Chapter 1: Rising Action
I don't know why, but trouble always seems to find me. And I'm not just talking about normal trouble, like my car catching fire, or an ex-boyfriend following me and my current boyfriend on a date.
Okay, neither of those things ever happened. I don't even have an ex! But if I did, those would be situations I could handle.
No. The trouble I'm talking about is the bat-crap-crazy kind of trouble you can't prepare for, and which a solution is almost impossible.
Take last night, for example. I'm stuck babysitting my baby brother (yeah, saved the world at seventeen, and still get stuck on babysitting duty), when I want to grab a snack. Things haven't been the same since we had to leave Jefferson Hills, as much for my own safety as the town's. Anyway, since then, mom and dad haven't exactly been generous with snacks in the fridge.
Anyway, I packed up the baby in the car and drove down to the mini-mart to grab something to eat. And that's where trouble found me.
The local convenience store, tucked away in a corner of the town, stood as a sanctuary of snacks and necessities. As I stepped through the creaky doors, the familiar scent of freshly brewed coffee mingled with the aroma of baked goods. The fluorescent lights flickered above, casting an eerie glow upon the shelves burst with the colorful packages beckoning me.
I wandered through the store, my eyes scanning the aisles for something to satisfy my growling stomach. Finally, I settled on a bag of chips.
Okay, it was a bag of chips, a chocolate bar, a donut, a soda, and two of those weird spicy meat sticks that I dont think are really made of meat.
I was hungry, and I had a bad day, okay?
Anyway, I made my way to the counter, where a cheerful voice greeted me.
It belonged to a young woman with vibrant red hair. Not sure if it was her real color or not, but it was so bright that it looked unnatural, but i dont know why someone would do that to themselves. Her name tag read "Maxine," and she flashed me a toothy grin.
"Hi there, welcome to QuickMart!" Maxine's voice chimed like a symphony of optimism. That amount of enthusiasm was enough to make me sick. "What can I get for you today?"
Usually when someone is that cheerful, their thoughts tell a completely different story.
Oh, yeah. I forgot. I can hear what everyone is thinking. And I mean all the time. I have to concentrate really hard to block them out. Sometimes it doesn't work.
Now, I know what you're saying to yourself. Reading thoughts--that would be awesome. Let me tell you, it's not. Imagine for a moment your in a room full of speakers turned to their highest volume. Now imagine that each one of those speakers is tuned to a different radio station. Now imagine you can't turn them off.
That's what it's like being able to read minds.
So, like I was saying, normally if someone is as cheerful as Maxine, their thoughts were much darker. But that wasn't the case here. What you saw was what you got with her.
I placed my armful of snacks on the counter.
Maxine's eyes widened as she took in my assortment of snacks. Her mouth formed a small 'o' of surprise, but her thoughts were filled with admiration rather than judgment. She seemed genuinely impressed by my impressive appetite and had a touch of envy in her mind.
Maxine's thoughts drifted off to her own breakfast, which consisted solely of a granola bar and a lukewarm cup of coffee. Apparently that was all she'd eaten all day. And I thought I was hungry.
I began to wonder about the girl though. How could she be so happy and so hungry at the same time?
I paid and grabbed my snacks and turned for the door.
And that's when trouble entered.
So, what walked through the front door that was such a problem? An armed robber in a black ski mask? A time traveling alien? A monkey wearing a bomb vest?
No, of course not. Any of those things would have made sense.
What walked through the door was a large woman, with an even larger tiger on a leash.
The woman, who I would come to know as Lady Elysia, moved with a grace that defied her size. Her dark hair cascaded down her shoulders like a waterfall of obsidian, contrasting sharply against her alabaster skin. Her piercing blue eyes held a glint of mischief as she surveyed the convenience store, as if searching for something—or someone.
Lady Elysia's entrance into the convenience store was like a sudden storm engulfing a tranquil meadow. The tiger's golden eyes scanned the aisles.
Maxine's cheerful expression faltered, clearly taken aback by the unexpected visitors.
This was seriously one of those WTF moments.