talk to her, rather than ignoring her. One of the girls in her class even stopped her after school.
“Hey, Selena, right? Me and Candice were going to go to the bar after school, if you want to come with?”
Behind her, a confident-looking girl had waved to them both. Selena had blinked.
“The...bar?”
“Well, they serve sodas there. Moonwood’s pretty small, so it’s a good place to hang out, you know? I’m Nikita, by the way. Most people just call me Kita.”
Selena had hesitated, but nodded. After all, she’d be here for a little while, and it wouldn’t hurt to make friends.
They’d gone to the bar, sitting down together, and the girls had introduced themselves properly.
“We’re foster sisters,” Candice had said, giving Selena a lazy smile. “We were the new kids before you, so Kita wanted to show you the ropes a bit. Moonwood’s pretty friendly compared to other places, though.”
“It doesn’t hurt to help people out!” Kita had admonished her sister, quickly. “Anyway, you’re from Mt. Komorebi, right?”
“Uh, technically I’m from San Myshuno,” Selena said, quietly. “I used to live in Mt Komorebi before, though.”
“And you’re really living on your own, huh.” Candice eyed her for a moment, before clearing her throat. “We live with our foster dad, his friend, and our foster brother. It’s a bit of a crowded house, you know? I bet you never have to fight for the bathroom in the morning.”
“Jacob takes the longest showers,” Kita agreed, before leaning forward. “So, how do you know Cyrus?”
“Oh, we just met at the library,” Selena said, quickly. “I, uh, sell my paintings there. Or I will be doing.”
“Aw, I thought there’d be more to it. I’m so starved for gossip these days.” Kita slumped. “I just want one big scandal or something! At my old school, we had the weirdest stuff going on, but Moonwood is just...soul-crushingly normal.”
“A tragedy, of course,” Candice said, straight faced.
“It is, though! I mean, I remember at Brightdale, one of the cheerleaders got married to the captain of the chess club right after graduation, but she and this other guy had been going steady, so everyone was really surprised. I got told about it later, of course, but it was really strange. And there was rumours about a kid getting hit by a meteor out on the field during a practice or something...Oh, and everyone swore that there was the ghost of a girl in the science rooms if you ended up in detention! But Moonwood is so normal.” Kita rolled her eyes. “I wish something would just happen!”
“My grandmother always said to be careful what you wish for,” Selena said, with a smile.
"Your grandmother sounds wise," Kita said, sighing. "Oh, well. I guess normal old Moonwood isn't such a bad place."
"Besides, there's always the mystery of the tunnels if you don't mind rats." Candice said. "I've been down there--"
"Ew, no! It's gross down there, Cand!" Kita cut her off. "The tunnels are gross. You got me down there once. Never again."
"The...tunnels?" Selena asked.
"Yeah, the old sewer tunnels. They've got all these rooms and passageways, and everyone always talks about how this woman disappeared down there. Apparently you can hear her screams if you go there at night."
"Maybe we could go there during the day instead, but you can find all sorts of things down there. It's pretty interesting. Last time I found this old notebook, but I haven't had a chance to look at it yet, and Kita found a locket."
"Sh! Those are secrets, Candice!" Kita turned to Selena. "Promise you'll keep it a secret, too? It had this picture of this woman inside, and it's just beautiful."
It sounded like an interesting place, rats and all. Selena fell quiet as the two girls began bickering back and forth about the things they'd found, a little quieter than they'd started doing. They were pretty interesting too, come to think of it.
Selena hadn't intended to go exploring so soon, not when she had so much to do with moving in, but on another snowy day she found herself navigating the treacherously icy steps down to the tunnels. Kita and Candice had become closer friends of hers in school, and it had been Kita who again mentioned them in passing, shuddering about the rats. Of course, it hadn't been the rats that caught her interest, but still, here she was.
Perhaps she shouldn't have been so surprised that the gates seemed to be locked, but she peered through them, trying to discern something, anything, from the darkness beyond. The dripping of water and a slight scurrying noise was the only thing she could hear, and she felt a surprising amount of disappointment. She'd not exactly been looking forward to ruining her boots, but at the same time, it would have been thrilling to have an adventure to share with her new friends. Perhaps she might have even found something interesting to show Cyrus. She leaned forward, wondering if she could stick her arm through the bars and jiggle the lock somewhat.
