“That looks nice,” he said with a smile.
I blushed and played with the end of the shirt.
“Okay, one outfit down.”
I lost track of how many pieces of clothing I put on and showed to Stevens. My stomach grew hungry and as I tried on the last item, a soft pink dress, I could hear it grumbling. I stepped outside to show Stevens and his eyes widened.
“You don’t like this one?” I guessed. I thought I looked cute in it, but this style was different than I thought it should be.
“You look beautiful,” he whispered.
“That’s because she is beautiful,” Gabriella said. “Alright! We’re done. Do you want to wear that one the rest of the day?”
“No, I want to wear the first outfit.” I wasn’t sure I could handle Stevens looking at me like he was all day. I turned around without looking at Stevens again and changed into the other outfit. She grabbed all of the clothes and carried them up to the front where we had first seen her.
Stevens took out the thing that held his paper money and took out a strange plastic rectangle. “What’s that?” I asked curiously.
“That’s a credit card,” he explained.
“What’s it do?”
“It is connected to the bank where all of my money is and lets me use it without carrying all that money around in my pocket.”
“Whoa.”
“It is pretty cool,” he agreed.
Gabriella folded up the clothes and put them in bags and I watched as he slid the card in a device and then pushed buttons on it a few times.
“Thanks for coming,” she said with a wide smile.
“Thanks for your help,” Stevens thanked her.
“Thank you,” I said to her.
“If you need anything else, call me. I’m more than willing to help.”
“Thanks,” Stevens said and grabbed the bags.
“I should carry those,” I told him and reached for them.
“You can carry a few,” he told me.
Why did he want to carry them? Was it because he had used the money from his work?
“Did it cost a lot?” I asked him softly. There were a lot of clothes.
“Don’t worry about it,” he told me adamantly.
“I wish I could work to pay you back,” I said with a sigh.
He laughed. “I appreciate the thought, but it’s okay.”
“Where are we going now?” I asked.
He looked down at the sandals I was wearing and said, “We need to get you a pair of shoes.”
“What’s wrong with my sandals? They’re comfortable.” They were very comfortable. I felt like I had had them my entire life.
“They’re not ideal for running in,” he said.
“I can run perfectly fine in them,” I argued.
“Well, let’s just get you a pair for my sake, okay?”
“Okay.” He was pretty stubborn.
He stepped into a store that had shoes all over the walls. There were so many different shapes and colors and they looked so strange. “Go ahead and take off your sandals,” Stevens said and set the bags he had been carrying on the ground next to a bench.
I sat down on the bench and untied my sandals. Part of me felt like I was taking a piece of myself off, but I did it because Stevens asked me to. I set my sandals on the bench and Stevens brought over a weird metal thing and slid one of my feet onto it. I jerked my foot back from the coldness and he laughed softly. “I know, it’s cold, but if you could just put your foot back on it and stand up, I’ll figure out your size and you can start trying on shoes.”
I did as he asked and he adjusted my foot on it before deciding on something and pulling it out from under my foot. I sat down as he began taking boxes from stacks that were all around the room and carried three over to me. He handed me two brown fuzzy balls and said, “Put those on your feet.”
I looked at the balls and back up at him. “How?”
He laughed and said, “You take things for granted when you’re used to them. Like this.” He pulled the balls out and then slipped my foot inside one of the things. It stretched until it covered my entire foot.
“There are so many weird things,” I whispered.
He put the other one on and then opened a box and put one of the shoes on my foot. It felt restrictive and warm. He put a second shoe on my left foot and said, “Walk around in them a bit and let me know what you think.”
I walked around the store and was surprised at how comfortable they were. I couldn’t feel the ground and as odd as it was, the shoes were soft on the bottoms of my feet. I squatted down and then jumped up and landed on my feet. “Wow, they’re really soft.”
“Does your heel slip in them or do your toes feel squished?”
I shook my head and walked back over to him. He pushed on the end of my big toe and said, “They seem to fit pretty well. Do you like them?” I nodded my head. As much as I felt like I couldn’t let the sandals go, these shoes were way more comfortable. “Can I keep my sandals?” I asked.
He smiled and nodded his head. “Of course.”
He put the other boxes away and went up to give a man the empty box for the shoes I was wearing and gave him the credit card.
I put my sandals inside one of the bags and then picked up a bunch of the bags before he got back. I stood with a smile on my face when he was done. He smiled back and picked up the rest of the bags. “Are you hungry?”
I nodded my head and followed him again. “How big is this building?”
“It’s pretty big, but not the biggest mall. The biggest one is about an hour from here.”
“Why do you need a bigger one?”
“It has more stores and more options for buying items.”
“Who needs so much stuff?” I asked him in shock.
He laughed. “That’s a question people have been asking for a long time.”
The smell of food drifted to me and soon I could see a big area with lots of people and images of food on the walls. “What is this?”
“This is a food court. It’s where you can choose from a few different places to eat.”
