His Runner

The Mall

At the mall, we must have spent well over $1000.00 by lunchtime. Every time I would protest, Rose would threaten to spend even more money and laugh. The kids and I had enough clothes to make it through winter. Plenty of pants, leggings, shirts, sweaters down to socks and underwear. Sophie was still going strong and her pile grew even more than ours. By lunchtime, the guys gave up and took the kids to the food court and the play area in the middle of the mall.

Rose and Sophie dragged me into a make-up store. I hadn't done my makeup in years. I was embarrassed to admit I had forgotten how to even do it. They had a sweet lady come help us find the perfect shade of everything I would need. Then went to the hair section to buy curlers and straighteners and everything and anything for hair care.

After all the makeup stuff was over Sophie tried to make me go to Victoria Secret and that's where I drew the line. I had zero need for fancy lingerie. I had no interest in wearing anything sexy. After several minutes of telling her no she gave up and went in on her own. Rose and I told her we would meet back at the food court when she was done. Sophie ended up getting me a bag full of stuff anyway and told me to keep it for a rainy day or if I just wanted to feel pretty.

Jed was right when he said there would be plenty of guards around to keep us safe. The humans would have never known but I could smell them and I knew at least four had stayed behind with Sophie when we left her. My heart warmed at how protective they were of each other. After we were all done eating we went for shoes and made sure we all got a good pair of boots and 3 other types of shoes we wanted.

As we were leaving the shoe store I could feel everyone tense up and the hair on the back of my neck stood up. I could tell Jed was mind linking the others and I got the uneasy feeling we were being watched.

"Rose, what's going on?" I asked.

"There are rogues in the mall... they never come in here," she said in a hushed voice.

I could tell they had planned for something to possibly happen or maybe they were just really fast thinkers. Rose pulled me closer to her while holding Conner and Jed picked up Tilly. Sophie's twins grabbed Sara's hands and Andrew picked up their daughter Ashley. Everyone remained calm but I could feel the tension growing. We followed Jed into a clothing store and he gave the store clerk a nod and kept walking through the back of the store.

"We own this store. We will exit the back and our cars will be waiting for us," Rose said as we walked through.

"Okay," was all I could say. I could feel my panic growing. There is no way he found me this fast. Rose had said she covered us so no one would recognize or smell us.

Dealla: Maybe it has nothing to do with us. Don't stress out just yet.

Maggie: Your right... but still. I feel uneasy.

Within a few minutes we were outside the back of the mall and sure enough, the cars were there with a driver already waiting for us. The guys put the kids in their seats and we all jumped in. I could feel my body shaking now as the adrenaline was still buzzing. I had not felt that fear for a little while now and it brought reality flooding back fast. I didn't know if we would ever be free of Cain. I knew if he ever found me he would kill me.

"Maggie!" Jed yelled.

"Huh?" I looked at him confused.

"I have been calling your name a few times already. Are you ok? I can see you shaking," he said showing genuine concern.

"I.. I'm... I'm ok. I just... I never should have let my guard down today," I said feeling tears run silently down my cheeks.

So many what-if questions ran through my head. They all lead to one conclusion. We needed to keep running. I would never forgive myself if anything happened to these people because of me. This was my fight, not theirs. We needed to leave. I felt bad because of all the money they just spent on us, but we just couldn't stay. I just needed to figure out if I should tell them or hide it from them. I had a feeling they would fight me about leaving.