The Unseen

Chapter 23

CHAPTER 23

I felt a little bit queasy as I thought about how I was going to explain my absence to my mom. Also about how my arm was literally covered in blood. This was not good. Not good at all.

As I raced through the mall and back to the bathroom in my costume still, I thought I caught a glimpse of Rashal and Jake. But I couldn't worry about her right now. I had to hide my arm, and think up an excuse for being in the bathroom so long. Taking my time on the toilet was definitely not an option for an excuse; my mom would tease me about it for years and years and years...how I missed out on seeing The Unseen because I was on the toilet...

Ha ha ha.

Not.

I crawled quickly under the stall door that I had hidden my bag by. This time, there was one other stall occupied, but I made sure not to let the woman see my face.

I quickly - but gingerly, because of my arm - changed into the clothes I had been wearing when I first came to the mall, avoiding the other set of clothing I had stuffed in there for when I got hurt and my clothes weren't fitting enough to walk around in.

Glancing at my arm, I wondered what I would do about that. Doing the only thing I could have done, I wrapped a long piece of toilet paper hurriedly around the wound. For measure, I added an extra layer of white tissue and then knotted the ends gently so the thin, flimsy material wouldn't tear. Then I pulled down the sleeve of the loose, long-sleeved shirt and hoped that my mom wouldn't notice. As the fabric settled on my arm, I winced with discomfort. Oh the agony of being a superhero.

I walked out of the bathroom and headed towards where I had last seen my mom. I doubted I would find her in the same place, especially if she had moved to witness the fight between The Wolf and I, but she was no doubt in the vicinity. After a minute or so of walking in circles like an imbecile, I found her looking around, her eyes darting every direction. She was no doubt panicking, as the hardened expression on her face indicated.

"Mom, hey! I get caught up in talking to some friends I had run into and I didn't realize I had been away so long. What's wrong?"

"Oh! You should have been here! The Unseen was here and saved your friend Rashal! And her boyfriend! Then she was gone. What a wonderful person!" Strangely, it felt a little odd hearing my mother compliment the other me -  just one she didn't actually realize was her daughter.

"Oh my God! Really? I can't believe I missed that!" I exclaimed, feigning shock and wonderment. "Is Rashal okay?"

"Yes, she is. The Unseen was able to rescue her in time, thank goodness! Nikkia, weren't you wearing another shirt when you came here?"

I slowly acknowledged the fact that I had changed into the extra shirt I had packed when I had been in such a hurry. It was an easy mistake, since clearly I had more important issues on my mind than what shirt to wear.

However, my mom was not aware of that. I paused for a moment, staring down at the clean, fresh blue shirt. "I bought it - I almost forgot to tell you I went into a store. And it was so cute I just had to put it on." I had to be more careful in the future.

"But, Nikkia...don't you already have that shirt?" Suspicion quickly settled in clearly on her face. She crossed her arms, almost threateningly.

"No, Mom. Seriously." I silently made a note to myself to stuff the blue shirt in the very hidden depths of my extremely messy closet. It would be lost forever then and I'd be safe, as long as my mom forgot about it.

Just then, Rashal saved me from further questioning by bounding up to where my mom and I were standing. Her boyfriend stood at her side, his face pale and his hair entirely messed up. It stuck out every direction like he had just fallen out of bed.