The Grabber

Convenience

"I don't know, they were just... there," Andrea said as she sipped a Lemon-Lime soda. She stared at the tanned sunglasses in her hands. Rebecca held out her hand to silently ask if she could see them. Andrea handed them to her, trusting her friend. Rebecca took a quick look before sliding them on. She turned to Andrea with a smirk.
"What do you think?" Andrea laughed as she carefully grabbed them off of her.
"I think it's probably not a good idea to wear glasses that I found in middle of the night on the sidewalk. Although, they did look good on you."
"Well, of course they did," Rebecca chuckled as the two slid down the wall of the convenience store to sit on the concrete. They often came here on weekends, as did most other teens. It was a place for them to get away from all the other crazy stuff going on in life.
"How would someone not notice dropping them? I mean, they are pretty big shades. They cover almost half of your face." Andrea looked at the shades again.
"Yeah, they really do," she slowly spoke. Rebecca tilted her head at her friend.
"What?"
"Hm?" Andrea looked up at her friend out of thought.
"You sound like you know something. Or there's something you're not telling me. You alright?" Andrea shook her head as she looked back to the glasses in her hand.
"Oh, yeah, yeah, I'm... fine. It's just..." she sat her glass bottle of soda down carefully. "They look just like the pair someone I know has."
"Well, they are nice," Rebecca shrugged. "A lot of people have shades like those. I'm pretty sure I've seen a few people have those, too. Maybe someone just lost them in a rush."
"In the middle of the night?" Andrea questioned as she folded the sunglasses and carefully slipped them into her pocket.
"I... guess?" Rebecca said as she finished her orange soda. "People do weird things. Maybe they were deep in thought or something." Rebecca stood as she brushed herself off. "Well, I should be going. My parents want to see a movie tonight at the drive-in, so I need to be home to babysit my sister. Even though she's only two years younger than me," she rolled her eyes. Andrea stood as well as she picked up her bottle.
"Alright. Well, you have fun then," she teased. "I'll see you Monday. You walking home?"
"Yeah, but not on my own, don't worry." Andrea and Rebecca headed towards the front doors of the shop where a trash can often was. Andrea finished her soda as Rebecca spoke and tossed their bottles into the bin. "My sister is inside, actually. She came after you and I showed up. I think she was with one of her friends, too. So I gotta get her and head home."
"Sounds good," Andrea nodded. "Glad you're not gonna be alone. You know, with... him."
"Yeah, me too," Rebecca shuddered. "Creepiest damn thing. The thought that he's just out there somewhere and no one knows who he is." Andrea nodded as Rebecca approached the store door. "Well, I'll see you at school Monday. Stay safe if you're walking home, too. Or if you're hanging around later. Either way."
"You too. I'll see ya," Andrea waved as Rebecca went inside. A sigh left her lips as she now had nothing else to do. The day was still young. Her parents luckily didn't seem to mind as much how long Andrea stayed out on the weekends. They knew that weekends were for friends.
"Well, now what?" Andrea asked herself with a sigh. She looked up at the sky to see how much daylight was left. Quite a lot. "Well, there's no baseball practice," she shrugged. Perhaps she would seek refuge in the bleachers. It was a nice quiet place to relax and think. As she headed down the sidewalk that passed the convenience store, she noticed a vehicle at the back of the building that would normally be empty. Curious, she walked slowly before arriving closer. Before she could make any assumptions, she heard footsteps coming from the other side. Someone was coming to the store from the opposite end.
"Robin Arellano?" Andrea muttered to herself. She had only seen him once before. She happened to witness a fight between him and another kid called Moose. Andrea didn't know the other person, just like she didn't know Robin, besides his name. Because of the fight, Andrea could recognize him here. She was surprised to see him come around the back.
As Robin approached closer, the van's driver side door had opened. Andrea gasped as she quickly hid behind some bushes. She peered over the side to see a tall man step out of it wearing black flared slacks, a long sleeved, bright red shirt underneath a black vest and a black top hat tilted forward to cover his face. The attire was even complete with a long, flowing cape.
"Ah, hello there, young man," the tall man spoke as Robin approached.
"Me?" Robin asked as he turned his attention to the man. He stopped in his tracks as the man did as well.
"You're just in time, just in time!" The man giggled as he approached the back of his van. He had his hand on the door handle to be ready to open the back doors. It was then that Andrea recognized the van."Yes sir, I am a part-time magician! I was just about to set up for a show I have here tonight. Perhaps you would like to-" before the man could finish his sentence, some of his equipment had fallen onto the pavement as he had opened the door. "Oh, gah! Ah, no, no, no!" The man tried to pick up some of his gear. "Well, what a start. Such a goof," he chuckled at himself.
"Um, here, let me help you," Robin offered as he jogged to the van.
"Oh, thank you, I really do appreciate it," the man said. "Must be the pre-show nerves." As the two of them finished placing the equipment back inside the van, the magician pulled out a spray can.
"Thank you, so much," he said. "Say, for all your help, could I repay you with a little sneak peak of the show? Just one little magic trick." Robin smiled at the offer.
"Um, sure. Magic is pretty cool." Robin stood awkwardly as the magic man began to shake the can.
"Yeah?" He giggled in excitement. Suddenly, the man looked up and gasped. "Oh, no, the balloons!" He exclaimed as he poorly tried to reach them.
"Oh, I've got them!" Robin said as he ran to take a leap that was just enough to grasp them out of the air. Had the strings been shorter, it would have been nearly impossible for them to be caught. Robin held tightly to them. "Black balloons... interesting color choice," he commented.
"Oh yes, the color of mystery and misdirection. Just what magic is about," the man chuckled. Robin handed the balloons to the man who had reached for them. "Thank you, thank you," he said. As the man grasped the balloons with one hand, he took a quick glance around and used his other arm to quickly grasp Robin. Andrea gasped and held her mouth shut in shock as Robin shouted for help. She couldn't risk being caught herself, no matter how much she wanted to help. The man smothered Robin in the bouquet of balloons and tried to spray the substance into Robin's mouth. Robin wasn't going to go down that easily. He made a kick to the magician's shin.
"You dirty liar! El pendejo!" A simple wince was heard, but nothing more. Robin was in too awkward of a position to be able to fight his way out of this one. His arms were useless in the way the magician held him in the balloons. His once strong body weakened as he struggled. He tried to swing at him, but it was no use. With one quick motion, the magician finished out his magic trick and made Robin disappear into his van. He slammed the door shut, letting the balloons fly into the air. As the magician took another look around while heading to the front of the van, Andrea tried her best to cover her fear of what she had just witnessed. She stayed hidden, yet watched as the magician got in his van and quickly drove away from the scene. Andrea stared in shock as she tried to control her breathing. She couldn't form any other words besides:
"The Grabber."