"Camilo?"

Willow asked, muffled against my shirt. The young girl was still grasping onto me tightly, not showing any sign of letting go. I didn't mind the physical contact as much as I normally would, though. It might've had something to do with how distressed she was, or maybe the fact she was covered in blood after doing something horrible, and seeing a child in this state changed things.

It was all too familiar.

"Yes." I told her, and she'd still yet to show any sign of pulling away from me. Eventually, I carded my fingers through her dark hair in attempt to comfort her, which seemed to work. It was not long before she slowly began to relax, then pulled away from me, wiping at her face. "Do you have anywhere to go?"

Willow shook her head in the negative, still trembling, and I knew what I had to do. I knew I couldn't just leave the child out here like this, she was too young to be on her own in this huge city—something bad would happen to her, undoubtedly—and there was no way the police would side with her.

So, I grabbed the body bag, which was a few feet behind me, and dragged it beside me as I walked back over to her. I then held out my other hand to her, palm facing up, and she didn't hesitate. She took it without a second thought, and we headed to the truck, which was parked down the street.

When I finished helping her into the passenger seat, and hefting the bag into the bed of the vehicle, I looked back at the large house, on the other side of all the shrubbery. I examined it for a moment, briefly wondering what could've driven the girl to do this, before deciding to just let it go—for now.

Except... that didn't last long.

"Willow Jeong," the woman on the tv, intense tone and narrowed expression on her face, stated into the microphone with thundering conviction. "Heir to the Jeong family fortune and daughter of Hadena's prized billionaire socialites and lead economic contributors, hailing straight from Seoul: Nari and Tae Jeong, has gone missing overnight."

I completely froze, as did Willow. I had made her some food, and was in the process of putting syrup on her pancakes for her. She looked up at me like she was in trouble, but my eyes were glued to the television. An image of Willow appeared on the screen, but she looked... different.

"The young beauty queen is presumed to have been kidnapped by her parent's murderer, although authorities are still evaluating the evidence." The woman continued, but there was only one thing echoing through my mind at that moment. Billionaires.  "If you have any information on her whereabouts, please contact the number below. The police have not released any further details of the crime, but a memorial will be held in their honor on Wednesday..."

The sound began to fade out, while I stood frozen in place. Willow was seated at my kitchen table, pointedly not looking at the TV. She just continued to stare up at me, like she expected me to throw her out any second. I'd only had her in my care for a few hours at this point, and with the context I now had... maybe I should've.

Willow Jeong, who just won the title of Little Miss Hadena for the fourth year in a row. A pageant girl, who anybody could recognize, aside from me apparently. Not only because of her family, though that did play a big part in it, but also because of her. She'd made a name for herself on her own, and I was in shock. Why on earth would she destroy that life for herself?

She had a bright future ahead of her. She came from billionaire parents, she was set for life. She was already on a path to fame and success all on her own. Why would she give it all up by murdering her parents?

"C-Camilo?"

I looked down at her, finally locking our eyes. She gulped, averting her own immediately. "I'm sorry. Please don't call the number."

I wasn't upset, per se, mostly just confused. I can see how she would expect me to be angry with her, however, since I wasn't exactly given full disclosure. Having this context ahead of time likely wouldn't have actually changed anything, but it still would have been nice to know.

"I'm not calling anyone," I notified the girl, watching her visibly relax, "but I do need an explanation."

Willow pursed her lips, staring strictly at her pancakes as she pierced them with her fork, bringing a bite to her mouth a moment later. She wouldn't make eye contact with me anymore, wouldn't look anywhere aside from the plate in front of her. If she was this uncomfortable with talking about it, I was going to tell her that it could wait. However, before I could make that decision, she spoke.

"I can't do any more pageants." She told me simply, and I noticed that she was fiddling with a necklace I hadn't seen before. It was beautiful, and looked expensive. Tiny diamonds seemed to make up the chain, with a small cat charm on it, and judging off who her parents were... it was safe to say it was all real. "I just can't. He... I... they wouldn't believe me. I tried to tell them what he did, but they would never believe me."

I looked down at the girl, who was clutching her necklace charm in a white-knuckle grip and fighting back tears at whatever memory my questioning had brought up. I was about to tell her that was fine, she didn't need to talk about it, but then she continued.

"When I finally proved it—when he did it in front of them, they didn't care. They said... they..." her voice cracked, eyes watery at the memories I brought up with my stupid questions. When a tear finally began to roll down her cheek, I put my hand over her own, which was trembling on the table. She jumped, but relaxed only a moment later.

"Willow, it's okay." I told her in the most soothing voice I could muster. She let out a shaky breath, trying to calm herself down. I didn't quite understand what was going on, but I'd been in the system long enough to recognize trauma. Whatever man she was talking about put her through some bad shit, it was obvious.

"So," she says, voice raised slightly, a bit more chipper. "I killed them. Now I never have to see him again."

