Anna Peregrine--A Map of Days

Chapter Five

AN: Hey guys, sorry for the long delay! I started getting into Glee and working on a fic for that so this was kind of put on the back burner for a bit. I also apologize for the formatting. I tried to edit this quickly on my phone at school over the past few days. I hope you enjoy, and I'll try to get the other chapter out later today!

     I woke up the next morning, anxious for this H guy to contact Jacob again. For the time being, it was time for us to go visit the mall.
    Jacob took Hugh, Claire, Olive, and Horace in his car, deciding that four would be enough for the first round. I tagged along in the car we rented at the airport, driving behind them.
    I got my licence in 1937, and drove a few times. Luckily everytime I visited Abe, he would bring me up to date on driving now, and I would drive his car, so it wasn't hard coming from driving a 1930s vehicle to a 21st century one.
    As I drove behind them, I rested my left elbow against the window, thinking about everything. Why didn't anyone tell me that there weren't any Ymbrynes in America? What happened to cause us to lose authority here?
    Seeing a McDonalds, craving something with caffeine, I stopped at the light, right up alongside Jacob. I honked my horn and rolled down my window, getting his attention, making him roll down his.
    "I'm gonna get something to drink. Is the mall just down this road?" I asked.
    He nodded, "You can't miss it."
    I nodded as the light turned green, and I turned left to the McDonalds. I came into the property to see a sign directing me towards something called a "drive thru".
    I turned a corner to find a speaker along with a sign that was vibrant, showing the different menu items. I took a look at the drinks before coming to the conclusion of wanting a lemonade.
    I quickly ordered, paid, and got out of there, somewhat frightened at the technology.
    I drove the rest of the way to the mall, finding a place to park near Jacob's car, seeing the others already waiting for me.
    We walked into the mall, looking at the other stores before eventually coming to a food court, eating some of the greasiest food in the world. I watched as Horace, Claire, Enoch, and Olive watched the other teenagers, studying the way they acted.
    "Do they come from very rich families?" Claire asked.
    "I think they're just normal teenagers," Jacob answered.
    "They don't work?"
    "They might have summer jobs part-time. I don't know."
    "When I was growing up," Hugh said, "if you were old enough to lift something heavy, you were old enough to work. There was no sitting around all day, eating and talking."
    "We were old enough to work even before we could lift heavy things," Olive said. "My father sent me to work at a boot-blacking factory when I was five. It was awful."
    "Mine sent me to a workhouse. I spent all day making rope," Hugh said.
    "Good God," Jacob muttered.
    I felt awful when my friends talked about their lives before my mother found them. I was so blessed to have a peculiar parent, and to grow up in a loving home that helped me grow my gift. Meanwhile, all my friends were suffering because their parents were monsters.
    We went to a few stores, picking out some modern clothes. I found that I was starting to become a little like Horace, falling in love with a clothing item when I saw it.
    Speaking of Horace, we lost him. We found him in a market staring at a wall of cheese in the refrigerated area.
    "Feta, mozzarella, Camembert, Gouda, cheddar! A gourmand's fantasyland.", he said in awestruck. "It's everything. It's everything!" He turned to an older man who was pushing his trolley. "Look at this! Look at it!"
    The man hurried away.
    "Horace, you're scaring people," I said. "It's only cheese."
    "Only cheese!" he said.
    "Okay, it's a lot of cheese."
    "It's the pinnacle of human achievement. I thought Britain was an empire. But this--this--is world domination!"
    "My stomach hurts just looking at it," Claire said.
    "How dare you."
    We were eventually able to pull him out of the store, into another one that just sold clothes. He was not impressed by any means.
    "I'd rather go naked," he said, holding a pair of jeans. "This is how you want me to dress? In denim, like a farmer?"
    "Everybody wears jeans now. Not just farmers."
    As we kept shopping, Horace was freaking out more and more as he saw what kind of trousers people were wearing. Not the most presentable ones.
    He dropped the jeans to the floor, "Oh no. Oh no, no."
    "What's the matter? Their fashion not up to your high standards?" Enoch asked.
    "Forget standards. What of decency? What of self-respect?"
    And then a man in the most ridiculous wardrobe walked by, and I thought Horace was about to die.