Nearly every shop, store or booth was ransacked by whatever hooligan crawled in here. It looked like someone actually swung on one of the chandeliers, vases, plates, pots and all sorts of other breakable objects were smashed, empty tin cans of cat food were almost everywhere, clothes and costumes were also messily piled up in one corner and heck, one of the king-sized beds looked as if an elephant stepped on it.
I could go on all day about what an awful mess this place was but that would be boring now wouldn't it? I continued walking silently through the supermarket and then nearly tripped on a cannister of powdered milk; a bunch of other cans rolled all over the place. Of course, it was obvious who did this. I sighed heavily as I straightened myself up and inspected one of the cans; popped open and dented. I then continued moving, and that's when I heard a voice.
"You better watch out, you better not cry! You better not pout, it doesn't really matter I'm telling you why. Santa Clause ain't coming to town!" a rather high-pitched voice sung.
No. Don't tell me. I glanced around quickly. This? This mess was all made by a girl? And from the way she sounded, it didn't seem like she was a day over twelve.
I tried my best to listen and made my way through the seemingly endless aisles of food, detergents, tools, and whatnot.
And eventually found myself a couple feet away from the person whom the voice belonged to; she was short, like me. Had short, pink hair with cute little bangs, a light dusting of freckles and lightly tanned skin. If I were to guess her age, I'd say about thirteen to fifteen?
She was an odd mix of grace and extreme weirdness. Why? She danced and sung beautifully whilst eating a cup of strawberry yoghurt and was apparently wearing nothing but pastel pink lingerie, a pair of thigh high socks and a feathered brooch in her hair!
I almost burst out laughing. I put my hand over my mouth and managed to suppress my laughter. This is just so fucking priceless, it's damn beautiful!
She spun one more time and suddenly faced the direction where I was standing just a few feet away, then she froze.
But before I could utter a single word she dashed the other way, with a white cat following close behind.
******
Shit! There's another person here?! I couldn't believe it! I managed to find some cover behind a nearby freezer, my heart beating faster and breath short. I tossed the spoon aside and ran my hand through my hair. Is it possible that there are others as well?
Then maybe this whole thing didn't happen because of my wish? Perhaps it could have been something else!
No time to think. I leaned over to check if whoever that was followed me; looks like I lost him... Or her?
It was hard to tell; I only got a chance to look for a second before I panicked and had my legs carry me here.
The coast was clear so I got up on my feet, only to find myself stumbling forwards a few seconds later because of Vincent who I hadn't noticed was right there at my feet.
I apologised to the cat before straightening myself up. As I turned the other way I almost fell backwards again upon seeing the guy or girl again; it's kinda hard for me to tell what this dude's gender is, like he looks like a girl with that hairdo, shoulder-length platinum blonde hair tired into two low ponytails. He's quite petite and only slightly taller than I am... I think. He's got a bit of a baby face, skin was pale-ish and his clothes were definitely that of a guy's; ripped jeans, dark blue checkered, long-sleeved polo and a white t-shirt underneath. He also had a black satchel slung over his right shoulder and wore a pair of white sneakers.
A trap perhaps? He's one of the cutest "girls" I've ever seen. He cleared his throat and spoke. "Are you the only one around here?"
That voice most definitely belonged to a male... Yep, he's a trap. I don't know I if I should tell him, usually in those zombie apocalypse movies they show humans to be really untrustworthy... And I do have some experience with them myself.
"What's it to you?" I replied, crossing my arms. The boy laughed and said, "Zephyr, and you are?"
Should I tell him my real name? I wondered for a moment then went eh, fuck it! "Aisling." I replied.
"So... Ashe? Can I call you that?"
I shrugged, "I dunno, can you?"
"Great! That your cat?" he asked, pointing at Vincent. I nodded in reply. A moment of silence before my face went red as I realised. He's most definitely a guy, and I'm here just standing a few feet away from him, practically naked! I gasped and crouched behind the freezer.
I heard him chuckle, "Quite a performance, I must say--unlike any other I've seen before!"
I frowned, was that meant to be an insult or a compliment? I scoffed, "Find something else to look at, you perv!"
"Oh?" he spoke, "Perv? Well I'd never! You're the one who ran around the mall in your lingerie. I merely walked in while you were doing your thing."
I gulped... That is true, well I did that only because I figured, since I'm the only one here, I can do whatever I wanted--but I guess that wasn't the case.
I sighed exasperatedly and asked, "Am I the only other person you've met recently?"
"Yes."
So he's alone? Why should I believe what this stranger says!? I glanced at Vincent who stared at me, wide-eyed; he doesn't seem angry or anything, nor did he care about this guy. That's good isn't it? Vincent usually hisses or gets all cranky when he's people other than me or my sisters and mum.
Okay then. I took a quick look around and took notice of an empty sack of rice. In an instant I grabbed it and used it to cover the rest of my body. I then stood up straight and faced him.
"Just give me a minute."
*****
After about thirty minutes of fishing for my clothes, I grabbed a waffle from a random food stand then went to meet Zephyr outside at the entrance. By the time I arrived it was already 9 pm.
As soon as I was at arm's length, he grabbed me and proceed to drag me to the parking lot. It wasn't long before I jerked and took his hand off my arm, backed away a little and hissed, "What the hell are you doing?!"
His brows furrowed as he turned to me. He put his index finger over his lips, "Shh! We never know if they're nearby."
I stared at him incredulously, "They?"
He shushed me again and shifted his head from left to right then gestured for me to follow him, "I'll explain later!"
Okay, now I'm extremely confused. He said I was the first person he ran into earlier but now he's acting as if we're being followed. By what? I wondered, curious and wanted to ask more questions but decided against it. Zephyr ran past the other cars in the parking lot, with me trailing right behind him.
He then stopped abruptly when we came across a black SUV. Zephyr jutted his head towards it saying, "Get in!" before scurrying over to the driver's seat.
Now this is starting to scare me. He can drive? What are we running away from? And why now of all times? Couldn't we have left in the morning?
"Hey!" I called out.