Anastasia couldn't take her eyes off the little boy. He was so cute and innocent. She walked towards the little panda who was resting his head on Esmeralda's shoulder and stretched forth her hand towards him.
Ezekiel raised his head and looked at Anastasia's hands that was stretched forth. He then turned his head to look at the expressionless woman as if asking her for permission.
Esmeralda saw this and nodded at the little boy. She was surprised he was seeking her permission before allowing Anastasia to touch him. A look of amusement settled on her face but quickly disappeared. She handed the little panda to Anastasia who carried the boy carefully.
"He's so cute!" Anastasia squealed and felt like pinching the boy's chubby cheeks. He was too adorable.
Kyle felt pity for the boy. His sister was just too much! Didn't she know she was scaring the little boy with her actions? He opened his mouth to say something but was interrupted by Esmeralda who glared at him. Her expression was frightening and she gave off that bone chilling aura. She was practically daring him to say something to ruin Anastasia's moment but the big man knew better than to say anything, so he turned his head to another direction to escape her sight.
"Ezekiel, where is your uncle?"
Anastasia asked. Her hands were playing with the little panda's hair. After the little tale Kyle had told her about this little boy she was so eager to see him. The boy who made friends with an expressionless, uncaring ice statue. She couldn't take her gaze off the little boy.
Ezekiel turned his head to look at Anastasia and found a weird expression on her beautiful face. He didn't care about the expression and lay his small head on her shoulder. He was exhausted from all the running. Now he thought about the question his body trembled. All the excitement from seeing his friend, auntie Snow White, disappeared and fear took over. He clunged to Anastasia with a tightly.
"Is anything the matter?"
Esmeralda walked forward and placed her hand on the little boy's head and then his back. She rubbed him there, trying her best to comfort him.
Kyle who noticed the scene frowned and a look of worry settled on his face. Did something happen to the boy some minutes ago to make him this scared?
Feeling that the little boy's once trembling body relaxed, Esmeralda began her question using a soft and warm voice.
"Ezekiel, what happened?"
"Auntie Snow White," Ezekiel started trying to sound okay but the siblings could hear the shaky voice of the little boy. " Some men were trying to kidnap me but luckily, they couldn't catch me because I ran away. But they followed me here."
Though the little boy didn't start from the beginning of the story, he just stated some of the main facts which was helpful.
Kyle was about to say something but he was interrupted by some hurried footsteps coming towards their direction. The men stopped in front of him and panted heavily. The biggest of the lot stared at Kyle with an angry expression.
"You! Did you see any little boy run into this shop just now?"
Kyle frowned and turned around to find the people behind him gone. How could they have disappeared so fast?
"Hey! I'm talking to you!"
He heard the hoarse voice and turned his head back to the man who stared at him with a killing intent. Kyle shook his head at the man's question and watch the group run further into the store. Averting his attention from them he head a sound coming from his phone. He looked at his phone and saw a message from Anastasia. She told him to come back to the parking lot and they were waiting for him. Kyle wondered how they reached the parking lot so fast.
******
"I have to say, you guys are something else. How did you get outside so fast."
Kyle asked as he approached his siblings who were busy with their beverage in hand. He noticed that the little boy was no where to be seen, so he wanted to ask but was interrupted by Anastasia.
"We came out through the back door after we changed Ezekiel's outfit."
"And where is he?"
"In the car. We were waiting for you so that we can leave."
Esmeralda tossed her empty cup of coffee into the trashcan and walked towards the car waiting for them. Her siblings hurried after her and entered the car, but before they could leave the premises they saw the group of men running out of the mall and looking around frantically.
Kyle let out a sigh and felt a small hand on his cheek. He turned towards the owner and saw Ezekiel looking at him with his big doe eyes.
"Uncle Kyle, are you okay?"
Kyle couldn't say anything to the boy so he could only nod and offer a small smile. Ezekiel smiled back and returned to his seat. He placed his head on Esmeralda's thigh and suddenly fell asleep.
Esmeralda looked at the little boy for a long time and then ran her hand through his dark locks.
"So what now?"
Anastasia asked. She was wondering what their next step would be regarding the little boy. Just now, he was almost kidnapped by a group of ugly men and she didn't have the heart to leave him alone except if he was in the hands of his family.
"We'll take him home. And then I'll call his uncle." Esmeralda stated, her hand never leaving Ezekiel's head.
"His home or ours?"
"Ours."
"Why can't we drop him at his?"
Kyle didn't understand why they needed to bring Ezekiel to their house. Wasn't it better they to take him back to the Stone's residence? Then again, who was he to argue against his sister's words?
"Guess we will have to postpone our shopping for tomorrow."
Anastasia said not aware of the eyes glaring at her from behind.