Someone called out from behind, and she stepped back, guiltily, before looking up. A young man with long hair was raising an eyebrow at her.
"Kid, what are you doing? You'll get bit doing that."
"Oh, Kita warned me about the rats," she said, swiftly. "I was going to be careful."
"Yeah, right." He didn't seem too phased, but motioned for her to step away. "It's private property down there. I know you local kids like to play about in there, but it's not safe. If you get hurt, it's not going to be you who gets in trouble. What's your name?"
She hurried up the steps, feeling her face burning with guilt and shame. She'd gotten caught, and immediately to boot. Candice and Kita were going to make fun of her, she was sure of it.
"Um, I'm Selena."
"Oh, so you're Selena?" His face lit up with good humour. "Well, you better take care of yourself, or who else is Cyrus going to talk to?"
She hesitated, but the guy held up his hands.
"Hey, no judgement, I promise. I'm Lou, I'm kinda like...Cyrus' cousin, I guess? Well, not by blood, but you know how it goes." He gave her a grin. "The kid mentioned you a bit."
"Really?" Selena asked, trying to sound casual. "What did he say?"
"You'd have to ask him. I'm not that much of a gossip." Lou laughed, and then his smile faded a bit. "Stay away from those tunnels, though. They're bad news."
With that, he lifted his hand and began walking away towards the bar that she'd gone to, whistling as he did so. Selena didn't know whether she wanted to chase after him with more questions, or whether to unpack what he'd just said, but she settled for turning around and walking towards her new home, mulling over what he'd said about Cyrus, and wondering what he could have said about her.
Unfortunately, school didn't give you time off to solve mysteries about local tunnels, and so Selena found herself swamped with a report on local history. As her classmates became excited for their own projects, the report being an open ended one, Selena found herself lost at sea with what she could possibly write about. She didn't know anything about the local history, and she certainly hadn't grown up in Moonwood Mill.
Cyrus must have seen her face, because he came over to her desk as she was packing up to leave.
"Hey, want some help? The history here is kind of..." He shrugged. "Only if you want it, of course."
"I'd be honoured." She grinned at him. "After all, you give such wonderful library tours."
She was satisfied to see his cheeks go slightly pink, but then smiled at him.
"Why don't you come to my house? I really do need the help, and it's the weekend, right?"
And so, Cyrus had come home with her. It was only once they were outside that Selena started to feel somewhat self-conscious.
"It might be a bit barren. I didn't exactly bring too much with me." She tried to sound casual about it, but Cyrus smiled at her.
"Hey, no worries, right? I mean, you live alone and all..." He paused. "What's that like?"
"It...works, I guess." Selena tried not to think back on her first days in Mt Komorebi. Cyrus didn't have to know about any of that, after all. "It's warm, and I can cook, so I don't need to worry too much. Plus, no one's nagging me to do chores. Still have to do them, though."
She led him inside, and then turned around.
"So, what's the deal with Moonwood Mill, then? I know it's a pretty old town, but I'm kind of behind on local history."
"Well, it was founded ages back, obviously, and it's got ties to Forgotten Hollow. Though the Hollow wasn't actually called that back then, it was called Hollowheart, and the Bloodvein family were in charge of it back then. Of course, Moonwood has its own old families, like the Lunviks and the Zhus, and so on. Any small town does. Forgotten Hollow and Moonwood have had a rivalry for centuries, though."
"Oh, uh, the heads of two different houses really fell out. I mean, like, really. But there's a lot of local history, so if you give me some pointers as to what sort of thing you're interested in, I can probably help you out. I mean, my cousin Lou knows more than I do about the whole Moonwood-Forgotten Hollow thing, but then I can help you research stuff at the library if you want. I already know what I'm doing my report on, anyway."
The mention of Lou reminded Selena of the other day, and she raised an eyebrow at Cyrus.