I pursed my lips, glancing up at the TV and back down to her. The necklace seemed to calm her down, appeared to give her strength of some kind. I was unsure where she'd gotten it, but it was clear that it had served as some sort of lifeline for her up to this point. It meant a lot to her, and I'd learn later that her grandfather—the only decent person in her life up to that point, until he died a month prior to the incident—had given it to her.

This brings us to the current situation. Willow's side of the basement is a train wreck, her hair is a mess, and she has tear tracks on her face. Her red eyes are slightly puffy and the expression of rage and hurt is only the tip of the iceberg in terms of how much she's actually feeling.

"Well, where did you have it last?" I ask the girl, who is ripping apart my facility basement. Luckily she hasn't messed with any of my things, although she did accidentally knock over a container of blood, which is still on the floor. I'll have to clean that up at some point, hopefully soon. 

First, however, I need to deal with this.

"I don't know!" Willow snaps at me, now in the process of ripping apart her bedding. She's already accidentally destroyed a new pair of headphones I got for her a few weeks ago, and I'm just hoping she won't mess anything else up. Unfortunately, she has lost something quite precious to her, and she's also a teenager. Essentially, a perfect storm for me to have to put my day on pause.

"I just went out because I wanted some more cereal, but when I got home, it was gone. Oh no, do you think I lost it at the grocery store?"

I pause. What? "Willow, you know you're not supposed to go anywhere without telling me."

Willow lets out a noise of frustration, but doesn't acknowledge what I just said. That's probably because she knows I'm right—she may be five years older, but she's the daughter of two dead billionaires. Practically Korean royalty, victims of a murder that police were eventually able to figure out was likely caused by their very own child.

She doesn't have the freedom to do these things, not right now. It will be a while before she can show her face in public with no worries, even if the chances of her being recognized are slim to none. I don't want to take chances, and she doesn't either.

"I wanted more Corn Pops," the girl grumbles, seeming to give up in her search a moment later. She falls onto her back upon her messed up sheets, panting, and I sigh. I walk over to her and take a seat at the very edge of the bed, unsure how to make her feel better. I know how important that necklace is to her, I know how upset she must be right now.

I have no idea how to mend it, though, so I just give her a (hopefully) comforting pat on the knee. "I will look for it, okay?"

Willow sniffles, giving me a stiff nod, but I can tell she doesn't find much comfort in that. After making her promise me she won't do anything rash, I leave the facility and set on a mission to find her necklace.

The only issue is that her necklace is worth a lot of fucking money. If someone else stumbled across it, wherever she lost it, and had any kind of sense... they'd take it and pawn it off. No questions asked. Hell, that's what I'd do. Being a good samaritan or 50,000 dollars? Yeah, I'm selling the necklace every time.

So, the odds are not in her favor. Still, it's only eleven in the morning, so I have the time to look before I have to go to work tonight. That is exactly what I plan on spending today doing, since I don't like it when Willow is upset like this. It... makes it harder for her to do her job. It's not productive, so I'd like to put an end to it.

Except, when I head to the nearest grocery store and ask around, I find nothing. None of the employees have seen it, anywhere. I search every square inch of the floors and find nothing, and eventually, I just have to give up. The grocery store does have a small jewelry section, and I find a plastic necklace that also appears cat themed. It seems to be aimed towards girls aged at least ten years younger than Willow, but I don't want to go back to her empty handed.

So, I buy the bright pink and silver necklace with multiple plastic cat pendants on it, and head back to Willow—making a pit stop for more headphones as well. As soon as I enter the facility, her expression brightens and she's standing up. It's hard to tell what she was doing before, but it was likely something on her computer.

"I didn't find it," I tell her before she can say anything, not wanting to get her hopes up. I watch her sit back down with a frown on her face, and ignore the way that her sadness brings down my mood as well. Despite the fact her mood has not improved at all, I still walk over to her desk and bear the two gifts I do have.

"I did get you new headphones and a placeholder, though." I finish, which seems to pique her interest. I set down the headphones box in front of her, as well as the necklace, and watch her facial expression go completely blank.

"...a placeholder."

"All I could afford off a mortuary assistant's salary, unfortunately."

I watch her stare down at the cardboard and plastic packaging on the necklace, which honestly makes it look more like a toy than anything, and sigh. I'm half expecting her to throw it across the room and call me a dumbass or something, which is why I'm surprised when a small smile begins to form on her face. "Thank you, Camilo."

I honestly was not expecting for this to make her happy at all. I genuinely figured she'd probably insult me, if anything. That didn't deter me, though—I figured that insulting me might make her feel better. She's always loved to give me shit over everything, especially my lack of understanding when it comes to people and emotions.

"I'll still try to find you the real one, okay?" I tell her, despite the fact that I am about 100% sure we will never be seeing that piece of jewelry again. As much as I want her to have her most prized possession back, I'm also fully aware how unlikely that is.

Willow just gives me a simple nod as her only response, and I take my leave a moment later.