Pet Shop Of Horrors Fan Fiction ❯ Little Lion ❯ You Belong To Me ( Chapter 5 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

LITTLE LION


CHAPTER 5

You Belong to Me







D stroked Bombay's hair, soothingly. "I'm sorry you were so unhappy with my father. I'm so sorry he treated you all so cruelly." If there was one thing that D couldn't stand, it was his dear pets behind harmed and the fact that it had been his own father who'd done such horrible things, hurt more than anything.

Bombay turned to D and gave him a toothy grin. "You grandfather sent your father away and brought you to us, master. We all love you very much, master." Yes, it had taken several years, but Bombay eventually grew to love and trust his new master. Well, he trusted D as much as he was able to. "We are all so happy to have you, master. I just want Little Lion back, he is like my own cub."

"As do I, but I can't go against a contract and you've just told me the terms of the agreement. Unless Mr. Barns breaks the terms..." D suddenly paused and began to smile. "I don't suppose there's any reason why I can't help him to break the contract, is there?"

"Master?"

"Don't worry about it, Bombay. I'll take care of everything."





Pete-





Pete was still in the police station, worrying, hours later. The day had long since passed and it was dark outside, but because he'd lost so many hours of work while taking care of Leon at the hospital, he'd had to take the night shift. Pete had all ready done everything he could do, filling out all the proper forms and getting all the right people working on Leon's case. Still, it didn't seem like he was doing enough. Pete chewed on the end of his pencil, a habit he'd picked up while trying to quit smoking, and tried to think of something more he hadn't done.

Still, he had work to do and the bad-guys wouldn't take a vacation just because Pete was worried about poor, hurt Leon. He had a beat to walk and he was headed out when the chief's secretary called out to him. "You're wife's on line two, Pete!"

Pete didn't take time to even thank the lady when he rushed to grab a phone. It was late and Lisa should be asleep. This was bad. "Lisa? What's wrong?"

The only answer he got was hysterical crying.

"Hold on, Lisa, I'm on my way!" Pete knew Lisa well enough to know that she didn't get so upset over just anything. She was one of the most sensible and levelheaded people he'd ever met. "Chief..." Pete called out, ready to be fired for being late to work and running out like he was doing in. It didn't matter, Lisa needed him! He was interrupted when the chief yelled out to him, over the noise of the busy station.

"Get down to the hospital where you brought that kid this morning. One of the doctors just called and said the kid's gone missing. There's blood at the scene of the crime and they think it might be a kidnapping. They also said your wife is going to be sedated if she can't calm down soon."

Blood?!






Twenty minutes later, Pete rushed into the hospital room, still in his police uniform. "What happened?" He demanded only to have his crying wife throw herself in his arms. She was still very upset, but calmer than she had been on the phone so maybe they'd given her the tranquilizers. At least she could speak now.

"I don't know!" Lisa wailed. "He was gone when I woke up and there's blood on the floor and the wall. I must have fallen asleep and I didn't see or hear anything...oh, God, it was his father, I just know it!"

Pete wanted to kick himself for being so stupid. He never should have left them alone. Pete knew he still had some sick time, he could have just called in and stayed at the hospital with them. "Calm down, honey." Pete hugged Lisa tightly.

It could look bad for Mr. Barns if the court found out he took his son out of the hospital when Leon was in such bad condition. "The police are asking around the staff and they're going to start looking around in here, next. You'll have to make a statement, dear, but the main focus will be on Barns." If that man's done anything to the kid...

Then he saw the blood on the floor, a small splatter of blood that was all ready drying to a dark color. "Is that...Did Leon get hurt?"

Lisa shook her head. "The police that arrived first had one of the doctor's check it. It's cat blood, so that must mean Bombay got hurt." She scowled darkly as she stared at the dark stain on the floor. "I'll take Leon away from that man by force, if I have to! I just can't stand it, he's going to end up killing Leon..." Pete had rarely seen this side of his wife, but he knew she was serious. They both knew Leon was in grave danger and she would do anything to save him.

"Stop it!" Pete shook his wife slightly to get her attention. "You aren't thinking, Lisa! You're the one who'll get arrested if you go there, not him. You'll go to prison and you can't help Leon from behind bars."

Lisa glared at him helplessly, but she knew he was right. "I have to do something!" She used the sleeve of her shirt to brush away the tears on her cheeks. "He's going to kill Leon!"