“They all sell different foods?” I asked in shock.
“Yeah, that one sells pizza, that one sells burgers, that one sells Chinese food…”
He listed off several other types that I had no idea what they meant and then headed towards the sitting area. He set the bags underneath a table and said, “Why don’t you sit here and save our seat while I get food for us?”
“Okay.”
I sat down in the uncomfortable chair and watched the people around me. There were so many different looking people and all of many different ages. I looked at the different groups of people and wondered if I would ever be able to fit in here. I felt like I didn’t belong here and yet I had to, right? What had happened to make me lose my memory?
“Hi,” a man said from across my table. I didn’t recognize him.
“Hello.”
“Are you alone?”
“Right now, but…”
He sat down before I could finish my sentence. “I’m Jason,” he said, extending his hand out to me.
“Alys,” I said as I stared at his hand. What was I supposed to do with it?
He pulled his hand back and the smile slipped off his face. “Not a hand shaker? It’s cool. So, what’s a beautiful woman like you do here alone?”
“She’s not alone,” Stevens said from behind Jason with a tray of food in his hand.
“Oh, hey Stevens.”
“Markston. What are you doing here?” Stevens asked as he set the food tray down and folded his arms across his chest. He looked angry. Had I done something wrong? Was I not supposed to talk to this guy?
“Today’s my day off, so I thought I would come hang out at the mall,” Jason or Markston or whatever his name actually was, said. “I didn’t know you had a girlfriend,” he said with a smirk as he looked at me. He looked at me a bit longer and then his eyes widened. “I tho
ught I recognized your face! You’re the Jane Doe! Oh, ho, ho, Stevens, you better hope that there isn’t a husband or boyfriend to come and claim her. I always knew you were a sly dog.”
“It’s not like that, Markston, but you’ll think whatever you want anyways,” Stevens said and sat down beside me.
“What’s this?” I asked as I inspected the food.
“This is called pizza,” Stevens said.
Steam was rising from it so I knew it was hot, but he didn’t bring any utensils. “How do you eat it?”
“Wow, she really doesn’t remember anything, does she?” Markston…Jason asked.
“I’m Alys and I’m eighteen,” I told him angrily. “And I don’t think I like you.”
Stevens laughed and Markston just smiled. “She’s a good judge of character at least,” Stevens said.
“Yeah, yeah, laugh it up while you can, Stevens. I’ll see you later. It was nice to meet you, Alys.”
“Bye,” I said as I watched Stevens pick up the pizza and eat it while holding it in his hands.
I copied him and took a bite and chewed. It was chewy, cheesy and really good.
“Do you like it?” he asked.
I nodded my head and took another bite. “Yes.”
“Good,” he said happily.
We ate in silence a bit and then I asked, “Stevens? Was I not supposed to talk to him?”
“Who? Markston?”
I nodded my head.
He set his pizza down and sighed. “We tell children not to talk to strangers, but that’s because they could lie to them and steal them away. I don’t think you would fall for that, but it’s still better to be safe than sorry.”
“You don’t like him, do you?”
He shrugged. “He’s an alright guy. I just know he likes to play the field.”
“Huh?” What did that mean?
He rubbed the back of his neck, his sign that he was uncomfortable. “He sleeps with a lot of different women.”
I think he was referring to the other thing, not sleeping, but I didn’t ask him to clarify. “I wouldn’t do that with him anyway,” I mumbled as I played with my plate.
“Oh? He’s not your type, huh?”
“He’s got some crazy in his eyes that I don’t like.” Stevens laughed and I felt stupid. “That’s not something people normally say, is it?”
“Some people say that, but it’s just surprising to hear you say it.”
“Sorry,” I mumbled.
“You don’t need to apologize. You didn’t say anything wrong.”
“Do you think I’ll learn to fit back in here?” I asked him.
“I think you’re already doing a great job.”
A group of people started yelling loudly and Stevens turned towards it. “Maybe we should go,” I suggested.
Two very loud bangs sounded from where the arguing was going on and people instantly started screaming in fear. Stevens had his gun in his hand, our table turned on its side, and had pulled me behind it before I knew what was happening. People started running away from the food court in all different directions with fear on their faces. I felt afraid even though I wasn’t sure what the sound had been and wanted to yell someone’s name for help, but the name wouldn’t come. My head started hurting and I clutched it tightly. Why did I want to yell someone’s name when I was afraid? Who was it? Was there someone who usually protected me?
Stevens peeked over the top of the table and said, “I want you to stay here, okay?”
I nodded my head and he moved from behind our table. “Put the weapon down,” Markston shouted.
“Nice and easy, boys,” Stevens said.
Some other guys started yelling and then there were more bangs. I clenched my teeth as I fought to yell and wished I could at least remember who I wanted to yell for and why! Did I have a boyfriend or someone who protected me?
There was a silence that scared me even more than the bangs. I leaned out just enough to see around the table and exhaled in relief when I saw Stevens walking forward. At least he was okay. He talked with someone and so did Markston and then a few minutes later Stevens squatted down in front of me.
