Oblivion

CHAPTER 9: Escaping to Shopping District

EVA LEVESQUE

When I say that when Irene grins, she means trouble, well it does mean trouble. That means running outside the school campus, escaping the guards, and skipping class. Don’t mention that security is pretty tight these days because of the incident and yet Irene was still able to escape security.

We ran through tight alleyways in the neighborhood next to the school until we reached the entrance of the shopping district in the city. The shopping district was a huge dome made of stone with a small mountain inside. The source of light came from the top of the dome with a large hole and light peeking through.

There were tall buildings and skyscrapers stretching all the way to the top of the mountain. Below is a nice little market where both hybrids and humans are selling goods, local delicacies, and goods. Children both hybrids and humans were running around and some of them were riding bikes. There were carriages pulled by horses.

“This is so cool,” I whispered in awe as I watched small flying dragons in the air and people riding them. Its wings flapped and a blast of air hit our faces that caused our hair to blow away.

“I know right,” Irene said, grinning in victory with her hands on her waist.

“You were here before, right?” I asked her. She nodded and crossed her arms.

“My mom would take me here when she had meetings in the area,” Irene said. I nodded in agreement. This is my first time here, and it amazes me how dad never took me here.

We walked past the stalls where different kinds of things were being sold. There were fishmongers, blacksmiths, jesters, and even those who sell fine wine. Irene was tempted to take a sip but of course, I and Helle were there to stop her.

We bought all sorts of things like books, lost things, little treasures, and gems. Most of them were useless but were pretty, the sort of things I would spend my money on. I also bought a book on different species of monsters and hybrids. Those with intellect and those who base on instincts like animals.

“A fine jewel,” an old man called, “a fine decoration for that fine hair of yours,”

Helle walked towards the old man and eyed the said jewel. I think it was a sapphire stone on a necklace.

“That’s fake,” she said.

“Preposterous! All these came from outside the country!” the old man said. Irene crossed her arms and observed the jewels the old man was selling. Helle raised her brow at the old man.

“That’s a local polished stone, grandpa,” she said “I could find those in streams, polish them and I’ll have that rare jewel that you are talking about.”

The old man’s eyes widened and he immediately examined all the jewels he had for sale.

“That’s impossible! I-I bought this from a traveling merchant! He said that this came from the deepest pits of another kingdom!” he complained, “and these were expensive too!”

“Looks like you got played gramps,” Irene said and walked away. Helle shook her head and followed Irene. I also followed them but turned back to see the old man bawling over his goods. I felt bad for that grandpa.

“Things like crooks and bandits are common in this place. It might be fun to look at and entertaining but it’s also quite dangerous,” Irene said, looking straight ahead, “especially for people who are new to this place.”

We continued walking around and I noticed how hybrids and humans coexist with each other. Some were casually talking to each other, some hybrid boy who was half human half bird was helping an old woman carry her stuff.

There were a group of middle schoolers that was a combination of both hybrids and human children. They didn’t have any problem talking and bonding with each other. And now I realize that the world outside school, outside my past, is really vast. There are good humans and good hybrids too. And not all of them are fighting neck to neck with each other. They are just co-existing and living together in one world with the need to fight.

The shopping district was refreshing to be at. I didn’t think about anything else except buying pretty things and having fun.

“Let’s get something to eat,” Irene said, “I’m hungry.”

“You’ll pay?” Helle asked, raising her brows.

“You are such a cheapskate Helle,” I told her then laughed. “what do you guys want to eat? I’ll pay,”

“Really?” Helle asked and faced me, her eyes sparkling with fascination.

“Nice!” Irene exclaimed, “I want some unhealthy delicious food. The cafeteria’s food is too healthy it’s making me sick!”

“You’re not making any sense Irene,” I said. She shrugged and we went on our way to find a place to eat.

We found a cool place that was selling the town’s specialty. We decided to eat there and after a couple of hours, we were full.

“This place is great! I want to come back here after some time,” Irene said and patted her now bloated tummy.

“I agree, the food was extremely delicious, although the serving was quite small,” Helle said while wiping her mouth with a napkin.

“Helle, you have a stack of plates beside you,” I told her. I looked at the stack of plates on our table, even the people there were looking at us wide-eyed. I sighed and looked at my wallet when the waiter gave us the bill.

