A Dream Come True

Chapter Five: Shopping in the Lion's Den

As we enter the Queen Street Mall, I wipe my sweaty hands on my jeans and scan the sea of people. I can feel myself relax a little seeming as the gang isn't in sight, but my mind and body are still on alert. These boys know this mall inside and out, therefore; they could be right behind me, and I wouldn't know. With that thought, the girls and I start shopping with me scanning every direction hoping not to see four heads of jet black hair.

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It has been five hours since we started shopping in the lion's den, and I'm mentally and physically exhausted. Since we entered the mall, I haven't let my guard down, nor have I seen my old gang. Loaded down from shoulder to wrist in bags, we finish shopping and head toward the car.

As we are about to exit the mall, someone grabs me by the throat and pushes me into the wall. I cant help but gasp when my head bounces off the concrete wall. I feel the panic and fear coursing through my veins as I look into the eyes of my old gang. They look different from the last time I saw them. Now, there's black ink and piercings covering their sneering faces.

"What are you doing here, Tessa?" Sebastian asks squeezing my throat causing me to gasp.

I look at their black attire and sneering faces trying to formulate a plan. The adrenaline kicks in as I see the girls run back into the mall, but they'll never see me around these guys. With that thought, I feel a painful impact to my right eye. All fear fades away and anger sets in as I look up at Sebastian. I'm about to go off, but he stops me.

"When I ask you a question, I expect an answer! Now answer me!" he yells in my face.

I watch as the girls turn towards us. I'm sure they heard the yelling. That's when the pieces fly together in my head, and I have a fool proof plan. I need to get to the girls though.

I look back to the boys and answer Sebastian, "I am here with my girls to do a little shopping. I was hoping I would run into you guys, actually. I want to introduce the girls to you and buy some drugs."

Sebastian's eyes light up as he says, "Well, go get them. It's good to have you back, Tessa. Right boys?"

I look behind him to find two boys instead of three. One is missing. As the boys nod in agreement, I look back to Sebastian asking, "Where's Snake?"

"I haven't seen him in forever. He left one day and never saw him again," he says with sad eyes.
"Awe! Is the hermit crab missing his wing man?" I reply as I walk towards the girls. Before he can say anything, I'm running to the girls. As I reach them, I begin telling them the plan:

"Ok, you've probably already pieced together that this is my old gang. We have to be smart about this if we want to make it out of here without being beat to death. This is what we are going to do. We are going to walk over there, and I'm going to introduce you to them. I told them that we are here to buy some drugs, so they won't beat us unless they figure out I was lying. There is a mall cop over there. When they mention the drugs, you've got to draw as much attention as possible, so he comes over to investigate the situation. The boys, on the other hand, will take your display as excitement and start handing us a bag of weed. Don't t take it. Just flutter your eyes until I give you a signal. When you see the signal, start shaking your head while smiling. The boys will never suspect a thing, and the cop will think we are innocent. We get out of this mall alive, they get arrested, and I won't have to live in fear anymore. Are there any questions?"

I look to the girls. None of them look happy about this, but I can see that they understand why we have to do this. With a nod of understanding, the girls agree to go through with the plan, and we start walking toward the guys.

As we reach the boys, I start the introductions as planned, "Ok. Girls, this is my old gang. This is Jason, Peter, and the leader Sebastian. Boys, these are my girls: Kristina, Elizabeth, and Claudia."

The groups exchange hellos as I watch from the sidelines. The rest of the plan goes as it should. Peter is handing the weed to Claudia, and the cop starts heading toward us. I move out of the way, so he can get a good view of the weed bag. His reaction is spot on as he starts running toward us. I look at the girls giving them the signal, and we shake our heads smiling as the cop starts blowing his whistle.

The boys look at the cop confused. It takes them a moment to realize what's happening. As the situation pieces together in their heads, they realize I set them up. I can't help but smile as the boys turn toward me pissed. Then, I see the knife in Peter's hand and know I'm in trouble. As the boys sprint for the door, I feel a sharp pain in my back and know that Peter stabbed me.

So much for getting out of here alive, I think as my vision goes black.