“Are you okay?” he asked me.
I nodded my head. “You?”
“Yeah, I’m fine.” He looked sad and relief overwhelmed me. I wrapped my arms around his neck in a hug and he hugged me back. “It’s going to be a little while before we leave. They’re sending some guys over and I’ll have to give a statement. They’ll probably want a statement from you too.”
I nodded my head, but didn’t let go. He hugged me a bit longer and then stood up. “What’s a statement?”
“You tell them what you saw and heard,” he explained, set the table back up right and moved the chairs back. “You can sit here if you want.”
“Can I stay with you?” I asked him in a whisper.
He smiled and nodded his head. Without asking, I grabbed his hand and stayed right next to his side as he walked towards the other side of the food court. There was a man sitting with his hands behind his back and another man lying on the ground, both with Markston watching them closely.
I stared at the man lying on the ground and realized. “He’s dead, isn’t he?”
Stevens nodded his head. “He aimed his gun at Markston to shoot him.”
“Did he shoot him?” I asked in shock.
He shook his head. “No, we shot him first.”
“Good.”
He looked at me in shock. “Good?”
I nodded my head. “Bad people shouldn’t be allowed to kill good people.”
“It’s never good to kill anyone.”
“If it’s the bad people or the good people, then you always choose the good people to live,” I said. I wasn’t sure why I was so adamant about this, but I was. “I don’t think you should feel bad about saving Markston’s life.”
“I don’t feel bad about saving him, but I do feel bad about killing that guy.”
“Why?”
“Because he is dead. He won’t be able to do anything else with his life.”
“He’s the one who shot the first shots, right?”
“Yes, he shot the other man who is sitting there.”
“So, you saved Markston and probably that man from getting shot again. You saved two people by killing one bad person. If he had lived, he could have killed more people. He could have killed you or me.”
Stevens’ jaw clenched. “I’m glad you weren’t sitting closer to him.”
“Me too.”
Several men in outfits like Stevens had worn earlier came towards us. Some went to Markston and the men and some came towards us.
“Stevens,” one of the men greeted while the rest stared at me curiously. I resisted the urge to hide behind him. The man smiled at me. “Hello, Alys.”
“Hi,” I whispered and gripped Stevens’ hand harder. He rubbed his thumb across my hand.
“We need to get your statements,” the man said.
Stevens nodded his head and started to walk away with the man, but I wouldn’t let go of his hand. The other three men were still just staring at me. He looked at the men and said, “Don’t harass her while I’m gone.” They nodded their heads. “Alys, you need to stay over here. We have to give our statements separately.”
“I don’t want to stay here,” I whispered as softly as I could.
“They’re not going to hurt you. They’re just curious about you.”
“They’re staring at me.”
“Well, you are very interesting.”
I didn’t want to. I didn’t want to stay here with these strange men while he went away. He pulled his hand out of mine and smiled reassuringly at me before walking away. I wrapped my arms around myself, digging my hand into my armpit and stared at the ground.
“Would you like to sit down?” one of the men asked me.
I nodded my head without looking at them. There was a loud scraping sound and then a chair in front of me. I sat in it and
continued to stare at the ground. I could feel their gazes on me. It was peculiar.
“Can you believe that the one afternoon he takes off, he runs into some crap like this?” one of them asked.
“He always seems to run into trouble when he takes time off,” another said.
“You think she really doesn’t remember anything or is she just lying because she is running from something or someone?” the third one asked.
I looked up and glared at the three of them since I didn’t know who had said what. “If I was making it up, I wouldn’t stay at a cop’s house,” I snapped. “Or your systems should have found me with those fingerprint things and photo.”
“You can’t just have appeared out of thin air,” the middle one said with an attitude. “Everyone has to get a birth certificate and social. You’re way too old to have bypassed all systems.”
“Maybe she is an alien,” the one on the right said with a laugh.
“No, the hospital would have noticed when they tested her blood,” the left one said.
“I’m not an alien.” I didn’t think. What was an alien?
“She speaks pretty good English,” the one on the right said.
“I’m a fast learner,” I whispered and turned away from them.
“Or just a good liar.”
“I thought I told you not to harass her,” Stevens said angrily as he walked towards me.
“We were just talking to her,” the rude one said.
“I’m not lying,” I snapped at him and stood up out of the chair.
“Alys, I need to get your statement now. Can you follow me?” the man who had greeted us initially asked.
I followed him silently and heard Stevens speaking angrily to the three men. Jerks. The man sat down and I sat across from him.
“Alright, why don’t you tell me what happened?” he asked as he pushed the button on a device and started writing on a piece of paper.
“What’s that?” I asked and pointed at the device.
“It’s a recorder; it will record what we say so I can play it back later if I need to.”
Magic and Shadows: A Collection of YA Fantasy and Paranormal Romances Page 133
