Soon after their departure from the little store with many strange items, they found their way into a popular cafe. It was normally empty at this time, perfect for the two to make a pitstop for a few minutes.
A younger looking woman lacked her heels towards them, her notepad swinging in the air and pencil twirling through the air trying to make a little spectacle in front of Noir. ''Maria''. It was written on her nameplate loosely hung on her black apron just above her cleavage.
'We aren't-' Priscilla was quickly silenced by Noir, his head turning to the waiter.
'We would love two hot chocolates and a strawberry parfait. Thank you very much, Miss Maria.' He dropped a sneaky wink in her direction, all he got back was a playful slap across his shoulder from the giggling barista.
Noir searched his pockets looking for his smartphone. His phone bobbed up and down as he scrolled what seemed to be thousands of times looking for the trending app ''TIKTAK''. The back of his phone displayed the famous brand known for overcharging for the same features of other phones.
'Here it is!' He excitedly turned the phone around and showed her a random video of a puppy barking like a human, absolutely losing his mind over it.
Another of a clown tripping down the stairs.
One of a man saying fresh avocado wrong.
And it continued until he started complaining about his facial muscles being sore from smiling. 'Mind if I go to the bathroom?' Big puppy eyes staring at Priscilla. 'Why would you ask me??'
'It's more fun that way. Anyway, be right back.' He danced a little on the way through the narrow path between tables, even attempting to moonwalk. Priscilla giggled, her eyes scanning the table now that he had left. A burning curiosity rose like a fire inside her as she snatched the phone to look for his contact information.
While it originally was a fun idea she quickly grew concerned, his entire feed being full of cats, even his personal profile was filled with a black cat that looked very familair. She switched over to Witchtagram to see if maybe it was different than X-sorcism, but it was all the same, maybe he just really loves cats, she thought.
Bored quickly overwhelmed her from just scrolling on his feed, an idea popped into his head to check his dms. Surely something juicy was hiding in the messages of a hot and tall man that loved cats. And technically she was right, endless messages from accounts that all had animals as their profile pictures. However one stuck out to her...
Priscilla's hands stopped, shaking with confusion seeing Lucia's profile in his messages. Something told her to click on the chat, look at what business he had with Lucia, or at least make sure it was really her and not just some look alike. After all, it didn't have her name on the account, just a picture of a similar-looking woman, in a clothing style that didn't suit Lucia. Her tag read ''Xx_ShinyLuminosity_xX''. Maybe a few years ago that would have been seen as cool but now it is quite...cringe.
'Let's see, anything interesting?' She clicked on the chat, dozens of messages as recent as today, pictures of the scenery and the shop we were inside of. Even of Priscilla, a single picture of the young girl looking back with her pizza halfway in her mouth. She deleted it instantly from his phone, no one should have access to it.
''I am still with her.'' Texted Noir at around the time we had been wandering on the street after the strange antique store where she had bought the cards.
''Does she suspect you?'' Priscilla was confused at the lady's question, what would she suspect Noir for? Worry filled her chest, slowly crawling to her head.
''No, we will meet you at the designated spot.'' Noir responded to the lady. Priscilla could not sit around anymore, picking up her bag and heading for the door swiftly before he could stop her. The street had cleared out a little bit, enough to lightly jog, finding her way into the grocery store. The warm aircon unit blasted her face, she was tempted to sit under it for a few minutes but continued walking through looking for the cheap clothes section. If she were to escape this lunatic she would have to go undercover.
Her hands picked up a pair of sunglasses and a tacky rainbow scarf, a light brown trench coat found its way into the basket and a bucket hat similar to what her father wore during fishing trips. The look was complete, she wasn't a fashionista but it would get the job done.
'Will that be cash or card?' The clerk asked politely.
'Card please.' Priscilla prayed that Noir had mobile pay on his phone.
The screen flashed with a green tick and she was out of there before the clerk could finish her sentence. Compared to before she now looked much more suspicious, still not enough to grab the crowd's attention, but she was riding on the fact that maybe Noir would be the same. Without a direction, she headed to the only place she was familiar with, home. Her mother would be at work and her father had to travel out of state after checking up on her earlier. They had always kept a spare key in the back under the gnome that was pulling his pants down by the bird feeder.
It would be a long trip since it was on the opposite side of town, she wondered whether getting a snack would make it pass faster but decided against it, there was no time to play around when Noir was meant to deliver her to some kind of designated place. A hot dog stand sat on the corner of the street, its fresh aroma wafting through the air, tempting Priscilla to grab a bite. Theatres sat close to each other, gossiping teens talking about the latest romance movie that was trending at the box office, one even that Priscilla had wanted to watch.
'Perfect, the spell is working.' She spoke from a nearby rooftop, watching Priscilla being swayed by temptations that weren't really there. Lucia looked across the roof, the black cat running around in circles meowing like a madman. 'Hush, you had your chance to do it right.'
'Meow!'
'Don't talk to me like that. I wouldn't have to punish you if you got the job done!' She snapped at the little kitten who no longer had the will to argue.
Meanwhile, the world was starting to get blurry for Priscilla, her head was spinning and voices started echoing through her mind. She leaned against a lightpost trying to keep her balance, an idea had come to her mind but she had to get to a pharmacy. An imaginary beam of light shone down at the green cross across the street, she dashed across the busy street with cars honking loudly at the idling traffic, her hand slapping one while jumping out of the way. Her face hit the concrete pavement just in front of the store, glasses cracked in one lens.
The door beeped as she walked inside, two clerks who had been chatting in the back looked at her, instantly grabbing for tissues. 'Miss, please clean the blood from your nose with these!'
'I don't have time for that, do you guys sell nausea pills?' The two clerks looked at each other before retrieving a box from a shelf in the back. 'Take one a day only, if you keep getting problems we advise you to visit a doctor.'
'Thanks.' Priscilla walked over to the counter, the number displayed read ''0.99'', or at least that's what she could see, the pills hadn't taken effect yet.
'0.99 cents? What a bargain.' She tapped the phone against the card reader and walked outside of the store, the faint voices of the two clerks screaming that it actually cost 10.99 muffled by the busy street. A weird avocado aftertaste lingered in her mouth, not even the complimentary bottle of water she was given could wash away the taste. Her mind wandered as she sat on a bench looking at the sky growing darker by the second, just how long had she been out today?
A sea of people walked by, not batting an eye at the strangely dressed girl sitting on a bench alone in the middle of town. To her, right was a black cat, but all she could see was the handsome Noir, her head turned left where Lucia had sat beside her.
'Medicine of that level does not affect my hallucinogenic spell. Solid attempt. Take her Noir!' The cat's figure shifted, turning into the handsome man Priscilla had met just several hours earlier.
'Where to Lucia?' His snarky voice shook from Priscilla's weight hitting his back.
'Straight to the altar, it's time.'