DAISY

[MUSIC RECOMMENDATION: PRAY ~ JESSIE MURPH]

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Note: Dear readers, the chapters following this one would now be activated as premium. Enjoy your reading time. Thank you.

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Raven sat in front of his workstation, but for some reason, he wasn't able to concentrate. He picked up his phone to check if the girl had made any contact, but there was none. The last time he got a signal from the girl's phone was after he saw her leave the restaurant. Then she was later seen with Adolf. Raven sighed, dropping his phone, he decided to continue with what he was doing.

He paused his work when his phone beeped; it was a message from the old bat. Raven picked up his jacket and left the house.

Arriving at the woman's house, the old bat was sipping tea while petting her furry cat.

"Raven, I have a job for you," the woman said, with her lips on the cup. She continued, "Someone found my goods in the black market, and also the underground where it's being altered. Can you go there personally and check who is spearheading it?"

Raven rubbed his temples, "I'll pass. Get someone else." Saying this, he turned to leave the place.

The elderly woman coughed, "If I had someone else I trust, I would have asked them a long time ago."

Raven turned to look at the woman, then he chuckled, "What makes you think you can trust me? You're losing your touch, old bat. Is it the cat?"

The woman let out a light laugh, "Very funny. I didn't say I trusted you, but I know you have no interest in my goods. That's what makes you a good choice. Help this old hag. I'll give you something in return."

"Get someone else to do it. Take care," Raven replied curtly before stepping out of the place.

Back inside the house, the woman coughed, using her hand to cover her mouth. "That boy! So cold, he didn't even sit down for tea. I've known him for so many years, yet every new day feels like he is a stranger." The woman coughed again, as her body shook in response.

Meanwhile back inside the underground where Lily was held..

"She is okay now," Lily heard the doctor say to the man behind him, but she didn't move from her position; she just stared blankly at the ceiling.

The man who had carried Lily inside nodded his head, "Great, because Lucian asked that you fix a black contact to her eyes."

Lucian? Lily thought, this was the first name she heard ever since she arrived at this unknown place. She had thought the people here didn't have names, but they do. Wait... she drawled, in her mind, whose eyes were they talking about? Lily jerked up, facing the two men that she had startled with her sudden movement.

"Look at those green eyes! Very eerie. I was already thinking of removing them," the doctor remarked with a look of distaste on his face.

Lily didn't blink, she continued to look at the two men, she wanted to ask them exactly what was wrong with her eyes, but she remembered how she had suffered in that abyss, Lily held back her words by biting her inner cheek. But was she going to allow these people touch her eyes? The answer was No. How she was going to do that, she didn't know yet.

"Yes, do it, change it to black. Lucian thinks selling her faster would be great, she looks like bad luck," the man replied.

Lily clenched her fist, what was this about selling her? She moved her eyes from the doctor to the other man, but they didn't say anything else.

The doctor nodded, "I'll do that later. Take her for now."

The next minute, Lily was dragged out of the improvised infirmary. Her stomach rumbled loudly, causing the man to stop in his steps.

"You will join some persons in cleaning the big room," the man ordered, fishing out something from his pocket, he gave it to Lily. "Here, eat this."

Lily grabbed it quickly, it was a doughnut. She didn't hear what the man said after that because she was busy chewing the snack like her life depended on it.

When she was done, she wiped off the oil from the corner of her lips and bowed to the man that had saved her. "Thank you so much, sir."

The man grinned, "It's okay, we will see later as planned. Go now and work." He patted Lily's shoulder and left.

Lily twitched her lips, she didn't understand what the man meant by seeing later and what was with the friendly pat on the shoulder. She decided to let it go because of the life-saving doughnut that was offered to her.

Soon, Lily was taken to a big room, where she saw other people like her cleaning and arranging chairs. She was given a mop and bucket to join others. Without a word of protest, as Lily had learned her lesson already, she cleaned her portion quietly, making sure she did it very well.

"Hey, hey you, girl in the cow dress," Lily turned when she heard someone call her.

Lily touched her chest, "Me?" She looked at the door; was part of the rule not that they weren't allowed to talk? She asked herself in her mind.

The person that had called Lily now walked to close the distance between them, "New girl, heard you caused your cellmates to go hungry for two nights," the young girl said, her voice sounding very rude.

Lily pressed her lips, she was already feeling guilty about that. But she wasn't to be blamed because she had no idea what the rules were like. "I'm sorry about that... I didn't know the rules now."

The young girl chuckled, "Do you now?"

"What?" Lily asked.

The young girl blew away the invisible dust on her fingers and asked in a low tone, "Do you know the rules now?"

As she was talking, Lily noticed other persons had left their work to join them, crowding in on her. Lily knew exactly what was happening, she knew how all these things work. The queen bee was trying to bully the new girl to prove to her who the leader was. But Lily wasn't interested in fighting for power in a place like this, so she took a step backwards.

"Yes, I will now continue my cleaning," she replied, squeezing the water out of her mop.

The young girl that had approached Lily didn't take this kindly; she angrily kicked Lily's bucket, causing water to spill on the dry floor Lily had cleaned.

Lily looked at the girl angrily, "What the hell was that for?" She asked, furious that the work she had struggled to do with her doughnut-given strength was ruined with one kick.

The young girl chuckled, "Did you all see that? She didn't get the rules; she's still looking at us directly with those creepy eyes of hers." The girl spoke angrily, as others nodded in agreement.

Lily inhaled deeply; then she said, "I'm sorry for looking at you, you rule this place. I understand, but please let me be in peace, okay?" She begged; her life was already hard!

The girl snapped her fingers, "Let's give her the king dive since she's acting all mighty and brave."

Lily, who didn't understand what the 'king dive' meant, took a step back; soon, others dragged her, trying to push her head inside one of the dirty waters. She struggled to hold her stand, but they were too many, until they finally subdued her, making her get on her knees.

"Please stop, please," Lily begged, but they didn't listen; when her face was almost touching the water, someone hit the door loudly with a long stick.

The bullies holding Lily scrambled out in fear, going to continue their work. Lily sobbed silently before standing up on her feet. In front of her was the man who gave her a doughnut earlier.

"Are you okay?" The man asked worriedly.

Lily shook her head, "Thank God you're here. They tried to bully me." She pointed at everyone who now focused on their work like nothing had ever happened.

The man frowned, "Point one person in particular for me." He replied.

Lily looked around for the queen bee; when she found her, she said to the man, "That one there with black long hair."

The man hit the stick on the ground, "Come here right now! Maya! You always bully the newcomers."

The girl who had been acting powerful earlier now looked terrified as she walked to stand in front of the man.

"You know you shouldn't do what I don't like, right?" The man asked, touching her hair.

Even Lily felt creeped out by it, but she didn't say anything; she just continued to watch.

When the man let go of the girl called Maya, she walked back to join others in cleaning. Lily shrugged her shoulder; it was now sorted. She picked up her mop to continue, but the man held her wrist.

"You don't have to; we have somewhere to go." Saying this, he dragged Lily out.

They didn't go far when Lily wriggled her hand away from the man's grip.

"What are you doing?" Lily asked, holding her wrist that had now turned red.

The man grinned, holding Lily's hair in his hand, "So soft, I like it when you act coy. Let's get this done before others come."

Lily pushed the man away, "I don't know what you're talking about, but I'll act like this never happened."

The man scowled, "What is that? You already agreed to this when you accepted my help."