Cat and Mouse ✔

18. His New Plan

Pondering why he couldn't have his cake and eat it too, Derek took the first few steps into the house. The loud music pulsating through the house. His final trick on Lyla for the night, he decided. 

He was going to save his son and Derek was going to get the girl. 

Or he was going to die. Either way, was good by him. 

The cleanliness of Lyla's home always impressed him. His attraction to her was growing with each second.  

His eyes scanned the familiar by now walls of her living room. Adjusting the knapsack on his back, casually making his way through her living room to the kitchen's entrance. Peeking his head into the kitchen, half-hoping she was here. He opted to cut through the kitchen to get to the command center. He glided through the house, confidence oozing from him.

The door was left half-open. Sucking on his teeth, accessing his situation and weighing the odds. 

"Smart girl," he commented to himself. His voice was lost in the music's beats and melody. Humming along with the song he moved into the command center. 

He was holding on to small hopes she wasn't behind the door, or that he didn't miss a weapon in his sweep. His face twisted up into a nervous expression as he pushed the door all the way open. Eyes squinting, and bracing himself he went into the center. 

A heavy, slow, sigh escape over his lips, the center was empty. He noticed that she left the camera feeds up on the computer screen. There was a program brought up on the main computer screen. 

His eyes scan the words. Slowly a smirk formed on his face. Lyla had her own end game in mind, and she wanted Derek to know.  Thinking to himself about what a wonderful welcoming gift and showing her intelligence once again.   

Derek shook his head, cutting off his thoughts before they became lust-filled.  

Seeing as he had no other choice but to shut down the whole system now that she was rebooting Gerard. The program would surely alert the authorities when it sensed Derek in the house. 

After a few clicks and some typing, Derek had brought up the shut down override prompt. Of course, it was password protected. Fear took hold of him. Not knowing how long ago she started the program. She was either insanely paranoid or completely careless because there was no countdown on the reboot. 

Struggling to keep his cool, he rolled the bag off his shoulders. Hoping he had enough foresight to pack his drive. Fumbling around in the bag, his fraying nerves making it more difficult for him. Finally, his fingers located the drive.  

Derek closed his eyes and forced himself to calm down. Once he was collected it inserted the drive into the computer's base. A few more clicks on the mouse and the password began appearing on the computer. Much too slow for Derek's liking, but he had no other choice. 

Unless he smashed everything to pieces. 

But, that meant wrecking Lyla's life's work. 

His mind was invaded by memories of her speaking of her work. How her eyes lit up, her passionate speech, the happiness that filled her. 

Emotions collided in him, wasting precious seconds. Feeling like he was on the edge of a tall cliff and about to plummet to his demise. His eyes flicked back to the computer screen, just in time to see the last letter of the password fill in. 

Swiftly clicking on the shutdown's button.

After another terrifying second, the computer starts the shutdown sequence.  Derek leans back in the chair and lets out a sigh. Now he can solely focus on Lyla and his plan.  

Taking just a second to relish in his victory before moving on to the task of finding Lyla. One would say sloths move faster than Derek as he strolled to the only place Lyla could be. 

Her bedroom. With a wide grin on his face, his eyes big and bright, he was enjoying this. He knew she was terrified and probably damn near mad from this music, but he was just happy to see her. 

She left this door open for him as well, he mused to himself. Before he went into her room, he pulls out a small remote from his pocket, he presses the button. The music changes to soothing, easy listening.  A predatory smile found it's home on Derek's face. 

Long strides carried him into the center of her bedroom. Hisses and spits began filling the room, spinning around to locate the source of the sound, Derek's eyes land on a ball of fluff. Teeth exposed and posed in front of the closet doorway, the dark cat was not friendly. 

Derek stopped short, his pride deflated. He couldn't figure out how he had missed the cat before. 

Consoling himself with ideas that the cat must have been up high somewhere hidden, Derek let the cat do its defensive routine. Edging closer to the, pretending to be, feral creature, he leans up onto his tiptoes.  Granting himself the ability to peer into the closet. He doesn't see any shapes or masses that could have been Lyla, so he moved on. 

That just left that bathroom for him to check. Not bothering to be quiet nor careful as he made his way through her room. He spotted her phone on the bed, forgotten.  Derek doesn't need an excuse to lean over her bed. Lyla's pleasing scent fills his nose, letting out a soft, happy sigh, he grabs for the phone. When he straightens up, he presses the buttons on the phone and turns it off.  Laying it down on the flat surface of her nightstand, he moved on. 

Only pausing for a moment to take in the scene before him. An amused look fell onto his face as he struggled in refrain from laughing out loud. The shower curtain was parted open slightly, Lyla was shaking like a leaf. The baseball bat in her hands bobbled around in the air, part of it was visible above the shower.  

Using all his internal strength he kept all himself calm. His eyes zoned in on the scared glint in her almost colorless eyes. The way her lips were thinned and stretching over her teeth. Derek felt his earlier lust return in force. Even terrified she was beautiful to him. 

Unable to stop himself, he whispered her name. Her response was not the one he was looking for, she decided to let out a raw scream. Derek fearing she was going to start swinging that bat, lunged to her and secure her and the bat in his arms. 

With some effort, he managed to pull her out of the shower. She fought him every step of the way, from the tub to her bedroom. Derek relaxed the arm holding her, but gripped the bat even tighter, yanking it out of her hands. 

"Tsk tsk," he scolds. He gently pushes Lyla, so she would sit down on the bed. 

"I am going to explain everything to you, and I'm going to need you to cooperate with me." He pauses for dramatic effect. 

"That is if you want to live," he said dismissively.