PLAYING WITH FIRE

04

"I can't believe they would say that!"
I had walked to my room after the conversation with the ninja. I knew I was playing with Lloyd before they had called for me, but I didn't want him to see me angrily punching things. Which reminds me— I need to buy a new mirror later.
"How dare they do this to a child," I huffed and sat on my bed, resting my head in my hands. "Why? I don't get it! Just because he's the son of Garmadon? Who cares?! He's innocent!"
  I sighed heavily. My chest was tightening from the amount of yelling I did, so was my head. Everything started to hurt. Just relax, I thought to myself and took a couple of deep breaths. There's no use in getting upset. Nobody's listening anyway.
  It took some time before my chest stopped hurting and for me to relax. Once I did, I got up from my bed and went to Lloyd's room, peeking in and knocking softly on the door. There was nothing but silence. I knocked again and waited, still hearing nothing. Is he in the bathroom perhaps? Should I go check? I thought, turning around but didn't walk yet. The minute I took a step forward, I heard a sniffle coming from his room. Almost immediately I turned back around and pushed the door open, seeing the heartbreaking sight in front of me.
  He was kneeling on the floor with his hands covering his face, but I could see his tear-stained cheeks and his puffy eyes.
  "Lloyd, what's wrong sweetheart?" I walked to him and kneeled down, extending my arms outwards. "Come here, hun."
He ran to me and hugged me almost immediately, burying his face into my chest as he did so. His arms wrapped around my neck, and he grabbed onto the back of my shirt as he started to sob. For a kid, he had a pretty strong grip on my shirt; I actually thought it was going to rip apart if he pulled the slightest bit on it.
  "What's wrong, love?" I asked softly, gently rubbing circles on his back. "I'm here to listen."
  "Please don't leave me.." he choked on his sob. "I- I can be helpful..! I listen and- and I can help if you need h-help.. please don't leave me.."
  I could feel my heart break more as he cried, but the words couldn't come out of my mouth to comfort him. I felt bad. But the words were stuck in my throat, it's like I had a knot that was tight enough to stop me from breathing as well. All I could do was hold him in my arms as he cried into my chest.
Finally, I was able to speak. "Oh Lloyd, I'm not going anywhere," I spoke softly. "Don't worry bubs, Kai isn't going nowhere. He'll be here with you always! So why are you crying? Come on, let's go take a walk outside, yeah?"
He sniffled and hiccuped but nodded, rubbing his eye softly. I smiled at him and lifted him up in my arms, sitting him onto his bed and put his shoes on, tying them for him. "You're such a big boy Lloyd," I said with a smile. "It's okay to cry. Kai cries all the time. We'll cry together while we take a walk, then after, Kai will take you to get some ice cream. How about it?"
"Okay..." his voice was quiet, but I still heard him. He looked so beaten. Why was he crying in the first place? I thought to myself as I picked him up. Did he possibly hear what the ninja told me? I swear, if he heard, all hell will break loose. Seriously, how dare they? Especially if Lloyd overheard!
I shook off the thoughts in my head as I carried Lloyd to the door, then placed him down while I put on my shoes. Then, once done, I grabbed his hand and we walked out to the front of the monastery, heading down the long flight of stairs to the city. On our way there, Lloyd showed me the many critters he saw during our walk, which was pretty adorable if I do say so myself. He was very happy to see bugs and mammals. See? How could they call this cute and innocent child evil like Garmadon? He's clearly different then his father!
  "Kai, Kai look!" He called out for me as he pointed down at the ground. "Bug!"
Oh Lloyd, why are you so damn cute!? "Oh wow! What kind of bug is it, Lloyd?"
  He stared at it for a little and tilted his head before speaking. "Cen... centape...?"
  I chuckled. "Centipede? You see a centipede, sweetheart?"
  He smiled and nodded. "Uh huh! It's very very cool!"
  Lord, I want to adopt this kid so badly!!
____
  "Kai! Kai! Can I have chocolate ice cream?"
