The Puppeteer

8. Realization

I was confused to where Arthur was leading me. We had passed the city boundaries by now, walking the streets of Albany. I've only been a few times, so the navigation wasn't excellent. I didn't know in which area we were in, but it definitely wasn't the touristic crowded streets of the city.

Occasionally, people passing us lifted their faces to look at me, and only me, wearing blue and white pajamas. I hung my head low, moving closer to Arthur. He was simply an imagination, yet he gave me great comfort.

Suddenly, he stopped, as I almost collided into him, but dug my heels for a sharp stop. He turned to look at the small store which cornered an alleyway, it's 'OPEN' sign glowing a bright red in the storefront window.

As he started into the alleyway, his thick, velvety cloak swayed gently behind him. I was about to follow when I noticed the tip of his cloak slowly disappearing, eventually reaching the top of his hood. The cloak was completely gone, into thin air.

Arthur turned around, his hands now dug into the pocket of his dark hoodie. "What are you doing?" He frowned.

"Your... cloak. I-it disappeared."

"Yes," he chuckled softly. "I'm now visible to the others."

That explained why people glared at me, and only me, never the dark being beside me. "But, I could see you."

He sighed, sounding impatient. "Because I wanted you to see me. It's quite simple, Charlotte, I choose who sees me. Now hurry, we don't have all night."

"Right." I ran over to him, creeping into the broad alleyway to the front of the store. I tilted my head, examining the contents being sold through the glass. A thrift shop. Sort of. A little dirtier and less crowded then expected.

We entered, the cashier looking up from her magazine with a look of disruption. I turned away from the girl with the piercings, following Arthur to the back of the store, where piles and racks held all types of pants, shirts, sweaters and shoes.

He pointed down at one of the bins, with a bored expression. "Choose and go change. Quickly."

I nodded my head, looking through the white bins for comfortable clothing. I ended up picking out dark jeggings, some old white Nike sneakers and a large grey hoodie with white chipped text 'New York' printed on the front.

Trust me, that was the best I could find, considering most of the clothing found were bright t-shirts or laced lingerie.

Stepping out of the cabins, Arthur nodded, passing me a black hair tie he had probably found in another section of the thrift shop. I took it, tying back the long wavy auburn hair from my face.

"Let's go." After paying the grumpy tattooed teen, I followed Arthur's tall shadow out of the store. He looked down at my outfit, a warm laugh leaving his lips. "Nice choice."

I frowned, looking up to meet his gleaming grey irises. "You brought me to shop in a dump. This is the best I could find."

"I preferably favored the bright red lingerie, but everyone's got their tastes." He shrugged, a small smirk forming on his lips.

"Gross." I took my eyes off him, turning my head to look forward, at the dimly lighted streets of the downtown streets. "So what now?"

He sighed, turning back to look forward as well, his hands disappearing into the folds of the pocket of his hoodie. "We go see Poel, clear that memory of yours, and you go home."

I looked down, kicking a few pebbles away from my path. "Sounds confusing. I'll forget about you, right?"

He didn't answer, but I could take the answer as a clear sign of agreement.