The Search for Prince Charming

Chapter 7: Steph Becomes Prey

So, this is part one of some action! Yay! And I'm glad I managed to get another update today! I might even manage to finish this arc since I'm very excited and I have this all planned out! Anyway, enjoy!!!

-K

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Morning came, and to be honest I didn't welcome it. It was already around ten in the morning, and my bed and I were very intimate at the moment. My bed called to me, and I wanted to stay with my bed for eternity. However, my phone that kept ringing disagreed with my decision to elope with my mattress, and beckoned me to answer. It was Steph. Oh, right. I was supposed to call her. Damn.

"Mmfyello?" Translator's note: I meant to say "hello".

"Kora, honey? We need to talk. Like, urgent."

"Steph, it's early on a Sunday. And last night was a bit exhausting on my part. Can't I sleep just a bit longer?" I was still really tired, and I really didn't want to get out of bed.

"Kora, this is serious! I need you to come to my house immediately. I don't know what to do!"

"If you don't know what to wear, I suggest your black shirt with your blue pea coat over it. I think today will be chilly out."

"Kora, I think I have a stalker." Well, that woke me up. "I mean, I didn't realize he existed until Lauren called saying that Jessica told her that Morgan heard about a rumor from Andrew saying that Dustin heard from his sister Anna that her boyfriend Logan noticed a car that had been following me for about a week." It took me a bit to follow the trail of people she listed off to understand her, but I managed. Somehow. Steph was starting to speak fast and with a lot of worry in her tone. "Apparently, Logan had noticed a car that just randomly started showing up a week ago, and when I left to drive home, it would wait for a bit, then follow me. He didn't think much of it, but once the rumor about the stalker started going around, a few others said they noticed it, too. And so, as a test, I went out yesterday to the mall."

"Steph, that was stupid!" I yelled. "If the stalker was real, he could easily get you if you went out!"

"But that's the thing, Kora. He IS real!" My mouth dropped. "I saw his car, a green Honda Civic following me. I even did the whole 'turn left four times' to see if he was actually following me. He DID! Kora, I'm scared to go outside and I'm home alone right now. I have all the doors locked and I'm really worried." This was bad. There was another girl at our school who had a stalker, and he managed to scare the entire family where they had the police protecting them for a while. Eventually, they caught the bastard, but the girl and her little sister were definitely traumatized. He had harassed them enough to make them want to move. Because we knew there were guys out there like that, I could understand Steph's worry.

"Alright, we need to lose him for a bit. Steph, call someone that can take you to the mall. Make sure they pick you up and take you. You CAN'T drive there. Wear a jacket or hoodie that can be easily recognizable, but not something that sticks out like a sore thumb. Also, put your hair up." I was quickly gathering some items, putting some things back into my purse from the night before. I quickly looked at my nightstand, where Alviss' note was. For a second, I stared at it, then opted to put it in my purse. I didn't really know why I should, but my woman's instinct had kicked into gear. "When you find someone, go to the mall and shop around with them for a bit. I will drive there later after I take a quick shower and gather a few clothes. When I meet up with you, we'll discreetly get you to change clothes and look completely different, and you walk off with me and the other person goes home, hopefully losing the guy in the process. From there, we'll come to my house. That should lose the guy for a while." I almost had a set of clothes for Steph placed on my bed.

"Oh, Kora, you're a life saver. I think Jessica said she didn't have anything going on, I'll give her a call. Also, where are we going to meet?"

I thought that over. "I'm not sure, yet. When I get there, I'll text you. Make sure you don't call anyone else while you're out. Stick with texts. We'll figure something out and we'll get you out of there safely. Alright, I'm gonna take my shower. Be safe, Steph."

"Thanks a ton, babe. See you soon."

We hung up and I jumped into the shower. When I got out, I had to admit, a six minute shower was a record breaker for me. I quickly got my hair dry and opted to just tie it back in a ponytail and worked only on my bangs so I didn't look too rushed. I had to look as normal as possible, so my hair had to look half-decent. That only took me about four minutes. I grabbed a previously used shopping bag from the mall and put a set of jeans in, a white long-sleeved shirt and my black dressy vest. I also managed to put my black pea coat inside as well. Now, she would have a completely different look. I dressed skinny jeans with black flat boots over them and wore a gray v-neck with my leather jacket over it. As soon as I had everything, I got in my car and sped off to the mall.

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When I got to the mall, I parked close to an entrance in the garage, so we could make a quick escape. I was glad that I noticed a few other Toyota Camry's-especially other white ones like mine-so that it could blend in. When I went into the mall, I entered through Dillard's. I sent a text to Steph immediately. Since I was by the food court, I said to go there, and go into the bathrooms by there. I'd be waiting with an extra change of clothes. Before I exited Dillard's and went into the food court, I noticed a black fedora that was really cute. Once again, woman's intuition took over as I decided to quickly buy the hat.

As I waited in the bathroom for Steph, I played with my phone by the sink, trying not to be bored or look suspicious. Five minutes had gone by when she finally showed up. She looked out of breath, and very paranoid. I gave her a big hug when she came to me as she held onto me as if her life depended on it. Jessica walked in after her, but took a quick glance out the doorway, most likely seeing if he followed.

"Oh my God, he followed us here. Kora, I'm really scared." She managed to speak. Her voice quivered, and she looked to be on the verge of tears.

"We managed to see the Civic while we were driving," Jessica interjected. She looked nervous, too, but she gave a brave front and told me what the situation was. "I tried to shake him off while coming here, but that didn't work. When we got here, we managed to get a look of him. I don't think he knows we saw him. He looks like he's in his thirties." She gave a face of disgust. I guess our enemy wasn't a looker. "Anyway, he's got short brown hair and a heavy five o'clock shadow. I think he's wearing a gray hoodie and looks pretty shaggy. Also," she did a quick look outside the bathroom again, "looks like he's waiting at a table outside." I nodded, getting a pretty good mental picture in my head of the guy and planning our escape.

I gave Steph my bag with all of the clothes and told her to change. She was wearing black sweatpants and silver Toms with her bright purple hoodie with her hair in a messy bun. I was grateful for her currently curly hair, as it would look great with the fedora and her hair down. With her current look, she would definitely look different with her new clothes.  I thanked Jess endlessly for doing something like this. She said it was fine, but I told her I owed her one and so did Steph. When Steph came out, she really did look different. We let her redo some of her make-up and fix her hair and fedora. When she finished, she took a few seconds to calm herself down and put a smile on her face to look less scared.

"Alright, me and Steph are going to leave. Steph," I directly spoke to, "you need to keep an eye on where this guy is. If he's looking a certain direction, go in the other and I'll follow. And make sure you keep your eyes covered as much as possible with the hat." I turned to Jessica. "Jess, you wait just a little bit after we leave. Probably about a whole minute. When that happens, you can leave and go straight to your car. If he's still around, try and get lost in a crowd and go home as soon as possible. If he's not there," I gulped, "then he followed us. Text us if he's not there so we can hurry." Both of them nodded, memorizing the game plan. I was really nervous about this. This had to work. Both Steph and I stood right next to the door, then took a deep breath.

Let Operation Escape the Mall begin.