X-REV: Origin of the Fallen

004. Erase Myself

004. Erase Myself

After paying for the box dye she wandered into the mall across the street and found the bathrooms. A dozen small stalls were lined across the mirrored wall with sinks, but she found that the big cabin meant for handicap people has its own big sink. She looked around to assure that no cameras are present in the common area of the bathroom before locking herself inside the big stall.

Almost an hour later she almost finished drying her hair using the hand dryer mounted to the wall. She looked into the mirror at the product of her work - her hair was now a bloody red color, very distinct from the natural brown she had before. She grabbed scissors from her makeup kit and spent another ten minutes doing a decent job on cutting her bangs.

She then pulled out a small box with colored lenses and put them on. Her dark brown eyes were now grey. It didn't look very realistic up close, but it sure made it difficult to tell what her actual eyes look like. Then she took time to apply dark eye makeup and lipstick - something she's never done before except to practice and wash it off immediately. Then she proceeded to change her jeans and yellow t-shirt into a black outfit she pulled out from her bag. Topping it with a baseball cap she placed her khaki bag into a non-transparent plastic bag she brought in a side pocket of the material one and left the stall.

She knew the style is going to draw attention, but it was different than what anyone would be looking for if trying to find her. She always used to wear light, fun colors, printed shirts with disney characters, never any makeup. Now she didn't look like a 13 year old typical kid, with the dark makeup and color scheme she looked like a punk-rocker that is about 16.

She knew how unlikely it is that someone would figured she crossed the border, but she didn't want to take chances. At the same time she thought it would be too much to do the dye job and this entire transformation in the wild, just because there are cameras in the mall.

She felt pretty confident that no one will look twice at her from before and after and think it's the same person, unless they really had too much time on their hands. Even if they somehow tracked her to here, she was in the bathroom for an hour and the only thing that is the same about her now are the black and white trainer shoes.

She left the mall and walked for almost an hour before disposing of her old clothes in a bin in front of somebody's house and making sure to cover it with their own trash.

Another fifteen minutes later she purchased a cheap, but durable black backpack, sat down in the park to put her belongings in the new item and disposed of her old bag in a communal dumpster at a nearby estate. This was the final thing that she knew they could figure she took from home and could describe to police if trying to find her.

That being done, she headed onto one of the roads leading out of the city. Her thumb up whenever someone would pass, she finally heard a car pull up and the window at driver's side opened slowly;

"Potřebuji svézt?"

She could only guess what he's saying, but the guy seemed friendly, so she sent him a smile; "I need a ride, if that's what you're asking."

"Oh" he seemed surprised only for a moment before smiling. "Yu a tourist? Come in car" he said in an accented voice pointing at the passenger's seat.

"Thanks" she got in and he started driving again.

"So where going?"

"Sorry?"

"Where yu going?"

"Ah" she nodded her understanding. "Any town or city is fine, as long as it's in the direction we're headed."

Especially during those first 24 hours she wanted to put as much distance between where she was and where she is, because she still felt like someone could be breathing down her neck. The day was soon to end but she didn't want to stop yet. She just looked out the stranger's car's window as they continued south, not knowing where she's headed exactly but growing more and more content with each mile because that direction was taking her further away from anyone who might try to stop her.