Stopwatch

Lily glared at the man in the suit in an irritated manner.

"This is my business. I can handle him. I never asked you or your men to involve yourselves this" Lily said.

"It seems that you think you're in charge here. You aren't. I mentioned, we are in charge of making sure things don't go out of hand here. Your very presence is threatening" the man said.

"I didn't bring myself here, remember? This demon, he brought me here" Lily said, pointing at Zen on the floor where he lay.

"I shall question him, then you and yours can do whatever you want. I couldn't care less" She added.

Ronnie had been in the background biting his lip when as they made their back and forth exchange. He finally got tired of it and spoke up.

"I can't even be free anymore? It can't be a coincidence that you're here in this very moment. You've been spying on me" Ronnie said in a barely audible tone.

*True we've been spying on you. But it's with good reason. Ronald, you're walking around town with a ticking time bomb that could go off at any moment. She's dangerous" the man responded, he walked closer to Ronnie.

"She's not. She's not like your so called phantoms, she hasn't hurt a single thing since she got here. She helped me get my best friend free from possession. Who are you even?" Ronnie asked, he talked rather hurriedly.

"You don't need to know who I am right now, you can refer to me as Mr. C if you please though" Mr. C said.

"As for your speech. You're so naive, Ronald" He added.

"Are you mocking me?" Ronnie asked. He had started to feel agitated.

"What do you think demons feed on? What do you think replenishes their aura?" Mr. C asked.

Lily mouthed a silent "shut up" but Mr. C hardly paid any attention to her.

Ronnie went silent, he waited for an answer.

"Human energy. Human life force" Mr. C said.

Ronnie's eyes widened as he thought back to the moment when Lily kissed him to finalize their binding contract.

"Lily—" Ronnie said. He took a glance at Lily, then looked away.

The scene was tense, quiet. The only sound heard was the resounding echo of Ronnie's shoes as he walked towards the entrance.

"Ronald" Mr. C stopped him.

He placed what appeared to be a business card to Ronnie's chest.

"I'll be willing to tell you more if you just ask" he said.

Ronnie hesitated to take the card. Mr. C then put the card in Ronnie's breast pocket and pat his shoulders.

"Move" Ronnie said.

Mr. C moved aside for Ronnie to pass through. Lily on the other hand looked conflicted.

"I need to talk to Ronnie, at the same time I need to make sure I don't let Ren out of my sight. What do I do?" Lily's thoughts ran amok.

Mr. C stared at her confusion with a knowing smile on his face.

"Tick tick. What's it going to be? You can stand here and deliberate on what to do next. You could try to snatch this demon from us, I'm sure you'd be able to if you tried hard enough. But then, what about Ronald? On the other hand—"

"Shut up. Shut up, shut up, shut up!" Lily interrupted. She took repeated looks at Mr. C, Zen, and then the young men who subdued Zen.

"Screw this all!" She grit her teeth and sped off.

Zen cackled maniacally as she exited the library. The librarian stood motionless by the side, trying to make sense of the things he had just seen and heard.

"Where is he? Where the hell is he?! I cannot find him. My thoughts are too jumbled up to focus on his aura. He couldn't have gone far" Lily pondered as she ran frustratedly around the areas and alleys surrounding the library.

She had exhausted her energy after a while of running and searching aimlessly, she walked at a sluggish pace on an isolated road leading to the outskirts of town where Ronnie and his grandpa lived.

"Ronnie! Where are you?!" She yelled in an exhausted, out of breath manner.

After the long trek, she had managed to make her way to the pawn shop.

She tapped repeatedly on the wooden door before grandpa slowly came to the door.

The door creaked as Grandpa pushed it open.

"Lillian dear, you're home already?" Grandpa asked. He wore a small smile. Lily appeared sweaty and out of breath as she panted heavily.

"Is— is Ronnie come? Has he come home yet?" Lily asked.

"Come on in dear, I'll get you a glass of water" Grandpa said, ushering Lily inside.

After being gone for a minute, he reappears with a glass of water and gives it to Lily.

she gulped down the water rapidly, and put down the cup on the short table in front of her.

"Ronnie isn't home yet. I find it odd that you'd come looking for him. You two lovebirds are basically joined at the hip" Grandpa said. He looked concerned, his glasses had slid down to the bridge of his nose.

"Mr. Carp—enter, I think I messed up. I've hurt him, I hurt him so bad" Lily frenzied. She rested her face on both her palms.

"A fight huh? I see." Grandpa said. He took a deep sigh and sat on the other couch at the right side of the living room.

"These things happen. You should rest, child. Go in and freshen up. I'm sure he'll come around soon." Grandpa said.

"I appreciate the gesture, Mr. Carpenter, but I have to find him as— soon as possible" Lily struggled to talk.

Grandpa stood up, Lily looked up at him but she couldn't quite read his expression.

"That kid he usually has over, Joshua, did you check his place?" He said, walking away.

Lily's eyes lit up in realization.

"You should hurry" Grandpa said.

Lily sped out of the house, barely shutting the door on her way out.

"I need to hurry, I need to find him before it's too late. I don't know how much longer I can hold my powers back. If I let loose, my energy could destroy the entire town!" Lily could barely keep her thoughts in check as she raced against the clock on search of Ronnie.

Meanwhile Ronnie laid on the ground in Josh's dorm room, trying to process everything that had happened earlier.

"I feel like...I don't even know her at all" Ronnie pondered.