"Actually, I met Lou, the other day." She paused. "He mentioned you'd been talking about me?"
"Oh, God," Cyrus said, immediately. "Um, I mean, it was nothing bad, I swear."
"Hm." Selena looked at him, eyes twinkling. "Should I be worried that you're not telling me what you were saying?"
"Selena!" Cyrus was trying not to laugh, but also reddening. "I swear, he's got such a big mouth. I didn't-- I mean..."
"So, you were talking about me, then?" Selena asked, innocently. "He said I should ask you about it, anyway. So, what did you tell him?"
"Just...that I met a cool girl, that's all. I mean, I kind of mentioned that we go to the same school now, and that you're really good at painting..." He trailed off. "I mean, you are a really cool girl. I mean it."
Selena could feel her own cheeks turning red. She didn't know what she'd expected, but it certainly hadn't exactly been this. Cyrus held his hands up.
"Hey, you were the one who asked. I'll get him for telling you, though. He can't keep any secrets."
Selena managed to find her voice, raising a finger. "Isn't that your fault for telling them to him?"
"Lesson learned, I guess." Cyrus looked at her, as if trying to judge something. "So, do you think I'm cool?"
Selena paused, just for a minute. Open conversations had never been part of her upbringing, and honesty had always been something that could be used against you. There were undertones to this that she thought she might recognise, but then this was Cyrus, not some social climbing backstabber. He didn't have anything to gain from manipulation, and besides, she liked him well enough. Plus, he couldn't lie to save his life, which she'd never thought of as a reassuring trait before. But now, it was worth its weight in gold.
"Yeah, I do." She gave him a quick, embarrassed smile. "I think you're cool."
How were you supposed to know what way someone liked you if they didn't tell you?
Selena had never really had to face these kinds of problems before, and though she'd always thought herself the more grounded one in the family, she was quickly beginning to realise that she lacked some experience that would have been helpful. Her only experience dating had been disastrous, and ended up in this whole mess anyway.
She was, however, relatively sure that she had been noticing Cyrus a little, and she'd felt more embarrassed having him at her house than she had thought she would. The way he talked made her think that perhaps he was dropping hints, but that was the worst thing about flirting - sometimes, it wasn't flirting at all, and just assumptions, and with Cyrus quickly becoming a good friend to her, that was the last thing she wanted to do.
It was also safe to say that while Cyrus had nothing to gain from dating Selena, she still couldn't shake what had happened before, when Donny had turned around and betrayed her. She trusted Cyrus, yes, but then she'd trusted Donny, too. Surely she could be forgiven some trepidation.
And then, of course, there was her family. Even if Selena was away from them, she couldn't trust them one bit. They'd ruined her life before, and she couldn't be sure that they wouldn't do so again. That being said, she'd made the decision to leave before. It hadn't been Mia's choice to have Selena leave her previous home, exactly, but then Mia would have absolutely ruined things if she could. She always had, ever since she'd learned the word 'mine', when they were children.
Sighing, Selena washed up the dishes from lunch, trying not to think of Cyrus too much. He was a distraction, really, but he was a good friend. They'd settled on her researching the life of an artist who was famous locally, and he'd promised to read over her report before she was done. Their friendship seemed to be going well, and she really, really didn't want to ruin that.
Cyrus had mentioned that there were some good books in the library that could help with her project, and so Selena had ended up there after school. She'd wanted to meet up with Kita and Candice for some hot chocolate, but she couldn't afford to let her grades start falling, and this project was a big one. Luckily, both of them had understood.
She didn't recognise the woman who was behind the desk when she came in, but was immediately flagged down by her with a wide smile.
"Selena, right? Cyrus mentioned his friend would be along for a school project today. I've got some books over in the back room picked out for you. Oh, I'm Claudia, by the way. I volunteer here." She smiled brightly again. "Gotta say, love what you picked! Most kids go for the historical feud or the ancestral roots."
"I'm...not from around here, actually." Selena felt a little awkward. "I don't have any roots."
