The stranger

The double door blew open, blasting cold air inside the shopping centre. I shivered and pulled the coat tighter around me. It wasn’t as busy today as usual, which was actually a good thing to not feel crammed up between hundreds of people, but it’s also not as great to be inside a large mall, feeling almost alone. I sighed. I would have been in bed right now, or curled up under my bed covers with a book right now. Instead, I’m forced to be in here with my family. 

My parents had to buy groceries with my grandparents while my sisters would go out and shop around for clothes. Luckily I was left alone to sit in the hallway on a bench and wait for everybody else to finish up. At least it spared me the effort of standing around for a few hours or pretending to be interested in make-up and pop stars with my annoying siblings. I looked up to the skylight in the ceiling, staring at the clouds. According to the weather reports it was going to snow, which hasn’t happened in the past 20 years now and the town was covered with heavy mist. A few people passed by, each to do his or her own thing when a girl suddenly stopped in front of me. “Excuse me,” she started. “Have you seen my brother? He’s wearing a black jacket, large rimmed glasses, a real dork?”

“No, sorry.”

“Oh, ok then.” She said and pulled her blonde hair over her shoulder and took a seat.

“So you also stuck here?” I asked.

“Yeah, me and my brother, we’re here for business. Well that was until he disappeared somewhere here.” She sat back, leaning against the pillar behind the bench.

“What type of business?”

“Nothing much, he landed a job. They say it has good pay, but I don’t know. I’m like his assistant, if that’s what you want to call it. Or a colleague. I’m very persuasive and he’s good with intimidating people, so we find it easy to work as traders.”

“That sounds quite exciting. I’m just stuck here because of family things.” A chill ran up my spine as another gust blew down the halls.

“So do you know where I could find jewellery store around here?”

“Sure, it’s down the hall to the left, you can’t miss it.”

“Thanks.” She said as she got up. “I just need to withdraw some money before me and my brother should go again. He texted me he’s waiting for me.”

“Ok, enjoy your trip then.” I said watching her walk away and I turned my attention back to the cloudy sky.

About half an hour slipped by slowly. My legs felt paralyzed from the cold. A loud bang came from deep inside the mall, followed by gunshots and loud shouts. After a few seconds everything went silent. Another loud bang. A black van parked outside the entrance and a man with a black jacket jumped out with a large gun. I froze on the spot and simply stared at him. More gunshots fired from down the halls and the girl from a while back ran up to me.

“Thanks.” She said lifting a bag filled with money. “I wouldn’t have found it without you.” She gave a laugh and shot a security guard who was running towards her. He limply fell on the ground. “See you around.” She yelled over her shoulder while she dove into the passenger side of the truck. The guy with the black coat and large rimmed glasses got in next to her and the van dashed off, vanishing in the mist.