Chapter 3: Medieval Man
New York,
The same day
Eliana's heart was pounding.
She was scared, but she was more afraid of what that man can do to the innocent people in the mall. She doesn't know why she's running after him. She moved out of her stubborn curiosity and impulsive decisioning.
She managed to make her way to the ground floor. Running fast to ride on escalator to escalator. She impatiently bumped unto people on the last ride, it was crowded compared to the ones she went through just seconds ago.
Halfway through, she scanned the floor, still in midair, until her target was spotted.
There he was!
He wasn't running as he was a while ago, now he was speed walking. He entered one of the boutiques. Eliana, refusing to let this man out of her sight, doubled her speed. Pushing the people away as softly as she can while muttering apologies along the way, she was frantic.
Within a few seconds, she stepped on the ground floor, wasting no time she hurriedly followed the man inside the boutique. She whipped her head from side to side in a panicked manner urgent to catch his location.
It was odd.
No one seemed to notice about a man in knight-like clothes with a sword. Everything was normal.
Breathing heavily, she lowered her head touching her forehead. Baffled and lost in thought at the same time. She was certain she saw him. His clothes stick out from the crowd, of course, she would notice him. To prove she wasn't just seeing things, she once again, looked around.
Not a minute passed by, the dressing room caught her attention as she walked by it. She could not explain it but she felt something, an energy of sort, oozing from the first stall among the rooms in the dressing area.
Something was not right.
Hesitant and cautious, she took careful steps. Gulping, her eyes widened when she heard a low growl. Confirming her thoughts, the unusual aura was there, among the stalls. She immediately thought of the weird man.
She heard sounds.
Growling, stashing, whimpering, banging, howling, and finally a sheath of sharp metal before the noise died down. The noise gave her an idea. Something was in there, fighting. With all the howls she heard, she thought of a dog facing torture
In the mall? That is beyond odd and cruel!
Eliana stood trembling in front of the stall. She was unsure what to make out of the situation. Should she call security? A staff? Or confront it herself before raising a ruckus.
Needless to say, Eliana picked the last option. Her shaking hands reached for the knob. She gulped down, hoping her fear would go along with it. The fear of the unknown was inevitable.
Before she could push, it was suddenly yanked from the inside freezing her in surprise. Eliana found herself in a staring battle with the man she was running after just a couple of minutes earlier.
Eliana's widened gaze caught a purple smoke behind the man. She tore her eyes away from the man and found herself staring at a dog-like beast sprawled on the floor.
Laying on the ground was a four-legged animal Eliana had never seen before. The creature, having all-black fur, with an open mouth its tongue dangling out and jet black eyes were slowly evaporating into thin air. It was smoking the colour violet.
That was when Eliana noticed, the creature's neck was cut halfway through. Purple liquid bleeding out, the creature's blood. It was a horrific scene for a 17-year-old girl. She was speechless and terrified- for the lack of a better word.
"H-how-"
"You can see."
Eliana took a step back from the terrifying scene, speechless still. The man had a frown on his face, he held his sword in his right hand, the other hand freely dangling on his side. His sword had purple goos, it was thick and viscous and was smoking violet opacity.
It doesn't take a genius to comprehend what the man was doing in that stall. He killed the creature. Eliana was certain of it.
"Wh-who are y-you?" Eliana horrified and confused, still managed to question through stammers.
The man, with a passive face, stared at her with eyes of wonder.
Now that he's up close, Eliana noticed his features. He looked older than her by a decade, maybe around his early 30's. He was a firm man with a strong body built. Like those warriors, she'd seen on televisions. He looks very strong, strong enough to crush her if she doesn't act fast and run away now.
The man took a step forward which resulted in Eliana taking a step back. She was terrified. Nobody can tell what this man can do, he just killed an unidentified animal.
"You-" The man started. Eliana's breath hitched on her throat, "You must be killed."
Before he could raise his sword, Eliana sprinted. She feared for her life, she never imagined she would find herself in this situation, inside a mall, she might add. She just wanted to have fun, but that thought is gravely impossible now.
She ran by adrenaline, leaving the boutique.
Frantic, scared, overwhelmed, and panicking.
She couldn't describe what to feel while running. All she knew was, she needs to get away from that man. Her legs were shaking.
Afraid he might catch her, she turned to look back, and true to that he was a mere meter away from her. And by his speed, he was closing in the gap fast. She panicked hard once again and ran faster.
Because Eliana wasn't looking forward in front she crashed against someone so hard they both fell harshly.
"Ugh!"
Eliana unluckily crashed her butt on the floor, the pain coming like lightning. She rolled over her stomach clutching her rear with a grunt.
"Goodness! Watch where you're going! Don't run around the mall like it's a park!" The lady she collided with met the same fate on the floor, only she stumbled down softly compared to Eliana.
"I'm sorry," Eliana managed in between whimpers. Her butt took all her weight when she landed down. "I apologize." She breathed, the pain was subsiding in slug pace.
After more than 30 seconds she was able to stand back to her feet, with the help of a few kind people of course. She thanked them fully embarrassed from the accident.
Eliana remembering her dilemma looked around. Fear rose again ignoring her throbbing butt. Her pocket vibrated. She fished out the ringing phone from her pocket and answered the call, her eyes still searching for the man. She couldn't afford to let her guard down.
"Eliana! God, where the hell are you?!" It was Zoey, on the other line with a frustrated voice.
Eliana was stupefied. She forgot her friend! After the incident she got herself into, her mind left to remember Zoey. But who could blame Eliana?
"Zoey! Crap, I'm so sorry." She apologized with pure guilt. "Where are you? I-I'll go come to you." She bit her lower lip. She was scared and cautious but she refused to let Zoey know.
There was a scoff followed by a long sigh on the other line.
"Just tell me where you are, I'll come to you."
"I'm on the ground floor, by the grand piano." The line was cut.
Her eyes were still searching. A couple of minutes passed by, and she was still on guard for the man. Just when Eliana was about to conclude safety, she felt an intense gaze. Her eyes followed her gut.
And there he was, standing in the middle of the crowd. He still held a hard gaze and was looking straight at Eliana. He was about ten meters away from her.
This scared Eliana.
But suddenly, braveness spiked in her, she didn't know where it came from. Albeit confused by her sudden feeling, she took a few steps forward towards the guy. She wanted to confront the man.
She was cut short when a hand clutched on her shoulder from the side. "Eli! You shouldn't go off like that!" Zoey exclaimed.
This brought Eliana to transfer her attention to Zoey. She faced her. She was dazed, "Oh, Zoey." Composing herself she cracked a smile which failed to meet her eyes. "I'm really sorry. I saw a thing from down here and I couldn't help myself." She wasn't lying, but she wasn't telling the whole truth either. It was better that way.
Zoey sighed. "Alright, we're both beat. Let's go home."
Eliana nodded and smiled weakly.
Zoey slipped her hand around Eliana's elbow. They turned their backs opposite from the man's direction. Eliana was still worried and scared. She carefully twisted her neck to look behind, hoping to see the man.
He was gone.