111 Missing (6)

Energy was limited in quantity, and Iris ran out of it in no time. 'I should exercise more,' she thought to herself with desperation, knowing it was too late for that. In Kyro's apartment all she did was move from one room to another, while the last week she didn't even do much of that, being carried by Kyro because of her injury.

Luckily, the damage had healed mostly, so she could move freely most of the time. She didn't have a lot of stamina, however, and before even reaching the end of the warehouses, she could no longer keep running.

It would have been hard to do it just by herself, and now she was even carrying Lucifer, who weighted at least five kilograms. Right away, her hands felt like they were about to fall off, and she could barely hold onto the cat.

"Why are you so heavy?" she asked him to distract herself from worse thoughts, like the one of her being dressed in only a ragged work coat in a dingy warehouse street where everyone looked at her with malicious eyes. 'It's fine, Iris, it's fine. Just keep walking and it'll be okay.'

She hugged Lucifer closer to her chest and walked as fast as she could. This place had to end soon, and then… and then…

Before she could come up with what that would entail, she saw a pair of men following her. They weren't hiding whatsoever, talking among themselves about a sweet candy that dropped in to brighten their day as they slowly advanced toward her.

She increased her speed, but she was tired. Her breaths came in barely controlled gasps, and her hands were like lead. Anytime now, she would no longer be able to hold onto the cat.

'I have to, I promised Lucy,' she told herself, urging her complaining body to move forward. If she could just leave this street, then maybe she could escape. They would turn around. Yeah, they wouldn't dare to follow her outside this district. If she could just leave…

A burly man walking by the right side of the street in the opposite direction suddenly turned and made a grab for her. It came out of nowhere, but she must have subconsciously noticed it, for she stumbled in her step and he missed.

But it was too close. He had almost gotten her. Terrified, she dashed left and started running. Yet she was out of breath in five steps. Fear pushed her on for a time, but it couldn't sustain her for long. Even though she heard the leery voices behind her, she simply could no go any faster.

Soon, her legs caught onto themselves, and she sprawled out on the ground. Tears collected in her eyes, but she didn't want to cry. Like a drowning man, she clutched onto Lucifer, too stricken to think.

"What da, where she?" one of the burly man asked, his voice sounding like grating nails to Iris. She didn't want to see him. She didn't want to hear him. Everything about him made her shudder.

'I'm sorry,' she cried into Lucifer's back. It didn't seem like she could fulfill her promise anymore. 'I thought it was a stupid idea to run away, and I was right,' she mocked herself, not daring to even move a muscle.

Something hit her back, and pain spread through her like wildfire. She rolled a couple meters on the ground, for a time unable to process what had happened to her.

"Stupid shits, where did she go?" another voice said, but it sounded just as gruff, and Iris folded up into herself, wishing to become even smaller, until they could no longer see her.

Tension charged moments passed like hours as Iris lay closed-eyed while the men scoured this backstreet back and forth, searching for the girl to have some 'jolly good time' as one had put it before with a laugh.

It might as well have been forever until they cursed for the final time and left. The trio's presence still lingered in the air though, and Iris didn't dare to move for a long while. She couldn't think, couldn't feel. Everything was just too much.

The adrenaline was gone from her system by then, and all she could focus on was what could have happened. She shivered like an aspen, unable to control the panic that threatened to choke her.

"Mrr..." came from somewhere nearby, and she jumped in fright, ready to dash away. But when she opened her eyes, she saw a familiar form in the middle of the street.

Lucifer's limbs were twitching lightly, and he was producing a sound that was an angry growl muddled into a whine. It was something Iris had never heard before, and she slowly approached the large cat.

Was he okay? Did those guys kick him as well? No, this was the place in which she had fallen, so they must have vented their anger on her alone. 'Good, that's good,' she thought, glad she could have do at least this much for Lucifer. He hadn't done anything to deserve being hurt.

As she waited, the cat slowly regained his senses. The daze passed, and he looked around with clear distaste for his surroundings. When he noted her presence, he came over and sat down to clean her coat with a reproachful meow.

'You...' She didn't know what to say to him, feeling annoyed by his lack of situational awareness and at the same time gratified by his care. Unlike Queen, he didn't run away the moment he saw he wasn't at home and left her alone.

And so, she decided to go with, 'Thank you.'