D.E.A.T.H.

Chapter 2: I'm Knocked Out in a Mall

"Want a tour?"

"Sure," I said with a smile.

Then, Dr. Emily Stoner got into Tourguide Mode!

"OK, so, we just came from Anubis' Hospital for the DIED. Across over there is St. Oopid's Mental Facility. Downtown is Punishment Fields Prison, the place where people who are in lifetime prison or really long time prison and don't change go, which is either the biggest thug fest or the safest place in town, considering it's right next to the NHC Police Station. For the people who do REALLY well in their life they can either go again or live in Elysium Estates" she indicated a group of huge white villas worthy of Rome. Then Emily turned to an enormous group of apartment buildings.

"That is Asphodel Apartments, for people who only sat on their rumps and did NOTHING with their lives, but you'll be staying in Elysium Estates." That gave me a sign of relief.

"If you do well three times you stay at Fortune Islands, with endless parties and fruit to last you a hundred years!" She said it with such bitterness she might as well be sucking on a lemon dipped in Warheads.

I thought a moment, then asked, "How do you start again?" She paused for a second and sighed as if waiting for the question like a student waiting for an exam. "There are these special people called Memures that take you to a room where they put you in a chair and take your memories and put them in a jar, like pickles. They then run tests and take your DNA to clone you. They then take you into a room where they put you to sleep. They then take the clone and put them through the process of life again. When you DIE they give you back your memories."

Those words hung thick in the air. They put you to sleep. I processed that new information, but there was still something missing. A million questions came into my head. What if they forget to give you back your memories? How many times has someone gone through life? What happened to my memories?

What happened to my memories?

The doctor looked at me sideways, contemplating if I should be told yet or not. She apparently did not, by her shrug of her shoulder and her sudden change of subject.

Emily took me over to a huge, white and blue marble building that seemed to welcome you in the most seductive way. This is Pomegranate Mall, I think we'll start there first."

The inside was just as glamorous as the outside. Shop windows were full of different clothes from different time periods."Our shop owners like to keep their customers in their comfort zones. I think we'll try Modern Days for you"

She turned to this store about twice as big as the food court next to it but half as large as Medieval Market right across -Probably because of the Black Plague, she thought. In big, bold, graffiti-like font, the shop's name lay above the entryway. The store seemed to pop-out of the shop's neighboring it with delicate cursive saying Roman Rooms and '20s Couture

There were three sections: Japan, Americas, and European. Japan screamed out with neon lights and mannequins dressed in Kawaii style. Pictures of bright colored makeup. America was a little more subtle in the colors, but made up for it with larger proportions on the face so nothing natural is visible. Though the face showed no skin on the body it was the only thing you could see with racks of short shorts and camisoles. The walls being advertisements of bikinied woman showing off the Vishnu's Secret collection displayed on the shelves below. Their pounds of makeup, hairspray, and dieting looked like the Human Barbie gone wrong. European also had pictures on the walls, but these seemed more natural. They had men and children along with the beautiful women happily. They had smiles worthy of Disney World and seemed more real, unlike the photoshopped glamor faces I saw before. The clothes provided more coverage. These popular clothing articles mostly consisted of scarves, sweaters, and skinny jeans. The shoes on the tons of shelves lining the walls were mostly Hadidas, boots, and stylish hiking boots that wouldn't last you a mile in the wild.

I chose to buy a turquoise and salmon camisole with a white skirt, sandals, black ankle boots, leather jacket, distressed jeans, and enough clothes, makeup, and accessories to last 3 lifetimes. When it was time to pay we went up to the front desk. I wasn't aware of the prices when I picked out all the clothes and I was about to tell Emily I could put $200 worth of the clothes back when she pulled out a shiny black card, gold cursive embedded into it the word "D.E.A.T.H." The skeletal woman manning the cashier smiled at the card, then its owner, then stopped at me.

"Emily?" she said. Her voice was soft and subtle with an eerie bliss fixed into it.

"I-is this the young girl you almost lost?"

Her eyes looked sadly at me. No. Not at me, she didn't look at me. She looked through me. She looked right through the flesh and bones and clothes. The unnatural women seemed to look straight into my soul, my suffering, my joy, my life. From one look she knew me.

"Not now, Mendaia!" Emily whispered angrily, she does not kn-"

Before I could hear her finish, I blacked out. And then the dreams came.