"Really? Huh, weird." Claudia frowned. "We used to have a Lilly family living around here. Same spelling and everything, so I didn't think it was a coincidence. Cool, right?"
"I suppose so." Selena felt a little awkward, but luckily or unluckily, Claudia didn't stop rambling.
"We actually function as the school's archive, too, so I ended up pulling the old yearbooks with the Lilly family, in case you were a relation. It's still worth a look, though, because they're so old. Moonwood's always been kind of a small school, I guess, but it's so fun to look back on all the fashions of that era. Makes you grateful for what we have now, huh?" She laughed, and then turned to the next person walking in behind Selena, gesturing towards the back room.
Selena raised her eyebrows, but walked into the back room anyway, where books had been piled inside one of the little study cabinets. A yearbook was on the table, with matching ones above, and was dated some sixty or so years ago. She idly picked it up, flipping through the students until she hit 'L'.
She stopped dead, looking at the photo. A young version of her grandmother, the original Selena Lilly, smiled back at her kindly. She'd seen photos of her grandmother when she was young, and there was no mistaking it - this was her, albeit a good sixty years younger.
Her grandmother had never mentioned Moonwood Mill, or having lived there. Selena had asked her glamorous grandmother many questions about her life when growing up, and it had always been such a fairytale - her grandfather had met her at a dance, asked her to marry him at Winterfest under the big tree in San Myshuno, and whisked her up to the skyscrapers. She'd lived the social life, and blazed such a trail that her aura had settled like pixie dust on her descendants, giving them the ability to fly as high as they wanted.
But she was Lena Michaels, the well-known socialite, and though Selena was named after her, and had taken her grandmother's maiden name when she moved out, it was a very different Selena Lilly within the pages. Here, she was smiling timidly next to another girl, who appeared in most pictures with her. Singing together at a talent show, with Selena's grandmother playing the piano. Clustered together in a group photo. The caption named the girl as 'Lily', which Selena thought must be a mistake until she flipped back through the photos and found the girl, one Lily Zhu.
How had her grandmother never mentioned this? Selena picked the other books up slowly, checking through for what she actually needed until she found the most helpful one, shoving the yearbook back. It seemed almost wrong, a secret she wasn't meant to find. She carried the book she did need out with her, trying not to think about her grandmother's young, laughing face in black and white.
Once she'd checked the book out, she began wandering towards the direction of home, but something caught her eye. By the tunnels, someone was stepping out. She crept closer, clutching her book, and hid behind a barrel that was standing upright nearby, to watch Lou brush himself off before reaching inside and locking the gates from the inside. He looked annoyed, and his jacket had a large tear in the arm, and she crouched down even further when he began stomping through the snow towards the steps.
"Idiots, the lot of them," he muttered, loud enough for her to hear.
She held her breath, waiting until he was well and truly gone to let herself exhale. Why was Lou of all people creeping around in the tunnels? How had he gotten his jacket ripped like that, and how did he have a key?
It had been a bad decision. Lock picking always was, in some way or another, and though she'd been proud of herself for learning it when she was a little younger, she'd regretted it after crawling in last night. She'd entered the tunnels, picking her way through the muck as quietly as she could, and eventually finding a small tunnel, which she'd crawled through, wrinkling her nose at the smell. Kind of like a wet dog, she'd thought.
She hadn't expected to find a room, with a slashed painting and a rotting carpet. She'd taken a step forward, and something had leapt on her, scratching her, growling. Red eyes, dark fur, but bigger and stronger than anything she'd seen. She'd screamed, and it had growled again, before suddenly stiffening as something howled. She'd scrambled away and ran, terrified.
She was shaking and crying as she made it back home, and the next morning, she'd felt awful. The closest person in her phone was Cyrus, and so she'd called him immediately.
When he turned up, he was holding cold medicine, but he dropped it immediately upon seeing her.
"Selena, you...What happened?"
"I was in the tunnels, and this...this big creature..." She felt herself trembling again.
"How did you get in the tunnels?" Cyrus asked, immediately. "They're locked."
"I...was curious, so I picked the lock." Selena felt tears welling up. "I know, I know. It's all my fault."