He was grinning from ear to ear while waiting for me to pay. I bit my lip and looked at the waiter with pleading eyes.

“Isn’t there any discount?” I hopefully asked. The grin on his face disappeared.

“We’ll be out of business if we kept giving discounts, madame,” he said. My brows furrowed as I took a chunk of cash from my wallet.

The waiter wiggled his fingers and took the cash. I was hesitant at letting it go, I was saving money because I wanted to buy something. The waiter and I were playing a tug of war with the cash when he aggressively pulled it from my grip.

“Thank you for your support!” the waiter said, obviously annoyed by me, and walked away.

“Come on Eva, just think of it as a good added, feeding two very hungry people,” Irene said. I glared at her.

“You’re obviously richer than me,” I said, “now I regret it paying for your meals.”

“Your fault that you offered,” she cheekily said.

“I didn’t know you’d eat like boars, you i***t,” I replied. She just shrugged.

We got outside of the restaurant and Irene stretched out her arms.

“That was a pretty good meal, don’t you think?” she asked, facing Helle to which Helle immediately nodded.

“Eating free food is the best,” she said and put her thumbs up in agreement. Irene laughed aloud and also raised her thumb.

I only sighed for I don’t know how many times now. I looked up the big hole in the dome that exposed the sky, the sun was now setting.

The sun was now setting.

My eyes automatically widened when I realized what was happening. I looked at Irene and Helle and turned to look at my watch.

“Irene! Helle!” I panicked, “It’s already five pm!”

“So?” Irene asked, unbothered.

“The gates will close! The dorms will also close! We’ll get even more deductions!” I anxiously told them. After seconds, Irene’s eyes also widened.

“Oh shoot!” she shouted, “we’ll be punished!”

She was totally panicking as if she wasn’t the one who brought me here and skipped school.

“What do we do? What do we do?!” she asked, skipping around and panicking.

“I don’t know! You were the one who brought us here! You didn’t have any plans?!” I said, she stopped and looked at me.

“This was a bad idea! My mom would kill me if she knew!” she said, obviously scared, “why didn’t you stop me?!”

“You dragged me here!” I shouted back. We were both panicking and couldn’t think straight.

“What about running to school first then figure out a way?” Helle calmly asked. We both turned to her.

“Helle!” Irene and I both shouted, “you’re a genius!”

After that, we made our way to school and stopped when we saw the student council and other guards watching the entrance. There were a few other students that got caught and got their names listed. We didn’t want that. Our parents would kill us if they saw our names on the offense list.

“How are we going to pass through that?” Helle asked calmly. The three of us were hiding in a bush. I was sitting below with Helle and Irene’s head above mine.

“Oh, it Kyros!” Irene said, she suddenly got out and waved her hand “Kyros!”

My eyes widened and Helle and I looked at each other, shocked. We immediately pulled Irene back in the bush, Helle covered her mouth and was obviously struggling. I got back to check if anyone saw us.

Kyros was standing there in his blue vest holding a paper and a pen, his eyebrow raised and looking straight at me. My eyes widened and hid. I saw him sigh and shook his head after and decided to ignore us.

He then got back to his job and talked with other council members and continued to list the students who were caught. I let out a shaky breath and glared at Irene whose mouth was still covered with tape, where I don’t know what came from. She just looked at me with those clueless eyes.

“Psst,”

I looked around then I saw someone in a black hoodie behind a car waving at us. I squinted then came to the realization that it was Sigrid. We sneakily went to him then he guided us to a hidden passageway that led to the school.

“Hoo! You’re a lifesaver, Sigrid!” Irene said in relief, finally removing the tape from her mouth.

“We will head to our dorm for attendance,” Helle said and respectfully bowed to Sigrid then they went away. I faced Sigrid and grinned.

“Thanks for saving us!” I told him and followed the girls but he grabbed my wrist and pulled me to him. His hood was covering most of his face but I saw his clenched jaw and him biting his lip.

Suddenly, all the energy I had was drained. He was obviously pissed.

“What are you doing right now Eva?” he asked in a low tone, it almost felt like a low growl to me.

I made Sigrid mad, and now I’ll get scolded.

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END