A Snake's Attack

For the rest of the week, Lily and Lucario accidentally develop a daily routine that increases their exposure to each other. They would have breakfast together then split ways as Lily goes to play with the men in her playroom and Lucario goes to his office. They would have lunch together then go to Lucario's office afterwards.

At first, Lily would stay in a corner and read her children's book while eating cookies. However, the next day, she would move over to the table in front of Lucario's desk to read her book. The day after that, she moved again and sat on the floor next to Lucario's chair. Noticing her getting closer and closer to him physically, Lucario does his best not to get ahead of himself. He understands that rushing Lily won't help anything, so he just watches from his desk.

They would also have dinner together then split ways to go to their rooms. What Lily doesn't realize is that when Lucario has trouble sleeping, he would go to her room and sit next to her bed. He knows it himself. The reason why seeing Lily helps him sleep better. His heart has grown fond of the red-headed child in front of him. He sees himself in her which makes him want to give her the best so that she doesn't have to go through what he went through.

Finally, the day has come for Lily to make a choice. One that will decide if everyone's efforts were worth it.

"Lily, there's something that we have to tell you about your grandpa," Billy begins as he, Ryan, Lucario, and Lily sit in the car on their way to Lily's grandfather's house. "You remember what I told you when we first met? About how your grandpa has to return the money he borrowed from Mr. Luca?"

Lily nods her head then looks over at Lucario. "My grandpa borrowed money from Mr. Luca which is why Mr. Luca borrowed me until grandpa can return the money. If my grandpa returns the money he borrowed to Mr. Luca, then I can go back to my grandpa."

"That's right," Ryan confirms as he pats Lily's head. "However, the seven days that Mr. Luca has given your grandpa to return the money is over now."

"Does that mean that I am going back to my grandpa's house?" Lily asks with a touch of sadness. It isn't very noticeable, but Lucario manages to catch that slight change in her voice as if she's a bit reluctant to go back.

"Well, there's a problem with that," Lucario answers while looking at Lily through the window's reflection. "Your grandpa hasn't been able to return the money he borrowed from me. We made a deal about what happens if he can't return my money, but I want your opinion on it."

Lily tilts her head in confusion as she looks up at Lucario. "Why do you need my opinion?"

Taking a deep breath to brace himself, Lucario responds, "You'll see when we get to your grandpa's house."

Ryan quickly changes the topic in order to distract Lily a bit for the remainder of the car ride, but she couldn't help but notice Lucario's conflicted expression. She didn't like it because it reminds her of herself when she looks in the mirror.

After some time, the car comes to a halt, and one of the men comes over to open the door. Getting out first, Lucario looks back and offers a hand for Lily to hold on to so that she can safely get out of the car. Billy smiles at the sight of his friend slowly changing compared to when they first got out of the car together.

"You look stupid when you smile like that," Lucario sneers as he walks away from the car.

Ryan slips out and picks Lily up as she waits for him outside. "He won't admit that Miss Lily has changed him, will he?"

"He's a stubborn one, our boss," Billy laughs to himself. "But he knows that the child has changed him. That's a fact."

The two men chuckle a bit until they hear their boss screaming by the door. They run over to the front door which has now disappeared and notice that the inside has been completely emptied out.

"What's going on here?" Billy questions as he examines the barren house. "He was just here yesterday."

"Were there any men watching the house last night?" Lucario interrogates as he ransacks the house looking for the old man.

"Since it was the last day, I made the call to have the men come back when the lights in the house turn off," Billy promptly responds while taking a look at the backyard. "I trusted that he would stay to at least see his granddaughter one last time, but it seems that he didn't want to see her."

"Grandpa… doesn't want to see me anymore?" Lily whimpers as she takes in the sight before her. "Does Grandpa not like me?"

Billy rushes over to Ryan and quickly turns him around. "You idiot!" he softly yells as he punches the back of Ryan's head. "Why did you bring her inside? Couldn't you tell that something is wrong and wait outside?"

"Miss Lily was the one who wanted to go inside," Ryan defends. "I tried to say that we should wait, but she almost started crying, so I brought her here."