"No, of course not. Oh my god, Selena, I'm so...I'm so sorry." Cyrus reached a hand out to her, and then hesitated. "Look, you need to sit down. There's some stuff I need to talk to you about."
"Can it wait?" Selena felt irritation rise up, before it flickered out of existence again. She felt horrified at herself, but Cyrus gently guided her to her room.
"You're, uh, sick, Selena. It's okay, you're going to feel upset, and I promise you it'll all be okay, but we have to call my dad, alright? He'll understand. He's...dealt with stuff like this before."
"Is your dad a doctor?" Selena asked, as Cyrus punched the number in.
"Not exactly, but he'll be able to help. I promise you that."
After Mr Sol had explained everything to her, Selena had felt as though she were made of glass, ready to shatter with one wrong move. According to Cyrus and his father, Selena had been bitten by a werewolf. She hadn't believed it at first, but then Cyrus father had shifted in front of her. She'd screamed, and then apologised, but he'd gone on to assure her it was fine.
Her dreams were a jumbled mess. Cold snow, dark fur, and sharp teeth. Scents all around her that led her different places following their trail. She'd woken up outside, her clothes torn, at the top of a mountain.
Side note, getting back down in the early hours by herself had been no fun at all. She'd fallen, tripped, and scrambled her way back down, and found her front door open. Apparently, whatever new side of her she had didn't think about locking doors. Just fantastic. She'd firmly locked the door after her, and then texted Cyrus a brief summary of what had happened.
She'd called in sick to school, and Cyrus had brought her homework over.
"It's okay, Selena. I'm...sorry this is happening. Do you remember anything else about what happened before?"
"I went into this old room in the tunnels, with this really old carpet. I already told you everything else." Selena sighed. "I just...can't believe I...sleepwalked? Wolfed out? Whatever you call it. Having you here does help."
"We're friends. That's what friends do. My parents were worried I'd be a werewolf, like my dad, so I know everything there is to know about it. And, uh, there's others around here too, not just whoever bit you."
"Is that why the tunnels are locked up?" Selena asked.
"Kind of. But this'll be hard, so...um, if you want, I can stay over and help during the next full moon. You won't want to deal with your first on your own."
"Really? That would be great, honestly. This is all so...weird. I mean, no offense."
"None taken. You're the werewolf in the room." Cyrus flashed her a quick grin.
Even with her newfound...ailment, Selena was still determined to do her best with school. Alongside studying up on lycanthropy (with the help of Cyrus), she was also doing her best to study for the assignments and tests set by the new school. She'd settled in well, according to her teachers, but she knew that resting on her laurels wasn't the way forward.
In class, Mrs Sinclair had moved on from the projects they'd put together, and was now teaching them about Princess Cordelia's reign and exploration.
"Now, class, it's important to note that many of our sources report wild and mystical things taking place around this era. As they are unverified, and stand alone as the only source of these happenings, you must take it upon yourself to think critically about what you read, as you must in the modern day."
She tapped the whiteboard.
"For example, one mention of Princess Cordelia states that she saw a great beast upon the mountainside near here, with eyes like fire, howling into the night. This has no other claim to back it up, and some see it as the basis for the myths that rose around what would become Moonwood Mill."
If by myths, Mrs Sinclair meant werewolves, Selena could have answered her questions easily, but she instead looked down at her notes, trying not to think about it. If the story was true, then werewolves had been around for quite some time. She wondered what other creatures were real, but brushed the thoughts from her head like cobwebs. No, worrying about werewolves was quite enough for now.
Once home, she felt as though she could breathe. Her other classmates didn't seem to have the worries she was dealing with, and sometimes that alone was suffocating enough. Here, in her space, she could simply relax, somewhat. Even with that, she kept wanting to message Cyrus, though she didn't want to bother him too much. He was already doing so much for her.
She felt a strange little pang in her heart, thinking about him. He really was very kind, and he seemed trustworthy, and she wished she could step over the line she'd mentally drawn between them. Maybe asking him out would be pushing it, especially if he turned her down. That didn't seem like something she could handle at the moment.
