Red Mountain Chronicles: The Illusionist

Chapter 11

I woke up, flinching from a sudden knock, followed by a man's voice calling my name.
"Miss de la Vega? Miss de la Vega, are you there?" There was more knocking.
       That voice... it sounds familiar.
After wiping the sleep from my eyes, I stood up and walked toward the door to answer it. Once I opened the door, I was welcomed by a familiar face.
Professor Ambrose. Well this was a pleasant surprise.
He greeted me with a smile, but was quick to raise an eyebrow at me. I must have been pretty tired still, because I immediately questioned his expression by asking "what?".
He did not react to my impolite manner, and instead responded with a question. "Are you surprised to see me?"
I could not help myself as I let out a confused chuckle. (I was just not that polite when just waking up, was I?) "Yes," I answered. "As a matter of fact I am."
His expression did not change. He seemed just as confused as I was. "I sent out a message on the Intercom fifteen minutes ago that I was coming."
"Oh" I said, as I took in the information. I must have slept through it. "Okay. And what did you come for exactly?"
Professor Ambrose smiled, tilting his head. I knew that smile. It was the kind that was supposed to mask one's internal screaming.
       Well jeez, sorry if I am a little confused as to why you're here. But I bit my tongue. I guess that was something we both had in common: we were both easily irritated in the morning.
"I'm here to take you shopping for supplies. I believe you had orientation the past few days where you were handed a list of school supplies from all of your teachers."
        Oh yeah. The shopping trip. I forgot about that. I cleared my throat. "Yes sir of course, uh.."
I looked behind me, trying to figure out where I put all of those papers, when I saw them on the dresser, along with my phone, which seemed to only be useful for telling the time.
        I faced him again and held up a finger before walking toward the pile of papers. I then walked back, ready to head out the door when the Professor stopped me. "Aren't you forgetting something?"
        I knit my eyebrows in confusion. The only thing that came to mind were the papers I was holding, then it hit me. How could I forget? "Of course!" I exclaimed out loud, as I slipped my flip flops on. He stopped me again.
        "I meant your clothes."
        I then looked at the attire I was wearing: pajama shorts and an old, baggy T-shirt.
       I looked down at the floor, pursing my lips in embarrassment. I was really about to walk out that door with the headmaster in my pajamas. But there was a bright side to this. At least he didn't catch me on a day where I wasn't wearing pants.
        "Oh," I said. I held up a finger again, and closed the door to get ready. When I was finished, I opened the door once more. The headmaster gave me a quick glance at my attire, probably making sure I did not skip a step of my routine, before saying, "Alright. Let's go."

         "Welcome to Pallutz," Professor Ambrose announced. "The village on the foothills. It's all very quaint, and the people are pretty friendly. But you can still get lost fairly quickly, so keep close to me. If you do want to see something, let me know and we can check it out."
          It was such a neat little place. The whole village, as far as I could see, was made out of Adobe, and some buildings were stacked on top of each other. It reminded me of the Santa Fe Plaza, except more close together and more busy. People of all ages were milling about, and children were running and chasing each other in play. It was a refreshing sight to see, since not a lot of kids seem to play outside anymore back home.
        I inhaled deeply, as I took in the aromas of herbs and spices that strangely smelled other-worldly, yet still so familiar.
What a beautiful place.
"So," I started. "Do we use the same currency? Because that's probably our best bet right now." I looked in my wallet, where there were only two $20 bills staring back at me. "And even then I don't have a whole lot of money." I definitely didn't pack for this trip.
"We do," the Professor responded, "and don't worry about money. There's plenty that we can get from your mother's old safe.  We're heading to the bank right now."