The Search for Prince Charming

Chapter 8: Plan B

Yay! Part two of this arc!!! Oh, I have devious plan for this!!! MUAHAHAHAHHAHAHA!!!!! lol hope you all enjoy! also, remember to comment and critique if you feel the need! i love responses on how my story is doing :)

-K

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When we were both ready, Steph began to go out of the bathroom. She moved somewhat slowly, so she could try and find the stalker. It didn't take long, and even I found him easily. Just like Jessica said, short brown hair, the making of a disgusting beard, developing wrinkles, gray hoodie, worn and torn jeans, and a creepy aura to boot. Lucky for us, he wasn't looking towards the bathroom. Sadly, he was looking towards Dillard's. Damn, we'd have to do a detour. Steph and I started moving towards the center of the mall, and managed to be a bit close to a group of other teenagers so we could blend in. Once we quickly left the food court area, we booked it to the escalator. If we couldn't go to that entrance by the food court on the ground level, we'd go to the upper floor entrance and go to my car that way.

We managed to get to the upper floor and turned towards the Dillard's entrance when Steph got a text from Jessica. I gently grabbed her arm to guide her as she looked at her phone to read. It was what we feared: he wasn't in the food court. Our pace quickened and I turned back to see if I could see him. Sure enough, I managed to see his head rising from the escalator. I told Steph to book it, and we ran to Dillard's, evading people that were in our way.

When we got there, we slowed down to not look suspicious (although I could practically guarantee that we did. My arm was getting tired of caring around the bag of clothes, so I really wanted to hurry to my car. As we made our way down the escalator in Dillard's to the same floor as my car, we went out into the garage and felt relief. We made it.

Or so we thought.

As we came across my car, the car that was parked next to it was missing, and for some reason my back tire had gone flat. I quick inspection of it and I saw it was slashed. Steph had noticed a note on my windshield wiper, and it said, "I apologize about the flat tire. My daughter was learning how to back out of a parking space and accidentally slashed it. Because we were in a hurry, we had to leave, but here is my number so we can fix this. I am very sorry." It had a phone number and the guy's name, Randall Jenkins, on the note, but I was seriously pissed and furious now. My heart was racing and I could feel a panic attack coming up.

"Kora, what are we gonna do?!" Steph asked, about as panicked as I was; maybe more. I stopped moving for a moment and calmed myself as much as possible. It was obvious we couldn't leave using my car. We'd have to find another way out of here. But for the moment, we had to get out of the garage. If the guy came and saw us, he could easily follow us. Our best chance was back in the mall where we had coverage, at least until we figured something out.

"Let's go back in the mall." Steph looked at me, slightly in disbelief, but instantly understood. Before we left, though, I took a quick moment to open the trunk of the car and put the bag in. I knew I was wasting precious seconds that we could use for escape, but I was getting really tired of holding it. Plus, if it came to needing to run and this was in the way, this could be helpful. It didn't take long to put it in there, and we both ran for the stairs of the garage, knowing that going through the Dillard's entrance could possibly mean bumping into the stalker. And it was a good thing, too. As soon as we were hidden by the wall of the staircase, I managed to see the stalker coming through the entrance. But, he saw me, too.

"Shit!" I cursed, pushing Steph to run up the stairs. "He saw me and turned back into Dillard's. He might try and see us on this floor. We need to get out of Dillard's and into the mall, fast!" We ran as fast as we could to the Dillard's entrance (I knew it was a good idea to lose the shopping bag) and briskly walked through the store, and past the escalator with success. We beat the stalker, but we didn't stop there. Once out of the department store, we continued our speed-walking and decided on going to the other side of the mall.