Chapter-19: Shopping

Sya's POV: I think I'm going to die. No, no wait. I think I might've dropped a lung back on the escalators. 'Oh my God, would you look at this dress, Sy? It's so gorgeous! Red really brings out my eyes. I'm so getting this one," Hannah said as she twirled around in front of the mirror, holding a red strapless dress. I helplessly stared at the more than ten shopping bags in my hands. 'Hannah! I'm kind of dying- here." She noticed how the bags were killing me and quickly grabbed half of them from my hands. 'Better?" I nodded before looking at the clock, 'The dress is lovely. Now can we please get something to eat? I'm starving!" We'd arrived at the mall around five and it was almost seven now. Hannah had me walk around the entire building twice, since it had only two functioning floors, and she'd bought at least five different outfits, bags, and shoes. Jewelry separate. I'd gotten myself a new pair of sneakers and some dresses. She pouted, 'You're no fun!" 'Do you do this to Bryson too?" I asked incredulously. She grinned as she handed the dress to the salesgirl. 'Not only does he hold all the bags but he rarely ever complains." I mouthed a ‘wow'. Hats off to the guy for being this tolerant. 'Okay let's go. I'm done." She smiled as she took her last purchase of the day. "You know, you could've just let the boys come with us," I told her as we stepped out of the store. Even though it was Hannah who had created all that ruckus when she insisted she wanted to go shopping, she'd still kicked the guys out of the plan, claiming this as a ‘girls day out'. 'I just wanted to spend some time with you Sy," she smiled. 'Your persistence literally put me on the spot with my boyfriend!" I cried. 'Oh yeah? And what about how you put me on the spot with mine?" she gave me a pointed look. 'Oh. How'd that go?" I asked laughing as we walked towards the escalators. 'Bryson got all jealous and almost punched Greg. I had to grab his hands to stop him," she shivered, probably remembering what happened. 'I'm still surprised, though. How could Greg not have known about me and Bryson dating? I mean, we're together almost every day." 'Tell me about it. The amount of cheese you two drip, I could've made him a pizza," I commented, as we made our way to the exit. She narrowed her eyes, 'Anyway, what are you in the mood for?" 'Ooh! I really want a cheeseburger!" I exclaimed, excited that I'd finally get something to eat. 'Okay then. Novu it is!" As we entered the parking lot, I felt nature calling me. 'Hey, why don't you take these to the car? I have to run to the bathroom real quick." I handed her the bags and ran back. Since the bathrooms on the ground and first floors were out of order, I had to go all the way to the second floor. I wasn't in a hurry so I went up anyway. The escalators had stopped working, which was odd, so I had to run up the emergency staircase. The second floor was completely empty since it was still under construction. I guess they were going to make the food court here. I quickly went to the far corner and entered the bathroom. It was eerily quiet and dimly lit. After I was done, I washed my hands and stepped into the hallway. Everything was suddenly so dark and secluded. The perfect horror movie set up. A shiver ran down my spine and my heartbeat quickened. As I began walking, several of the lights flickered. I have a really bad feeling about this. I pulled my phone out of my pocket but before I could take another step forward, a hand grabbed my shoulder in a steely grip. I shrieked as I fell back on the ground. My phone flew from my hand and clattered somewhere in the dark. Fear engulfed my entire existence as I looked through my hair. The sound of a rod being dragged on the ground echoed off the walls of the empty hallway. I watched helplessly as the dark figure raised it over his head and then swung it down. It collided with my skull with a sickening thud and darkness overcame me. *~*~*~*~*~* Hannah's POV After Sya left to go to the bathroom, I dragged the bags to the car and put them into the backseat. One toppled over and fell on the floor but I had no energy to pick it up so I just closed the door. The weather was fine today. In fact, it looked like it was going to rain. I shivered slightly, rubbing my naked arms and shoulders. I was very inconveniently wearing a sleeveless deep green colored blouse and white jeans. The wind blew through my hair, which I had decided to wear straight today. I smirked as I remembered how Bryson had loved them. He wouldn't leave them alone all day, one hand continuously playing with them. As I leaned against the car, my thoughts flew over to my best friend. She looked so happy now. Not now but ever since she'd started dating Kane. She'd gone through so much, ever since she was a child. Her horrid aunt and cousin had put her through so much. Many times, I had asked her why she hadn't left that awful house before but she wouldn't tell me, changing the topic instead. It hurt me a bit, that she was hiding stuff from me but still, I gave her the space she needed. In the end, she was happy now and that was all that mattered to me. The wind suddenly became a lot chillier and stronger. Darker clouds took over the sky as well. I tried to pull open the car door but it wouldn't budge. I looked for the car keys but couldn't find them. Sya had them! Since I hadn't sat in the car and the keys were out of the car's radius, it had locked itself. I shivered and rubbed my arms. What was taking her so long? I fished my phone out of my pocket and sure enough, more than twenty minutes had passed since she'd left. I quickly dialed her number but she didn't answer. I called again but still, no answer. Why isn't she answering? Oh God, I have a bad feeling about this. I quickly ran back towards the mall, still ringing her up. It had emptied largely as shoppers made their way out of the exit. I ran to the first-floor bathroom but saw an ‘out of order' sign hanging outside. I looked around for a mall worker and spotted one near the fountain. 'Excuse me, miss," I approached her hurriedly. 