Stolen Time

Burdensome

Despite what Seraphina hoped for the mall proved to be an excellent place for her headache to find new ammunition. It was just as empty as she expected this early on a weekday. It was maybe the only saving grace in the situation.

'Why? Why is this place triggering me?'

She couldn't help but notice that certain parts aggravated her subconscious more than others. To her dismay, every clothing store to her liking fell into this category as well. She tried to enter some to maybe have a break from school and all the trouble she faced there, but the moment she was inside and the cashier greeted her she wanted to make a swift escape.

It made sense if they were all related to her lost memories somehow. But...

'Does this mean they are all related to him as well?'

She couldn't help but wonder and this wondering made her brain ache yet again. She suppressed a groan as the pounding became stronger.

It didn't help that some of the people here seemingly knew her but she only had vague, old memories of them. A few of them even greeted her as a returning customer.

And there were some who asked questions she couldn't answer.

"Welcome back! You're here with a new friend today?" An employee inquired waving at her and Elaine.

"Good day, Miss! I see your friend didn't come with you today. Did he finally manage to escape?" A male cashier asked with a hearty laugh.

"How can I help you today? Oh, where is your good-looking friend today?" A young lady asked with a small blush from behind the counter.

They were all driving her crazy.

She wanted to know more, so badly wanted to learn more about her situation. She yearned to ask them what they were talking about. She craved to finally get answers.

But she knew that the second she tried anything she could very well step on a mental landmine triggering another episode. Still, the temptation was great and growing with every interaction she had. Thus she decided to avoid visiting any other shop and focus on the one she came here for in the first place.

She was on a mission. Find a new phone, buy it, and then get out. She didn't have time to linger on these unhelpful thoughts. Evie must have been wrong anyway. There was no way that he was that important in her life. He couldn't be such a prominent figure if she could just forget about him, right?

...Right?

It felt like her mind was scratching the inside of his skull again. She could feel sharp claws grinding, carving behind her eyes as the whispers came back.

'What have you done?'

She took a sudden turn almost colliding with another person. The other cussed at her but she adopted the face of indifference she had practiced for years and passed by easily. Elaine, on the other hand, wasn't that calm about the situation and hurriedly apologized before following her into the store.

"Seraphina!" She called after her but she didn't pay any mind to her unrequested companion as she marched to the counter. The display had several phones similar to the one she had before.

The one that mysteriously disappeared.

At first, she was inclined to believe Elaine and Arlo when they told her she probably simply dropped the device and in her state failed to notice. However, in light of her recent suspicions regarding the honesty of anything they said she started to question if they truly had as passive of a role in her deception as she thought up until now.