Shaking his head, Billy turns his attention to Lily. "Lily, your grandpa isn't home right now, but maybe he'll come back later. Mr. Luca and I will go look for him, so why don't you play in the front yard with the other guys while you wait. We promise to be back as soon as possible. Okay?"

A bit disheartened, Lily nods her head. "Okay, I'll wait."

Billy glances over at Ryan and simply nods. Getting the frightening message, Ryan nods back. Billy gives Lily one last smile before disappearing into the house to calm down his boss.

"What would you like to do, Miss Lily?" Ryan asks as he walks around the front garden with the little girl.

"I used to help grandpa pull up the weeds in where the flowers are so that they grow big and colorful," Lily comments as she points to the flowerbed of pink and white lilies. "Grandpa says that these flowers are for me because we share the same name."

Ryan sets Lily down in front of the flowerbed then squats down next to her. "Shall we start here then? Let's see how many flowerbeds we can clean before Mr. Luca and Billy get back."

Excited, Lily nods her head and starts weaving her small hands around the flowers to pull out the weeds. Enjoying his time, Ryan takes this time to relax a bit. However, due to his dropped guard, he didn't realize the mistake that he made until much later.

"Lily, I'm going to be right back," Ryan mentions as he stands up to dust off the dirt from his slacks. "Can you tell me where the bathroom is in your grandpa's house?"

"It's the door next to the kitchen on the right," Lily answers, glancing over at Ryan. "Am I going to be alone when you leave?"

Ryan shakes his head while gesturing for one of the men nearby to come closer. "There are lots of men who are protecting you, but to make you feel better, I'll have this guy sit next to you so that you aren't alone. Will that be okay?"

Trusting Ryan, Lily agrees, and the man comes over and takes his place next to her. "Don't worry, Ryan," the man assures. "I won't let Miss Lily leave my sight while you're gone." When the man turns to look at Lily, his gaze sends shivers down her spine. A darkness lurks behind his smiling eyes, and Lily could feel it. She's always been sensitive to other people's feelings, so she knew that she couldn't deny the creepy feeling she got from the man.

Lily wants to call back out to Ryan, but before she could do so, the man takes her hand. "It looks like those flowerbeds on the other side are in worse shape than these. How about we go work on those instead?" Knowing that it would be safer to go with him than to resist like she tried with her grandfather before, Lily follows the man, keeping her head down to hide her fear.

—

"Ryan! Ryan!" Billy shouts from outside as he frantically scans the area.

"What's wrong?" Ryan asks while running outside.

"Where is Lily?"

"She right over-" Ryan turns to point to the flower garden where Lily should be plucking out weeds but finds that there isn't anyone there. "Where did they go?!"

"That's what I'm asking you!"

The two men trade a glance with each other. One is scared for his life. The other is scared for his boss's life. Lucario walks out of the house loudly sighing to himself and shaking his head when he sees the two men frozen in thought. "Why aren't either of you with Lily?"

"Luca, Lily has disappeared," Billy comments as he slowly pans over to look at Lucario. He sees his friend's eyes flare up in both tears and rage, so he walks to him. "It was my fault for not instructing Ryan to watch over her better while we were looking for the old man, so if you're going to punish anyone, punish me."

"Who was the last one to see Lily?" Lucario questions as he does his best to stay calm. However, when no one answers, he pounds his fists into the nearby tree. "I asked who was the last one to see my child!" he roars, causing the vessel in his head to pop.

"The new guy was the one who was with her last," Ryan finally speaks up after coming to terms with impending death. "I should have assigned someone more experienced in the group to watch her before I left, but I didn't think that she would disappear."

Lucario slugs a hard punch into Ryan's chest, sending him flying backwards and onto the car door. "Find my child," Lucario orders as he deathly glares at Ryan while picking him up by his shirt collar. "You have 24 hours to find Lily; otherwise, your grave will be unmarked on the farthest mountain in the country so that your spirit will never get to lay eyes on that sweet little girl ever again."

Throwing Ryan onto the ground, Lucario flings the car door open and gets inside. "Let's go. We have a lot of work to do."