Recovering Our Own

Chapter Twelve: The Mall

On the third day they were in Vancouver, Kallan awoke to sunlight streaming through the curtains. For the past few days, not much had been done. They spent most of their time treating it like a vacation, sleeping in and enjoying the comforts of being away from the frantic hustle of Totus Islands. So far, contact with humans had been avoided since the restaurant incident. But on this day, Raidah had different plans.

"Get up!"

Still half asleep, Kallan rolled over and immediately fell of her bed. After spending 10 minutes trying to untangle her legs from the sheets, she went downstairs to the kitchen. Raidah stood at the stove, flipping pancakes.

"What took you do long? Hurry up, get a plate."

In answer, Kallan gave a sort of grunt, and shuffled over to the cupboard. "What's all the rush?" she asked in a groggy morning voice, words slurring together.

"We have work to," Raidah said.

"You found a lead?"

"No." Raidah flipped a pancake over a few times before setting it down on Kallan's plate. "Maple syrups right there."

Kallan drizzled syrup onto her pancake. "Let why do we have to get up so early?"

"Early?" Raidah snorted. "Back home you would've woken up three hours ago. It's eight thirty."

"But what work do we have that can't wait until later?"

"It's already waited long enough. Hurry up and eat!"

"But what are we doing?" Kallan took a bite of maple-syrup-soaked pancakes. "These are good. I didn't know you could cook!"

"Yeah, well, there's a lot you don't know about me," Raidah said. "And as for what we're doing today, there's one thing you should know about me by now, and that's that I think to keep some things a surprise."

That's for sure, Kallan thought, but said nothing else after that. They ate breakfast in silence. When they had finished eating, Kallan showered, got dressed, and generally got ready to go out. I don't need to bore you with all that. At 9:49 am exactly, Raidah drove up into the mall parking lot.

"What're we doing here?" Stepping out of the car, Kallan

"Shopping! Obviously. I take advantage of the low prices every time I'm out in the world of humans, and it's been fifteen years! My wardrobe needs replenishing."

"This is what you woke me up early for? Couldn't it have waited until the afternoon?"

"Absolutely not! For one thing, it's not even ten yet and look how crowded it is. Secondly, the sale at ends at noon." Locking the car, Raidah turned on her heel and walked towards the building. "You coming?" she called over her shoulder.

Kallan ran to catch up. Once inside, Kallan froze. She felt as if the masses of humans surrounding her were all staring. Those two teen girls whispering over in the corner? Had they just glanced at her? Did they see, through her carefully done concealer, a sign of her tattoos?

"Are you alright?" Raidah gently tapped her shoulder, and Kallan jumped at the touch.

"I'm fine."

"You sure?" She reached out and placed the palm of her hand on Kallan's forehead. "You're sweating."

"Yeah, it's just, uh, little warm in here."

"Really? I thought the air conditioning made it a bit cold."

"Oh, well, uh, not for me!" Kallan gave a small strangled smile.

"Okay. If you're not feeling well, just let me know okay?" Raidah said, eyebrows creasing.