Somnia Moon

Chapter 13: Suspicion

Rowen's heels clicked along the cobblestone as she confidently strode back in the direction of the Town Hall, file containing maps of the Freedom Complex tucked safely under her arm. One of the only advantages of being feared by practically everyone was that all she had to do was ask and she would be given any information she required – the other benefit was that people tended to stay out of her business, meaning she was able to do everything she needed with minimal risk of being stopped. The only concern she had in regards to this was Alex, Zoe and Holly; just over half an hour ago she had noticed Alex and Holly attempting to follow her, and whilst she had been slightly bothered that they had witnessed her exchange with Christina, she didn't yet feel threatened. She was confident that she could achieve her goal before they had a chance to move against her.

Thoughts of Christina began to antagonise her emotions, and she forced her out of her mind. She had no place there anymore.

Just as she was about to pass the open area surrounded by shops and turn left back down the path, she caught sight of the pet shop. It was fairly small compared to the other shops in the area, and was just in front of her, behind the child's playground in the centre of the clearing, with the sign 'Pawprints: Pets and Supplies' hanging above the glass door. It was possible. It was very possible. Asha had been with her in the moments before she'd lost consciousness, so maybe she had appeared here also.

She was incredibly conscious of wasting time, but knew she couldn't just walk away when there was even a marginal chance of her dog being here. Asha was more than just a pet; she was family. Countless times she had been the only form of comfort as Rowen woke screaming night after night only to find that the waking world was no better than her nightmares. Perhaps finding her would provide her with the strength she needed to fulfil her objective.

Having only hesitated briefly, Rowen headed towards the shop as purposefully as if that had been her intended destination all along. The bell at the top of the door tinkled as she walked inside.

"Get out." Came a voice, and having been inside for less than a second, Rowen was a little startled. The harsh words originated from a tall man with black hair who was stood behind the counter.

"I'm sorry?" she inquired, masking her pain at his immediate loathing with a blank face and an empty voice.

"You heard me. Get out. You're not welcome here."

Had she seen him before? He looked familiar, but she wasn't sure where from. "I need to look around."

"No you don't. You need to get out. You murdered my wife and son, and you think you can just come in here as if it never happened? No. Get the fuck out of my shop, you inhuman bitch."

Tears almost surfaced, and her eyes burned from keeping them trapped inside. She was uncontrollable. How many people's lives had she destroyed? And to make it worse, she barely even remembered. She'd trained herself long ago to forget the faces of the people she hurt – that way, it was impossible for them to haunt her.

Not knowing how to respond, Rowen used her magic to forcefully push the man against the wall behind him, and he crashed into the wooden shelves, sending the items perched on them tumbling to the floor.

"You need to work on your customer service."A slight playful edge managed to find its way into her voice, and the man gazed at her with fear smeared across his olive face.

"You gonna kill me, too?" He spat.

"Not unless you give me a reason."

He opened his mouth as if he was about to say something, but decided against it and remained silent. Rowen kept her eyes on him for a moment longer before walking through the door to the right. Once it had closed behind her, she reached out with her magic, searching, feeling every single animal locked away inside the cages embedded in the walls, which curiously seemed to agitate them as if they could sense her powers. She was soon smothered by an almost deafening mixture of cats caterwauling and dogs howling, but she blocked it out, looking even further until finally she found a dog who instead of pacing around the cage in distress was scratching excitedly at the cage door. Using her magic to see things was much different than simply seeing them with her eyes; for a reason that she was still unaware of, everything was visible only in different shades of blue, making identifying colours difficult. However, she was still completely certain that this dog belonged to her. Walking quickly, she approached the cage near the end of the corridor, and sure enough, Asha was trapped within, barking at her enthusiastically. Golden curls decorated her floppy ears, with patches of the same majestic colour adorning her otherwise snow-white fur. Rowen opened the door with her magic, and she jumped down, landing on paws as black as coal. She knelt down, and Asha jumped onto her lap, paws pressed against her shoulders, nuzzling her cheek.