  We were waiting in line for ice cream, if you were wondering. "Of course sweetheart, you can get any flavor you want."
  He smiled at me and glued himself to the counter, staring at all the options for ice cream. "It'll be in a cone... with sprinkles! Lots and lots of sprinkles!"
  I chuckled. "Okay, okay. You can have sprinkles."
  As he continued staring at all the options, I heard a couple of ladies laughing behind me. I didn't pay much attention to it, but then I heard them talking. What can I say? It's a natural thing for me to do.
  "Such a cute kid. He must be very lucky to have his father spoil him," one of them said. "Although he looks nothing like him.. perhaps he gets his looks from his mother?"
  "Puh-lease," the other lady spoke. "I don't think so. He doesn't look like he has a wife, or a girlfriend for that matter."
  I rolled my eyes as she continued speaking. "Besides, who cares about who he gets his looks from? He shouldn't be getting spoiled. He seems like a kid who causes problems. Who wants a kid like that?"
Oh, now she's done it. "Excuse me, could you please not talk about my kid like that while I'm standing literally in front of you?" I turned around and looked at her dead in the eye.
  She took a step back but rolled her eyes. "Okay? I'm just saying."
  "And I'm telling you to shut up, don't you understand basic words?" A little offensive, Kai. A little offensive.. "Shut it."
  "Kai, Kai, it's our turn!" I heard Lloyd call out as he tugged on my sleeve. "Hurry, hurry!"
  I turned around and smiled at him. "I'm coming, I'm coming."
We both got our ice creams and left, heading towards the park to eat them before heading home. Besides, I know Lloyd likes going to the park. But, it was mainly for me.. just to clear my head, you know? That lady really pissed me off.
"Lloyd, I'll sit here, if you want to go play on the playground you can," I told him as I sat down on the bench. "Just please be careful, alright?"
He nodded. "Okay! I'll go play now!" He waddled off to the playground.
Gosh, he's so adorable. How did I get so lucky with him?
Well, technically, I'm not lucky. He's not mine. Lloyd's just some kid I'm protecting from harm. I can't sit here and rant on and on about how adorable he is and how lucky I am because he's not mine. It's a bit unfair. We're only in this situation because of me. If it hadn't been for that dream of mine, we'd both be on different paths right now. We wouldn't be at this park. I wouldn't be sitting here eating ice cream while dwelling in my thoughts.
I don't understand... why. Why me? Why him? What if my dream was just from paranoia? But if it's paranoia, then what am I paranoid about? Some kid I don't even know?
"I'm really losing my head," I mumbled to myself and chuckled. "Fuck.. I can't do this."
I placed my hand on my forehead and closed my eyes for a few minutes due to my head pounding. It hurt like hell. I've been noticing the frequent headaches I've been getting, and I really wonder why I've been getting them so often. How come?
As I opened my eyes, my gaze immediately went towards the playground to check on Lloyd. I practically scanned the whole playground to look for him.
I could feel my heart stop slowly.
Where is he?
Where the fuck is he?!
There was sudden adrenaline in my body, and I stood up from the bench immediately. I ran to the playground where I last saw Lloyd and frantically looked around, but he was nowhere in sight.
"Lloyd?! Where are you?!" I yelled as I ran around the park. It wasn't a big park, but I couldn't tell if he was in the area or if he had ran off somewhere. I'm so anxious to the point where I could really feel my body throbbing. I groaned in pain from the sudden throb, but I couldn't focus on that now. I had to find him.
I looked towards the corner of the block, and there I saw him, standing in front of a person with a hood over their head. He seemed to be talking to them... but who are they? How do they know Lloyd?
As I inched closer, I could feel my blood boil in rage. I saw it more clearly.
Although without seeing a face, I could tell this person was ready to kidnap him. They had a grip on Lloyd's wrist already.
I ran towards them as fast as I could. They both had looked at me, and Lloyd's face was my last straw.
He looked at me in fear.
"Get away from him right now!!"
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Words : 1659
Sorry that this chapter took so long, but I hope you enjoy it!!
- Pheonyx <3