'The bathroom down here isn't working. Could you tell me which one is?" She nodded, 'The one on the second floor is. The first-floor one is under maintenance." I thanked her and ran towards the escalators but suddenly they were out of order too. Funny, they'd been fine a few minutes ago. I had no time to waste since I was getting more anxious by the minute, so I ran over to the emergency staircase. I kept calling her as I ran the steps up but there was persistently no answer. I pushed open the door to the second floor. It was fully secluded and dim. 'Sya?" I called out. No answer. It was so creepy up here. So dark and grey and dusty. I cautiously took a step forward, my heart hammering in my chest. Since it was so silent, I could hear it thudding furiously against my ribcage. 'Sya?" I yelled a little louder this time. My own voice echoed back through the walls but met with total silence once again. I was scared to cross the empty hallway alone in the dark so I dialed her number again when I heard the phone ringing. I frowned. It's ringing out here? But the bathroom is way in the corner. I shouldn't be able to hear it ringing. My legs shook as I ran across the hall. I stopped dead in my tracks when I saw it. The blood on the floor. My eyes widened and I stumbled backward. Sya's phone was lying a few meters away, ringing. I ran to the bathroom and checked every cubicle but there was no sign of her anywhere. I suddenly didn't know what to do. Sya's phone was there. There was blood on the floor. And she was nowhere to be seen. 'Oh my God. S-Sya!" I cried out. More like wailed as tears streamed down my face. She was gone. Someone had taken her. With shaking hands, I dialed Bryson's number and he picked up on the second ring. 'Hey, baby! How's your shop-" 'Bryson!" I cried, cutting him off. I was sobbing by now, feeling extremely scared. 'Hannah? What's wrong?" he sounded really concerned now. 'Are you okay? Hannah?!" 'It's Sya! Sh-she's gone!" I cried between sobs. 'What? What happened to Sya?" he said and then I heard Kane's deep voice behind him. 'What's going on?" his voice boomed anxiously. 'Someone took her!" I yelled, trying to sound more clearer to the boys. 'Please you guys, get here fast. I'm so scared!" The line went silent for a second before I heard Bryson again. 'Stay there. We're coming!" *.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.* Kane's POV: I stood by the window of my room, staring at the greenery of the forest. One hand into my pants pocket and sipping coffee from the other. After the girls had left for their shopping spree, Bryson and I came back to the house. The thought of him finding me now was becoming more and more evident. It was about time he struck because I had someone I wanted to protect now. Someone I cherished, someone that gave me happiness. My thoughts were interrupted when Bryson stepped into the room. 'Hey man. I wanted to ask, how to kill a person without you know, committing an actual crime?" I frowned. 'What nonsense is this? Of course, if you kill a person, you commit a crime." 'Even if it's for love?" he stated, his face kind of blank with a hint of anger. I sighed and placed my coffee mug on the table, 'Look, I really wanted to shred Edison and I could've done it but I didn't because that would be wrong." Bryson shook his head. I knew something was up so I pressed on the matter. 'What happened?" 'It's some annoying kid from college, Greg," he pinched his nose. 'He hit on Hannah today and when I showed up, he wouldn't even back down. God, I wish you'd let me break his leg and beat him with it." I laughed. 'As entertaining as that sounds, don't do it." 'He plays varsity," he stated. I smirked, 'Not as fun as it was for you last night now is it?" He opened his mouth to answer but his phone rang. He fished it out of his pocket and answered with a smile. 'Hey, baby!" he began. 'How's your shop-" 'Bryson!" I could hear Hannah yell all the way to where I was standing. She was crying. Concerned, I stepped a little closer. 'Hannah? What's wrong?" he panicked. 'Are you okay? Hannah?!" She kept crying before choking out, 'It's Sya! Sh-she's gone!" My eyes widened and I felt myself go stiff. Sya? 'What's going on?" 'What? What happened to Sya?" Bryson asked. 'Someone took her! Please you guys get here fast. I'm so scared!" she sobbed into the phone. I didn't even wait for Bryson before running out. She shouldn't have gone alone! I had that sick gut feeling before but I ignored it! It's all my fault! All my damn fault! We got into the car and I literally drove like a mad man, my knuckles clutching the steering wheel until they were white. Beside me, Bryson kept trying to pacify a distraught Hannah on the phone. He also placed a comforting hand on my shoulder when he saw me going wild by the second. We pulled into the mall parking lot and I spotted the girls' car. We got out and ran inside. Hannah told Bryson she was on the second floor. We took the emergency staircase and in less than a second, we were there. I threw the door open and walked inside, Bryson right beside me. I could see Hannah crouched on the ground and when she heard us, she immediately stood up. Her face was tear-stained and her hair was slightly disheveled. 'You guys!" My heart stopped once I saw the blood on the floor near to where Hannah was standing. "What happened?" Bryson asked, running over to her. She hugged him. 'Are you okay? Are you hurt?" She shook her head. 'No. Sya told me she was going to the bathroom but never came back. I called her many times but she wouldn't answer and when I came up here sh-she was gone! Her phone was here and this-" she sobbed, pointing to the bloodied floor. 'It's okay," he wiped her tears and pulled her into his arms again whispering ‘thank God' over and over again, relieved that she was safe. I turned my attention to the blood on the ground. It was Sya's, no doubt. It had that lotus flower scent. Suddenly, I picked up another scent in the air. It wasn't Sya's. And it wasn't Hannah's either. I stiffened as I realized just who's it was. It was him. Rage coursed through my veins as I clenched my fists, trembling slightly. Bryson also seemed to recognize the same scent because he looked at me in shock. This time, that bastard has chosen death. I'll tear him apart, limb by limb if he dared to lay even a single finger on Sya's body. I'll kill him.