"I know, I know, but think for a minute. That monster almost killed his son and you are a very small lady. He WILL hurt you, Lisa. He might even kill you. I couldn't stand that; I just can't lose you. So far you've only seen him in public places, school, court, and jail. If he finds you alone he might kill you. And do you know what he's going to tell the police when they, when I, find your cold body in his apartment? He's going to say you were trying to kidnap his son and Leon will back his father up, because Leon says whatever his dad tells him to say." Pete knew he was being hard on his wife, but he had to do this, she was just too stubborn and hardheaded sometimes.

Slowly, Lisa nodded. "What do you want me to do?"

"I want you to go home and stay home until I call you. Don't go anywhere. Barns doesn't know where we live, so he won't be after you. Just stay out of sight." Lisa nodded, but Pete didn't let her go. "Promise me, Lisa. Promise me you'll go straight home and you won't do anything stupid."

Lisa nodded again. "Yes, Pete, I promise."






Lisa-




< br>
When Lisa walked into their home, the phone was all ready ringing. She hurried over to answer it, thinking that it might be Pete with news. "Hello?" Lisa said, picking up the phone.

"Greetings. I wish to let you know that Leon is in grave danger." The voice had an oriental accent and spoke in a soft, almost seductive tone.

"What?" Lisa tightened her grip on the phone. "Who are you? What's wrong with Leon?" If this was some kind of prank, someone out there had a VERY sick sense of humor! But, Lisa was sure she didn't know who it was, there was no one she knew who had that kind of accent and she didn't think anyone she knew could fake one so well. It was a soft, velvet voice and sounded cultured.

"You know what is wrong and you know what you must do." Click.

Lisa stared at the phone for only a second before dropping it and running to the door. 'I have to find him.' She thought desperately. 'I don't care who was on the phone, Leon needs me!'

Of course, she wasn't completely stupid and ran back to the phone before dialing the police station. Unfortunately, she found out her husband was out on patrol and wouldn't be back for almost an hour. "Give him a message. Tell him his wife has gone to get Leon. He knows where I'll be." Lisa hung up and felt horrible. She'd promised Pete she wouldn't do this, but...what else could she do?





Count D-





Count D hung up the phone and leaned back on his sofa. That was rather simple. The woman was so worried she barely needed any persuading at all. Bombay stood in front of D, waiting for the command. He'd almost begged to be allowed to do this mission. D nodded and Bombay instantly ran off, heading directly toward Little Lion's home. D smiled, watching the older cat go. Bombay was more than able to reach the nearby apartment in time and D had no doubt that the schoolteacher would do exactly what he expected her to do.





Leon-




Leon woke slowly and let out a long yawn. He'd never felt so tired in his life! He was back home and, best of all; dad had come for him. Leon sighed, happily, though his face still hurt. It hurt a lot. But it didn't matter. It didn't matter what the kids at school said and it didn't matter if he had to hurt a little. Leon knew his dad loved him. After all, dad did come to get him.

But...Leon's smile faded slightly. Pete and Mrs. Lisa didn't seem really happy with Leon's dad and it DID matter what they thought. Leon loved Mrs. Lisa more than almost anything, but he admired Pete. Pete was strong and smart and he ALWAYS did the right thing. Leon wanted to be just like Pete when he grew up.

Leon couldn't remember much from when Pete and Mrs. Lisa had found him, it was all kind of fuzzy, but he did remember Mrs. Lisa crying and Pete was very, very angry. Leon hated to see Mrs. Lisa cry, she almost never did, but when she cried it always made Leon feel bad. Pete being angry wasn't exactly like Leon's dad being angry, it wasn't as bad.

When Leon's dad got angry, Leon was afraid. When Pete got angry, Leon knew something was wrong and maybe Leon had been bad, but he wasn't ever afraid of Pete. Kind of funny, that. Leon knew Pete was stronger than his dad was, because sometimes Pete took Leon to the gym so Leon could watch him box and sometimes he saw Pete taking his karate lessons. Pete just wasn't as scary as Leon's dad, though.

Once, when Leon had been fighting again, Mrs. Lisa had called in her husband to give Leon a little "Talk". Pete had arrived at the school in his full uniform and gave Leon a dressing down that shamed him to this day. Pete had taken Leon into an empty classroom and sat him down in a chair before walking around Leon, slowly and silently. Pete tsked at him, telling Leon how disappointed he was in Leon. He expected better of Leon. Something better than getting into school yard fights.

Leon worked, after that, very hard not to disappoint Pete. Usually, he did a pretty good job and when he was good, Pete would smile at Leon. That made everything worthwhile.

Still, Leon was glad to be home. "Dad?" Leon was kind of surprised to hear his voice. It sounded strange, all gravely and low. Moving just didn't work because Leon found out he was still hurt and the tiniest movement was more than a little painful. His arm, especially, hurt. He looked down and found that he had a cast on it. 'When did that happen?' Leon groaned when the pain shot through his back and then down his arm and decided that it might be for the best to just lay still. "Dad?"

No one answered for a minute and that was when Leon heard the doorknob being tried. "Leon? Are you in there?" Leon's eyes shot open when he heard Mrs. Lisa's voice. She couldn't be here! Dad hated Mrs. Lisa! "Leon, if you can hear me, open the door."

Leon looked over nervously to his dad's bedroom door and knew his dad was probably asleep. If Mrs. Lisa started calling to loud and woke him it would be very bad. Leon struggled to his feet, trying to ignore the pain, and moved as quickly as he could to the door. "Mrs. Lisa, what are you doing here?" He asked through the door. "My dad doesn't want you at our home."

"It doesn't matter what your dad wants, honey. Open up, I need to see that you're all right."

Leon hesitated before he turned the bolt lock and let Mrs. Lisa in. She took a few steps in and a smile spread over her face when she saw him. "Oh, thank goodness. You're all right." She got no further when Leon's dad hit her over the back of the head with his small handgun and her eyes rolled up into her head just before she hit the floor.

Leon looked up at his father in horror.






Bombay-




< br>
Bombay watched from the window of Little Lion's apartment. He was poised, ready for action, but he had to time it properly. The master had been very strict on this point. They were waiting for Tom Barns to break rule number three of the contract.






Leon-




< br>
"Dad! You can't hurt her, she was just worried about me!" It was probably the bravest thing Leon had ever done in his life. He put himself between his father and Mrs. Lisa.

Leon's dad glared down at him. "Are you questioning me, boy?" His eyes narrowed. "I've never asked anything of you, except your loyalty. Are you going to leave me for this woman?" He gestured toward Mrs. Lisa with his gun. "You know, she doesn't love you. She's just doing her job and that job means taking care of kids she doesn't really care about."

Leon felt like he was hit between the eyes with a brick. IT'S NOT TRUE! Mrs. Lisa didn't have to give him rides in her car and she didn't have to give him that wonderful coat and she certainly didn't have to bring him in candies. It just couldn't be true.

Tom Barns continued. "She's getting paid for this, you know." Leon's dad went to the table where the telephone sat and pulled out the drawer, and started searching thought it for a moment. "She gets money to pretend she likes you and when her job's done, you'll never see her again." Leon's dad found what he was looking for and pulled a silencer for his gun out of the drawer. "I take care of you. I paid for you, and don't you forget it. No one else wanted you, but I adopted you, out of the goodness of my heart. You know that, don't you Leon?" Leon's dad attached the silencer with calm precision.

Leon felt his mouth go dry as his dad spoke. He knew he was adopted, that's why he didn't have a mom, but he really didn't remember much before his dad had adopted him. Leon did know, without a shadow of doubt, that he was loved before his dad had adopted him. He clearly remembered someone with large, furry hands holding him. That was all little more than a memory at this point, though.

"Yes, dad." Leon muttered. "I know you love me." Still, he didn't move from where he stood in front of Mrs. Lisa. "Please, don't hurt her. She's trying to be nice to me."

Leon's dad laughed. "Nice? She tried to take you away from me. Do you know what she'd have done if the police had sent me to jail? She'd leave you in an orphanage and you'd spent the rest of your life there. No one else would want you, Leon. Who would want a whining, skinny, ugly kid like you? So stupid, you don't even know how to stay out of trouble at school! You cause more trouble to anyone than you are worth. You're very lucky you have me, kid."

Leon's head fell until his chin was resting on his chest and he wanted to cry badly. It was all true and Leon knew it. Who would want him? Even Mrs. Lisa had said that Leon couldn't seem to keep out of fights. He'd brought that stinking skunk to nice Count D and then smelled up his store. He'd been a bother to Pete when Mrs. Lisa brought him to their home. He didn't have any friends because he hurt other kids when he got mad. Leon swallowed hard. He couldn't betray his dad; not after all his dad had done for him. No one else would ever love him or take care of him.

Suddenly, a hand grabbed Leon's arm and he found himself pulled right up to his dad's face. "You belong to me, Leon. You're my property and I won't let you go." He aimed the gun at Mrs. Lisa. "Not to anyone and, most of all, not to her!"

Leon screamed.







To be continued...



Don't you just love cliffhangers? I do.